The Exiled Alpha's Human Male Mate.[BL]

"I sit here wondering why everyone is looking at one person as though this meeting were convened solely for his sake."

For the first time, Vincent made no attempt to conceal the irritation in his voice.

"Do you think we would have called all of you here if we only intended to address one person?" His gaze swept across the room.

The hall had become so quiet that even the slightest movement seemed conspicuous.

"Mrs. Brown."

He turned his attention to Amelia.

"You mentioned earlier that you are responsible for the well-being of the employees. Yet you are singling out one person and addressing him so directly in a room filled with people who have no involvement in the matter. I don’t think that puts Mr. Jones in a particularly comfortable position."

From where he sat, Bryce could feel the anger radiating from Leah. She was clearly displeased by Vincent’s words, and judging by the expression on her face, she resented the fact that he had spoken at all.

"We all came here because this is a matter that concerns every person in this room. If you had something personal to say to him, you should have waited until this meeting was over and called him into your office instead.

Today, I am disappointed in almost every one of you, and I cannot help wondering whether these are truly the people I have been working with all these years, or whether this kind of disgraceful behaviour has only begun to emerge recently."

He paused, his eyes moving slowly across the gathered employees, taking in each lowered gaze and restrained expression.

"By now, everyone should know that I do not tolerate certain behaviour, and I do not believe in giving people repeated opportunities to disregard the same standards. That said, Mrs. Amelia, you will be the first person to whom I am granting a second chance. But that second chance comes with one condition: you will apologize to Mr. Jones, and you will do so in a manner that satisfies him."

The atmosphere in the hall tightened. Faces stiffened, expressions shifting, but no one dared voice what they were thinking.

Bryce’s heart began to pound harder as confusion settled over him.

Why was Vincent doing this?

Bryce’s heart beat faster as confusion took hold of him.

Why was Vincent doing this?

Hadn’t he supposedly hated him?

Surely, the resentment Vincent had shown toward him, even to the point of rejecting him, should have been enough to make him indifferent to what other people did or said to Bryce.

Perhaps Vincent genuinely had such a strong aversion to bullying, violence, and the humiliation of others that he could not simply stand by and watch it happen.

Bryce watched him, unable to look away.

For one fleeting moment, something in him softened toward Vincent. The realization came so unexpectedly that Bryce immediately suppressed it.

He could not allow himself to forget who Vincent was.

This was the same man who had intended to use his mate brutally, then cast her aside when he was done.

The same man who had rejected him without a word of explanation about what severing their bond would entail, without even having the decency to tell him that he was finally going to end it.

The same man who knew perfectly well that Bryce understood nothing of his nature, but had done nothing to teach him how to understand it, let alone control it.

Instead, he had left Bryce frightened of his own instincts, terrified of what he was becoming.

He was also the man who had allowed his wife to mistreat him, forcing him into a position he didn’t want and threatening to destroy his chances of finding employment elsewhere.

And only moments ago, Vincent had taken pleasure in watching Bryce struggle against the pull of the bond.

He had watched Bryce struggle against an attachment he could barely understand, witnessed the extent to which it affected him, and intentionally refused to use the suppressant, clearly intent on seeing just how far Bryce’s distress would go.

Bryce had no reason to believe Vincent would not do it again.

The recollection sharpened Bryce’s resentment. Whatever brief warmth had threatened to take hold inside him disappeared beneath it.

"I shouldn’t have singled you out, Mr. Jones, and I apologize for that."

Amelia’s voice cut through Bryce’s thoughts, pulling him back into the meeting.

"Okay," Bryce said simply.

Vincent did not appear satisfied with the apology, but after a moment, he seemed to decide to let it go.

"Unless Mr. Jones himself says that he is not okay and needs to take a break, that is when he can leave. He will not be suspended when he has done nothing wrong. I believe he is old enough to decide for himself whether he needs that kind of break.

Meeting adjourned."

Vincent’s declaration brought the meeting to an end.

No one moved, waiting for Vincent and the two women to leave first. Vincent, however, sat down. Leah followed his example, while Amelia rose and walked out.

The other employees soon filed out behind her, Bryce among them.

"Are you secretly related to Mr. Walker?" Heather whispered as they headed toward the elevator, the corridor crowded with employees leaving the hall.

"What? No. Why would you think that?" Bryce whispered back.

"Bryce."

His name came from behind him. He turned to find Adam approaching.

"Mr. Wilson?" Bryce called, the sight of him bringing a measure of unexpected relief.

"Are you in a position to..." Adam let the words trail off, evidently reluctant to finish the question with so many people around them.

"Yeah," Bryce replied, immediately understanding what he meant.

He turned toward Heather. "I’ll be back in a few."

She merely nodded, and Bryce followed Adam into another elevator.

Several people were already inside. Nobody spoke. The silence seemed deliberate, as though everyone was still preoccupied with what had transpired in the meeting, or simply absorbed in their own thoughts.

Bryce’s mind, however, was still in the hall where the meeting had just taken place.

Suddenly, unexpected voices from there, drifted into his ears with startling clarity, just like the day he had heard the man in the apartment.

"Are you kidding me, Vincent?" Leah’s unmistakable voice rang through his thoughts.

"I already told you, I’ll never argue with you over him again." Vincent’s voice came before Leah could finish.

Bryce immediately focused harder.

"He’s got to go, and don’t say no, because you’ll only confirm to me that you’re actually developing something for him!"

"Pfft!"

An involuntary scoff escaped Bryce’s lips, loud enough to make everyone turn and look at him. But he ignored their stares.

’Now they might start thinking I’m crazy,’ he thought, though he couldn’t care less.

What he did care about... and couldn’t believe... was the fact that Leah thought Vincent was developing feelings for him.

That was absurd.

Utterly absurd.

Vincent? Developing feelings for him?

Bryce had to restrain himself from laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea.

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