Chapter 5

~Marcus’ POV~

The room was quiet, the air was one of dejection and the two men standing before me weren’t exactly what you would call rays of sunshine. Thomas moved to stand by the window then, looking out into the dark night while Grady watched him; the concern etched deep in his features.

It certainly wasn’t the best of situations, in fact, had I been a similar position I still had no idea what I would have done. Marcus Corsetti; the logical thinker, the mastermind behind the best of plots; the brain, yet when it came to this I was at a loss.

“I shouldn’t have come here.” Thomas muttered then; quite possibly the most sensible thing he’d said all night. Grady as expected didn’t agree.

“Don’t start with that crap dude, you’re fi-“

Thomas spun to face him then, mouth drawn in a thin hard line, eyes tight. “Don’t say I’m fine, you and I both know that’s bullshit.” He roared at his mate who stood his ground.

“Thomas it’s just a few scrapes; I get ten times worse than this on the soccer field; you’re overreacting.” I allowed them to continue their argument, though it was pointless and quite frankly a waste of my time.

I moved to sit in the chair opposite them, making myself comfortable as I awaited my turn to speak.

“Overreacting? I’m hurting you Grady! I can’t touch you anymore without worrying that I might accidentally rip your fucking head off...how is that overreacting?” he blazed.

“Stop being such a wuss, you’re the only one making a big deal out of this, it doesn’t matter what you think, you won’t really hurt me, you can’t, so can we just stop worrying about this for once?”

I looked between the two; well it was certainly a destructive relationship they had going, but then I thought of my brother Adrian and his lover; maybe destructive wasn’t quite the word I was looking for….

Thomas shook his head as if to clear it and took a breath. “I swear Grady sometimes you can be such an idiot. I’m losing control of my wolf. Every day I have to literally tell myself that I won’t hurt anyone, that I’m in control and no matter how hard I try I still slip.”

Grady’s eyes narrowed: “Adrian has the same problem and he’s perfectly fine!”

“Adrian isn’t a werewolf; he’s a shape shifter which means he doesn’t get the same urge to shift as I do: I can’t just live my life never shifting; I’d go mad!” he continued.

I wondered briefly if the hotel staff were on their way up, I could barely hear my own thoughts over the racket they were making.

“And clearly my situation is different from Adrian’s, I’m losing control even in my human form.” He threw up his hands in frustration then turned away from his mate; falling silent.

I glanced down at my watch, uncrossed my legs and pushed up from my seat. “Well as entertaining as this has been I’d like to say my piece and get back to my mate.” I began and when neither of them glanced my way, I proceeded anyway.

“It’s clear that you’re getting worse Thomas and as much as you wish that wasn’t the case Grady, it is. As you requested, I haven’t told Rivers-“

“And that’s another thing, why can’t we tell Rivers? It’s not fair that we’re leaving him out of the loop, he’s going around thinking you’re abusive.” Grady shot at Thomas, cutting me off mid-sentence.

My eyes narrowed.

“I don’t want anyone else knowing.” Thomas said simply and Grady rolled his eyes.

“As I was saying,” I continued, “I haven’t told Rivers partly because you asked me not to, but mostly because he has this thing where he thinks he has to help everyone and if he finds out, that’s exactly what he’ll try to do and as it stands I don’t want him near you.” I spoke seriously.

When Grady opened his mouth to interrupt once more, I held up my hand and continued.

“I’m not trying to offend you Thomas but you’re not in control of yourself right now and I can’t have my mate getting hurt. I wish I could help you, but even this is beyond me and at the end of the day, friendship or not, Rivers has to come first which means we can’t continue Pack Fest with you.” I finished

They remained silent and I watched as Thomas contemplated my words. “I’ll even go on to suggest that you forget about Pack Fest this year and try to deal with yourself; people could get hurt.” I didn’t have much more to say beyond that and so I made my way over to where he stood and offered my hand.

Without hesitation he took it and we shook hands briefly. “Good luck.” I told him and when he nodded I turned and left the room without a backward glance. I honestly hoped Thomas would get better and if I was a praying man I’d be on my knees, but despite the fact that he was a good friend; sometimes you had to make tough decisions and like I’d told Thomas, Rivers’ safety would always come first.

I decided to stop by the bar in the hotel lounge before I went up to face my ill-tempered mate and as soon as I sat, I was practically attacked by some woman I’d never seen before. She took her place on a stool beside me and offered me a saucy smile.

“By me a drink?” were her first words and throwing caution to the wind I did, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do because the moment the bartender handed her the glass her mouth took over.

Rivers could talk, but this human was a whole another cup of tea all together. She spilled her drink at one point and laughed before offering me that same smile from earlier and I wondered if this was the kind of thing straight men found attractive. She hadn’t constructed an intelligent sentence since the moment she sat down and the more she spoke the more annoyed I became.

“Excuse me.” I said politely yet cutting off whatever she was about to say and pushed up from the stool. I exited the lounge, drink in hand and made my way to the deserted pool side where I could think.

I looked into the pool, taking in the stillness of the water.

For whatever reason Thomas was losing control of himself; the wolf in him slowly taking over. Adrian was the only other case of any similarity that anyone had heard of and even then the cases differed greatly.

 I took a sip of the amber liquid.

I wondered how it must feel to be losing control of yourself like that; to the point where you could hurt your own mate, then I wondered what I would have done in a similar situation. Would I leave Rivers to keep him safe or stay and try to fight it out?

Adrian had been lucky. As long as he didn’t shift he had complete control of himself but Thomas? It was a strange case indeed.

“He’s gonna get better.”

I didn’t turn to face Grady when he approached the pool side. “I never said he wouldn’t.”

“What he’s going through is only temporary and even if it isn’t, I don’t care. Thomas will always be the same and he’d never really hurt me, you think a few scrapes are gonna scare me away from him?” Grady was angry, I could feel the emotion pouring off him in waves.

“Is there a reason you came to tell me all this?” I asked calmly before taking another sip of my drink. It was as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words.

There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “There are only three people out there that Thomas trusts enough to listen to; Carson is one of them and he hasn’t even told him what’s going on, I’m the next and he’s shutting me out and then there’s you and the moment you told him he’s putting people in danger he’s all ears.”

I had yet to face him but I wouldn’t need to look at his expression to know that he was hurt by the situation. What I didn’t understand was why he’d chosen to come to me with all this. Me; who he clearly couldn’t stand to be around.

“And I’ll ask again, is there a reason you came to tell me all this?”

I could just imagine his anger. “Yeah it’s because of you Thomas decided he’s gonna go back home. If you hadn’t put all this shit in his head he wouldn’t-”

I turned to face him. “Thomas has a mind of his own, the only reason he would choose to go home is because he thought about what I’d said and decided it made sense. He made the right decision and when he get’s there, it would be in his best interest to let Carson know what’s been going on.”

“Keep in mind that Carson is the Alpha, the second he tells him, he’ll suspend Thomas’ Beta duties and then what will Thomas have? He’s already losing control of his body, it’ll kill him to lose his position too.” I could see the worry in his eyes, the determination in his stance as he stood there fists clenched; mouth set.

“He’ll resume his duties the minute he’s back to normal and in any case; he can’t hope to lead a pack in his condition. Trust me Grady, this is best for him. Maybe Carson will be able to help or find someone who can.”

He stood glaring at me for a few seconds then he seemed to lose his very spirit. I watched his shoulders slump and he lowered his gaze.

“He doesn’t want me to go back with him.” he said softly and when he wouldn’t meet my eyes, I finally understood why we were even having this conversation. He needed someone to talk to and I was the only one available.

“He wants to keep you safe.”

“I’m not some wimp, I can handle myself, and like I said, he wouldn’t really hurt me. I know him better than anyone.”

“Well then it looks like you have a decision to make.”

He was silent for a moment then he met my eyes unflinchingly. “What would you do?” he asked and I could see it took every ounce of strength to bury his pride to ask me.

I didn’t need to think on the answer, if it was Rivers in that position or any of my brothers for that matter… “I’d go with him, show my support.” I said simply and he nodded.

“His flight is before day break, I gotta go buy a ticket. Tell Rivers…tell him I’ll call when we land.” He said and turned to go. I watched him until he disappeared around the corner, then I drained my drink and deposited the empty glass onto the nearest ledge.

………………………………..

 Our suite was dark when I got back. I kicked off my shoes, dropped my jacket onto the back of a chair before entering the bedroom where Rivers, not surprisingly, was still awake, sitting up in bed and flipping through a magazine, using the illumination from the moon- which was streaming through the open window- as light.

“You smell like perfume.” Was the first thing he said when I entered. He had yet to look at me, just continued flipping through the magazine with an expression akin to boredom.

“Yeah I just got back from a tryst with my mistress.” I said drily then watched in amusement as he tried to hide a grin. I pulled my shirt over him head and the pants were next.

“Where’ve you been?”

I paused, “Telling you that’ll probably just piss you off even more.” I commented and moved to climb onto the bed, but the moment my knee grazed the silken sheets a pillow came hurtling my way, smacking me in the chest.

“You’re sleeping on the couch.” He said in a huff and I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”  I got in and watched as he sprang out, grabbing the pillow he’d just been resting on.

“Then I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I sighed. He was the biggest drama queen if I’d ever known one. I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back, watching him struggle to be freed. “No one’s sleeping on the couch, come here.”

He didn’t put up much of a fight but when I had him securely trapped beneath me, he glared at me with such defiance only Rivers could muster. I chuckled and when he looked away I grew serious.

“Name one time I’ve lied to you. One time I’ve given you a reason not to trust me.” I said quietly. He froze, then turned his gaze back to me slowly.

“Let me up.”

“You can’t answer can you?”

“Let me up.” He gritted again and I relented, allowing him to sit up and move a short distance away from me.

“You’re just trying to make me feel guilty. You’ve been keeping things from me Marcus, you’re the one in the wrong, not me.” he accused.

“I’ll say it once more and then I’m done defending myself. It’s not my secret to tell. I’m not about to break their trust just because you feel left out. I’ve given you no reason not to trust me, so when I say Thomas isn’t abusing Grady I don’t get why you can’t accept it.” I allowed the annoyance to creep into my tone and he bristled, turned away from me and pulled the blanket over his body.

He said nothing more and neither did I. I allowed ten minutes to pass, then fifteen.

“Why is it such a big secret then? Why did they tell you and not me?” he mumbled after a while.

“Because it’s their business who they choose to tell. “ I said simply and finally he rolled around to face me, lips turned down in that cute little pout only he could pull off and I smiled, moving to touch his face.

“You’re too nosy for your own good.” I told him then leaned in to steal a kiss on his lips, cheek, nose, chin until he was smiling up at me and I knew all was forgiven.

                                            AUTHOR'S NOTES

IF YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN KEEPING UP-TO-DATE WITH MY MESSAGES AND TWEETS, YOU'LL KNOW THAT I'VE HAD WRITER'S BLOCK FOR THIS PARTICULAR STORY FOR A WHILE NOW. FOR WHATEVER REASON MY INSPIRATION IS LACKING, BUT I TRIED MY BEST AND THIS IS ALL I COULD SQUEEZE OUT.

I'M HOPING I'LL GET MY INSPIRATION BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE THIS STORY.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT TO READ MY WORK.

If you do any fan art for any of my characters lemme know so we can all fangirl over them!

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.