17. Benjamin
17
BENJAMIN
“ G ive me two minutes,” I say, picking my phone up despite the annoyance on David’s face.
David’s worked for me as my assistant for the last two and a half years, and winding him up is one of my favourite things to do, even if he doesn’t find it as fun as I do.
He’s five years older than my brothers and I and ruthless when it comes to the business. His goal is ultimately to learn what I do so he can become me. Or at least, who wouldn’t want to be me?
“A fool,” Fluffy says, causing me to smirk.
“This isn’t the time for games, Ben. I came here for an important?—”
I fix him with a glare, and his mouth slams shut so fast his moustache bounces up and down. I might be the runt—but I’m still an alpha werewolf.
“This phone rings for one person—my mate . You could be bleeding out or in the middle of getting CPR from me, and I’d still stop what I was doing to answer that call. She is more important than whatever fire you need me to put out.”
David’s eyes widen as his tanned skin pales ever so slightly. His black pupils seem to pulse as they practically encompass the light blue iris. What a shame.
“As you should,” Fluffy says firmly, nodding at me. “Maybe we should make him bleed out just for the rudeness where our mate is concerned. I know that would make me feel better.”
I smirk as David takes a step back, and I reach over to grab my phone. I slide my thumb across the screen to answer Maia’s call and put it to my ear. I hope she called me first—Seb doesn’t deserve that honour.
“Was I your first call? I bet I—” I start, a grin on my face at the obvious discomfort on David’s face. His bushy brows are furrowed together, and he glances at the door as if looking for an escape.
“Ben, I need your help.” Maia’s voice rushes across the line, and she sounds almost excited. She’s breathless, and there’s a hitch in her throat.
“Oh, I like the sound of this. Do you think she’s masturbating?” Fluffy asks. I know if he were the one in control of our body, he’d be rubbing his hands together at the picture Maia’s small sounds are creating.
“With Phoebe in the room? Doubt it.”
He lets out a huff, and I smirk.
“The better Wolfe brother is at your services, pretty girl,” I say, winking at David. A red blush covers his unusually pale cheeks, and he casts his blue eyes downwards as he tries to pretend he’s not listening. “What do you need from me?”
“I need you to be serious.” Her voice breaks, and I hear what I first missed. She’s not excited or horny.
My mate is fucking terrified.
“Fuck!” I roar at Fluffy. “Where the fuck is Topher?”
My wolf is just as on edge as I am, and he doesn’t have the answers. “She’s not horny, Ben. She’s scared .”
“I can be serious.” I can be so fucking serious, she’ll think I’m a different man .
She presumably nods, and I can just imagine her huddling in on herself in the way she does when she’s overwhelmed. “Topher has just lost it. He growled at the doctor, and I’m scared. Phoebe and I are in the feeding room at the surgery, but I think…”
She trails off, and I hear her sniffling down the line. It causes my stomach to churn, and I’ve got to push back the feeling of my own anxiety so that I can focus on her.
My mate is terrified.
“I don’t know what the fuck Topher thought he was doing. Leaving her alone and not calling us for the emergency is stupid. He should’ve let us know what was going down, after he got her safe,” I rant. “She’s with Phoebe. Alone. She’s terrified and alone .”
“Fuck!” Fluffy yells, not even focusing on what I’ve said as he has his own meltdown. “Mate is in danger. She’s scared. Mate and pup need us.”
I’ve already stood from the desk, giving David a dirty look when he opens his mouth to protest again. Maia is trying to calm herself down, and I impatiently wait for her to tell me what’s happening.
She whispers so low a human would miss it with their inferior hearing. “I think Dr Thomas is a werewolf.”
“Fuck. Call Seb and tell him it’s an emergency.”
I storm out of my office and stride towards Alex’s, knowing I need him with me for whatever this may be. David is hot on my heels, but I don’t have time for my assistant right now. The business could burn to the ground, and I would not give a single fuck.
“Are you safe?” I ask.
“I think so.” She’s collected herself a little, but I can still hear the trembling in her voice.
My body is already in fight mode, and I’m shaking with the sheer intensity of my anger.
Topher’s on the list, not far behind the fucking doctor. I’m furious with my brother.
“I hope Topher saves us a bite of that doctor. ”
“If he wants me to even hear him out after the way he’s handled this, then he better,” I snarl back.
“Good girl,” I say, keeping my tone as calm and soft as I can. She’s got the hardest job right now. She’s alone with my daughter in a very dangerous position, and instilling her with as much calm and confidence as I can is key. “Alex and I will be there in ten minutes, okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice is so meek, so quiet, and I hang up the phone, nearly crushing it with my anger. I jog up to Alex’s office and kick the door open. Fuck waiting around.
My brother jumps up from his desk, a scowl on his face, which fades into irritation when he realises it’s me. “I don’t have the time for this today. We’ve got?—”
“Make the time.” His mouth opens to protest, but I don’t give him the chance. I don’t often think that I’m an alpha, but I am. I’m an alpha Wolfe just like the rest of them, and they need to start taking me seriously. “We need to get to the doctor’s office. Now.”
David rushes in behind me, panting away like the unfit wolf he is, but neither my brother nor I pay him much attention.
“Why? What’s going on with Maia and Phoebe?” Alex grabs his phone and groans, looking up at me sadly. “She tried to call me.”
“He seriously doesn’t have her as able to bypass his DND?” I demand, and Fluffy snorts. “He’s such a terrible mate.”
“The doctor is a werewolf. Topher’s alone with him, and Maia is still on site.”
He curses. “Where exactly is my mate and child?”
“You never announced—” David starts, and I turn to face him, letting out a loud growl as Fluffy pushes forward to exude my dominance. David’s jaw slams shut as he averts his eyes in submission.
“Now is not the time for whatever bullshit you think you’re entitled to,” Fluffy says. David nods, keeping his neck on display. Fluffy turns to Alex. “She needs us—they both do. ”
“Work with Addy and get our schedules cancelled,” Alex says to David as he grabs his jacket. “We’re going to have to run there. It’s faster.” I nod. “Have we got Seb looped in?”
“Maia’s calling him. He’s still got my number blocked,” I say as Fluffy retreats and lets me take over once more. “You ready?”
Alex nods, and the two of us leave his office, charging down the stairs as fast as we can. We shift into our werewolf form at the doorway and charge through the town, racing to find cover when we leave the wolf-only areas.
I know without a doubt that I’ve never reached these speeds before, but when it comes to doing something for Maia or Phoebe, an impossibility is just another limit I’ve not yet broken.
My legs nearly give way, and Fluffy has to push forward to regain control. I feel sick at the thought of my two girls being trapped there. The thought of this man even knowing them.
“She’s going to be terrified,” I say, hating how weak I feel right now. I’m trying to emit the alpha energy, I’m trying my fucking hardest, but I’m failing.
Because, deep down, I’m not strong enough.
“You are strong and capable. Ruthless and dangerous,” Fluffy says.
But we both know that’s him. As the runt, I’m far too emotionally led, and I’m not strong enough on my own.
“But Maia is. She’s strong. So strong. Our mate will protect our pup until we’re there to help her, until we’re there to take over and protect them both,” Fluffy says calmly. “And then we’re going to rip this doctor’s head from his shoulders to teach everyone what happens when they mess with our mate.”
“It’s time to shift back,” Alex says as we near the town. I give a bark of agreement and follow him into the trees. The two of us shift to our human forms, adjust our clothes, then run the rest of the way.
As promised, we arrived in around ten minutes, but I know, for Maia, it probably felt like an eternity. The room is chaotic and busy, and there are no unfamiliar wolves in the room I can smell. Both Topher and Seb have strong scents, the easily identifiable hint of Wolfe that we all share alerting me to their presence. The scent for Toph is faded, meaning he’s not been in the waiting room for a little bit, but Seb’s is very recent.
“How is Dr Thomas not a prevalent smell?” I demand of my wolf.
“Maybe he doesn’t come into this room,” Fluffy replies. “Or maybe it’s been a while since he has. Once Seb gets a lock on him, there’s nowhere that man can go without us knowing.”
“Where are you?” I ask, pushing my way into Seb’s mind. I can feel the annoyance from both Seb and Kane, but he doesn’t voice it. This is an emergency, and they know it.
“Room seven.” He immediately pulls away, which is the norm for my quiet brother.
“Maia’s in there,” I say, gesturing to the feeding room. Alex nods, his eyes locked on the door, and I know he’s going to be the best one for her right now. “You go handle our girls, and I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
“Good.” He strides up towards the door, and I move towards the room this rogue wolf is occupying.
I ignore the stare from the receptionist as I stride up the long corridor, and it’s a good thing that ours is at the very end. I come to a stop outside of room seven, and I’m surprised that it’s soundproofed.
Then again, for confidentiality reasons, I suppose it makes sense.
I push the door open and take in the scene in front of me. If you ignored the people, it would just be a standard doctor’s office. There’s a medical bed in the corner of the room, with some white paper over it, and a sink with some cupboards underneath.
In the opposite corner, there’s a large desk, with two small bookshelves on either side. There’s two chairs by the door for the patient, and a desk chair, which is currently in use .
In terms of the people in here, there’s a hideous man tied up in the chair with a shiner on his chin. It’ll probably be healed in another ten minutes or so, but I’m curious to know which of my brothers hit him.
Seb’s rifling through Dr Thomas’s things as Topher sits on the bed in front of the invader with a calculating look on his face.
“Welcome, brother,” Topher says, sounding a little crazed. His eyes are flickering between gold and hazel as he looks at me, and I know Orion’s probably feeling the same way Fluffy is—vengeful. “It seems our mate has some very good instincts, since she could sense the absolute filth coming off of him.”
“Her instincts are too good, one might say,” I say, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me. I lock it for good measure, not wanting any human to stumble across this scene. “Now what the fuck is someone like him doing in our territory?”
His scent is strong, and I can detect the disgusting underlying smell of his alpha and luna. You know those smells that have imprinted your brain for all the bad reasons? That’s his alpha and luna. They’re assholes, and their woodsy scent makes my nose burn.
But the fact that I can scent him here and not in the waiting room makes no sense to me whatsoever. His stench clings to everything in this room, the basil and rosemary agitating me and my wolf.
“You’re here just in time to find out,” Topher says, kicking the good doctor in the shin. The man flinches but stays silent.
“He’s a weasel,” Fluffy says as I eye the doctor up and down.
“He’s disgusting,” I reply. His hair is dark, and his eyes are an ugly brown. He’s wearing some expensive trousers, and his shoes are real leather, so he’s clearly got some money behind him.
He’s muscular but not overly so, and his wolf is a decent level. Sure, even I could overpower him, but we don’t know what hold his alpha and luna have over him.
We don’t know who is involved here, so we need to tread carefully.
“Tell me why you’re here,” Topher demands, and he and Orion are merged together, emitting a very strong, dominant aura that has even me cowering back and wanting to obey.
“To assess the parentage of Phoebe Blake.” The words are yanked out of the doctor’s mouth without his permission, and it doesn’t matter how hard he’s trying to resist the call.
“And who is the suspected parent?” Topher asks, still using his alpha voice.
“Ryan Grey.”
Well, this isn’t good.
“What happened to Ryan Grey?” Topher stands, advancing towards the wolf. The dark-haired man shakes as Seb coughs. I turn to see my other brother, and he gestures for me to come and look.
“Smell this,” Seb says, shoving the napkin at me. I frown, seeing how it’s identical to the one we found the other day. They’re not written on this time, but they’re the warm white and monogrammed with Ryan.
What the actual fuck is this?
“Smell,” he repeats, his word a demand.
I take a whiff and frown, turning back to Topher. The napkin smells like Dr Thomas, but there’s not a single hint of his wolf. I’m not as good as Seb?—
“No, you’re better,” Fluffy says confidently.
I roll my eyes. “My sense of smell is nowhere near as strong as Seb’s. It’s his only good trait, don’t get me wrong, but in this area, he is better.”
Fluffy harrumphs, and I snort before sniffing the napkin again. This is strange—more than that, it should be impossible.
“I don’t know how, but he’s dead,” Dr Thomas slurs.
I wave the napkin as one would wave a flag in front of a bull, and Topher snatches it from me and takes a deep whiff. His eyes turn pure gold, and I know that Orion has taken hold as he glares at Dr Thomas.
The lack of werewolf scents attached to it is an impossibility, so it’s scary that this exists. Even now, I can detect the pack scent, the werewolf scent, attached to him.
I look at Seb, who shakes his head, anger brimming in his eyes.
“Who organised his death?” Topher asks, and his words are backed up by Orion, forcing an answer from the doctor.
“His death was organised by—” Dr Thomas’s words are cut off by his scream of pain. The scent of copper fills the air, and my stomach rolls. Topher storms forward, driving the doctor’s head back, and growls low.
“The fucker has bitten off his tongue,” Topher hisses. His arms bulge as he clenches his fists together.
“He’s hiding something,” Fluffy says in a dry tone.
“No shit.”
Fluffy pushes forward, and I relent, wondering what he’s doing. He heads towards the desk and grabs a notebook and a pen. I frown as he advances towards Topher, and my brother steps out of the way to see what we’re planning.
“Shut the fucking whining,” Fluffy demands, and Dr Thomas’s noises cut off because he can’t ignore the command from an alpha. “Write out what you were going to say. Who organised the death of Ryan Grey?”
He makes noises, gurgles, really, but he can’t physically answer. Not orally or with the pen. Fucking prick.
I’m not strong enough to overpower whoever gave this command, which is only a little concerning. I may be an alpha, but I’m not the most powerful out there.
“Keep the pressure on him,” Topher says, and I nod.
“Who organised the death of Ryan Grey?” Topher demands, adding his power to mine. I can even feel the pressure .
Dr Thomas’s hand starts to move, and he scrawls out one word.
Topher and I lean forward eagerly to read it.
My brows furrow together at the word on the page.
Luna.
It’s not the most helpful now, is it?
“Luna who?” Seb snarls, grabbing the back of the doctor’s shirt as he shakes the man back and forth. He growls low, when Topher snaps at him to cut it off.
We watch with bated breath as Dr Thomas squeezes the pen in his hand and slowly starts to write on the page. His handwriting is messy, the letters not even in a straight line, but he scrawls out another two words ever-so-slowly.
I don’t believe it.
I really fucking don’t.
But there’s no way the good doctor could lie to us.
The name “Luna Julie Wolfe” is scrawled out on the paper.
It seems my mother has something to answer for.