Animal experience:I am an animal, and so are my friends.
Here, the raccoon had inserted a picture of himself surrounded by a wolf, a patchy-skinned mink, a rabbit, and a gazelle.
Under the Computer Experience section, there was a photo of the raccoon sitting in front of a laptop, a spreadsheet open on the screen.
There was a picture of the raccoon clutching a phone, too, with the caption,I can make calls.
Duke snorted at the last picture in the application, which was the raccoon lying flat on his back, surrounded by his laptop, phone, and a tiny human hand grasping his paw, although the rest of the baby was out of the picture.
He set down the stack of papers, sliding it back to Hubrie.
“Well?” Hubrie raised his eyebrows.
“Call him in for an interview,” Duke said.
To his credit, Hubrie waited until he was almost out of sight to do a fist pump.
4
NO ONE INTERVIEWS LIKE THIS!
Nat climbedout of the SUV with Walren, doing a double-take at the glass-and-steel building owned by Brimstone Industries.
“I didn’t think they’d send a car for me,” he said.
“Of course we would.” The car’s smartly dressed driver ushered them toward the office building with a smooth sweep of his arm. “My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Hubrie.”
Hubrie looked... professional. Sharp eyes, easy smile, maybe in his sixties.
Nat shook his hand warily; Walren shook his hand too.
The only thing that kept them calm was having the GPS turned on in their phones. Killian was back home with their babies, checking their locations every few minutes.
With a shared look, Nat and Walren followed Hubrie into the front lobby.
The inside of the building looked just as impressive as the outside. A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling, reflected in the black marble floors. A mini waterfall tinkled quietly in the background. It smelled good in here, for a company named Brimstone—something leafy and floral like they’d stepped into a garden.
Everything was so shiny and elegant that Nat felt massively underdressed in his simple button-down shirt, pants, and sneakers.
“I thought I was just applying to work for some random guy,” Nat said under his breath.
Hubrie smiled like he had heard the comment, but was too polite to mention it. “If it’s quite all right with you, Mr. Walren, we’d appreciate it if you could remain in the lobby while my boss interviews Mr. Nat.”
Nat’s pulse thumped. Walren gave him a concerned look.
“I’ll be fine,” Nat said bravely. If Hubrie’s boss kidnapped him... Well, he knew a group of alphas who might come to his rescue. “I’ll text you when it’s over.”
“Trust me, Nat will be inverygood hands,” Hubrie said delightedly.
Nat followed the man into a gleaming elevator. Hubrie hit the button for the second-highest floor. Their eyes met when the doors slid quietly shut, and the elevator moved smoothly through the building.
“So,” Hubrie said slowly. “You hadn’t mentioned the other parts of the job in your resume. The... special tasks.”
“I thought it would be weird for a raccoon to offer them!” Nat blurted. “But, uh, in my human shape, I think I wouldn’t mind.”
At Nat’s blush, Hubrie’s smile grew. “Good, good.”
The elevator opened into a lobby with a high ceiling. Everything in here looked big—from the plush armchairs to the doors that were so tall, a small mountain could pass through them.
