Chapter 16
~Adrian’s POV~
We were out the house before Rivers could even ask what was wrong. My mind was reeling at the news, alternating between thinking Thomas was mistaken to wondering if it was all a joke.
Scottie? Mated? My baby brother? It was more than just hard to believe. It was… I didn’t even have a word for it.
A few days ago we were in London, Scottie had never even travelled to this country before and now he was mated to a wolf? I lengthened my stride, needing to see for myself if it was true.
I suppose I shouldn’t even be surprised, it was Scottie after all, something interesting was bound to happen to him but really what were the odds? His first trip to the country, first time visiting a pack and bam! His life was changed forever.
“There they are.” Lucas announced.
Not far in front of us was a small group of people. The only other person I recognized apart from Scottie was Thomas…and of course there was Marcus as well, standing beside Scottie looking like he wouldn’t mind committing a homicide right then.
It wasn’t until we were only a few feet away that I realized that Scottie was holding his hand gingerly, wincing a little as the pack doctor who had prescribed my meds, prodded his limp arm.
What was stranger I thing though, was the girl sitting on his right, her brows furrowed with concern and her eyes wide as saucers as she gazed up at my little brother. If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say that was the ‘mate’ Lucas had mentioned and suddenly it was all becoming too real.
“What happened?” I asked as soon as we were close enough. Everyone glanced up at me but ‘the girl’ was the only one to answer.
“He broke his arm.” She offered, a blush blooming on her face and I raised an eyebrow in askance.
“It’s a looong story.” Scottie added then winced again when the doc prodded his arm yet again.
“She tripped, he tried the catch her, fell instead and broke his arm. Not much of a long story.” Marcus spoke up and Scottie blushed.
“You must be Adrian then.” The girl said stretching out a hand in greeting and I grasped it briefly.
“And you are?”
“Your sister in law.” She said with a grin and Marcus swore.
“You’re not his mate, he’s a shifter not a bloody wolf, he doesn’t have a mate, so why don’t you go mess around with someone else’s head.” Marcus growled but the ‘mate’ didn’t back down under his glare.
“You have a lot of pent up issues Marcus, you really need to share it with someone otherwise it’ll eat you alive.” She said it more as if it was her professional opinion rather than an insult but I wasn’t surprised Marcus saw it that way.
He lounged and would have probably gone in for the kill if Thomas hadn’t jumped in front of her, baring his own teeth at Marcus.
“It’ll be in your best interest not to mess with any member of my pack Marcus. She says he’s her mate, then he’s her mate. Grady is human yet we’re still mated. There’s no set rule to this thing.” Thomas soothed but Marcus only blanched and the discomfort from my own bruised body had me moving to sit down under a nearby tree, not sure if I wanted to deal with any quarrelling right then.
Lucas followed suit, plopping himself on the ground beside me so that out legs and arms brushed against each other.
“What are the odds huh? That you’d find your mate in my pack.” Lucas said with a grin at Scottie who grinned back before his eyes rested on the girl at his side. She blushed and I shook my head.
Young love and all that…it had been awhile since I’d seen anyone so fresh and excited from the discovery of it. Scottie was practically bursting with excitement and the girl at his side looked like she’d eat his head off right then and there if he’d let her.
I could never really understand the whole mating thing. I mean you were essentially forced into loving someone you’d only once set your eyes on, with absolutely no say in the matter. Ludicrous. And yet it had happened to my brother.
“Now you have a pack?” Marcus shot Lucas, but he chose to ignore the question instead turning to watch the new ‘couple’.
“So you tried to save her life, she laid eyes on you and now you’re mates?” I asked, more out of curiosity into the events of the day than any real fascination.
“It was hardly saving a life, the most she would have done was fall flat on her face.” Marcus commented in a bored tone and Scottie shot him a quelling look.
“I can’t believe this is actually happening, this is insane.” The girl said, her eyes dancing, “I never thought I’d find my mate, I mean it’s been a whole two years since my eighteenth birthday.” She continued and Thomas smiled indulgently, like a little father hen…or father wolf or whatever the term people used nowadays.
“You don’t even know each other and after just an hour you’re in love?” Marcus criticized.
“That’s how mating works…eventually we’ll get to know each other.” Scottie said as if he was suddenly the expert on wolf mating rituals.
“Good luck with that, we’re not welcome here thanks to Adrian and we’re not taking her with us.” He said critically and both Scottie and the girl’s heads shot up.
“What? We can’t leave, I just met her!”
“Precisely, you just met her so you’ll get over it.” He told him.
“Marcus you know how wolves mate, they can’t just get over it.” I added my two cents and raised an eyebrow when Marcus shot me one of his ‘shut the fuck up’ looks.
“In light of the change in circumstance we might consider letting you all stay it just depends on-” the ringing of his phone had him breaking off midsentence to answer it and we all watched as Thomas moved a few steps away from us to take the call.
“See everything’s good.” Scottie said cheerfully despite his injury and the girl beside him was just about bursting with emotion.
“It doesn’t matter if they’ll let us stay or not, we’re leaving today, so I’d suggest when you’re done with this” he said gesturing to Scottie’s arm, “you go pack your stuff.”
“Why are you always treating me like a kid? This is big Marcus, I’m mated.” He said seriously.
Marcus actually rolled his eyes. “She’s messing with your head boy, when are you gonna see it? that’s what wolves do, you’re not her mate, she doesn’t love you and we’re leaving today whether you like it or not.”
“He is my mate and of course I love him, I’ve been waiting for him for my whole life and I’m not letting you take him away from me.” The girl shouted getting as territorial as you’d expect a werewolf to get.
I watched as she jumped up from her perch beside Scottie, and Marcus unfolded his arms as she moved toward him but before any real damage could be done, Scottie moved between them, wincing when his injured arm bounced against his leg and the doctor gave him an exasperated look.
“I’m not going anywhere, just because you’ve never been in love doesn’t mean this isn’t the real thing.” He said and Marcus took a step toward him,
“Is that how you talk to me now Scottie? You’ll abandon your own flesh for this…this…beast?” he asked and a gasp went up from the other wolves nearby who seemed shocked by his words. Even Lucas stiffened beside me and I sighed, pushing up from my spot, ready to break up their little fight.
Scottie looked stricken, “I’m not abandoning you, I just want to stay here and maybe you guys can stay here with me too.” He said, almost pleading with Marcus to somehow understand his wishes but Marcus wasn’t having it.
“I knew we shouldn’t have come here, but you and your selfish needs caused this Adrian.” Marcus said turning on me…the innocent bystander… simply because Scottie had chosen to disobey him for the first time in his life.
Lucas jumped up right then coming to stand beside me and I could tell without looking that the look he was giving Marcus was nowhere near polite.
“Tell him we’re leaving.” Marcus commanded and Scottie straightened up a little grabbing hold of the girl’s hand as he looked at me apprehensively.
We all knew that Scottie wouldn’t stand a chance if I told him we had to leave. The boy would follow me to the ends of the earth and back even if it meant losing everything he loved, that’s just always been the type of relationship we had and as I looked at my little brother I knew that’s one command I wouldn’t be making.
I’d been wanting him to settle down for awhile now. He was young but the constant stream of women in his life was going to be his down fall and this new development would certainly put a stop to it.
“He’s in love, why should we force him to leave?” I asked Marcus and Lucas and Scottie both looked at me in surprise.
I could tell they had been expecting a different response.
Marcus chuckled, “I should have known you’d be like this. You’ve changed since you met him.” He said and I knew he was talking about Lucas. “You’ve gotten weak, just like I said you would and now you’re dragging Scottie down with you.” He said and if it was anyone else I would have felt insulted but I was used to Marcus’s attitude. It would take more than I could give him to get him to change.
“You should be happy for him Marcus, put your prejudices aside and support your brother. He needs us.” I told him simply but he wasn’t having it.
“You’d let him stay here?” he gestured to our surroundings, “He’s not like them, he’ll get hurt.” He admitted and could see the concern in his eyes.
“They might not like us but he’s more safe here than anywhere else. He’s mated to one of their own, he’ll be fine.”
He shook his head and his expression remained cold and distant as he walked the distance to stop directly in front of me.
When he reached a hand up to cup my cheek I drew in a breath of surprise. Marcus very rarely showed me affection. His eyes softened then. “You’re making a huge mistake Adrian and I won’t be around to watch you both fall.” He said then pulled away.
“The council wants a meeting with all of you.” Thomas said, putting his phone into his pocket and looking at the group of us expectantly.
I looked up at him, “What for?”
“You’ll find out when you get there.” was his only answer and he nodded his head in the direction of the far out buildings. The girl took a step forward, preparing to follow Thomas’s instruction. Her hand was on Scottie’s arms and she pulled him along with her.
“What about my hand?” he asked looking over at Thomas.
The girl looked at him in concern but Thomas shook his head. “They won’t keep you too long. Let’s go.” He said and they moved to follow him, Lucas waited by my side as I looked at Marcus, willing him to come with us but he stood his ground.
“The flight’s at seven, I’m leaving with or without you.” He said simply then took off in the opposite direction. Lucas took my arm before I could call out to him and I followed. Deciding I’d talk with him later. He’d see reason.
……………………………………
“We have gods in our presence” the chief elder said in mock salute, “The great Corsetti brothers, only I do believe you’re one short.” He continued sarcastically and I bristled.
“He’s leaving.” Thomas spoke up from where he sat to the right of Carson in the centre of the long table and the elder nodded.
“I must say I was just a little surprised when I learned you all had arrived in our camp.” He went on but no one spoke. “And led by Lucas of all people. Welcome back dear friend.” He greeted Lucas who simply nodded.
“I’m not interested in why you’re here but I think I speak for us all when I say you are not welcome.” He addressed me. “Your brother is mated to one of our own and so he may stay. However you may not.” He said and I glared up at him. This was proceeding far more quickly than I had thought it would.
I’d expected them to make a big deal out of it; a criminal mated to one of their own but their acceptance surprised me, even more so; their decision not to question why we were in their territory to begin with.
“You have twenty-four hours to leave, any lingering beyond that point will signal a threat and we will retaliate. He said and before could open my mouth to speak Thomas spoke up.
“His brother is not used to how we do things here and he’ll need a familiar face to help him get through the transition. I propose Adrian stays for as long as it take Scottie to adapt, then may leave.”
“Absolutely not...I will not allow a-”
“That’s final.” Carson spoke up, surprising me. I’d thought for sure that he’d be on the elder’s side. “It would be unreasonable to expect that he remains in an unfamiliar territory and expect to adapt without whatever help he can get. His brother is free to stay here with him within a reasonable frame of time.” He said.
The way they were discussing me, granting permission as if I was a child disgusted me and I found myself sneering at the Alpha.
“And what exactly would you call a reasonable time frame?’ I questioned cheekily.
“The amount of time a rational person, applying his mind to the circumstances would deem to be reasonable.” He said refusing to take the bait then Thomas spoke up once more.
“You break one rule and you’re gone, no questions asked.” He told me seriously, then “You may leave.” He gestured to the door at the back of the room and as we turned to go he spoke again. “Jessie, Scottie, a word please.” He said and they turned back to him, Scottie still clutching his injured hand and Jessie clutching his uninjured arm.
When the door closed behind me I found myself face to face with Rivers. He looked troubled for some reason but I couldn’t stop to deal with that.
“I heard Scottie’s been mated.” He said with a small smile and I nodded, moving past him.
“Look Rivers I’ll talk to you later okay? I’ve got to find Marcus.” I told him and he seemed to perk up instantly.
“I’ll come with you, I still can’t believe I haven’t met him yet.” he said and rather than explain to him that the last thing Marcus wanted was to meet was another wolf, I nodded and we set off to find him.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
MY NET IS STILL NOT BACK I HAD TO GO TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE TO UPLOAD. YOU GUYS KNOW I WOULD'NT HAVE TAKEN SO LONG WITHOUT A GOOD REASON, I APOLOGIZE.
-DoUbLe.A
-unedited.