I stood there for the longest time, staring at the open door. No… Bran didn’t have anything to do with vampires. He didn’t. He was the perfect wolf, loyal and kind but ruthless when it came to our enemies. He wasn’t friends with them. With a sigh, I closed the door and went to the minibar taking a long swing right from the bottle of whiskey. Not for the first time in my life I wished I could get drunk.

I sat down on the couch, with the bottle and took out my phone. I had seven missed calls, damn… Two from Matt, three from Yuri, and two from an unknown number. I was deciding who to call first when the unknown number called me again. It wasn’t familiar in any way, but I decided to pick it up. Hey, maybe it was the Mercenaries calling to tell me their exact location…

“You have really gone too far this time,” a growly voice told me the second I picked up.

It took me a while but I recognized it. “Marc? Why the hell are you calling me?”

“Really? Sending that fucking human twink of yours here? To the pack house? Have you absolutely lost your mind?! We have to be looking for the Mercenaries, we don’t have time for whatever show of defiance this is supposed to be,” he kept growling.

I blinked, absolutely confused. “Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh is that so? So we should just kill the short blond guy with blue eyes who showed up on our doorstep saying he’s your friend?” he suggested and I could hear he would love nothing more than to do exactly that. Short? Blond? Blue eyes?

“Matt…” I whispered, my chest trying to crush my organs with anxiety.

“Yeah that’s him,” he said, impatiently.

“Fuck. Don’t fucking touch him,” I growled jumping to my feet immediately, running out of the hotel. “I’ll be right there and I swear to all the gods of this planet if he’s hurt in any way I will make sure you fucking suffer.” I hung up, taking the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator. I ran out quickly getting to my car. Why the hell is he here? How did he even get here? He was supposed to be miles away! Oh, sweet boy… He was too human for this city… The steering wheel groaned under my grip as I made my way through the city, probably breaking every damn law.

My heart was pounding and all my muscles were tense, my wolf ready for a fight. I didn’t trust Marc, I wouldn’t let him take care of a damn fish let alone a fragile human. I didn’t bother to park or turn off the engine. I just slammed the breaks and got out, running up to the porch. I didn’t have to knock, Marc stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, his expression annoyed, blood lust clear in his eyes.

“Where is he?” I growled, Matt’s scent filling my lungs.

“You seriously fucked up this time.” He shook his head, pleased by that. “You risked the safety of the whole species by bringing him here. You should get burned at a damn stake!” he barked out. Oh no, he shouldn’t have. My wolf was too much on edge for me to keep him down. I lunged at him and punched him in the face satisfied when I heard the crack of bone. “Oh fuck!” he cried out, holding his nose as blood poured down his face.

“Reid!” Yuri was suddenly there, he grabbed me around my chest holding me back as I tried my damnest to rip into that fucking asshole. “Stop it!” Yuri yelled as he pulled me away from him. Yuri’s struggle was useless though, I wasn’t the only mad wolf here. Marc jumped at me, hitting my stomach with his knee. Yuri stepped back, his hands slipping away. Marc hit the side of my face and I felt my eyebrow split, warm blood stinging in my eye. I got lost in the fight, I heard the shouts of others but ignored them. I was so fucking angry. How dare he threaten Matt! How dare any of them even look at my boy! He hit my ribs, almost breaking them. I kicked him in the side, making him lose balance and fall onto a small table with a vase on it. It shattered, cutting him. My heart was pumping pure rage through my system and the darkness in me purred with satisfaction.

“That’s enough Reid.” Someone grabbed my shoulder from behind. With a growl, I spun around stopping my fist just inches from Nikolai’s face. Oh no. I almost hit the Shield! I almost hit Yuri’s father! I let out a breath, groaning as my ribs protested against it. The pain somewhat cleared my head though, the rage fading away. And damn, did my face hurt. Fuck. “You two with me, now,” he ordered, his voice didn’t leave any space for nonsense as he glared at me and Marc who got up from the floor, holding his side. His nose was crooked, his lip was torn and the bruises on his face filled me with terrible satisfaction.

“Where is he?” I asked but Nikolai ignored me as he led us through the pack that gathered around us. He took us upstairs and goddamnit he walked right into Alistair’s office. When he opened the door I froze, absolutely dumbfounded. I blinked, trying to shoo away that terrible image before me, thinking I got hit in the head a bit too hard. But it didn’t disappear… No, it was right there, Father sitting in one of the chairs before his desk – not in his big black boss seat - holding a cup of coffee, and there opposite him was Matt, my Matt sitting in the other chair holding a cup of coffee as well. Father was having coffee with my fuck-buddy…

At first, Matt seemed happy to see me, but then he noticed how l looked and his eyes went wide with shock. “Reid! What happened to you?” He set the mug aside and ran to me. And fuck he was real, he was really here.

“You…” I didn’t even know what to say. I suddenly felt lost. “What are you doing here?”

He looked up at me in confusion, his hand lightly touching my hurting face. “What are you talking about? You invited me here,” he said, absolutely sure of himself.

“No, I didn’t. Why the hell would I do that?” That hurt him. But there wasn’t time for keeping his emotions safe. If he was here he was right in the hands of Mercenaries and werewolves who would love to hurt me and vampires… Gods help me.

“You wrote me an email, you said it was really bad here and you needed me, there was even a plane ticket,” he said, hurt and confused and starting to get angry. “Why are you all bloody?”

“Reid,” Father said, turning all the attention on him with a single word. “Don’t be rude, why don’t you—” he couldn’t finish. Colwyn ran into the room, his expression terribly serious, a broken phone in his hand. My phone I realized. The screen was a mess and the whole back was gone, but somehow it was still on.

“You’ve got a message…” he said, handing it to me. I took it and as I looked at the screen, the world immediately went red as my wolf howled its rage. Enjoy your little gift, he won’t last long. I heard Matt yelp as the phone crumbled in my hand, but I didn’t care. I wanted to kill. I needed to rip something apart, anything.

“Reid.” Father grabbed me and turned me away from Matt as my eyes went gray, my fangs and claws popping out. My wolf demanded we hunt down anyone who dared to threaten what was ours. “Breathe, Reid…” he whispered as Matt behind my back demanded to know what the hell was going on. “He will stay here, the pack will protect him. Reid.” His hand settled on the back of my neck sending electricity through my whole body as the blanket of my alpha’s power settled over me. “The pack will keep him safe while we hunt them down, I promise you this,” he assured me. I could do nothing but believe him, give in to him. My wolf calmed down leaving everything in the hands of our alpha, knowing we could trust him. “Okay, alright,” he said as my fangs and claws retreated and my eyes turned mossy green once again. “Nikolai I want at least three people on guard at all times, call away the patrols, protecting the house is the priority now. I want the pack here, understood?”

“Yes, Alph—sir,” Nikolai quickly corrected himself, glancing sideways at Matt, who just looked confused and lost.

“Reid, show him to your room, I’m sure you have a lot of explaining to do,” Alistair said. I looked at him, the question clear in my eyes. He smiled sadly at me. “You know the rules, I cannot help you here.” And that was like a damn kick right in the stomach, making me feel sick. I grabbed Matt by the arm and ignoring his angry protests I dragged him to my room, locking the door behind us.