Philip Harrington vs. Troy 'Travis' Stanton

Pix: Troy fast asleep with Jer the cat

Video: Baby I'm Amazed By You by Lonestar

Enjoy!

***

In the conference room the next evening, a serious meeting was taking place. The topic on board was Troy. Present were Philip, Jeremy, Joel, Stan, Paige, Ryan, and Deloris. The meeting had been called by the Alpha of Alphas.

"I'm saying he's a ticking time bomb." Jeremy said quietly. "He can shift at any time...which is good. We just need to keep an eye on him. I had to explain to him that he wasn't sick."

"That poor child." Deloris murmured. "He must be so confused right now."

"Not just confused." Philip rasped. "He's in pain." He stood and began to pace. The werewolves in the room knew how a first shift felt like. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"My problem is that," Jeremy went on, "I think mum is trying to suppress the shift because she thinks Troy is not ready."

"What?" Philip gasped.

"What makes you say that?" Joel asked.

"You all know Philip and I had to attend an alpha's meeting today." Jeremy glanced at the faces around the table. "We've been away from the pack house the whole day. But because of what I noticed during my outing with Troy yesterday, I made it a point to call and check up on him the least chance I got. Each time I called, mum told me he was sleeping."

"That's because Mama Cora gave her some sleeping potion to give to him." Joel explained. "She wouldn't try to suppress a shift. It's already long overdue as it is."

"She told me this evening that she was going to suppress the shit for now if that was what she had to do to make Troy comfortable, Uncle Jo." Jeremy said quietly. "She said she needs to prepare him no matter how long it takes. And you know how she is when she gets emotional. She wasn't ready to listen to anything I had to say. And that's why I called this meeting. I don't think that's right."

"Oh, boy." Joel muttered.

"Jeremy put yourself in her shoes." Deloris said softly. "It's only natural for her to..."

"But that doesn't make it right, Deloris." Jeremy said firmly. "I spent the day with him yesterday. I saw how much he hated that restlessness. How about getting it out of the way once and for all? Huh? When has any pup's shift been postponed to spare them the pain or prepare them? Troy is not a pup. He's twenty-one. The earlier he goes through premier, the quicker he can adjust to it. Think about it."

Jeremy's day with Troy had been fun. He'd given him a thorough tour. The pack was an entire community with acres of land and forestry surrounding them. Troy had been so amazed and impressed with everything he'd seen. They'd had lunch in one of the restaurants and even visited one of their recreational parks. Troy had looked like a kid on Christmas. The last place they'd visited was the woods where the pack usually went wild and free whenever their wolves took over. Jeremy wanted to show his brother their special trail as they used to call it before Troy and their father was taken away from them. It was when they got to the trail that he'd begun to see the telltale signs. Jeremy knew the signs of a premier-shift as they called a werewolf's first shift from human to wolf form. As he watched his brother grow restless and agitated, he just knew.

*

"Dude, you okay?" Jeremy asked a furiously perspiring Troy with a frown.

"Sure." Troy murmured as he pulled off his soaked t-shirt and began to wipe himself. "Just feeling warm. Must be the weather."

"Troy, the weather is cold." Jeremy calmly pointed out. They were in the woods in the evening for goodness sake. The weather was damn chilly.

"Well, I feel warm so..." Troy shrugged. "Have I been here before?" He asked.

"Yep. Why?"

"Feels familiar." Troy answered.

"Well, I'm not surprised. You, dad and I used to take walks here all the time." Jeremy said.

"Walks?" Troy frowned.

"Yep. We went for walks whenever dad wasn't busy."

"And I was a kid, right?" Troy looked up at Jeremy.

"The tiniest kid ever." Jeremy drawled teasingly.

"Strange. 'Cause the feeling I have... It's almost as if I was seeing everything from...above..." He trailed off when Jeremy burst into laughter. "What?"

"So you think you were what? A giant? Towering over everyone?" Jeremy snorted. "You were always sitting on Dad's shoulder during those walks. And you would brag about how you could see further than dad and I because from your perch, you were the tallest." Jeremy laughed.

"Right." Troy said, bending over and rubbing his stomach. "And dad wasn't a soldier or anything like that?"

"He was more than a soldier, Troy. He was an alpha." Jeremy said with so much pride. "The Golden Alpha."

"Was that part of his name?"

"His friends used to call him that." Jeremy chuckled.

"But were there any soldiers..."

"We were the soldiers, kiddo." Jeremy said quietly, knowing why his brother seemed to have a memory that had to do with soldiers. "We would usually sing on top of our voices as we walked, pretending to be soldiers marching through the woods."

"No shit." Troy breathed as he stood upright again and began to turn his head from left to right as if to relieve tension in his neck.

"Yeah. Hey, it's getting late. Wanna head back?" Jeremy asked. He really didn't want Troy shifting in the open. Apart from the fact that Troy's screams of pain could alert whatever enemies that were loitering around, Jeremy wanted his brother to shift in a very comfortable and calming environment.

"No, let's stay a while." Troy took off his shorts, leaving on only his boxers and trainers. "You don't mind, do you?" Troy asked, gesturing at himself.

"Not at all." Jeremy chuckled. "Because we shift all the time, we're very comfortable with nudity." He shrugged. "So you're fine. Sure you don't want to go home and get some rest?" Jeremy looked worried.

"I like it here." Troy threw his clothes onto the ground and sat under a tree. "God, I hurt." He whispered as he bent a leg and rested his head on his knee. Jeremy heard him perfectly.

"You're in pain aren't you?" Jeremy said softly. "Listen, I know you're..."

"You know nothing." Troy said, cutting Jeremy off.

With a sigh, Jeremy sat beside Troy and reached out to ruffle his hair. "You do know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Jeremy murmured.

Troy went so quiet it almost seemed as if he was sleeping. Jeremy knew better. He could sense the tension inside his brother. Apart from the struggle his body was going through because of his premier-shift, Troy clearly had a lot on his mind. And as a werewolf, Jeremy could easily feel the anxiety pouring off of his brother. Since he hadn't had his shift yet, Jeremy couldn't link up their minds and read Troy's thoughts. All he could therefore do was hope that his brother would trust him enough to tell him what was on his mind. He wished...

"I'm sick." Troy blurted out suddenly. Jeremy knew better. But he remained quiet. "I have been for years. It's a monthly ailment. Does our father or mother have any such disease?" He raised his head and looked at Jeremy with eyes filled with curiosity.

"No, they have no such..."

"Then why do I...how about you?"

"What you have is not a disease, Troy. It's..."

"Oh, it is." Troy gave a short laugh devoid of humour. "It started when I was fifteen. It's never stopped since then. Mary, the warlock who was my guardian, always gave me something...a potion, to cure me. It worked like magic." Troy shook his head slowly. "Some of the warlocks used to tease me mercilessly about my ailment. They said I should simply call myself a woman because just like women, not only did I unfailingly have my monthly, but I also had all the accompanying cramps." He muttered.

Jeremy had to take a deep breath to calm himself. He wanted to kill someone... "Troy..."

"You said I could talk to you about anything." Troy rasped.

"I meant it." Jeremy answered softly.

"So if I have a problem, you could help me sort it out, right?"

"I would do everything in my power to sort it out, Troy."

"Good. Then could you please ask the warlock, Deloris, to help me?" Troy looked at Jeremy with beseeching eyes. "I'm sure she can put something together to help. Please. It hasn't gotten this bad before because Mary always gave me the potion as soon as the flushes and the cramps started. Please, Jeremy."

"Troy, what you're experiencing is your wolf. It wants to come out?" Jeremy said gently.

"What?" Troy whispered, staring at Jeremy with confused eyes.

"You need to have your first shift, to become one with your wolf."

"No, you don't understand..."

"Listen to what I'm telling you. You are not sick."

"I'm in pain, Jeremy. This wolfy thing wouldn't cause me pain, would it? I mean you guys don't look like you're in pain or anything."

"It's always painful the very first time, I'm not going to lie. But you will get the hang of it soon. By your fifth shift, you should be fine. You're..."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Troy jumped to his feet. "Are you people normal?"

"Depends on what you call normal. We are werewolves. That's our normal."

"Well, I can't do it." Troy started pulling on his shorts. "I mean you lot are clearly okay with turning into animals at will, but I'm not okay with that. I'm human, and that's how I'm going to stay."

"You don't mean that, Troy." Jeremy sighed. He could feel himself losing control of the entire conversation and he wasn't amused at all.

"Wanna bet?"

"You can't escape it." Jeremy got to his feet too and watched his agitated brother.

"Oh, you mean you won't help. Just great." Troy threw his hands up in a sign of frustration. "And you call yourself my brother. Those warlocks, no matter how wicked they were, would never have left me to suffer like this."

"Don't you dare compare those monsters to us." Jeremy growled. "I'm saying whatever you're feeling is inevitable and must be allowed to run its course. I know you're scared but trust me, this is going to happen whether you like it or not. Don't act like a whim because of a little pain that you have to endure to become your true self. You have to take it like a man. No one can or will stop it." It was only after he stopped his tirade that he noticed the look on Troy's face. Troy didn't only look terrified, he looked helpless and disappointed. "Shit, Troy..."

"Can we go back now?" Troy mumbled, pulling on his t-shirt. He looked so dejected Jeremy wanted to kick himself. "Family sucks." He whispered.

"Troy..."

"I really don't want to hear another word from you right now." Troy muttered as he started back on the trail they had taken, leaving Jeremy feeling like an ass.

When they got home, Troy had gone directly to his room without a word, leaving Jeremy to explain everything to Gloria. And his mother's words after his narration...

"For your own sake, I pray you learn how to be tactful and sensitive before you begin to deal with that grandchild of mine."

...had made Jeremy feel even worse.

*

"When I called to check up on Troy that evening, Mum said he was sleeping." Jeremy told the people in the room. "She gave me the same story this morning and this afternoon. Strange don't you think? Imagine my shock when she dropped this bombshell on me this evening."

"No mother can stand by and watch their kid confused and in pain." Deloris murmured.

"Err...you did watch Cami have her premier shift didn't you?" Stan asked Deloris.

"No, I didn't." Deloris shook her head. "I couldn't."

"Well, she still had to go through the pain." Stan drawled.

"I think you're missing the point." Paige said. "This is not all about pain. Mama G only wants to prepare Troy because he doesn't really understand much."

"But she will only be postponing the inevitable, Paige." Jeremy rasped. "She's coddling him. He's not a child anymore. This is already long-delayed. She needs to allow it to happen for fuck's sake."

"Enough, Jeremy." Philip rasped, taking his seat again. "This is my call. As the alpha and Troy's mate, I need to decide."

"And what's it going to be, boss?" Stan drawled. "Ease the poor boy into this whole new world by allowing him to get used to the idea first, or allowing him to shift now to enable that starving dick of yours get some well-deserved workout?" Troy's wolf was bound to make Philip's work easier because it wouldn't be able to resist the mating pull. And they all knew it.

Apart from Ryan who giggled at Stan's words, everyone waited for Philip's answer with serious faces.

"What do you think?" Philip asked gruffly. "And don't think it's because of that idiotic second reason you stupidly gave but...boy's gotta shift." He shrugged, the glint in his eyes showing how much he was enjoying the idea of the shift.

Stan and Jeremy gave roars of delight and bumped fists whilst Joel and Deloris groaned. They knew there was going to be hell because Gloria was going to explode.

"Nitwits." Paige murmured with an eye roll as Ryan shook his head in amusement.

"Mum's going to descend on you." Ryan chuckled. "Brace yourselves."

"She should bring it." Philip grinned. "I've already called her to join us."

"Lip come on, she can't leave Troy alone at home." Jeremy groaned. "It's danger..."

"Who said anything about leaving him home?" Philip snorted.

"You dirty pervert." Paige chuckled. "You just wanna see him, don't you?"

"I didn't see him the whole of yesterday. Neither have I seen him the whole of today." Philip drawled. "Do you blame me? Stan, please tell the guys to prepare the Jungle Room."

"Way ahead of you, boss." Stan grinned as he relaxed into his seat. "Just sent them a message."

"Good." Philip gave a thumbs-up sign.

A young lady entered with some snacks for them. Everyone, but Philip helped themselves. The thought of seeing Troy again in the next few minutes was causing all sorts of warm feelings to course through him. Truth be told, he'd missed the annoying brat. When the door to the conference room opened to reveal Gloria and Troy some minutes later, conversation didn't stop. Everyone kept chatting and eating as if they were not worried about the potential explosion that was about to occur.

Gloria calmly went around kissing everyone except for Jeremy whom she'd already seen earlier that evening. Troy looked like a total wreck. His eyes were bloodshot and he seemed to be shivering from cold even though a sheen of sweat covered his forehead. He said a shaky hello from where he stood by the door and sat down in the chair closest to the door. He looked so glum.

Troy shifted his gaze around until they landed on Philip whose eyes were already on him. Their gazes locked. Whilst the alpha made an effort to stifle the urge to go and hug the shit out of his mate, Troy was trying to understand why it felt like ages since he'd had the pleasure of looking at Philip's face. He didn't even like the guy for goodness sake. His eyes only left Philip's when he heard his name being called.

"Yo, Troy." Stan bellowed as he moved from his seat and went to sit beside Troy. "I'm Stan." He extended his hand for a handshake.

"Hello, Stan." Troy managed a smile.

"Know what?" Stan murmured. "I'll be pissed as fuck if you tell me you haven't heard my name since you came to..."

"I have." Troy said quickly. "I'm told you're the craziest werewolf in the pack."

"That's what I'm talking about." Stan roared as he gave a fist pump. Everyone burst into laughter.

"You're happy they think you're crazy?" Troy gave a tired chuckle.

"I'm unapologetically crazy, bruh." Stan grinned. "I'm told you were taken on tour yesterday?"

"Yep." Troy nodded.

"Listen, I'm going to take you on a proper tour." Stan said in a conspiratorial tone. "The moron who took you round yesterday doesn't know shit. I know all the corners and all the interesting spots. There's this..."

Whilst Stan talked to Troy, the rest proceeded with the issue on board. And as was expected, Gloria didn't take their suggestion lightly. She felt ambushed. Soon, tempers flared and voices raised.

"Err... Is everything okay with them?" Troy asked Stan.

"Of course, everything is okay." Stan chuckled. "We're wolves. We thrive on arguments and fights. Hell, sometimes it gets bloody. But that's how we roll."

"I see." Troy murmured. "My mother looks angry. Maybe I should..."

"Aw leave her alone, she'll be fine." Stan waved his hand dismissively. "She always gets her way anyway. Not this time though." He chuckled. But when he saw Gloria get to her feet, he muttered; "Oh boy... Shit's about to go down..."

"He's my son and I know what's right for him." Gloria growled.

"Your emotions are clearly clouding your judgement, mum." Jeremy responded. "You of all people should know how important this is. What we're saying is..."

"And I'm saying he's not ready." Gloria retorted heatedly.

"And you think he's ever going to be ready?" Jeremy growled, getting to his feet too. "He says he doesn't want to be a wolf. He wants to stay human."

"And that's what I need to work on." Gloria rasped.

"Well, sometimes it's better to rip off the band-aid." Jeremy countered.

"You think this is a 'band-aid' issue?" Gloria gave the word air quotes. "He's not fifteen, Jeremy. He's twenty-one. What he's about to go through will be more intense because he's older. Ever heard of psychological trauma?" Her eyes changed. She was so angry her wolf was right there on the surface.

"Gloria, you need to calm..." Joel stood too and reached for Gloria's hand but she snatched her hand out of his and turned on him with a fierce growl.

"Stay out of this." She waited till Joel sat back down before turning back to her son. "Have I told you how to treat your kid?"

"What?" Jeremy spluttered. "My kid is not even out yet. And Troy is not a kid, mum. He's..."

"Philip?" Gloria turned around to face her alpha. Her voice didn't even sound human anymore. When she locked eyes on Philip, the alpha groaned. "What say you?"

"Both of you need to calm down." Philip said quietly.

"I'll calm down after you tell your friend he's acting like an asshole right now." Gloria rasped. She was literally shaking.

Philip glanced at his boss and friend. "You're being an asshole, Jeremy. Now sit your ass down." At that point, he was acting like the alpha of the pack and not a subordinate to the alpha of alphas. Philip waited until Jeremy took his seat, and then turned his attention back to Gloria. "Better now?"

"Don't patronize me, Philip." Gloria growled.

"Trust me, I wouldn't dare." Philip said with all sincerity. "Can you please take your seat?" He requested respectfully but Gloria shook her head.

"I prefer to stand, thank you." She muttered.

"Very well." Philip breathed. "You already know where I stand on this, Mama G." He said quietly. "It's better to cut the shoe than pinch the foot. We need to be objective here."

"You must be kidding me." Gloria breathed.

"It's necessary he shifts, Mama G." Philip said firmly. "And that's exactly what we're going to allow to happen. Otherwise, neither of you will ever be ready. I mean..."

"Why can't you people just leave me alone?" Philip stopped talking when Troy asked the question from where he stood beside a helpless looking Stan. "I just want to be left alone. I want to be normal again..."

"What you were with those warlocks, wasn't normal buddy." Jeremy said. "This is normal."

"You can't tell me how to lead my life." Troy's voice raised. "I've been told what to do my whole life. I refuse to allow you people to tell me what to do with myself." Sweat poured out of him as he trembled from sheer fury. "How dare you insist I turn into an animal?" His eyes locked on Philip's. "Is my body yours? Do you even think?" Troy felt as if his intestines were trying to force their way out of him. The pain...it was too much. And the people in the room with him seemed to think it was okay to feel that way. Troy started a silent chant unconsciously. "I've had it with you people..."

Troy felt an intense energy within that he'd never felt before. He didn't have to chant for long at all. Just as Stan reached out to hold his arm, Troy felt the release. He was more shocked than anyone in the conference room when the fireball appeared in his hand. It had materialized in his hand just as he was snatching his arm from Stan. The ball flew... right at Ryan who had bent down to pick up his phone that had fallen.

Everyone screamed as Jeremy made a mad dash towards his mate. Of course, the deadly fireball got to an oblivious Ryan first. Just as he straightened up in his chair, ready to ask what all the screams was about, Ryan saw the fireball right in his face. He gasped and froze. But shockingly, the ball never touched him. It merely bounced harmlessly against him and then disappeared to the shock of Ryan and every other person in the room. Everyone was quiet...frozen with terror and shock. Ryan looked down at himself in stunned silence. He sure as hell didn't know he had a protective shield.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." Paige started to scream. "What the fuck just happened?"

And that was when everyone heard Jeremy's angry growl. He was beside Troy in seconds, pinning him to the door with a grip around his neck.

"What the fuck, you little shit." Jeremy growled.

"I'm sorry." Troy began to sob quietly, completely shaken by what had almost happened. "I'm so sorry..."

"Do you have any idea what you almost caused?" Jeremy was so angry that Troy's continuous pleading was totally lost on him. "Are you out of your..."

"Jeremy..." Everyone heard Philip's rage-filled growl and turned to look at the alpha just as he shifted into his huge grey wolf. The wolf looked so angry everyone took a step back. 'Take your fucking hands off my mate.' Philip growled through their mind link.

The wolf was crouched low with its tail cocked, lips pulled back, fangs bared, ears forward, and eyes wild and threatening. The alpha was in an attack mode. Everyone held their breath. Even Jeremy knew when to submit.

"Easy there, Philip." Jeremy murmured as his hand came away from Troy's neck. "You know I wouldn't harm him."

'You shouldn't have put your hands on him in the first place.' The wolf growled on their mind-link. 'Shift.' That meant just one thing; Philip wanted to fight Jeremy.

"Lip, please..." Jeremy muttered as he bared his throat in a show of submission. "We don't have to do this. I got angry."

Jeremy wasn't afraid of Philip. Not only was he the alpha of all alphas, he was also an Ojah, which meant he wielded a lot of power. An Ojah could raze a whole community to the ground with just a snap of his finger. Jeremy was one of the three Ojahs in the Were kingdom. He was the only alpha who was also an Ojah, making him the most powerful supernatural being in the Were kingdom. No, Jeremy was definitely not afraid of the angry alpha. But he knew that the alpha wolf saw his action towards his mate as an attack on it. So it was only natural to want to kick his ass. Jeremy was, however, hoping that the Alpha would let it go. He didn't.

'I said shift.' Philip growled as he snapped his teeth together with a loud clap, sending a clear warning to Jeremy.

One moment Jeremy was looking all apologetic and regretful, the next moment, his clothes were falling off his body in tatters. In place of the hunk of a man stood a huge red wolf. The two beasts flew at each other.

"Stan, the doors!" Joel bellowed at a grinning Stan just as the two wolves began to roll towards the closed doors that opened onto the balcony.

"Oh, damn, I forgot." Stan laughed delightedly as he jumped and hit a button on the wall.

The doors instantly opened wide. The fighting wolves rolled through and jumped off the balcony to the ground below. Their snapping and snarling could be heard even as they disappeared into the woods.

"Damn, that was fucking entertaining." Stan laughed as Paige closed the doors.

"That went well." Paige's sarcasm wasn't lost on anyone.

"Troy?" Gloria gasped when she noticed that her youngest son was no longer in the room with them. "Where the hell did he go?" She moaned as she rushed to the door with the others in tow. But Troy was nowhere to be found.

"Let's go and check the house, sweetie." Joel told a worried Gloria. "Stan, you and Paige should look around. Now that he knows the grounds, he could be anywhere. Deloris, call Cami. Maybe he's gone to see his pal."

"He wouldn't be with them though." Deloris pointed out as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Camille lived outside the pack house. Troy had no idea where she lived so there was no way he was with them. "She's not picking up. I'll go and check." She made a beeline for the elevator.

"Ryan?" Gloria started towards Ryan who had sat back down at the table.

"I'll just sit here and hope he comes back." Ryan announced.

"No, you don't have to." Gloria hugged Ryan. "Go and get some sleep, baby." She said with a fond smile when she released him. "That silly boy gave you a scare. Knocked some years off my life with that stunt I ain't gonna lie. I'm so sorry about that, darling."

"Well, your grandkid saved the day so..." Ryan shrugged.

"That was the baby?" Gloria's eyebrow shot up.

"Well, I don't have a protective shield." Ryan chuckled. "Never had. So it must have been the baby. I mean I won't put it past it."

"Wow..." Gloria reached out to touch Ryan's tummy. "Thanks, Precious." She whispered.

"Aw, there's a slight problem though." Ryan moaned.

"What is it?" Gloria took a seat by her son-in-law, her face etched with concern.

"Ahh...there's this thing I have." Ryan looked totally apologetic. "Well, according to Deloris, it's the power of absorption. I have the ability to permanently copy magical powers that are used against me."

"Well, that's a great thing, sweetie." Gloria smiled.

"The downside is that I actually absorb that power from the original owner, leaving the owner without that particular power. So that means Troy has lost that power."

"Don't worry about it, my dear." Gloria smiled. "He's a werewolf. It's about time he started behaving like one. We don't go around throwing fireballs at will. So I don't really care about that power. Look at what he almost did to you and that innocent baby..." She moaned.

"I'm actually immune to fireballs because Reynard used it on me during that battle." Ryan said quickly. "And I absorbed it. So even if your show-off of a grandchild hadn't come through, nothing would have happened to me." Ryan suddenly groaned when a thought occurred to him. "But I guess the rest of you..."

"Would have been hurt if it had exploded." Gloria concluded. "Thank Luna for that precious baby. Now I'm going to look for my stubborn son." She stood up. "The sooner he embraces his nature, the better." She muttered as she walked away. "Go get some rest, Ryan." She called over her shoulder.

Ryan watched Gloria go and sighed. It was obvious that Gloria had had a change of heart and Ryan was happy about that. Sometimes, parents had to be firm with their kids. For the very first time since he laid eyes on the regal, elegant woman who he'd come to love as a mother, Ryan thought Gloria looked old. It was as if she'd aged overnight. Worrying about her child had clearly taken its toll on the poor woman. Ryan rubbed his hand on his stomach, which surprisingly didn't feel as flat as it had days earlier, and wondered whether his kid was going to give him such stress.

"Don't stress your daddies out, baby." He whispered. "You did good today. You saved your daddy, grandma, your uncle Troy...who is a little confused at the moment, your uncle Philip," he relaxed more into his seat, "your uncle Stan, auntie Paige, grandpa Jo, and grandma Del. That's a lot of people. Thank you. Your daddy and uncle Philp are being dickheads right now." His speech began to slow down. "The others are looking for...looking for your uncle Troy. I hope they find him soon. Otherwise...your grannie will..." Ryan didn't say any more because he'd fallen asleep.

***

Ryan opened his eyes when he felt lips brushing against his. "Hey, baby." He murmured with a sleepy smile at his very dirty looking naked mate. "Where's Lip?"

"I'm here." An equally dirty and naked Philip paused in the act of drinking water long enough to respond. Then the bottle went back to his lips.

"Why are you here alone?" Jeremy asked as he picked Ryan up bridal style.

"Was waiting here for Troy." Ryan yawned. "He left when you two idiots decided to compare the length and size of your dicks."

"Lip's got nothing on me." Jeremy snorted.

"Sure about that?" Ryan drawled.

"Are you checking out another man's package, Professor Hicks?" Jeremy gave a mock growl. "And right in front of your mate?" He gave Ryan a soft kiss when he began to laugh.

"What do you mean Troy left?" Philip asked as he placed the now empty bottle on the table.

"He just disappeared." Ryan explained. "No one saw where he went. The others are going to look for him. I decided to stay here just in case he came back here."

"Shit." Jeremy muttered. "It's late. Where the fuck is he? Lip?"

"You'd be the best person to know." Philip drawled. "Where exactly did you take him on that tour of yours?"

"Everywhere. He can be anywhere."

"Great. Well, we can't join the search in our birthday suits." Philip gestured at himself. "Meet you at the reception in ten?" He turned to go.

"Alright."

***

"You guys done?" Philip asked the two men on his floor, who were busy packing their tools.

Philip had realized before going to his meeting that evening that the dishwasher in his suite had broken down. He'd called and asked the guys to come and check it out the following morning. But they'd insisted on sorting it out immediately. Perks of being the alpha.

"We just finished, Alpha." One of the guys answered. "We had to change the entire unit. Everything is sorted out now. The only problem is that we had to leave your door open as we worked because we needed to carry things in and out of the suite. The place is therefore not too chilled as it was before. Sorry."

"No problem, Ronnie." Philip said. "Thanks." Philip entered his suite, closed the door and then froze. "The fuck..." He muttered and then took in a deep breath. That scent... He would know that unique scent anywhere. "Troy..." Philip breathed as he glanced around the room.

With a groan, Philip started moving in the direction of that scent. He followed it directly to his bedroom. The sight that met him when he entered the room made his heart flip within his chest with tenderness. Troy was curled up on the couch in the room with his sleeping cat held firmly against him. He was fast asleep. Philip didn't think he'd seen anything more adorable in his life. He just stood still and stared as hot desire spiked through him at the knowledge that his mate was actually in his bedroom. It was only when he felt Jeremy mentioning his name on their mind-link that he remembered he had to alert the others that he'd found Troy. Why the fuck was he hard, he groaned.

'He's here.' Philip told Jeremy.

'Here where?' Jeremy asked.

'In my bedroom. Does he even know whose suite this is?' Philip sounded incredulous. It wasn't a secret that Troy hated his guts.

'Of course, he knows it's yours.' Jeremy chuckled. 'I did take him there during the tour. I mean he had to know the alpha's abode, right? Take care of him, yeah? I'll inform the others.'

'He's fast asleep. Nothing to take care of.' Philip muttered through the link. 'Damn, he's fine.' He groaned. 'Just looking at him is making my blood boil...'

'Lip, don't you dare...'

'Fuck off.' Philip cut his friend off. 'Talk to you tomorrow.'

Summoning all the control he had, Philip went to the bathroom to take a well-deserved shower. After his shower, he pulled on boxer briefs and then went for a quick nightcap to help him relax. Then back in the room, he picked Troy up...with his lazy cat still held firmly in his arms and placed him on the bed. After tucking him in, he sat on the couch and stared at his sleeping mate. Philip still couldn't believe Troy had actually chosen his room of all places to hide out. The boy looked so innocent and sweet in his sleep. But Philip knew better. Just one word from Troy could send a person to the ER for an absurd rise in blood pressure, he thought as his gaze dropped to Troy's slightly parted lips. How was it even possible that those sweet-looking lips could spew such annoying shit, Philip wondered. Just looking at those luscious and perfectly shaped puckers was making him flush with lust which he found real strange. After all, not only had he never been with a man, he'd never even considered it. He was, therefore, surprised at the fact that he wanted to know how those lips would feel like against his.

"Shit..." Philip cursed as he reached down to adjust himself in his boxer briefs.

He could feel his beast's restlessness within him but was grateful for the wolf's restraint. Philip knew that the only reason his wolf hadn't forcefully busted out and demanded to be with his mate was that Troy's wolf hadn't fully awakened yet since he was yet to undergo his premier-shift. Philip would have been struggling to hold his wolf at bay that very moment, otherwise.

With a groan, Philip threw his head back and closed his eyes. He would be better off not looking at the sexy temptation in his bed, he thought as he allowed his mind to go over all that had taken place that evening. That had been some meeting, he chuckled. Troy was just too much. And Gloria... Philip said a quick prayer to Luna, to help Gloria understand that what the rest of them were suggesting for Troy, was the best. He'd hated that he had to pull rank on Gloria that evening. But for everyone's peace, her stubborn son needed to embrace his true self. Philip made a mental note to have a heart-to-heart with Gloria the following day. Hopefully, everyone would be calmer and more understanding the next day, Philip thought as he drifted off to sleep with an image of a certain blue-eyed hottie etched on his mind.

***

"Help me."

Philip heard someone asking for help in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes to see Troy on all fours, at his feet. He looked terrible.

"Shit..." Philip groaned as he got off the couch and crouched beside Troy. "Tell me how you feel." He asked as he pulled a whimpering Troy into his arms and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was a few minutes past four a.m. "Hey..."

"Pain..." Troy moaned. "So much pain.... Help me please..."

Philip got to his feet, carried Troy fireman style, and rushed out of his suite. As he went, he barked instructions through his mind-link to his aides to unlock the Jungle Room in the basement immediately. Then he sent messages to Jeremy and Stan to meet him in the basement.

Philip got on the elevator and rode to the basement with a passed-out Troy hanging over his shoulder. When he got out, three of his aides were already there, holding open the door to the Jungle Room. The door was made of solid vertical iron bars, making it easy for anyone outside the room to see what was going on inside it. The aides kept the door wide open after Philip entered, thinking he was going to leave Troy inside and come back out.

"You can lock it." Philip instructed as he lowered Troy onto the plush green carpet. "And you can leave. I'll let you know when I'm done here."

If the aides thought their alpha's directive was weird and dangerous, they didn't say. They simply did as they had been instructed. Every werewolf knew how dangerous it was to be around a freshly shifted wolf if you were not their family. When a werewolf shifted for the very first time, the wolf was usually wild, destructive and in a murderous rage. Until the individual learnt to control their wolves, they would try to kill anything that moved. It was the thirst...the hunger...the urge to kill that every wolf had. And because of that blindingly strong urge, people usually stayed away from newly shifted wolves. In the early stages after a shift, only people who were very close to the wolf stayed with them. The person would direct them on how to curb the thirst and try to keep them calm. Philip was the last person anyone would expect to be with Troy. Hell, he wasn't supposed to be in the same room with a premier-shifter in the first place. No one had ever done that.

The pack had been informed the day before of the return of Gloria's son and Jeremy's brother. There had been jubilation amongst the pack even though they were yet to see Troy. Some suspected that he was the boy they'd seen with Jeremy the day before the announcement. Others were dying to meet him. The aides knew who Troy was alright. Naturally, one would expect Gloria or Jeremy to be playing the role Philip was playing that very moment...and not Philip. But the aides knew their place. They knew better than to question their alpha.

By the time Jeremy and Stan entered the basement of the Stanwood building, the aides had already left. In a section of the basement were dungeons where werewolves who misbehaved were kept and punished. They were hardly used anyway. In another section was a beautiful jungle-themed room that was mainly used for premier-shifters. The room wasn't meant for just any werewolf who was to have his or her first shift though. It was reserved for very important people like an alpha's mate or child, or any other very important person. The walls, which were made of solid stones and the ceiling were covered with colourful artistic murals that were almost lifelike in their portrayal of a jungle. The wall to wall carpet was grass-like and so plush. On one side of the wall, a cute wall refrigerator hung like a picture. The potted plants strategically placed in the corners of the room gave the room an earthy scent which wolves loved. Soothing classical music poured from the speakers hidden inside the walls. The distinguishing characteristic of the mural painting, the soothing music, and the earthy scent nicely and harmoniously incorporated a sense of nature and peace. It was supposed to make a wolf feel comfortable and at home during a shift.

"What is this place?" Troy mumbled weakly, glancing around the room. But for the music and the coolness of the room which clearly stemmed from an air conditioner, he would have thought they were in a forest.

"We're in the Jungle Room." Philip responded as he brushed Troy's hair off his wet forehead. "This is where you'll be having your first shift." He explained as he began to take off Troy's clothes.

Philip hated seeing his mate in so much pain and wished he could do something about it. Since he couldn't, he planned on being with him throughout the process. After all, not only was Troy his mate, the boy wasn't that close to his family yet.

"Lip?" Jeremy leaned against the iron bars. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Philip sighed. "I'm doing this with him. The fear emanating from him is killing me. Having me here will help calm him down and hopefully, make this easier."

"That's what I'm talking about." Stan grinned. "You, the man!" He pointed both index fingers at Philip, making the alpha chuckled despite himself.

"Thank you, Lip." Jeremy said quietly, grateful that his friend was doing that for his brother and sad that he hadn't done same for his own mate. Hell, he'd thrown Ryan into a dungeon and left him to go through everything alone. Admittedly, he'd thought he was an enemy at the time but that didn't excuse his harsh and cruel treatment of his mate.

"Hey, it wasn't you so snap out of it." Philip growled, picking up on his friend's emotions. He should have known Jeremy would be affected by what was going on. It was important to remind his friend that it was his murderous Ojah spirit that had maltreated Ryan and not him. "The last thing you want is to remind Ryan of what he went through."

"Well, I think feeling guilt is in order." Stan drawled. "I mean thanks to him, the poor guy doesn't have any good memories of his first wolfy experien..."

"Shut up, Stan." Philip snapped. Then he turned his attention to Troy who had begun to groan beside him. "Hey, want some water?" He asked softly.

"No." Troy moaned. He didn't think he could keep anything down. "Why did you take off my clothes?" He looked down at his boxer-clad body.

"'Cause they're going to come off anyway." Philip shrugged. "Why ruin perfectly good clothes?"

"Oh god..." Troy screamed suddenly and rolled onto his hands and knees. "You sure this is how it's...aahhhhh..." He panted harshly until the pain passed. "Sure this is how it's supposed to be?" He gasped.

"Some go through worse, buddy." Stan quipped from where he stood. "I mean an alpha could have given you a painful and cruel bite and caused you to..."

"Enough already, Stan." Philip groaned. Then to his mate, he said gently; "Could have been worse."

Troy slowly got to his feet and leaned against the wall. He was sure he was going to die. In fact, he thought he would be better off dead because he'd never felt so much pain.

"Feels like my intestines are rearranging themselves." Troy whimpered as he sunk back onto the carpet. "And my skin...it's burning...crackling...as if I've been thrown into a furnace." He moaned.

Philip leaned back against the wall and drew Troy into his arms such that Troy was straddling him. He combed his fingers through Troy's wet hair as he whispered soothing words to him. For a while, Troy looked as if he was sleeping. Then suddenly, he was throwing up all over Philip's chest. Philip didn't look bothered at all but when Troy began to scream in pain, he groaned as if he was in pain too. He never once let go of Troy.

"Oh god, I can feel him." Troy cried. He could feel something moving within him...taking over his very being. But he also felt an emotion which actually surprised him. "He's..." He gasped. "Why..." He seemed to be asking himself. "Why so angry..."

"You would be too if we were suppressed for years." Stan drawled. "Your brother is..." Stan turned to Jeremy as he spoke but his words ended in a gasp. Jeremy's eyes were bloody red. "Oh my god, Jeremy..." Stan whispered shakily. No one in their right minds would want to be anywhere near a red-eyed Jeremy.

"I have to go." The Ojah said quietly. "Call Joel to come." With that curt directive, the red-eyed Jeremy turned to go.

But he hadn't even taken three steps when the elevator opened to reveal Ryan. The Ojah froze. He stared at his mate, a myriad of emotions running across his face. There was shame, guilt and utter dread on the Ojah's face to the shock of Stan. To the best of his knowledge, an Ojah had no remorse.

"Come here, baby." Ryan said softly as he opened his arms to his mate.

Ryan had felt his mate's anguish. He'd felt Jeremy's guilt over the fact that he hadn't given him the help, care, and respect a mate of an alpha deserved during his premier-shift. Ryan had waited in their room, thinking the guilt would pass. But it had rather increased in spades as the minutes ticked by. He just knew he had to get to Jeremy before he completely broke down so he'd rushed to him in the basement where he knew Jeremy was, watching his brother shift. Ryan knew he was late the moment he saw his mate's eyes. The entity currently occupying his mate's body was a clear indication that Jeremy had already broken down. Ryan was still glad he'd come to his mate because he knew that the Ojah needed him even more. After all, he was the real culprit.

The Ojah hesitated. It was almost as if he couldn't believe Ryan actually looked calm. Truly, he knew he was in the presence of a better person.

"Ryan..." Just his name... But it told Ryan everything. The Ojah was in pain.

Ryan took a step forward. "Come."

The Ojah didn't need another prompting. He went to his mate and hugged him fiercely. "I'm so sorry." He groaned.

"I know you are." Ryan breathed. "And you should be." Ryan gave a mock growl as he took in the beauty of the Jungle Room in which Philip and Troy sat. "I'd have preferred this room." He added with a chuckle, drawing a groan from the Ojah. "Hey, look at me." Ryan cupped the face of his wretched-looking mate. "You know I don't give a rat's ass what you did or didn't do. That's all in the past. I'm just glad to see you. Missed ya." He grinned. "Come on." The two stepped fully into the elevator and rode up, leaving a shocked Stan staring after them.

And inside the Jungle Room, Philip coached his mate. "Don't fight it. Let go and allow him to take over."

"Ahh..." Troy cried as his bones began to crack audibly. He tried to speak but all that came out were weird sounds. He writhed against Philip.

"That's it, baby..." Philip breathed. "Let yourself go. You will be fine... I'm here. Come on..."

Troy felt the agonizing tingling in his gum first, then a sudden burst of extra teeth in his mouth. Next came the claws. His fingers and toes nails elongated into claws. Then the fur appeared, sprouting up all over his body. Troy knew he should be terrified at the change but surprisingly, he wasn't. And that was because he felt he was in safe hands. Literally. Philip never once let go of him throughout his shift.

Joel got to Stan's side just as Troy let out a howl. The elder gasped at the colour of fur on the wolf. It was the exact colour of Troy's father and his best friend, Sylvester Stanton. He wasn't called the Golden Alpha for no reason. He was actually golden.

As soon as Troy's wolf, a beautiful golden-furred wolf fully formed, Philip shifted into his big grey alpha wolf. The alpha wolf just stood over the clearly exhausted new wolf and stared at it. He'd never seen a more strikingly beautiful wolf. Gold was one of the rare and admired colours when it came to wolves. And Philip felt so proud that his mate was one of such. In fact, he felt so much joy and pride that he threw his head back and let out a howl that was so loud it could be heard from miles away. Anyone who heard the howl could tell the alpha had found something precious. Any smart person could easily crack the code...codes. Unfortunately, most werewolves were smart.

"Son, please." Joel groaned. "People will know..." The elder was worried about the attacks that were bound to come Troy's way. Troy was no Ryan. Even Ryan, who was a powerful being had had his share of ex-attacks.

But Philip's wolf seemed not to hear his father's warning. He was in a world of his own. All he could think about was his mate and nothing else. He began to sniffs and lick his mate all over like a proud parent or a devoted lover. He licked at Troy's muzzle, throat, genitals and rear end. Troy let out tiny contented sounds which only encouraged Philip to lick more. It went on for some minutes until suddenly, the golden wolf let out an angry howl and got to his feet. It looked wild. The rest was clearly over.

'Troy?' Philip gently nudged into Troy's mind and gasped when he felt the magnitude of anger bubbling within the wolf. 'Hey, can you hear me?' Philip asked softly.

'Open the damn door.' Troy growled. All his senses felt heightened. And his emotions were all over the place. He felt so angry he wanted to destroy something.

'I can't do that.' The alpha responded, watching his mate.

'Is this supposed to be my cage then?' Troy's wolf turned angry eyes on Philip. No problem at all, the wolf thought. A fine opportunity to kick the arse of the arrogant, murderous alpha.

The alpha heard his mate's thoughts perfectly because Troy didn't know how to shield his thoughts yet. That was going to take some time to master. Until then, Philip had the misfortune of listening to the thoughts of his sassy, smart-mouth mate.

'Settle down, Troy.' Philip growled low in his throat but Troy growled right back.

'Don't tell me what to do.' Troy snarled. He felt so strong he knew he could take anyone on and beat them with cheeky ease. And Philip definitely needed his arse whooped. Troy crouched low. 'I've wanted to do this for a long time.' His ears raised, forehead furrowed, gums and teeth bared, fangs exposed, and hackles raised. All of Troy's attention was bearing down on his target...Philip. He was ready to leap.

'Troy...' Philip growled a warning just as Troy lunged at him.

Of course, Stan burst into laughter whilst Joel groaned with frustration. He was still worried about the attacks awaiting Troy. Gloria would hit the roof if anyone attacked her son, Joel thought with apprehension.

In the Jungle Room, the big alpha wolf rolled around with the beautiful golden wolf. He could have easily subdued Troy but he was enjoying sparing with him. But soon, Philip found Troy's sweet scent and aggression so hot he felt himself getting aroused. He knew he had to end it...put some distance between them. And he would have done exactly that if he were in his human form. Unfortunately, however, he was in his beast form. And the beast wanted the ultimate form of ownership. He wanted to mark his mate!

Philip pinned Troy down with cheeky easy and growled, demanding his instant submission. The golden wolf knew when to cut the bullshit and submit to a higher authority, apparently. The alpha knelt beside his mate and pulled him against him. His intent was clear in his eyes. His father and Stan who still watched them from the other side of the iron bars didn't miss it.

"No..." Stan bellowed just and Joel began to hit his fist on the bars to get his son's attention.

"Don't do it, son." Joel implored. "Please don't. Where's the key, Stan?" He growled.

"Don't bother, Uncle Jo." Stan sighed. "He's bent on marking him as his. We can't stop him."

"We need to make him see reason." The elder said heatedly. "There's the ceremony, for one. As an alpha, he must know better. Hell, Troy doesn't even know he's his mate. How do you think he would feel if he finds out after he's been marked?"

"I guess we will find out." Stan shrugged.

"Who's side are you on, you silly boy." Joel muttered. "This is not... Philip don't..." Joel screamed, when the alpha wolf reared back, fangs bared, ready to sink deep into the neck of the stunning golden wolf. "No..."

Philip struck, hard and fast...

***

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