Chapter 18 Allies
eighteen
Allies
*MARCELLUS*
With Benjamin, Micah and Lucian planning everything for the arrival of our new pack and coven members, Silas and I can focus on meeting with Juniper.
We decide it’s best to have Durant meet with her.
They are both officially still working for Aloysius, so it’s safer for them to meet instead of accidentally being spotted with us.
We make sure to set Durant up with a bugging device so we can listen in to what’s being said.
They meet in a small, secluded coffee shop, while Silas and I decide to hide where the most people are: in a mall.
We are probably going to attract the least attention there, instead of acting totally ‘innocent’ by sitting in a car.
There is nothing more suspicious than two shady guys creeping around in a car.
I told that to Silas, and while he agrees with my reasoning, he wasn’t quite on board with being called shady.
“While we are already here,” Silas says to me as we step into the mall. “We may as well do some shopping. I want to prepare a special meal for our new pack and coven members.”
“Didn’t Sheila put together a regular kitchen team by now?” I ask. “She said she did.”
“Yes, and they are cooking the main dish, but I want to make some dessert,” he says.
“Whatever makes you happy. I won’t complain. I love any dessert,” I try to make the last part sound as dirty as possible, grinning when Silas just rolls his eyes at me.
“That’s what I get for having a young boyfriend,” he grumbles.
“At least I have stamina,” I state.
“Goodness,” Silas groans. “Let’s go and buy the groceries I need, before I change my mind and smack you back all the way to our car.”
For a moment, I contemplate joking about my hot old boyfriend wanting to wrestle with me, but then decide against it. We still have a mission to accomplish. And while Juniper and Durant are safe and it’s just a small exchange, it’s always better to be on alert.
Through our earpieces, we will be able to follow their exchange while we go shopping for Silas’s new cooking project.
I am not sure what exactly he is going to bake, but I’m still slightly surprised by how many ingredients he buys.
We even have to hit a special baking store for some unique supplies.
I am about to ask him what he is planning when I feel the hairs on my arms standing up slightly. What is that weird feeling? It’s like my skin is starting to crawl. Are we being attacked? Is someone following us?
He is here! Amos alerts me without further ado.
There is the hint of a well-known scent in the air. Amos doesn’t need to explain who it is; I immediately know by the scent.
Mask our scent! I blurt out, before I grab Silas by his arm and push him through the next best door I can find.
It’s a storage room for the cleaning personnel working here.
The space is tiny, and Silas frowns while we try to disentangle our limbs and try not to squish each other.
“I hope you have a good explanation for this!” he huffs while brushing a cobweb off his hair.
“I… I felt Eugene,” I admit.
Silas gazes at me. “Your brother is here?”
“Yes, I am not sure what he is doing here,” I admit. “It’s not close to my old pack.” I open the door slightly, peeking outside. As if in cue, I spot my brother walking past me. He is accompanied by a warrior, who looks familiar. Once I see his profile, I recognize him as Elliot, my old friend!
Can you sense Elliot’s power? I ask Amos.
Yes, he is definitely a ranked member. Probably beta.
Eugene made Elliot his beta? That’s something I never expected.
I thought he would choose one of his own friends.
Elliot was always a very smart and talented warrior, and I had my eyes on him as a future ranked member as well.
Eugene was against it, though, saying he was juvenile and a bit too laidback for the job.
Yet, he picked him for it!
They seem to talk briefly, and Elliot nods. Other than that, they don’t seem overly friendly with each other.
A bit weird, isn’t it? I ask Amos.
They were never close, Amos says. I am not surprised.
But he chose him as his beta.
That’s true, Amos mutters. Maybe he changed his mind and finally acknowledged Elliot’s talent.
I am not sure if I am convinced by that explanation. Maybe it was Dad and Floyd making a choice. I can only assume that Eugene suddenly being the only heir to the rank, and then me disappearing, put the pack into a crisis, and Elliot was a very well-liked pack member back then.
Eugene looks slightly confused when he walks past me, but fortunately he doesn’t notice me.
Amos can cloak our scent and even change it if he wants to.
It’s one of my gifts, and something that truly helped me during my time as a rogue.
I gaze at my brother, noticing that he’s grown a bit.
His shoulders are broader now, and his face more serious.
His hair is a bit shorter than it was when he was younger, but still slightly curly.
Seeing him makes my chest stitch. I have shoved my memories of him away as much as I could.
I tried not to think of him. While I know now that our bond wasn’t strong enough to survive the test the goddess put on us, and that I gave more to our relationship than he did, he was still my best and closest friend ever since I was born.
I swallow thickly before closing the door again.
“You know it’s ridiculous that we are hiding here?” Silas asks softly.
“I know,” I grimace.
Silas sighs, shifting around to get more space. “Are you alright?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, sitting down on a bucket.
Silas sits down on my lap, and for a couple of minutes neither of us talks.
“Do you think it was wrong to never reach out to anyone in my family?” I ask him.
“No,” Silas says. “You needed time to heal, and no one gets to dictate how much time you need or how you want to heal. Your parents pushed you too much into a path they wanted you to take after the fallout with your brother, and you had to make decisions to protect yourself. Don’t let anyone criticize you for that.
” He frowns. “Don’t fall back into old patterns by talking yourself into feeling guilty. If you do, I will get mad.”
“How mad?” I tease.
Silas frowns. “Not mad enough to do anything here in this terrible, dusty, storage room.”
I put my arm around his waist. “I am not sure if it was okay to never reach out to Mom or my friends,” I admit. “But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Amos needed time, and I was scared that the moment I called or wrote to them, they would try to track me down.”
“It will happen eventually,” Silas says.
“Our pack is getting bigger, and your name is getting more renowned. It’s easier for me to remain hidden because vampires are more seclusive by nature, but you have already attended a few smaller alpha meetings, and we have made some strong allies.
I know your old pack isn’t close, but eventually they will hear about a certain Alpha Marcellus. ”
“I should have changed my name,” I complain.
Silas smiles. “That’s not been my point.”
“I know.”
“There is no right or wrong,” Silas says.
“You are ready, when you are ready, but if I can give you one piece of advice: Start getting comfortable with the idea that your paths will cross again, and that maybe you won’t be able to hide in a storage room the next time.
Like it or not, you are an alpha now, and a pretty amazing one if I may add. ”
I sigh, leaning my forehead against his back. “You are right. I need to be prepared.”
“It’s funny, though,” Silas muses while gazing out of the door. “How can two people have the same face, yet I want to kiss the one and punch the other?”
I snort, about to answer with a funny comment, when something in our earpieces creaks, indicating that Durant has turned the device on.
“Juni must have arrived,” Silas mutters.
We both fall silent to listen to their conversation. Mostly, it’s just an exchange of information. Juniper tries to keep us updated as well as she can, and usually, we get intel from her monthly. She wasn’t too excited about having to meet with Durant. Just like Silas, she is still wary of him.
“There is one thing that stood out to me,” she says to Durant. “One of Aloysius’s contacts was an alpha named Troi, but he is imprisoned now by the werewolf council. Alpha Liam got his hands on him a while ago.”
Liam?
Silas and I exchange a surprised gaze. Alpha Liam and his pack are allies of ours, and Liam himself is an avid supporter of our project.
One of his younger brothers is lune of another pack and uses his position to help victims of assault and abuse escape their situation.
Furthermore, his father is the alpha who supported me when I ran away from home.
I have a lot of history with this family and truly appreciate what they did for me.
This Alpha Troi being imprisoned by them out of all is probably a rare case of fantastically good luck!
“Aloysius is working together with some werewolves?” Durant asks, surprised.
“Yes, it looks that way. Though working together with them is probably a reach. He is rather using them,” she says. “And I am not sure if it’s only wolves he tries to use. He is spiraling out of control.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Silas mutters. “Alex mentioned he was involved in the mysterious kidnappings of omega wolves, and Juni’s words seem to be further proof of it. We need to contact Alpha Liam and see what’s going on with that Troi.”
“I can do that,” I offer. “Or do you want to do it since it’s about Aloysius?”
“No, it’s fine. I appreciate you taking over here. If Liam wants to meet us, I will join you,” he says. “But I think right now I should rather contact Alex and see what he is up to. And maybe one of my other allies. I know I have some out there who are more loyal to me than to Aloysius.”
“What about your other siblings?”
“Most of them are currently engaged with their own mess,” he explains. “And I think it would not be smart to involve too many people. But Alex and I can certainly mobilize some of our old friends.”
“Sounds good,” I agree.
“What about the new pack members and the alpha who is currently hosting them?”
“You mean Cass?”
“No, not Cassian. Everything with him should be set.” He shakes his head. “The other alpha. The one that saved two disgraced wolves. Remember? The one with the gambling issue and the she-wolf that was used by her mate to overthrow their alpha. Aren’t they currently being kept in a small pack?”
“Oh, Alpha Ezra,” I say. “Yes, he took those two in for now, but can’t keep them.
His own pack is still in a bit of turmoil from their previous leadership, so he doesn’t want to add more pack members yet.
I don’t know him, but he is an ally of Alpha Liam.
I will have a meeting with him soon to see them both, before they join us.
Oh, and Alpha Ezra’s pack is similar to ours. ”
“How come?”
“They have a werecat pride living with them,” I explain. “Pretty interesting.”
“That’s rare, you are right.”
We both fall silent and listen to Juniper and Durant’s talk again, but there is nothing that stands out to us anymore. The piece of information about that imprisoned werewolf was definitely the most intriguing part.
“I think it’s about time we take our leave,” Silas says.
I wrap my arms around him. “But it’s so comfortable here.”
“I can’t believe it,” Silas groans before he chuckles in amusement. He bends his head to kiss me. “That’s what I get for having a younger lover.”