Chapter 10
~Lucas’s POV~
I couldn’t deny the rush of excitement I felt at seeing my friend after such a long time but the moment I watched the Corsetti brothers being dragged away the smile fell from my face and I turned to Carson, completely serious now. Pleasantries were over.
I could tell he noticed the change in my mood because his hand fell from my shoulder and the amusement left his face.
“I suppose now would be as good a time as any for you to explain why you brought them here.” Carson said, “Let’s go up to my quarters.” He went on and after a quick glance over my shoulder at Adrian and the others, I followed quietly behind the Alpha.
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“So you’re telling me you’re in a relationship with a criminal.” It wasn’t a question and I knew that from the look he was giving me that it wasn’t something he would easily understand.
“Come on Carson, you of all people should know that you can’t help who you fall for.” I said. I didn’t mention the fact that I got into it with Adrian before I had really felt any deep emotions toward him.
“No no no, wolves don’t have a choice in the matter, our mates are preordained, you could choose and you chose a drug dealer for God’s sake.” He said, looking at me almost as if he was offended by the news.
“Yeah well that can’t be helped now anyway. I fell in love and now I’m stuck with him.” I said quietly running my hand through my hair for about the tenth time that day. It was the first time I had admitted my love for Adrian to another person and it wasn’t exactly a freeing experience.
Carson was silent for a moment and I adjusted myself in the chair to look around his dining room, it had been so long since I’d seen the place but it hadn’t changed a bit.
“So why bring him here? Are you trying to tell me he’s changed then?” he questioned, looking skeptical and I shook my head.
“No, I confronted him about what happened with Thomas and he said he wasn’t directly responsible.” I told him and continued on before he could get another word in. “ He assured me that he ordered his men to stand down early this morning so no one should bother your pack.”I finished.
“Okay but that still doesn’t tell me why he’s in my territory.” He said without malice and I inwardly cringed. This is where I’d have to lie.
“He’s here because he wants to be, he said he wanted to visit and I tagged along.” the lie left a bitter taste in my mouth and Carson didn’t seem convinced. Of course he wasn’t, he wasn’t an idiot after all, my story didn’t add up, but he didn’t question my integrity.
“So you’re asking me to let three drug dealers roam free in my camp, just like that?”
“I swear they won’t cause any trouble, I’ll make sure of it. Adrian may be a criminal but he knows what you all mean to me, he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our relationship, trust me.” I said with sincerity, silently praying that he’d believe me because if he didn’t this would not end well for either side.
“You do realize he has the camp surrounded right?” Carson asked after brief contemplation but he didn’t let me answer, “The only reason I’m even taking your assurances into consideration is because he hasn’t made any trouble since the moment he got here.” He told me and my eyes widened.
“You knew he had the place surrounded and you still arrested him? What if his men had retaliated?” I questioned, brows furrowed.
“I had about a dozen guns pointed at each of them, if his men had tried anything he’d be dead, plus they’re not much of a match for an army of werewolves, I think he was trying to feel me out. He knew I wouldn’t mess with his men because in turn I’d lose a few of mine and by allowing me to arrest him; he was trying to show me that he meant no harm. One thing for certain Lucas, your mate’s smart, I’ll give him that.”
I smiled despite the seriousness of the situation. Yeah he was.
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~Marcus’s POV~
“Then if this wasn’t all a set up, why did Lucas allow them to arrest us?” Scottie asked and with the patience I’d never had, Adrian answered Scottie’s question calmly.
“Think about it Scottie, werewolves are concerned with protecting their pack, three criminals walk in unannounced, do you think they’re going to greet us with open arms?” Adrian asked and Scottie seemed to think about it for a second.
“But Lucas is friends with the Alpha, he could have done something.” Scottie continued and I sighed in annoyance. Scottie really needed to start thinking ahead.
“One thing you need to understand brother, is that in a wolf pack, the only thing that takes precedence is rules. No one cares if you’re friends with someone higher up the ranks, no one cares if you made a mistake and no one gives a shit who you are to the Alpha. You break a rule, you get punished. So in this situation, a bunch of criminals enter their territory, those criminals will be dealt with, questions only come later. Understood?” Adrian asked again and this time Scottie nodded.
“What was the point of your guards if we’re not even going to use them and wouldn’t them seeing the wolves blow the pack’s cover?” my little brother continued to question Adrian and I pushed up from my seat around the small table and walked to the other end of the small room.
We’d been in here for almost two hours already and we had yet to hear from anyone on the outside. The room had a small window that only a squirrel could pass through and a solitary door in the centre that was no doubt guarded by one of Carson’s men.
“It was to make a statement Scottie.” I answered, “ It’s protocol, whenever we enter a country we gather paid allies, it’s us telling our enemies that no matter where we are, and no matter how unfamiliar the territory we have links and we’re never without protection so if they try something it can’t end well for them. As for the pack, it was a risk we had to take. The humans will probably think they’re real wolves. I doubt they say them shift.” I finished, moving back to my seat and slowly lowering myself into it.
“He’s right, we made the call before we left London, it’s a simple scare tactic, so they know that even in their territory we have power.” Adrian finished, fidgeting with his watch and I knew that despite his outer calm, he was still a bit uncomfortable. So was I, we’d never allowed our own arrest before and this in and of itself could go either way.
“But what if Carson had attacked our men, then what?”
“He wouldn’t have, he has a pack to protect he’s not going to go blindly into war.” I explained
“War? I would hardly call it war, we barely have enough men out there to make a dent in their defenses.” Scottie scoffed and I sighed again. We really needed to take him out with us more often. He didn’t understand a thing about our operation.
“Those men are but a warning, we have others on standby all over the state, that’s how it works. One phone call and we have ourselves a war zone. We didn’t make it to the top with idle threats and bad decisions boy, remember that.” Adrian explained and finally Scottie felt satisfied enough with our answers to he kept quiet.
This waiting around was just about pissing me off. Wolves. I couldn’t stand them! A pack of bloodthirsty beasts that’s all they were. The sooner Adrian got his head out of his ass the sooner we could leave this fucking place. I’d be counting the seconds.
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~Lucas’s POV~
We were finally making our way to the holding room and I could only hope that none of the brothers did anything stupid. I’d done all I could to convince Carson to let them go, they messed it up that was it.
“You’re just gonna let them out? I can’t believe this!” Grady was telling Carson and despite the fact that I didn’t like him much I sympathized with his predicament.
Carson had explained to me everything that had happened that led up to his phone call a few days ago. The gist of it was that Grady had been ‘recruited’ by local drug dealers a few years back in order to help out his mother- now an alcoholic in rehab- with the bills and other amenities.
Carson had told me the horrors Grady had had to deal with while he’d been dealing and he’d ended up having to leave it all behind after Thomas got shot a few months back trying to protect him. It hadn’t been pretty and it all stemmed from Adrian’s operation, so the fact that he was so against them now was understandable.
Just the thought of how Adrian’s operation negatively affected so many people had me once again reevaluating my relationship status. I’d known what I was getting into from the get go but somehow the implications hadn’t hit me until very recently.
I didn’t know how many times it had entered my mind since then to somehow get him to change, but I had to. If what we had had any chance of surviving he needed to quit and as impossible as it sounded even to my own ears, I had to try. I loved him and so I had to try.
“How can you be in a relationship with that guy? He’s a criminal.” Grady said turning to me when Carson ignored his outburst.
“And you think it didn’t make you a criminal when you were dealing drugs for him? There are no levels to criminality. Either you are one or you’re not and just because you’re no longer running with that crowd doesn’t mean you never did.” I said firmly and that shut him up instantly.
I watched as his mouth tightened and he looked away from me and as we walked, Thomas reached up to touch a hand to his mate’s shoulder. Grady didn’t acknowledge him.
We walked on.
In such a short time I was coming to understand his personality, one minute he’d be pissed as hell and the next he was bubbling with excitement. Take now for instance; one minute he’d been pissed at us for even thinking of setting The Corsetti brothers free and now he was grumbling to Thomas about another matter entirely.
“I just don’t understand why she had to ground him. So he missed curfew by two hours, big deal.” Grady was saying and Thomas shook his head, clearly amused.
“Grady you convinced him to go all the way to the city with you, you stayed out for two and half hours over his curfew and he didn’t call his parents to let them know he was fine, what do you think would happen?” Thomas asked but Grady scoffed at his words.
“Why does he even have a curfew, he’s seventeen, his parents are too damn protective I mean come on midnight is too early for a curfew.” He went on and as I listened I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my lips. Then curiosity got the better of me.
“Who are you guys talking about?”
“Laken, his mom grounded him two nights ago.” Grady said, all traces of earlier annoyance with me gone.
My heart jumped at the name and I had to swallow hard to displace the lump that had formed in my throat. I was so nervous to see him again. There had been no mention of him since my arrival and I’d assumed he’d just show up at some point throughout the day.
I looked at Carson who appeared completely calm as he walked with us to the holdings.
“Couldn’t you get him out of it though Carson, I mean you’re the Alpha, just tell his parents to un-ground him or something.” I said to the Alpha and he shrugged.
“I prefer not to interfere in the private lives of my pack. That’s between Laken and his parents.” Carson said simply and when I looked at Thomas he shrugged.
“So you just allowed him to get dragged to the city with this guy?” I gestured to Grady who’s eyes narrowed, “Where were you during all of this?” I asked in surprise.
“Laken’s free to do whatever he chooses Lucas, and Grady knows that if he’d let anything happen to him he’d have me to deal with so it was fine.” Carson went on and I looked at Grady who was now idly picking a piece of lint off his shirt.
“Well that’s new, when I was living here you wouldn’t let him out of your sight.” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s because you were living here.” He said without looking at me and Thomas chuckled. I rolled my eyes.
“So when’s he free to leave?” I asked casually. I was nervous to see him yet I was dying to see him.
“I tried to go up and see him but his mom wouldn’t let me, said he won’t be out until tomorrow. She thinks I‘m a bad influence. I mean come on do I look like a bad influence to you?” Grady asked dramatically, hands flying into the air to give it effect.
“You don’t look like a bad influence Grady, you are a bad influence.” Thomas was saying to him and when Grady stopped short, arms folded and glaring up at him.
Thomas grabbed his arm pulling him away from us. “Let’s go home. I’m starving.” he said as he pulled him down the street, Grady went willingly.
“Shouldn’t Thomas be there when you’re talking to them?” I asked Carson when the couple was out of earshot and he shook his head.
“He has other duties to attend to.” was all he said.
When we finally made it to the room, the guards manning the door nodded in acknowledgement to their Alpha and stepped aside. The scene we walked into seconds later was somber at most.
The light in the room wasn’t bright enough to read in, a solitary table stood in the centre with four chairs around it, three of which were occupied. Scottie had his cheek pressed against the table, his eyes closed in sleep. Marcus was standing at the far corner of the room, his arms crossed and judging from the turn of his mouth and narrowed eyes, he wasn’t pleased.
Adrian sat on the chair next to Scottie, his fingers running through his brother’s hair in a soothing motion. The twins looked up when we entered but Scottie remained asleep on the desk, completely unaware of our presence.
“I was wondering when I’d get the chance to meet the famous Carson.” Adrian said softly. His voice was calm but his expression was that of amusement.
Carson looked at him, his face hard and eyes glinting. “Now listen to be and listen well Corsetti. I’m allowing you and your brothers free pass to roam my territory only because of Lucas.” He said “The moment you step out of line that’s it, you and your brothers are going down.” Carson finished and Adrian pushed up from his seat.
Carson wasn’t finished. “Just one more thing. Call off your men, we don’t need armed criminals prowling around outside the camp.” He said then stood watching Adrian as if daring him not to comply.
“No problem.” Was his answer and Carson nodded.
“You’re free to stay in the guest house I’ll have one of my men show you the way.” He said then exited the way he came in.
I turned back to the three, biting my lip not quite sure what to say.
“Is he okay?” I asked nodding my head to Scottie who still had yet to open his eyes and Adrian nodded.
“He’s tired.” Marcus answered from his corner and I watched as he walked over to where his little brother lay, shaking him gently awake.
Adrian’s eyes were fixed on mine and when he walked around the table and came to a stop in front of me, my eyes automatically drifted to his lips. Upon seeing this he smiled and I backed away from him.
“Shall we?” I asked indicating the open door and Adrian nodded, moving past me to walk out the door, by then Scottie had finally awoken and sat in a daze, his eyes and face red from sleep.
“They’re letting us out now? Finally.” He said and it dawned on me, not for the first time how completely innocent Scottie was. He wasn’t pissed or disgruntled. He wasn’t annoyed or particularly unhappy after everything that had happened. He just wanted to know whether they were all free to leave. He really didn’t belong in his brothers’ world.
“Yeah we’re going over to the guest house.” I said and with Marcus bringing up the rear, we all made our way out the door and down the street to the place we were expected to stay for the time being.
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~Marcus’s POV~
“Carson said Rivers is bringing us some food in a few minutes.” Lucas announced much later after we had gone through the task of picking our rooms and unpacking our clothes.
“Who’s Rivers?” Scottie asked from his perch on the arm of the chair.
“He used to be with Thomas, you know, before he mated with Grady.” Lucas explained, then before Scottie could comment any further, he went on, “There’s just one thing you should know. He’s a bit…” he trailed off as if searching for the word.
“A bit..?” Scottie prompted him.
“Flamboyant…ah effeminate, I guess you’d call it, but he’s a cool guy, just not really too manly, so be nice.” Lucas said and it didn’t take me long to realize he was talking to me. As if I went around terrorizing people on a daily basis.
Before I could make a comeback however, the door bell rang and Lucas stood.
“That’s probably him right now.” He said and I pushed up as well.
“I’m going for a walk.” I announced to no one in particular and made my way to the back door. I’d had enough of those damned werewolves for one day, having to make idle conversation with someone who was not only a wolf but an ostentatious one at that, didn’t particularly sit well with me.
I heard the visitor’s voice as I pushed though the back door. It was almost high pitched, overly excited and it was already giving me a headache. When the door closed softly behind me I walked the distance that would lead me into the forest not far away. I needed some time to myself.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
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