Philip Harrington vs. Troy 'Travis' Stanton

Pix: Troy 'Travis' Stanton, acted by the absolutely gorgeous Cody Christian

Video: Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey

Enjoy!

***

"You must be kidding me." Troy couldn't keep the shock out of his voice as he stared at the guns pointing at his and Paul's heads. "I thought we had an agreement."

"Well, consider it canceled." Blaze grinned as he relaxed in his seat and lit a joint. He already looked high. And from the traces of white power on the table and the rolled up dollar bill beside the substance, Troy could hazard a good guess what the gang leader was high on. He'd watched enough TV. "This is a lot of cash." Blaze pointed his joint at the sacks of cash as he watched the two boys from beneath his lashes. "I don't want any of this getting out so we have to shut you up...permanently."

"But we helped you get..."

"What did you do?" The leader of the gang scoffed as he took a long drag. "Your work was to stop the police if they showed up. They didn't."

"That was because I changed their course." Troy was literally shaking with disbelief and anger. He was, however, more concerned about Paul who was trembling and pleading pitifully beside him.

They'd arrived at Blaze's hideout...a warehouse of sorts, as had been agreed, only for two of his goons to point their guns at them. Blaze had shouted at the goons to take them outside to avoid blood getting on the floor of the warehouse. Not only did the crook want to cheat them out of their share of the money, he clearly wanted to take their lives as well? Well, not if he took theirs first, Troy thought as he started to chant silently. Some dark magic would do. They just needed to stall the murders until he was able to complete his chanting. What he wouldn't give to be a real warlock like the others, Troy thought exasperatedly.

"You are being very unreasonable and wicked." Troy's voice raised.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah give me a break." Blaze snorted. "It's called tying loose ends, buddy. No offense." He said with a wave of his hand. "Bye."

"Move." One of the goons growled.

"Please..." Paul sobbed in fear. "You don't have to give us any of the money. Just keep it." Neither Paul nor Troy moved. Paul because he was busy pleading, and Troy because he wanted to stall their executioners. "We won't tell anyone."

As Paul pleaded for their lives, Troy concentrated on the fireball he was conjuring with his mind. Unlike the other warlocks he'd grown up around...who could conjure a fireball just by wishing for one, he had to concentrate and chant for some minutes just to make one since he wasn't a warlock. He'd never been told what he was by his family. But they'd made him know that he was special and had magic within himself. He'd been taught how to make his own dark spells by harnessing that magic. It took some time but he was eventually able to get things done if he put his mind to it. Troy lacked the needed concentration but he hoped that the magic within wouldn't fail him. His and Paul's lives depended on what he was trying to conjure.

Angry at the fact their prisoners were not moving as they'd been instructed to, one of the goons raised his gun with a clear intention of hitting Paul. But before his hand could come down, four people...two men and two women, appeared out of nowhere.

"The fuck!" Blaze gasped as he shot to his feet and quickly pulled out a gun. "What is this? Who are you people? And how did you get here? Start talking." He shouted frantically as he took in the four people standing inside his crib.

Troy's eyes widened in confused surprise as he stared at the four people. Who were they, he wondered. Warlocks? At least one of the women was dressed like one. Troy couldn't see much of her face because of what she was wearing. She had on a sexy long dark gown with a hoodie. But from the wisps of blonde hair escaping her hoodie, Troy could tell she was Caucasian. The other female was a beautiful dark-skinned woman with really long black hair which had lovely flecks of silver. She was in khaki pants, white short-sleeve stretchy polo top, and trainers. She looked to be in her fifties. Next, Troy sized up the men, not pausing even once in his silent chanting. He couldn't have asked for a better distraction. One of the men was dark in complexion, tall, muscular, and looked like he could break him in two without much effort, Troy couldn't help but think. He looked very imposing in dark jeans and black t-shirt with boots. The only thing off about Hercules was the fact that he couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face as he gazed at him. Troy wondered why. But the other man, who was Caucasian, dressed in all black just like the first man, and equally tall and muscular like the other, was the one who arrested Troy's attention.

"You!" Everyone turned in the direction of the voice which was filled with so much anger and pain. It had come from Troy whose eyes were locked on the man he'd seen during the attack on his clan.

"Friends of yours?" Blaze drawled cockily. "I don't have time for this shit." His release of the safety catch on his gun was loud in the quiet warehouse. But before he could pull the trigger...

"Guns!" The Caucasian lady in hoodie said out loud.

Blaze and his gang gasped in shock and fear when every gun in the warehouse moved to the feet of the woman in the hoodie. The goons who had their guns pointed at Troy and Paul stared at their empty hands in shock whilst their leader, the great Blaze, whimpered in fear.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Blaze said shakily with a sheepish smile, staring at the woman in the hood. "We wouldn't have killed them." He didn't need to be a genius to know that they were fellow magicians of the Troy boy. "We were only trying to..."

"You destroyed my family." Troy's angry growl filled the warehouse as his hands began to slowly lift up. "You took everything from me." He trembled visibly as he spoke. "My entire family is gone..."

"Travis, listen..." Philip began to speak but Troy didn't look like he could even hear him.

"You and your animals caused all this." Troy went on, overwhelmed with blinding fury. "I'm in this predicament because of you. You're all going to pay..." A huge fireball suddenly materialized in his hands. But before he could do anything with it, everyone in the warehouse froze...except for Jeremy.

A shocked Jeremy tore his eyes off his now stiff fireball-wielding brother when he felt a familiar warmth against him. His eyes widened in shock when his gaze landed on his sleepy mate. He was still in the sweats and t-shirt he'd left him sleeping in back at home. He couldn't even seem to keep his eyes open.

"Baby?" Jeremy ran his fingers through Ryan's disheveled hair. He thought his mate looked absolutely gorgeous with that sexy bedhead. "How..."

"Not me." Ryan mumbled sleepily as he wrapped his arms around Jeremy's waist and laid the side of his face against his broad chest. "The baby thought you were in danger. It brought me here." He yawned. "As you can see, I was sleeping."

"What?" Jeremy gasped as he wrapped his arms around Ryan too. "It can do that?" He looked stunned.

"It's your kid." Ryan chuckled. "What's going on here?" He looked at a fireball-wielding gorgeous young man and smiled. "Your brother looks pissed." Ryan murmured.

"Oh, he is." Jeremy chuckled. "At Lip."

"Oh boy." Ryan breathed as he reached out to touch Philip.

"Don't do..." Philip gasped when he unfroze. But he took in his stiff mate and just knew... "Ryan..." Philip muttered as he turned to look at where Jeremy stood, not at all surprised when he saw his friend's mate. Ryan was the only person he knew to have the power to freeze people. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"Yeah, my kid came to save me from your murderous mate." Jeremy drawled as his eyes swept over the frozen people in the warehouse.

Deloris' mouth was opened in a silent scream and her fear-filled eyes were trained on Troy. Gloria had both hands on her chest and tears on her cheeks.

"Shit, everything happened so fast I didn't even notice she was in tears." Jeremy groaned. "Hearing your son referring to sick assholes as family can be a bit..." He looked at Philip with a scowl. "Dude, you better keep that mate of yours in check."

"Fuck off." Philip snapped as his eyes turned to the deadly looking fireball in his mate's hand. "He's so angry." He whispered.

"No shit, Sherlock." Jeremy drawled. "You know what this means, right?"

"What?" Philip turned questioning eyes to his friend.

"That mating ceremony is not going to take place anytime soon, Lip."

"I hate to admit it but you're right." Philip sighed. "How is he even able to do that?" He rasped, pointing at the fireball in Troy's hand. "Is that all those no-good warlocks could teach him? That can cause a lot of damage."

"Damage?" Jeremy scoffed. "Is that how you're calling death these days? The little fucker would have killed us all." He said, ignoring Philip's angry growl at the name he'd called his mate. "Honey, could you..." Before he could complete his request, Ryan waved a hand in Troy's direction and obliterated the fireball. "Thanks love. Now can you please leave? As you can see, I'm fine."

Ryan nodded. "Alright, see you later." He tilted his head to accept a lingering kiss from his mate. "Bye." He whispered breathlessly after the kiss but didn't disappear as was expected. He remained where he stood. "I think it's not convinced you're safe." Ryan finally sighed to the shock of both Jeremy and Philip.

The incredulous look on Jeremy's face was so comical Ryan burst into laughter. "I just kissed you for fuck's sake." Jeremy gushed. "Isn't it obvious I'm alright?"

"Hey, don't kill the messenger." Ryan yawned.

"How do I convenience it?" Jeremy drew his mate back into his arms.

"I don't know." Ryan chuckled. "Be creative."

"What the fuck." Philip muttered as he watched Jeremy go down on one knee before Ryan. "That is one hard-core kid."

"Just think about what you're going to tell your unreasonable mate and leave my child to me." Jeremy muttered as he pushed Ryan's t-shirt up. He began to place tiny kisses all over Ryan's exposed stomach. "Baby, daddy is okay and not in any danger. Your dad needs to sleep. So be a dear and get him back in..." Jeremy trailed off when Ryan disappeared. "Damn, now I'm missing him." He muttered and he got to his feet just as everyone in the warehouse unfroze. Ryan leaving had clearly broken the spell.

"What happened?" Troy gasped, staring at his empty hands just as Deloris' scream split the air. "What did you do to it?" Troy stared at Philip who actually looked bemused. "You better finish what you stopped your animals from doing the other day then. Kill me. Because I'm only going to come up with more fireballs to kill all of..."

"Enough." Jeremy growled. "Are you're willing to kill everyone here just because of whatever problem you have with him? Will that be a wise thing to do? You said it yourself that he stopped his...animals from killing you." He stared Troy down. "Shouldn't that tell you he's not here to kill you?" Jeremy waited for Troy to respond but his scowling brother said nothing. With a sigh he turned to look at Blaze and his men who looked like they were going to shit their pants. "So, who the fuck are you people?" He growled.

"Listen, you clearly have...unfinished business with these two." Blaze croaked, his eyes pleading. "Did they steal from you too? I mean these boys have wronged a lot of people. Myself, Shatta, the Stones, you...obviously. I mean you did send your animals after them, right. I bet there were some deadly Rottweilers in there too." He paused to give a small whimper when he saw the dark scowls on the faces of the two male magicians. "Listen, why don't you take both of them away? Huh? Consider it a favour from me. I mean it's obvious you've been looking for them so... Let's just say I found them for you." He licked his lips and gave a hopeful but nervous grin. "Hey, I usually charge a fee to find shitty fuckers like these two for people but..." He shrugged, "...this is on the house. In fact, my men and I can leave so that..."

"Shut up." Snapped Philip who had clearly had enough of Blaze's nonsensical prattling. "Why did you have your guns pointed at him?" He pointed a thumb at Troy but his icy glare remained on Blaze.

"We helped them rob a bank." Paul spoke up. "Now they want to kill us rather than give us our share."

"You did nothing." Blaze snapped.

"Troy diverted the police." Paul said heatedly. "They would have busted your arses."

"And who are you?" Philip asked Paul.

"He's with me." Troy said gruffly, glaring at Philip.

"So y'all stole all this cash huh?" Deloris drawled. "Alpha, I think we should give the police a nice present. What do you say?" She gave Philip a dazzling smile.

"Do it." Philip breathed.

"Do what exactly?" Blaze asked, confused. "Hey, lady stop with the chanting and lets..." One moment Blaze was speaking, the next moment, he, his gang, their guns, and the stolen sacks of cash, were gone from the warehouse.

*

The story of the bank robbers who were mysteriously found with their loot and weapons in a locked police cell was to later become a hot debate in media houses and on social media. Blaze of course sang like a canary, talking about a magician called Troy and his team. Of course the story of the flabbergasted police team who found themselves in another state just as they got to the bank that was being robbed by Blaze and his team, only fueled the story. The story of the Vigilante Magicians was to trend for weeks. Magicians were urged to help the police do their jobs like the selfless group who had, according to the story of the robbers themselves, given up Blaze and his gang. Among the speculations that were rife on media was the possibility of an alien invasion.

Meanwhile in a quiet farmhouse, where unbeknownst to the public, the nine original residents had been murdered in cold blood with the help of magic, five warlocks watched the news with grim faces. They knew for a fact that it wasn't an alien invasion. They heard the name Troy and knew who that was. The warlocks wondered whether Troy was with other warlocks who had been able to escape the bloody battle or with another group of warlocks he'd found. They needed answers...

*

Back in the warehouse, Troy was even more confused...

"Where did you send them?" Troy asked as Paul grinned with relief.

"To the police." Deloris said as she went to stand beside Gloria and began to soothingly rub the still speechless werewolf on the back. "Now this one here..." She gestured towards Paul.

"I said he was with me." Troy growled as he shielded Paul with his body. "We will be on our way..."

"You're not going anywhere, Travis." Philip said with so much authority, Troy gasped. "Now, tell me exactly who he is and what he knows."

"First of all, my name is Troy, not Travis." Troy folded his arms across his chest, his beautiful face scrunched in with a scowl. "Secondly, I don't owe you any explana..."

"Then he dies." Philip said with finality.

"What?" Troy bellowed as Paul gasped.

"I'm sorry but he's human." Philip said. "You're not supposed to reveal what you are to humans. If he knows what you are, then he has to die."

"What do you mean what I am?" Troy growled. "How about those thieves you just delivered to the police? They know I can do magic. Why didn't you kill them? And you four... you just appeared out of nowhere, showing everyone in this warehouse that you are...whatever you are. What's the difference between what you did and what I...may have done?" His brows raised challengingly.

"When we got here, we were invisible." Deloris quickly explained. "It was only after we assessed the situation and unlinked our hands...breaking the connection between us, that you people were able to see."

"Whatever." Troy snapped. "At the end of the day, everyone saw us doing magic. Why must Paul die for seeing it too?"

"I'm talking about what you really are, not magical performances." Philip rasped. "If you've told him what you really are, probably shown him your other self, he needs to die. Sorry." But Philip didn't sound sorry at all. If the look he was throwing Paul's way was anything to go by, he seemed to be salivating at the mere thought of killing the boy.

There were rules that supernatural beings, especially, werewolves lived by. Humans were never to know of their existence. If by any unfortunate chance, they got to know, they were not to be allowed to live to tell another soul. The only humans who knew about their existence were hunters. But they, more than anyone, were hell-bent on keeping the existence of supernatural beings, secret. Their goal was to quietly destroy anything that fell outside the norm, in order not to create fear and panic amongst their fellow humans. To both supernatural beings and hunters, therefore, humans were to remain ignorant about their existence because ignorance, they say, was bliss. The last thing that any werewolf therefore wanted, was to expose themselves to humans since it would mean that human would have to lose their life.

"Who are you?" Troy whispered with a pained look as he stared at Philip. "Why are you so wicked and heartless? What has he done to you for you to even think of killing him? I don't get it. I've met some real pricks in my life but you..." he paused and pointed at Philip, "...are a fucking cactus." Jeremy burst into laughter as Philip scowled. Troy turned eyes filled with anger, defiance, and shock to Jeremy as he reached behind him to take hold of Paul's trembling hand. Who wouldn't be terrified if they had to endure one death threat after another within mere minutes, Troy asked himself as he glared at the four in the warehouse with him and Paul. "Who are you people?" He sounded so wretched, a sob tore out of Gloria who had her eyes trained on her son the entire time.

"You will know soon enough." Philip breathed, his furious gaze on the joined hands of his mate and Paul. His beast was going crazy inside of him. "In the meantime, first things first. Don't worry, I'll make it quick. He won't feel a thing. Now, step away from..." Philip trailed off when Jeremy laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Lip, come on..." Jeremy said in a low voice meant for the clearly fuming alpha but his gaze remained on his understandably bewildered brother. "Listen, Troy, how about we do it this way?" Jeremy sighed. "The two of you come with us..."

"We're not going anywhere with you." Troy sneered, his eyes flashing.

"What is he to you?" Philip suddenly growled as his eyes turned amber. His wolf was right there on the surface. "Are you two lovers?"

"No." Paul gasped. "He's my friend."

"Can you smell Travis on him?" Jeremy asked Philip in a low voice.

"No, but..."

"Then control yourself." Jeremy admonished. It was only natural for Philip's wolf to feel threatened by the affection being shown to another person by his mate. "Trav...Troy, please listen to me..."

"No, you listen to me." Troy growled. "I've had it with..."

"Alpha Jeremy?" Deloris left Gloria's side and went to stand before Troy and Paul. "I think we need to help Troy make a quick decision." She whispered a few words and looked up at Troy. Then with a sweet smile on her face, she snapped her fingers. Paul disappeared.

"What the hell!" Troy gasped. "Where did you send him?" He screamed, looking wild. "Bring him back this very instant."

"Relax..." Deloris said.

"Don't tell me to relax." Troy turned angry but pleading eyes on Jeremy. "Please..." He turned back to Deloris. "He won't last a day in police custody, please. Bring him back. I'll do anything. Please." He looked desperate.

"He's in safe hands." Deloris said as she pulled out a cell phone from her pocket and dialed. "Cami? Yes, I sent him. Give him some food and talk to him. Yes. Yes. We want to know how he knows Travis and what he knows about us. Yes, everything. Thanks, hon." She hung up. "He's with my daughter now. If you want to see him, you've got to come with us."

"You expect me to simply take your word for it that he's not lying in some police..."

"I'm calling my daughter..." Deloris dialed her phone again. "Honey... put him on, please. Listen..." She pressed the phone to Troy's ear."

"Paul?" Troy breathed when he heard his friend's voice on the other end. "Are you at the police station?" He listened for a moment. "Okay, I'll come and get you...don't think because she looks like a nice person, she is." He said urgently. "These people are murder..." Deloris snatched the phone away.

"Alright, that's enough." She cut the line. "At least you know I didn't lie to you."

"What do you want from me?" Troy asked quietly. "You've already taken everything that I have. My family..."

"We are your family." Gloria finally said softly as she started towards Troy, who looked at her closely for the first time.

"Oh no, no, no I'm no kin of you people." Troy said with a shake of his head.

"You are, son." Gloria said quietly as she stopped in front of her youngest son, her cheeks wet with tears.

Troy stared at the woman and felt a strong wave of an emotion he couldn't understand but which made him want to comfort her, sweep over him. The feeling was so powerful he took an involuntary step closer to her. He wanted to hug her. But he checked himself and rather said softly;

"You have clearly mistaken me for someone else."

"No, Trav." Gloria gave a tremulous smile. "I'm your mother." She whispered as she lifted a hand to cup the side of Troy's face. "Feel. I'm your mother." She repeated, knowing that a wolf would not miss a deep thing such as a motherly bond. "Let yourself go and feel." She whispered as she closed her eyes. "I'm your mother." Her tears never stopped.

Troy stared at Gloria for a moment, and then his eyes fluttered shut. He whimpered as an image of a younger version of the woman touching him flashed in his mind's eye. She was looking at him with so much love. And he felt so safe with her.

"Mum..." Troy whispered as he leaned into Gloria's touch.

"Yes..." Gloria choked on a half-sob, half-laugh. "You'll always be my baby..." She opened her eyes and looked at her son with all the love that she felt, shining in her eyes.

But suddenly, Troy was stepping back and shaking his head vigorously. "Stop whatever spell you're trying to cast on me." He held out his hand as if to ward off an attack. "You are not my mother. And you lot are not my family. Stay back." Troy wished for the umpteenth time that he had the ability to quickly conjure fireballs like his family.

"No one is casting a spell on you." Gloria said softly. "I don't know how to cast a spell, baby. Just like you, I'm a werewolf..."

"What?" Troy's shock at what Gloria had said was so real it was palpable. "I'm not a werewolf."

Gloria saw the look in her son's eyes and knew he genuinely didn't have a clue. "Oh, my god...he doesn't know." Gloria whispered as her hand went to her chest in pained shock. "But you're twenty-one. You should have shifted by now..."

"Not if it's suppressed." Deloris cut in, recalling how her people could actually suppress that part of a werewolf, just to rob them of their abilities. "They wouldn't allow it."

"What are you going on about?" Troy asked, feeling the sudden tension in the warehouse. Even the dark-skinned guy who had been virtually amused the entire time seemed furious. The least said about the handsome murderer, the better, he thought.

"Never mind, we will fix this." Gloria said softly as more tears ran down her cheeks. "As I was saying, we are werewolves. We don't cast spells. So is your brother, Jeremy." She pointed at Jeremy. "You used to call him Jer." None of them missed Troy's involuntary gasp as his wide eyes turned to Jeremy. But he recovered quickly.

"Err...I hate to point out but...I look nothing like you." Troy pointed out the obvious. "You two are...."

"You favour your father." Gloria said quietly. "You look exactly like him."

"Hmm...how convenient..." Troy smirked. "So where is he? Daddy dearest..." He looked from Gloria to Jeremy.

"He...he passed on." Gloria said quietly. From the look on her son's face, she could tell he wasn't buying anything she was saying. "I'm being truthful. I'll never lie to you." After a short meaningful pause and a stern look which had Troy flushing with contrition, Gloria went on. "And that is Philip, our Alpha. An alpha is the head of a werewolf pack."

"I know who an Alpha is." Troy rasped, staring daggers at Philip. He should have known that Philip was the alpha. No wonder he'd been controlling those wolves. That also meant one thing: those animals did what they did because Philip had commanded them to. God, he hated the man.

"Good." Gloria nodded. At least her son knew something about werewolves. It was surprising to know that someone in Reynard Wyatt's murderous clan had even bothered to tell her boy about their species seeing as they hadn't told him what he was. "Deloris is a warlock just like the people who kidnapped you sixteen years ago. But she hasn't cast any spells on you."

"Kidnapped?" Troy breathed.

"Yes. You were five." Gloria said. "I'll explain everything."

"Why don't we take this home?" Philip said. "Your mother will tell you everything you need to know."

Troy looked wary as he looked from one face to the other. He knew he didn't have any choice but to follow the people who claimed to be his kin to wherever they wanted to take him. After all, they had Paul. Troy gave a deep exhale and focused on the woman who claimed to be his mother.

"Will you allow us to go after..."

"Like I said earlier, you're not going anywhere." Philip growled, cutting Troy off.

"Am I to be your prisoner then?" Troy asked Philip quietly. "Because kidnapped or not, I'm not going to stay with murderers like you."

"Travis..." Jeremy started to speak but his angry brother cut him off.

"Troy." He growled. "I saw what you did to my people. You massacred them. You're definitely not people I'd like to associate myself with. I'll go with you, listen to what you have to say, answer your questions...because I'm very sure you're going to cast a truth spell on me anyway. And then Paul and I will leave. So help me god, if you try to stop me..."

"If you insist." Philip shrugged, trying to hide his amusement. His mate was so adorably annoying, he couldn't help but acknowledge. "This interrogation is probably going to take years anyway so..." He added under his breath but if the withering look Troy threw his way was anything to go by, he heard him perfectly.

"Asshole..." Troy muttered, drawing a grin from Jeremy. "Alright, since this is clearly going to...drag, I need to go for Jer."

"Jer?" Philip's confusion mirrored that of the others.

"My cat." Troy said.

"You named your cat Jer?" Jeremy rasped with a scowl, making Philip laugh.

"Well, it's a name isn't it?" Troy snapped.

"It is." Gloria smiled. "But why did you choose it?"

"It's always been stuck in my head." Troy shrugged nonchalantly. "How are we going?" He looked from one bemused face to the other.

"Here." Deloris stretched forth a hand to Troy. "Take my hand."

Troy warily took the hand offered whilst Gloria took his other hand. Philip and Jeremy linked hands with them. And just as the four from Stanwood Pack had materialized in the warehouse, they disappeared, this time with their long-lost pack member, son, brother, and Alpha's mate.

***

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