43. A Rough Start
forty-three
A Rough Start
*MARTIN*
“How could you?!” Rory hisses at me, about to scramble to his feet. The look in his eyes is deadly. “I followed you around, and of all places, you came here. Even meeting with Jordan, that psycho! You useless piece of trash. I won’t have anyone betray Rosea again!”
My ears pick up footsteps in the distance. The last thing I need is someone discovering me now. With Rory of all people, and amidst such a drama.
I let my wolf come forward, rolling above Rory and pinning him to the ground with an angry growl. I press my hand to his mouth. “Shut up, you fool,” I hiss. “I am not betraying anyone. Now hold your fucking tongue, or you will ruin everything.”
I don’t know what it is, maybe the anger, maybe the frustration, maybe something in my eyes, but Rory stops struggling. We stay still until the voices and footsteps are gone. Then I let go. “I am on a secret mission,” I whisper. “Both my alpha and luna know what I am doing. They are in on it.”
For a while, Rory just stares at me. “That’s why you are here?” he mutters the question.
“Yes,” I huff. “And you were so close to ruining it! Just imagine if Jordan or one of his men had seen you attack me!”
“Fuck, sorry,” Rory breathes out. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I went into anger mode the moment I saw you.”
“What were you even doing here?”
“I went for a walk, spotted you and then followed you around,” he says, refreshingly honest.
“You really have issues,” I mutter.
“I do, very obviously so.” He pauses. “Are you okay?”
I touch my face. My nose and left cheek feel a little raw, but nothing is broken. Rory hands me a tissue, and I wipe the blood off my nose.
Rory groans. “Man, I am really sorry. I thought you were another one on the list to betray my cousin.”
I sigh a little at his miserable expression.
“I get it. But I am not betraying them. I’ve been on this mission for a couple of weeks now, obviously with Alpha and Luna’s approval.
The only reason you didn’t know about it is that there was no time to fill you in yet.
” I look around with a frown. “Let’s get away from here.
We should really talk somewhere else. I’d hate for someone to see me now. Are you here by car?”
“No, I walked.”
I stare at him in shock. “All the way, from the pack?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, that’s some dedication,” I mutter. Dedication or mistrust… toward me.
“Did I mention I am sorry?” he asks. “I think you being the pack’s beta might have triggered me a little.”
“A little, huh?” I sigh. “But yeah, I get it. Let’s go.”
I have Rory wait for me further down the road, while I eventually make it to my car.
I pick him up there so that no one will spot us together.
Instead of driving us to a bar, I decide to head back to the pack and invite Rory to my place.
It’s funny; it reminds me a little of that day I took the jump and invited Forest. I sensed that he was torn and borderline depressed, and I’d always wanted to get closer to him and befriend him.
Maybe it will be a good way to get to know Rory, as well.
“I only have beer,” I tell him.
“That’s fine. I prefer beer anyway.”
I can’t help but chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Rory asks, instantly sounding defensive again.
“I had a similar conversation a while ago when I invited Forest over for the first time,” I say. “Also, you have an attitude.”
I almost expect him to get even more annoyed, but he just scrunches his nose and scratches his beard. “You have a point.”
This takes the wind out of my sails a little. That guy punched me twice today and definitely has a bad attitude towards me, but there is something disarming about his honesty. And he obviously holds himself accountable.
He takes a seat in my living room while I head first to my bathroom to clean up and change into more comfortable clothes, then fetch us something to drink and a few snacks. I have leftover hummus, with homemade crispbread to offer, some granola bars and potato chips.
Rory looks surprised. “This all looks amazing… and homemade? Does the pack kitchen whip together such fancy stuff for their ranked members?” The moment he says it, he looks flustered. “And I swear that was not supposed to be a dig at you being a ranked member.”
“No worries, I am not that sensitive,” I say, sitting down as well and opening a bottle of beer. “I made them myself.”
“You are kidding?”
“No, I like cooking.”
“And you really want to offer these to me?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I have been an asshole to you.”
I grin. “Yeah, but I thought I could maybe buy you with food.”
Rory looks amused for the first time since I met him. His signature expressions are broody or grumpy, or worried. He only looks relaxed around Rose. Not that I can blame him. “Sorry for attacking you earlier,” he says.
I sigh. “I get why you did it.”
“But I could have ruined everything you and the others worked on.”
“Yes. Good thing you caught me alone; otherwise, the situation might have been too hard to save. I have a role to play in front of Jordan.”
“Sorry,” he says.
“Okay, you wanna hear the whole story now?”
He nods. While I tell him everything we have planned, he eats through the snacks I brought him. He doesn’t bombard me with questions, but listens patiently. When I have finished, he is quiet.
“Wow,” he mutters. “That’s insane.” Then he frowns.
“Fuck, that’s insane! Jordan… that fucking psycho…
” He stands up, pacing around. “And Clemmens played along. No matter why he did it or whether he hesitated or not, he played along. That psycho is selling girls to sleazy assholes like himself, and my mate was helping him!” Another pause.
“Ex-mate,” he corrects himself. “I am so disgusted. Clemmens was not just a simple bystander. He knew what was happening. He allowed it to happen.”
“Yes,” I say quietly. “I am sorry, Rory.”
Rory rubs his face.
“May I ask something?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“You seem to believe in Griffin,” I say. “But you immediately mistrusted me. Why?”
Rory sits down again. “You reminded me of Clemmens.”
“Because I am a beta?”
“That, and because you are quiet and composed.”
Now it’s my turn to be annoyed. “So, that alone makes me someone suspicious? I met Clemmens during my mission, and I don’t think we resemble each other all that much, aside from being introverted.”
“I am really sorry, Martin,” he says. “I know. That’s why I said you reminded me of him; you don’t remind me of him anymore. I am not sure if that helps. It seems I am constantly putting my foot in it when talking to you.”
“Yeah, you kind of do.”
“My trust is at a real low,” he admits. “I saw you and thought of the million ways you could betray Rosea. And I know that being beta doesn’t mean fuck. Clemmens was beta and betrayed his rank constantly.”
I nod. “He did. He completely neglected all his duties to the pack. He only followed Jordan.”
“I am not sure what Jordan promised him,” Rory says.
“I guess after I almost got killed and disappeared, he might have felt pretty lost. He probably thought I was dead. I wish I could have reached out to any of them, but I couldn’t.
I had zero money and zero power. I only really managed to pull myself up recently and have finally gathered some allies.
That’s when you guys found me. The bottom line is: I get why Clemmens was desperate and detached, but it’s not an excuse.
We grew up together. He, Rose and I. Goddess, she meant something to him, you know?
He used to treat her like a little sister. And then… that!”
I can barely imagine how devastated and betrayed he has to feel now. “He rejected you when Jordan told him to, didn’t he?”
He nods. “Clemmens really looked up to Jordan back then. It was one thing that Rose didn’t see Jordan’s red flags at first. He was her fucking mate after all, and she was his victim. But Clemmens… he didn’t believe me at all. And when Jordan offered him a rank, he rejected me.”
“Just like that?” I ask.
Rory shrugs.
“And you?”
“I thought I might still be able to save everyone,” he says. “Rose, and Clemmens and all of them. Clemmens told me he only rejected me as a pretense, that he wanted to gain Jordan’s trust and that we’d be able to be together in the future.”
“The guy had zero backbone,” I mutter. “Impressive. To imagine how you and Rose persevered and kept fighting, and he… he just went along with everything.”
“He couldn’t feel the bond anymore,” Rory explains. “Which is probably why he thought I might be dead.”
“You didn’t accept his rejection back then?”
“I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what Jordan wanted,” he admits.
For a while, we remain quiet. I am not sure how to tell him, but it seems like he realizes for himself.
“Clemmens was already under Jordan’s control back then, more than I believed he was,” he says suddenly.
“He wanted to please him. I didn’t accept his rejection, and nothing happened to me.
Clemmens could have stayed my mate, and we would have found a solution together, and found a way to save ourselves and Rosea, but he wanted a rank so badly, he did anything to please him.
I was stupid for hoping he would protect Rose. ”
“He was your mate,” I say quietly. “It’s not stupid to believe in your mate. Anyone would. Hell, Rose did, too.” I pause. “There was a part of him that constantly felt guilty,” I add. “I encountered it when he was drunk. He kept apologizing, probably to you.”
Rory takes a sip from his beer. “Does it matter?” he asks.
“Not really. But I thought you should know that he at least felt guilty.”
“Thank you,” Rory says. “When I saw you today being secretive during breakfast, it just triggered me. I followed you, then saw you with Jordan and thought the worst. I was thinking of all the possibilities of how you could betray Rose. Like… you could have been into her and tried to assault her yourself.”
“Hardly possible,” I say. “I am not into women.”
He stares at me. “You are gay?!”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t even notice!”
“Why? Don’t you have a gaydar?”
“Normally I am quite good at noticing,” he mutters. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Rory, I am sure that I am gay,” I say.
“Sorry, foot in my mouth, remember?”
“To your defense, I have been in the closet for so long that the closet might have turned moldy.”
He sighs. “Really, I didn't mean to question your sexuality. Do Forest and Rose know?”
I nod. “And Griffin knows.”
Rory stares into his drink. “I know that Clemmens is not an excuse for how shitty I am being to others, but I really can’t get over what he did.
It’s not just that he was my mate, he was also my best friend before that.
And it’s not just him. It’s me too. I can’t get over the fact that I didn’t protect my family.
I should have protected Rosea, I should have protected her family.
They took me in and raised me like I was their own.
Rosea was like a sister to me. But I didn’t do shit. ”
“Rory, it’s not your fault.”
“I should have tried harder. I saw Jordan and knew he was full of shit. I had met someone like him before, and it just instantly… you know… clicked.” He groans. “But instead of staying calm and trying to convince them, I just got impatient and annoyed.”
“And Clemmens didn’t believe you either.
Honestly, all of this just sucks. None of it is your fault, or Rose’s or her parents’.
” I pause, eyeing him over. There are lines on his face, making him look a little older than he is.
The last couple of years must have truly worn him down.
“Say, why did Jordan try to kill you? I realize no one told me until now.”
“Because no one knows,” he admits.
“What happened?”
“Rose’s mother got sick. The bond and her wolf should have healed her, but it didn’t. Her father died shortly afterward.”
I know that much already. I wait for him to continue the story, but when he doesn’t, I can’t help but frown. “What are you implying?”
“I was snooping around back then. Never bought it that they just died, you know? I mean, it can happen. Jordan kept saying that Rose’s mother was suffering from a rare illness and that her father was stricken by guilt and heartbreak.
That’s why they passed so shortly after each other.
But then one of the omegas in the kitchen staff told me that one of Jordan’s most trusted men constantly brought food to the two patients. ”
“Wait a moment… what?!”
“I dug around in the guy’s cabinet. You know, the warrior who was tasked with bringing them their food. I found spices and potions that looked unusual. One of my best friends in the pack was a nurse. She helped me analyze everything. Well, you can guess the rest.”
“Jordan poisoned them?!”
“Yeah. And I still need to find a way to tell Rose,” he says quietly.
“You can’t postpone it,” I say. “Why don’t you come with me when I tell them what I found out today? You need to tell them,” I urge. “This is a major secret.”
“I know, I actually scheduled a meeting with them for tomorrow”—he glances at his watch—“or rather, later today. I hate hurting Rose again, but she needs to know the truth.”
“She was suspecting something like that,” I say.
“She actually had the elders, Griffin and me do some research. The only reason we hadn’t dug deeper yet was because of you.
We heard about you possibly being alive, and you were our priority.
” I pause. “Say, that most trusted warrior you mentioned. What’s his name? ”
“A guy named Jonah,” he says promptly.
“Why am I not surprised…”
“You know him?”
“He is my contact and basically kisses the ground Jordan walks on,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We’ll get them, Rory. We are onto them. Let’s be their downfall.”
Rory nods grimly. “Time to bring justice to all their victims, and to Rose.”