Chapter 119

Chapter 119
“Silas!”

I jumped; my head slipped from my hand, and I blinked at Sam. He was getting more and more frustrated with me. I could see it in his body language. It didn’t help that as he got later into the pregnancy, the easier he became agitated with me.

Charles let him, that was until Sam turned on him. Then, I got to watch as Charles shrunk into a ball in the face of his mate. The two of them were cute. However, I was on my own today.

After heading up the morning training, Charles went into the city to head up some police force training. Which meant I was the only one getting narrated for not doing my job in the time that Sam wanted it done. Which he had been going on about for the past half hour.

He wasn’t wrong. We were stripping down the deal that the alliance and I had come to terms on. I delayed this discussion for as long as possible because I was aware Sam wouldn’t be pleased. He wasn’t.

After everything, I ended up renewing our alliance to help in case of emergencies. However, I was a little more conservative with the goals set out for my pack. Basically, it came down to the fact that they needed to reach our pack’s inclusion of humans before I was going to push any further. The issue Same had with it was that we probably had one of the biggest forces between the packs. It didn’t benefit us much, and that triggered his long rant about the reasons for our initial alignment with them.

Sam was also helping me work on an updated timeline for the human integration onto the territory. Originally this year, I wanted to have the option to purchase homes available to everyone. The issue that came up now was the amount of housing we had available. It was less than what I had originally planned to have available.

“Why don’t we go with Charles’ plan? Offer it to the military and first responders. Allowing them to come in and purchase if they don’t want to be within the city limits.”

“I mean, we could. It’s just difficult to market it as such.” Sam tapped his stylus on the screen. “We could have him put out the word on the force. See if anyone is interested. It’s just not a long-term solution.”

Rubbing my eyes, I nodded. “I mean, it’s not supposed to be. We just don’t currently have the space for a full open. It would also benefit us to have those who can help during a disaster.”

“You’re right, but also that’s terrible. Using humans like that.”

I shrugged. “Always use the strengths of others when your own strength isn’t enough.”

Sam paused, looking up at me. His eyes softened, and I could see the sadness in them. He wasn’t wrong. Nate said that all the time. It was basically his motto.

Opening my mouth to speak, I let out a squeak. Curling over to the side, I held my ribs. Sam dropped his tablet and came over, holding me up. He was speaking, but I couldn’t hear his words. It felt as though someone had taken a fist to my ribs. Gasping for air, I let out a whine.

“Silas? What the hell?”

“I…don’t know…” I let out breaths between my words. “It…hurts…”

Inhaling sharply, I closed my eyes and tried to figure out where the pain was coming from. What I wasn’t expecting was for Eros to come forward. He seemed agitated.

‘It isn’t our pain, Silas.’

My eyes flung open. ‘No. What? How?’

‘I don’t know. It must be bad enough to transfer over to us.’ Eros whined, upset.

It had been a while since I had felt anything from Nate. Reaching out, I took hold of Sam’s arm. Squeezing it once, I shook my head.

“Silas? What is going on?”

“It’s not my pain.”

Sam helped me sit back up on the stool, and I leaned forward on the counter, catching my breath. Now that I knew it wasn’t mine, it was easier to push away. It was still there, radiating through my body, but it wasn’t nearly as sharp now.

“What do you mean it’s not yours? Wait…it’s…” Sam pulled out his phone, but I reached out and covered it.

“Don’t.”

Pulling his phone away, Sam frowned. “You aren’t the only one who cares, Silas. Just because you don’t want to reach out, doesn’t mean I don’t want to. What if it’s something to do with your pups? Wouldn’t you want to know?”

Of course I did. We were getting closer and closer to Nate’s due date. The fact that there was this much pain worried me. Eros was still pacing, unable to decide between wanting to speak to him and letting him be.

Nate had shut me out, though. I wanted to respect his wishes as much as I could. My own actions had stripped the right I had to reach out. The only thing I could do was hope that Finn and Noah were with him. That he wasn’t alone.

‘Silas…but what if…?’ Eros was torn.

Taking a breath, I sat up straight. “I wanted to talk about the collaboration we have with the college.”

“Silas.” Sam stared at me, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Give it some time. If it doesn’t go away, then I’ll let you reach out to the guys. I just…I want to respect Nate’s privacy. I’m sure he didn’t mean for the pain to slip through.”

Throwing his hands up, Sam shook his head. “I swear. You are incorrigible. I don’t even know what to do with you. Fine! Whatever! I’ll call them later.”

He brought up his tablet and tapped angrily on the screen before turning it around for me. “They aren’t really budging on the incentives. I was trying to see if we could get a little more, but it looks like, with the amount of donations we had planned on giving, this is what they will give us.”

I scrolled through the email and frowned. “Do we have information about the other donors? How much are they giving?”

“Not much. Charles got his brother to do some digging around in their community. Apparently, it’s nearly double our donations, and that’s just for a legacy for a couple of kids.”

“Right, but we aren’t asking for grade alterations or making them look good.”

Sam snorted. “I mean, the school isn’t going to say that. It’s just us working hand in hand with them; it’s going to take some negotiation, depending on the outcome you’re wanting. I think if we were doing this once, it might be a good deal…”

“But?”

“But I think if we make this last, and we really put some effort into wedging ourselves into the college, we could use it.”

Putting the tablet down, I rested my elbows on the counter and put my chin in my hands. “You have an idea.”

The sheepish look on Sam’s face forced me to hold back my laughter. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? Just tell me what you are thinking. Don’t worry about the logistics of it now. If it’s just an idea, then it doesn’t need to have legs to stand on. Not yet.”

Nodding, Sam pulled back his tablet and pulled up a notes app. “I just…if we could get on the board of the school. Or if we could just buy the school itself…which seems silly, but…”

“It’s a private school?”

“It is. It wouldn’t be a drop in the bucket, though. The amount of money it would take would be a serious investment. We wouldn’t change much, but it would allow us to do a bit more with the pack. Plus, we could have a partnership between the pack and the university, which could benefit us more than just the school’s income over time.”

Letting out a long breath, I stared into the island. “You’re not wrong. How far have you dug into this?”

“Not far enough for me to feel comfortable presenting it to you.” Sam chuckled. “I’d need to dig up financials to even know if it was worth it from a revenue standpoint. Let alone an investment. Plus, all the options that may be available to us in a partnership once that happens. I only know, with our current finances, even we would need to take out a loan.”

My eyes widened. “That much?”

“Potentially.”

Humming, I reached out and took a drink of water from my glass. “I think some basic research on it wouldn’t hurt. I don’t know if it’s worth it, but we have been trying to figure out new revenue avenues. This might be a good way to do that. Don’t let it take too much of your time, but look into it and get back to me on the numbers.”

“Sounds good.”

“What’s next on the list?”

Sam continued down our list. Shift changes, hospital needs, new pups being born, the flooding getting worse on the west side, and a few other issues that were coming lately. I didn’t tune out, but I wouldn’t say I was completely present in the conversation either. The pain had gone away, but my worry was still there. Surprisingly, so was Eros. He was still pacing in the background.

‘Silas.’

My eyes widened as I felt around wrap around my shoulders. Nate’s voice was soft, but it took every sense.

‘Nate…what are you doing?’

‘Come with me.’