Nathan knew a lot of men who were terrible at shopping, preferring to drag their feet and complain all the time as they followed along behind a partner. That had never been the case for him. Even as a teenager, he enjoyed browsing through the shelves of whatever store he might end up at.

Now, as a single adult who had to do all his shopping on his own, he treated it as a break. Unless he encountered someone he knew, no one was rushing towards him with a question, a comment, a concern. He was just one face among many, as meaningless to the cashier as the man in front of him and the woman behind. He meant nothing, was no one.

Today, he was on the search for office supplies. Elaine always teased him that he should just go on Amazon for all his needs, like so many others did, but online shopping was simply too impersonal. Besides, if he was on a computer then there were a multitude of other things he could be doing instead. He could be answering emails, calculating numbers, that sort of thing. Why waste time pretending he was relaxed, when he could go for a walk and actually be relaxed?

He needed a new stapler, since his old one had finally given up the ghost. He’d had that stapler for over a decade, and who knew how long it had been around before that, because he bought it from a resale shop for $1. The damn things were durable if you didn’t throw them against the wall, though he’d been suspecting for a long while now that his was on the way out.

Nathan browsed the wall of staplers, wondering exactly who cared about all these different brands. He didn’t care if the staples were economy size or if the grip was designed to fit comfortably in his hand. He just wanted a goddamn stapler.

Voices approached. An older woman, from the sound of her. A wolf, from the smell of her. “I just need a refill for my stapler, and then we’ll get going.”

“Mother,” someone replied, sighing. “You’ve been saying that you need to get a refill for the past three stores, and you haven’t gotten one yet.”

“That’s because I only trust the quality from this store.”

“They all get sent the same product. It all comes from the same factories, probably the same batch.”

“But they do quality control here.”

There was no response to that, which was a shame because Nathan’s interest was piqued. He would have recognized that voice anywhere. It was the PE teacher, the omega wolf with the muscles and confidence of someone above him. He was out shopping with his mother, if he was interpreting this conversation correctly.

Nathan kept his ears pricked as the sound of footsteps approached. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the female wolf, though she might not have seen him because one of her eyes was filmy-white with cataracts. He felt bad for her, knowing as he did that there were some things a shifter’s body simply couldn’t heal. Brain damage, nerve damage, harm inflicted upon the eyes; these were all just too complex for the body to regenerate on its own. She must have been in an accident at some point or had some sort of disease, though he didn’t know enough to say for certain.

Trailing along behind her, carrying a basket filled with all sorts of paper goods, was Simon. His hair looked as wind-swept as ever, his shoulders back as if the weight of what he was carrying didn’t bother him.

Simon froze. His green eyes slashed across from his mother, directly to Nathan.

Knowing that he had been caught looking, Nathan gazed right back at him.

Simon took a step back, then another. His eyes widened, then narrowed. The corner of his mouth twitched, and then his head shook ever-so-slightly. Whether this was a nervous tic or some sort of attempt at a secret signal, Nathan had no idea. He was baffled by this behavior. It was obvious that Simon had been taken by surprise, not expecting his future employer to be here. Judging from the playful banter that Simon had going with his mother when they first came near, he might have been too preoccupied to make a deliberate effort to scent out other wolves.

Being taken aback was one thing. Simon was acting almost stunned, which was another thing entirely. There was no reason for that to be, unless he had changed his mind about the job. Their appointment wasn’t until tomorrow so there was still time to do that; maybe Simon just felt incredibly awkward right now because of that.

Or maybe he felt awkward about something else, that being the heat and tension between them during their interview.

Nathan frowned a little. Simon’s mother was still talking, moving around, placing refill after refill of staples inside the basket her son was holding. She might not even have been there at all, however. Nathan’s thoughts were whirling, too focused on himself and the omega, and this strange dilemma that had formed between them without warning.

I could have misread the signals from him. I didn’t check to see if he was unmated, though I’m almost certain he isn’t. Maybe he isn’t interested in men after all.

“Mom,” Simon said. His voice came out a squeak. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “I just remembered that I saw something interesting back over by the books. I’ll meet you there, okay?”

“If you want it, just put it in the basket. It’s about time you found a gentler hobby.”

Nathan felt like there was a story behind those words, but he decided to just let it go for now. It was none of his business anyway.

Simon didn’t say anything, just hurried away and was soon gone, his scent stolen away by the lingering odor of candles, the stale sugar of old baking decorations, and paint.

“Excuse me,” Simon’s mother said.

Nathan glanced at her, puzzled, then realized she was trying to reach in front of him to grab more staples. She’d already cleared out several spots on the wall. “Sorry,” he said, and moved back.

“You don’t need some of these, do you?” she asked, motioning to the ones she wanted. “I’m going to take them all, but if you need some…”

He smiled. “No. I’m actually not sure what I need. My favorite stapler broke, and I’ll be damned if I know how to replace it.”

“It is a struggle, isn’t it? When we lose our favorite tools. Our Goldilocks. And nothing else is just right.”

“That’s a good way to put it.”

“If you’re in the market for suggestions, I highly recommend this one.” Simon’s mother walked around Nathan and pulled a blue-handled stapler off its hook, showing it to him. “All these other ones are so finicky. But this one actually lives up to its claims on the box. I craft quite a bit. I could tell you more than all of the employees in here combined, I bet.”

“Well, I staple a lot of papers, so I’ll take your word on this.” Nathan accepted the stapler. It was such a small thing to be picky about, but he needed everything to be exactly right. In such a complicated job as his, even small things going wrong could add up to ruin his mood. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Don’t you mention it. Here, these are the refills for that one.”

Nathan accepted the other package that was thrust into his hands, and then it was like he ceased to exist for the older wolf. This whole exchange had been baffling but nonetheless endearing. He felt he could definitely see where Simon had gotten some of his personality.

Speaking of Simon…

If they already had their next meeting, Nathan wouldn’t have dared to do this. It would have been damn unprofessional to chase his new employee around an office supply store.

However, though Simon was technically hired, the process of inducting him into the school hadn’t actually begun. Nathan wasn’t technically his boss yet. That made it better. It gave him more of an excuse for what he was about to do. It was an excuse because he wouldn’t have done anything like this had Simon been a different person.

I just have to know why he’s avoiding me. If there’s something wrong, it needs to get fixed right away.

Simon had said there was something that interested him by the books. There wasn’t really a book section in this store, though there was half an aisle dedicated to magazines and adult coloring books. That was over by the sewing supplies. Nathan headed there. He was hurrying, crossing the floor in great strides that made his expensive shoes clap loudly on the shiny linoleum floor. There was no need for him to hurry but he couldn’t stop himself, moving faster and faster, counting the aisles as they flew by.

He rounded the corner by the sewing supplies, and something hard struck his chest and rebounded off.

“Oh!” Simon said.

Nathan reacted on instinct before the other wolf could even finish his exclamation, grabbing at him to keep him from falling. His palms started to tingle instantly even though he wasn’t even actually touching Simon. There was fabric between them. But, the fabric was warm. Warm from Simon.

Nathan’s insides tightened in that way he knew so well. He felt like a teenager again, always set off by the smallest things.

Then again, as he had just been thinking, it was the small things that could make all the difference sometimes.

“I’m sorry, Simon. I didn’t mean to run into you. Are you okay?”

Simon stammered for a moment, then nodded. “I’m okay. Thanks. Wasn’t looking where I was going. Just wanted to check out these books. My mother wants me to have a gentler hobby. So. Here I am.”

Nathan glanced down at the book Simon held in his hand. A coloring book, but he couldn’t tell much else about it. “I think you’re fine just the way you are.”

“Um. Thank you. But I should really get back to her. I’ve got the basket, so…”

“Is something wrong, Simon? Is there anything you want to discuss?”

Simon started to shake his head, shaking it so hard the muscles in his neck audibly creaked. “I’m fine, thanks. We’re just under a bit of a time crunch here, me and Mom. We’ve got other places to be today.”

“So do I,” Nathan said. He narrowed his eyes, trying to pin down Simon’s gaze, but the other wolf looked everywhere but at him. “Well, I hope I’ll still be seeing you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Simon peered around Nathan’s shoulder. In doing so, he leaned slightly closer.

The lean was clearly unintentional. Nevertheless, the movement allowed for Nathan to take in Simon’s scent. He didn’t mean for it to happen. That was what he told himself. He was only breathing, and Simon’s scent flooded his senses. Warm, faintly musky, perfumed with subtle cologne; he smelled of trepidation, though not fear, and it was clear now that he was unmated, unmarked. No other wolf had claimed him.

Then, Simon stepped away and the spell that had fallen over Nathan seemed to shatter. He shook his head, and by the time he looked again, Simon was already moving away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Principal Pepper,” Simon said.

“Yes. I’m very much looking forward to it.”

Simon’s hips swayed as he hurried away, drawing Nathan’s gaze to them before the omega wolf disappeared from sight.

Nathan stayed where he was, idling by the books and pretending to browse. A few minutes passed before he saw Simon again. The omega was urging his mother towards the checkout lane, despite her complaints that she wasn’t finished here yet. After a few tense exchanges, Simon relented and the pair disappeared down another row.

Nathan remained by the books.

The next time he saw Simon, the pair was finally heading towards the checkout lane. Nathan watched them until they went out through the doors. Only then did he move on to find the rest of the things he needed.

The calmness of his shopping trip had been disrupted, but the dilemma was that he didn’t quite understand the reason. Simon had been avoiding him. To what end?