The story has come to an end and I want to thank the readers who have supported the story and voted on every chapter as the updates got posted. I should have kept a list of the names but I didn't. You know who you are. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed the story and the ending leaves you feeling good about the characters. Smithy
3 months - St Julian's Bay, Malta
Adam pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed his towel. His back, arm and leg muscles felt the familiar satisfying stretch that only comes from doing laps. He couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed a swim so much. The days and weeks were passing quickly and he was losing track of time. Was it only three months since they left OZ, it seemed a lifetime ago? Giving his hair one last rub he tossed the towel over his shoulder and headed back to his table, oblivious to the eyes on him.
The female guests lounging around the pool with their bottle tans and micro bikinis watched the beautiful creature in a wet t-shirt and long board shorts stride across the patio, he was the embodiment of all their fantasies. The T-shirt clung to his biceps, pecs and abs, while the soft cloth of his shorts wrapped around his muscled thighs and accentuated the curve of his backside and crutch, molding his form underneath in the most erotic way. They enjoyed the view, seeing everything but nothing, imagining. From Adam's perspective, he'd simply worn his usual swimming gear which covered as many of his scars as possible. It never entered his mind he was desirable.
Under the shade of a huge stripped umbrella, he sagged into the chair and lazily took in the view across the pool and out over the small bay. They'd arrived in Malta the night before, and after a taxi ride that was more like a grand prix race, they'd arrived at their hotel in St Julian's. They had a room overlooking the bay and enjoyed their first evening meal on the balcony watching the fireworks and the nightlife streaming in different directions. The streets were packed with tourists, the restaurants full of customers, and music floated up to them until the early hours. It was as different from Ovington Square as night was from day. They finally went to bed and slept like babes, happy with their destination choice.
Adam's eyes moved over the other tables and sunbeds scattered around the pool. If he were to take a guess he'd say they were mostly Brits, mostly females of a certain age. It wasn't the sort of hotel that catered for families, you needed to have serious money to stay there. It took Adam a moment to realise a couple of women were smiling hopefully back at him. He quickly turned his attention back to his laptop.
Adam forced himself to concentrate, he needed to work out some new strategies and recoup the large chunk of his wealth he'd used before leaving London. Not wanting Paul to notice, Adam was trying to do it discreetly. It was rare that they weren't together so he was making the most of the time Paul went on his long runs.
A shadow fell across the table. Looking up he smiled at the young waiter standing in front of him.
"Would you like another drink, Sir?" The waiter waited politely. Adam wondered how many times a day he said the same thing.
"Why not? No ice this time please." The waiter returned the smile with one of his own, a little too big and as fake as most of the tans around the pool.
Collecting the empty glass he went back towards the outdoor bar on the other side of the long rectangular pool. Adam watched him walk away. For a male, he had a little too much sway to his stride and the trousers were too tight. The waiter was to everything, there was no subtly to his good looks. He was attractive but not handsome. Adam noticed all the waiters were alike as if the job required them to be young, swarthy, toned and available. He often found himself comparing men to Paul, no one came close. His mate was perfect.
As relaxing as the hotel was with every luxury imaginable, Adam looking forward to moving into a small villa they rented in Victoria, on the smaller island of Gozo later in the week. The plan was to spend the summer months quietly tucked away from the bustle of modern life, the opposite of the last few months in London. As much as he'd enjoyed the vibrancy of the city they needed to move on. Circumstances had made their life there increasingly difficult. Paul only knew half of it.
Adam sighed, his thoughts turned to darker things. He went back to work, betrayal and murder didn't come cheap.
He remembered reading somewhere that hindsight is how people torture themselves for making bad decisions. He couldn't image an outcome where he would regret what he'd done. But if the day came that he was found out, he was ready to take responsibility for his actions, because if he had let things run their course, the alternative would have been unthinkable. He would never allow it to happen.
Looking up Adam saw the waiter was coming towards him with a tray of drinks. Directly behind him Paul fell into step, long strides with a swagger and not a sway. The comparison between the two was like cheese and chalk. Paul looked every bit a Pureblood alpha and when his scent reached Adam his heart fluttered as it always did when his mate was around. Their eyes met and Adam smiled, even with the discoloration around his eye he was strikingly handsome, especially when he smiled. His beautiful upturned face made the waiter trip over his own feet thinking it was meant for him. The tray rattled when he stopped awkwardly at the table.
Paul smoothly sidestepped and sat down beside his mate, not missing the look on the waiter's crest-fallen face as he slid his arm around Adam's shoulder. He made a point of catching Adam's chin and kissing him quickly. The young man blushed with embarrassment, the glass he was placing on the table stilled in mid-air for a long moment.
"Your drink Sir." The waiter's voice came out higher than he would have liked. He'd enviously watched the kiss.
"Would you like a drink?" There was a chill in his tone. "Sir."
"A corona. Thank you." Adam couldn't help but smirk. There was nothing funnier than seeing his mate unreasonably jealous. He still hadn't gotten used to it and it amused him every time he saw that particular look cross Paul's face and the twitch that would start ticking along his jaw. It usually meant that at some point he'd be hauled off to bed for his mate to prove that he belonged to him, as if there was any doubt.
"You're turning green. Leave the poor guy alone. He's paid to be charming and smile at guests."
"Who's jealous?" Paul cocked an eyebrow and dismissed the idea.
Adam moved his chair closer, stroking his thigh under the table, and changed the subject. "How was your run?"
"My run was good. Got a nice sweat going." He pointed behind the hotel. "I went that way, one posh hotel after another. Found a casino we could go to tonight if you want to. I ended up at another small bay beyond that. It's a bit of a culture shock after central London but I like it."
They talked about nothing special, made plans for the rest of the day, and enjoyed watching the constantly changing view. Adam was glad to see that Paul was relaxed and the tension that had set in between them over the last few weeks had disappeared once they were away from London.
Close to midday, they returned to their room to shower before catching the bus to Valletta. The rest of day passed like a dream, walking up and down Republica Street and all its narrow side streets, all the way down to St Elmo's Fort and then back up again. Dinner was a makeshift picnic of the local pastry pastizzi and a couple of bottles of Kinnie, as they say, when in Rome. They sat on the steps if the Triton's Fountain and watched the world pass by. They were like every other tourists, stopping to take selfies to send to Constantine and Shaun. Along the way, Adam bought a couple of postcards of Queen's Square.
Back at the hotel and a cool bath later they went to bed. Paul devoured Adam from head to foot, like he was a delicious ice cream, There was something incredibly decadent, primal about having your lover know every part of you intimately. When Adam slipped between Paul's legs he made a point of taking him slowly, teasing him for as long as he could bear it. Loving the fact that he made the strong and powerful Paul Holt beg for release. Exhausted, tangled in each other's arms, with a cool night breeze and the muffled sounds from outside drifting in from the open window, they slept content and without a care in the world.
.....
Adam woke up to the sound of one ping after another coming from his phone. He checked the time, 3.45 a.m. What the hell? He grabbed his pants off the floor and quietly left the bedroom.
He poured himself a glass of wine and went out on the balcony. The phone pinged a few more times and finally went silent. There was no traffic noise and everyone had gone home. Looking down at the bay the bright yellow street lights swept around in a big curve after The Love Sculpture and disappeared behind the hotel. Every romantic human tourist posed for a selfie in front of the huge letters, with the colourful Luzzu boats as a background. Like everyone else he and Paul had grabbed a stranger to take a photograph of them, smiling and making peace signs at the camera.
Adam took a sip of wine and finally started to read Shaun's news. He read the first line and did a double-take. He re-read the short sentence several times just in case he was imagining things.
"Constantine and I are a thing. We're mates. Not like...Ga'day Mate!. Werewolf mate. eeeeek!"
Adam started to smile. His grin broadened with each sentence, until at the end of text number 9 when he'd read the complete story. The last message read. "He bit me and everything. He didn't tell me how much it was going to hurt....fuck me. And the sex well...thank God for prostrates or else that would be no fun at all. I'll call you when he's not around so I can tell you the ins and outs of it. See what I just did...the ins and outs. Love from Mrs. Constantine."
"You've got to be shitting me," Adam said out loud and sent a message back saying the same. Adam couldn't stop laughing. His surly Bound Wolf and his crazy dumb ass best friend, a human at that, were a couple, a done deal mated and marked. How the hell did that happen? Adam couldn't wait to see Paul's reaction when he told him.
Adam sent off messages to Shaun and Constantine congratulating them, then a couple of photos of their first day in Malta. He sat back, smiling to himself trying to take in the absurd turn of events.
He drank the last of the wine and other thoughts, less cheerful ones, started to creep into his head. Adam picked up his phone and went to the list of recent messages. He looked for the ones from "A". The last one was only one word. It was from two days ago, it said DONE. He went backward and deleted them all and then deleted "A" from his contact list.
It was at that moment that Adam realised that somewhere along the way he'd become stronger, capable of taking care of himself and the ones he loved, instead of the other way around. He didn't feel like a victim or useless anymore. Of all people, Adam had to thank Tallbridge for his personal growth as Shaun would say. For pushing him to grow a pair and take control and not sit around waiting to be saved.
The grotesque werewolf relentlessly stalked Adam for a month after their first meeting. Tallbridge and the hulk, Alfred, would suddenly appear beside him on the street, or corner him in a shop or at the gym. Sometimes he'd ask coyly about Paul as he was an old friend. Other times he'd make inane comments about the weather or some other stupid thing. He'd loiter around him, staring or smiling.
Tallbridge was creepy and menacing, in a child molester sort of way. He made Adam's skin crawl. As for his shadow Alfred, humans took one look at him and crossed the road. His pasty face and dead eyes were terrifying. He looked like a walking corpse. It took a couple of encounters for Adam to notice Alfred was hiding a silver collar under the scarf he always wore. He wasn't Tallbridge's henchman. Alfred was a slave.
When the were started leaving his scent around their building, marking his territory and gifts started arriving at their door Paul finally spoke up. "I know how his mind works. The worst thing you can do is react to him. He loves nothing better than knowing he's getting to you."
Paul pointed out that they would be moving soon and it wasn't worth starting something with a werewolf like Tallbridge. He was notorious for holding a grudge. Adam didn't press him to say more but it was obvious there was a lot more. He had his own way of finding things out these days. Their small group of gossipy friends came in handy, and what Barnes didn't know he could always find out. What information he gathered and passed on, made Adam realise the werewolf was far more dangerous than he thought. It explained, vaguely, the connection between Paul and Tallbridge but something big was missing. Paul wasn't the sort to hate someone so passionately without a good reason.
Adam took Paul's advice to heart and went about living his life, acting as if Tallbridge was nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around his head. Unfortunately, when seriously evil bastards like Tallbridge find someone they enjoy tormenting they don't get bored, they just keep upping the ante.
Adam went inside and closed the balcony doors, shutting out the world. The room was quiet and peaceful. He told himself he had no regrets, all he cared about was that Paul was sleeping in the next room safe and sound.
The tipping point came when Tallbridge appeared unexpectedly. The werewolf dropped into the seat beside Adam as he sat in a cafe near home. Anyone watching would have thought they were friends meeting for a chat over coffee. That day the smarmy bastard looked particularly pleased with himself and smiled graciously at the waitress as he ordered an Americano. Alfred squeezed his bulky frame into the chair opposite and glared at the humans who dared look in our direction.
"And how are we today?" He said sweetly, running his finger under Adam's chin before he could pull his face away. "I was thinking of you and here you are in all your glory." Tallbridge was so pleased with himself that he was gushing.
"I just had the most interesting conversation...about you." The werewolf's eyes were suddenly narrow and the smile turned into an unpleasant grin.
"You have been very naughty." Tallbridge's ridiculously posh accent was making Adam cringe. He was curious though as to where this conversation was heading. Adam could feel tension twisting his stomach.
"You have been a sly one." The werewolf said smugly. Adam was trapped in his seat. There was no escape unless he leapt over the table so he remained quiet. For the sake of having nothing better to do he stared at Alfred. His eyes landed on the inch of silver collar poking out from his scarf. Adam looked up to catch Alfred watching him, he didn't flinch and held his gaze. Alfred was the one whose eyes dropped in embarrassment. He pulled up the scarf to cover the collar.
The look he'd spotted in Alfred's eyes was what gave Adam the first clue that he may have found an ally.
"Soooo....sweet thing I've been calling you the wrong name all this time. It's not Daniel is it?" Adam's head turned sharply to look at Tallbridge.
He stopped himself from saying anything, not knowing how much the werewolf knew or guessed.
"It's Adam...right?" Tallbridge savored the name, savored the shock on Adam's face. "I think it suits you better. Adam Fischer, DEAD heir of the Fischer family."
True fear feels like fire, it rises from your belly and spreads out over your body until you can't move or breathe. Adam felt it rise in him, the fear and panic, the old feelings of helplessness were drowning him. Looking at the Were he saw his father's face, his brother's, and every other bully who had tortured him. Without realising his fingers restlessly ran over the scars on his hands. Adam looked at Alfred and saw something like recognition flicker in his eyes.
"Your family will be so pleased to hear that one of their sons is still alive and well. From what i hear your family is in disarray." The werewolf tilted his head from one side to the other. "I have no idea why they hid you away. You're utterly scrumptious." To rub salt into the wound Tallbridge squeezed Adams's thigh. Adam wanted to punch the smug bastard in the face.
"But.....as lovely as you are, you're not who I want." Alarm bells went off in Adam's head and if he was terrified before, he was now close to screaming the place down. "I want my Paulie. He got away from me once but not again." There was that damn secret again, the connection Paul refused to share with even his mate.
Adam realised that what Paul had told him was very true, the werewolf liked to play games, like control and making people suffer. And in this case, the game Tallbridge was playing was bigger and more malicious than he thought. He wasn't after Adam, he was using him as Paul's mate to try to pull his chain.
.....
Scheming was not Adam's forte, he kept it simple and used Tallbridge's predictability against him. Adam knew that a gift arrived after every encounter.
So as Alfred was carefully placing a small box at their door, Adam was waiting for him. The door opened and Alfred stumbled back in surprise. They looked at each other. Over time, at every meeting, Adam had watched Alfred carefully. He hoped that the conclusion he had come to was correct.
"I think we should talk," Adam said quietly, Goddess let me be right about this.
And luckily he had been. The two shared a peculiar bond, understanding., both victims. Both having lived their life dominated and under the control of others. Alfred, as terrifying as he looked had been beaten down time and time again. He was in constant pain from wearing the collar. The were was nothing more than a tamed beast. The trust between them fell into place naturally, they understood each other.
With little time Alfred explained that he had known Tallbridge since they were teenagers. Back then the simple-minded were had thought they were friends until the werewolf collared him. He'd been his slave ever since.
Adam asked about his interest in Paul and Alfred was able to fill in the gaps in the story having witnessed it all first hand. It became clear why Paul hated the werewolf so much. Tallbridge was the person responsible for sending the 11-year-old orphan to train as Oegenia Guardian, knowing full well it meant he would lose his manhood, his chance for a mate and family. All because the child had refused him. The werewolf was even more of a lowlife than Adam thought.
That was three weeks before they left for Malta and during those weeks the stalking continued, and the threats and demands became more urgent. Tallbridge was becoming angrier that Adam hadn't handed over Paul to save himself from being returned to his family. The werewolf's last threat scared Adam into action.
"If he can't choose perhaps I need to ask Paul himself....after all, I only wanted one night, one taste of him. I'm not being unreasonable." Adam felt the vomit rising to his throat as the slimy bastard smiled at him. "I'm sure he would save you from your family if I asked nicely."
There was no more time to be cautious. An offer was made, and accepted, a large portion of cash, shares and stocks were transferred. Adam just had to wait.
It came down to having nothing to lose, nothing to look forward to, and the offer of a future.
It was so simple. So quietly done that it only took a couple of minutes from beginning to end. Alfred came into the bedroom with the brady Tallbridge had each night. The werewolf was resting against the headboard reading when Alfred pressed the long silver blade into the werewolf's chest, directly into his cold black heart. They stared at each other, relief in one pair of eyes and surprise in the other. It was as simple as that. All the power Tallbridge had, all the years he thought he had to get richer, stronger, ended right there.
Alfred sent a text, picked up his small suitcase and left the building for the last time. He would drive to Dover catch the ferry to Calais, and disappear before the ship landed.
.....
Adam didn't much like the idea he had someone murdered, even if it was a scumbag but he hated the idea of losing his mate more. He had no regrets, he'd do it again if he had to.
Walking back into the bedroom his eyes fell on Paul spread across the bed, his gorgeous arse looking tempting as all hell. Adam climbed on the bed and gently kissed between his shoulder blades. Paul slowly rolled over and wriggled closer.
"Love you." Adam whispered as he settled in bed. Paul lay against his shoulder, his face turned up. His eyes flickered open for a second and he focused on Adam, he smiled and then went back to sleep.
The End.
Thanks for reading my book. I'm glad that every was happy to see Paul and the gang make another appearance. In the back of my mind I'm starting to imagine there might be a third book at some point in the future.