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In the end, Zane West had no choice but to run back and rescue the hamster from his hapless little brother.
He patiently cracked a handful of sunflower seeds and finally calmed the hamster down. He was so delayed getting down the mountain that he missed the train.
Zane was out of options. He switched his train ticket to a flight so he wouldn't miss that night's work.
Ollie Blake was one of the most pampered little fae in Northridge—no way could Zane let some human running around like a maniac bully him.
Besides, that night, after Zane had finished negotiating a partnership between Starline and the Yates Group with Mr. Yates, he'd felt the hamster nearby and called Ollie over to check. Zane had even shoved a bag of the Yates Group snack company's new trial treats—made specifically for little fae—into the hamster's paws. This brother was so easy to manage compared to some others; his biggest hobby was eating.
Seeing the hamster light up at the snack gift pack made Zane privately grateful to Mr. Yates. Who would've thought a man who looked like a stoic killer—a black cat of a man—would be so considerate, knowing Ollie had a little fae at home and bringing samples when he came to talk business.
Actually, the fact that a guy like Zane had started out by running a snack company already stunned many fae. That night he had noticed some prying glances, but they were far away—so far that even a great beast couldn't make out details. He hadn't seen the hamster in a long time and hadn't fully adjusted to how much human tech had leapfrogged certain fae advantages.
Back in the day only winged bird-fae could fly, or a fae who'd cultivated enough could briefly lift themselves by magic. Humans, though, used their ingenuity to invent airplanes. Only aquatic fae could live easily underwater; the strong could stay submerged with magic, but humans invented submarines.
The decline of the fae had been inevitable. Even after the war eight years ago when spiritual energy showed signs of recovering, it didn't mean fae could return to their prehistoric glory.
Some of the elder fae realized the problem and started integrating into human society. Guardian beasts opened companies, did research, or entered the entertainment industry. A small number of less ferocious beasts adapted to office life; the rest went to work for the Supernatural Affairs Bureau as fae cops and security.
So there was some negligence on Zane's part, and of course he stepped in to back the hamster.
When Shane Keane's agent saw the trending post on Instagram, his face went pale. Before this incident there'd only been Ollie—no matter how protective Starline got, they weren't someone to mess with. But if you asked who in the scene you could never offend, it was Zane West.
Other celebrities might fear financiers. Zane didn't have that problem—he was the financier. No one really knew why a man strong enough to run such a large company had chosen to enter the entertainment world in the first place. Since being recognized at a tech summit a year ago, the fact he was the owner behind a tech company had been common knowledge in the industry.
Shane's agent was completely out of moves. He didn't know exactly what Shane had been up to, but seeing the evidence that had topped the trending list left him uneasy. He was about to call the Memory Tour production team when the company line cut him off.
"Get him back, prepare his termination contract with Shane, and don't forget—did you buy that black trending post about Ollie? Go apologize and offer compensation, see if we can smooth this over. Old Zhang, you've been around—do what needs doing, you know the drill."
The agent hadn't expected things to reach this point. If the company was calling him, it meant they'd gotten Zane's warning and confirmed that the little actor's scandal was true.
"I… I didn't know. I've managed him for so many years—I just thought he was impatient for quick success. I honestly didn't know… I thought—"
The person on the line cut him off. "Save the explanations for Zane's lawyers. We all know what you're like, but right now the priority is cooling him off."
Whether he could keep his job, whether he could stay in the business, all came down to the negotiations with Zane.
Caleb Ross felt useless. He'd barely returned to the office when the boss called a meeting, and when he walked in he found Zane sitting beside the owner, wearing a hoodie and drinking tea.
Maybe it was the powerful presence Zane had at that tech summit a year ago—he usually came off as an untouchable elite—but seeing him dressed down like this made Caleb fully believe the person sitting there was a big brother come to put things right for his kid.
"Hey! Caleb's here—come on, come sit. You just got off the plane, right? Join us for dinner afterward."
Elliot Darrow, Starline's owner, had that classic old-money face and lived in suits, but he liked to perch with his thermos at the window and drink tea. He'd always been the kind of boss who treated employees to meals when the company was young—made you wonder if the company would ever go bankrupt from all the free dinners.
Caleb had a falling out with his family and had run into Elliot early on. He'd been at Starline as an agent for nearly ten years. Though just an agent, he'd been given three percent of Starline's stock—a favor Elliot had insisted on. If it weren't for Caleb's love of developing talent and promoting artists, he might already be in management.
Even at thirty-three Caleb still felt like a kid to Elliot; after all, Elliot—well, Elliot was a cultivated golden leopard.
"Not tonight," Caleb said. "Let's talk about Ollie first. After we're done here I've got a meeting with Citrus TV about terminating Julian North's contract and the compensation."
Elliot pouted mockingly. "You try too hard. When kids grow up, let them make their own messes. This isn't being an agent—it's being a babysitter."
Really, Caleb thought angrily, you'd better mind your own business. He'd finally had a break with Ollie's neurotic older brother being out of the picture, and then Zane showed up—again.
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Caleb muttered in his head about resigning and how this job had become impossible.
Zane let out a look that almost cracked his polished face—he picked up the cat teaser wand off the table and tossed it at Elliot.
Caleb blinked. Why would a boss who didn't own a cat have a teaser wand? The next second, the normally composed Elliot transformed in a flash into a sleek, glossy golden leopard, its coat patterned and clearly affluent-looking.
Caleb: "…"
He hurriedly fished a mint from his pocket and popped it, as if it were a lifesaving pill.
Elliot chased the teaser wand, pounced and brought it back in his jaws, then trotted over and dropped it at Caleb's feet. He didn't feel embarrassed, nor did he think anything wrong was happening—he simply wanted Caleb to play.
Zane: "…"
This was the first time Zane had been at a loss.
He almost forgot Elliot could be shameless. Foxes and golden leopards didn't think it strange to reveal they were fae around Caleb; after all, everyone knew about Ollie's hamster. When Ollie was comfortable, he couldn't hold a human form very well, so Caleb had long since known there were fae around.
Caleb felt hopeless.
He started to wonder why he'd taken this job in the first place—no one told him the company was full of non-humans!
At first he'd thought Ollie was just one stray fae who stumbled into human society. As he discovered more fae in the world he forced himself to accept it—after all, the little fae he dealt with daily was so goofy and endearing. Who wouldn't like him?
But now even the boss was a fae. Little details he'd overlooked began to make sense.
"Boss, can I ask—how many… um, fae do we actually have at the company? Surely I'm not the only human here, right?"
Zane seemed to pick up on something; he watched quietly from the side.
Elliot tried to reassure him. "Don't worry. There aren't that many fae in entertainment. At Starline it's just Ollie and Lex Song, and a couple signed elsewhere. Among staff, the security and janitorial folks are fae friends who came to the city to try things—I gave them positions since they don't have high formal educations. The rest are regular humans we hired."
Caleb let out a huge sigh of relief. If he really was the only human in the office, he might have handed in his resignation on the spot. The fae concentration here was a little much—even if he knew no one meant harm.
Elliot had been very modest.
He was the big boss, after all.
But because of Starline's special circumstances, any fae hired had to pass a screening from the Supernatural Affairs Bureau before they could officially work. Otherwise, Elliot joked, he'd have moved his whole clan in.
(Note: author's note omitted)