Elliot invited me for a breakfast with his beta and shield. Aileen kept quiet through the meal, watching me with a curious expression. Rowley had a wicked smile on his face, that made me very uncomfortable. Elliot talked non-stop, mostly about what was going on in the pack. He was helping a few lone wolves who came into the city to find a suitable home. They wanted to stay here a while and see what the pack was like before they would join. They were in a motel right now, but Elliot insisted on them getting a better home. He was planning a big full moon hunt so the pack could bond some more. Murray – their Healer – finally found an apprentice, a nice girl named Anna, they needed a ceremony so she could start training. One of the warriors Raymond has found himself a pretty mate, there needed to be a ceremony as well.

“Do you plan to get a mate, Elliot?” Aileen asked.

“No, I have enough responsibility as it is, I don’t want to add a family to the list right now.”

And so on it went… Weirdly enough I felt more at ease and included after one breakfast here, than after all those days in my actual home pack. I had to leave… Now before I decided to stay…

“Thank you, Elliot, for everything, but I’ve been avoiding packs for a decade, I can’t just… I need more time to think,” I told him, after breakfast.

“That’s all right, it’s a big decision. Take your time, you are welcome to stay for as long as you want.” He smiled at me, so understanding. But fuck did it work…

“I think I shouldn’t.” I smiled sadly. “I’ll find myself a better hotel and stay there for a while.” He didn’t argue, he just nodded and so graciously gave me space to breathe. “I know that I’m in no place to ask you anything, but if you find the Mercenaries…”

“You’ll be the first person I call,” he assured me and I believed him, for some reason. I gave him my number then said my goodbyes. He offered to drive me back to the motel since my car stayed there but I needed time to think so I walked.

Even though the walk back took ages my mind was still all over the place when I arrived at the motel. I got into the car with a sigh and took out my phone. One missed call from Scott, two from Yuri. They didn’t leave texts, which was probably smart. I needed to call them and tell them what happened, I needed to figure out a new plan. And yet it wasn’t Scott nor Yuri who I called…

“Um… Reid, Hey, hello.” Matt picked it up right away, sounding kind of nervous. I raised my eyebrow at that but it wasn’t a video chat so he couldn’t see that.

“Hey, Matty, you alright?” I asked already, feeling calmer just from hearing his voice.

“Yeah, yeah fine. You?” Oh, he was so nervous, why?

“It’s not easy being back home, but I’m coping,” I admitted with a sigh.

“Oh? Do you need to talk about it?” Now he sounded surer, more confident like this was his territory.

“No, I’ll be fine.” I shook my head; I couldn’t possibly tell him anything.

“Oh…” he sounded disappointed by that. For a second we both went quiet. I didn’t really have anything I wanted to talk to him about, I just wanted to hear his voice…

“Hey, uh… you know, about that picture before…” He started, his voice shaking a bit. Picture? Oh, that picture. I grinned to myself as I remembered it. “Look it was stupid I shouldn’t have sent anything like that, I’m sorry. Could we just forget it ever existed?”

What? No. Not a chance. Why would he…? Oh, I didn’t answer him. I just looked at it but didn’t react to it. Oh, my poor boy. Did he think I didn’t like it? Of course, he did. He never did anything like that and only got a seen on his first nude. Oh, my poor insecure boy. “I couldn’t forget it even if I tried,” I said licking my lips. “You’re fucking gorgeous Matty, I could stare at it for hours.”

“Oh. Y-you liked it?” he asked, so unsure of himself yet so hopeful.

“I loved it, Matty, you’re hot as all hell,” I growled slightly, knowing my wolf wished we could take him. I did too. The thought that I would never see him in again… But I couldn’t go back. I would find a new Matt somewhere else. Plenty of rabbits in the forest… Right…?

“Well, thank you, I…” My phone buzzed to tell me I had another call, it was Yuri.

“Sorry, Matty, gotta go, I’ll call you later okay?” I hung up before he could answer and quickly took Yuri’s call. “Where?” I asked simply.

In the end, we picked a hotel at the edge of the vampire territory. I booked a room there, feeling my wallet crying. I was a college student and this trip home wasn’t doing me any good. Scott and Yuri soon arrived and I told them everything that happened, not including the breakfast. I wasn’t sure why, it seemed like betraying Elliot’s trust if I did. I froze suddenly. And when did I start caring about betraying Elliot?

“You, know he could be lying,” Scott said, not noticing my little realization. “Making it seem like he is hunting them down so you would have a common enemy.”

“I know, but I don’t think that’s the case.” I sighed. “When I think about it, hunting them down sooner than Alistair would give him a damn big boost of respect. And he seemed genuinely into the hunt… You can never perfectly fake a wolf’s thrill for a hunt.” I lay down on the comfortable couch in the hotel room – yes it had a couch and a minibar. “I think… I think I should’ve listened to Father,” I said, surprised I didn’t choke on the words.

“You what? Could you please repeat that? I think I’m imagining things,” Yuri said absolutely shocked.

“Shut up,” I growled at him. “Look, I thought about it the whole way back to the motel. It’s too easy, too perfect. It all points right at him. Now, Elliot might be predictable as hell, but he’s not stupid. And this thing with the Mercenaries… It’s too obvious. No, he would be smarter, he would make sure the blame points to someone else.”

“What are you saying?” Scott frowned drinking the scotch he found in the minibar right from the bottle.

“No offense but we’re no geniuses.” I smiled as they glared at me. “Alistair surely had the same thoughts as we did, but he’s not suspecting Elliot. No, he’s suspecting Baltazar…”

“But what would Baltazar gain by killing Bran? And attacking Jack?” Yuri thought out loud.

“Well, he could be after more territory, or maybe he just decided he didn’t want two wolf packs here anymore,” I said the only thing that came to mind. “Did Father meet with him yet?”

“No. It seems Baltazar had more important stuff to do.” Yuri shook his head. Well then, maybe it was time I had a meeting with him…

“Okay, go back to the pack and see if they made progress in the search,” I said as I formed a new plan in my head. “I think I’ll pay a visit to Baltazar.”

“Have you lost your mind? They are vampires! This time the status of a lone wolf won’t help you. On the contrary, you have no protection. They will keep you as a damn blood slave.”

“Yuri, you know very well I’m no ordinary werewolf…” I said quietly. The Ghealach blood was a curse… Not by just being the royal blood, not just by carrying the wolf gene, no, there was a terrible darkness deep in my soul, something much much worse than any werewolf, vampire, or even a cadrac.

“No, Reid. I won’t be there to help you if you lose control,” he said glaring at me though I saw the flash of fear in his eyes. “If you let it out, the whole city…”

“…will be dead by morning. Yeah,” I finished for him. “I know exactly how deadly it is. And Baltazar knows too. He won’t attack me. He knows I can kill him.”

“Are you seriously gonna risk everyone’s lives on Baltazar behaving nice?” he folded his hands across his chest.

“Come on, I lived for more than a decade without losing control. It’s the damn Ghealach pack that’s making me go mad. I’m pretty sure I’ll have no problem keeping my calm around vampires,” I assured him, absolutely confident. “And maybe I won’t even have to talk to Baltazar…” I realized suddenly. I took out my phone and quickly scrolled through my contacts, praying that I haven’t deleted it. No, there it was. I dialed it ignoring Yuri’s and Scott’s protests.

“Hello, Daniel. You know, I thought I might just take you up on that drink if the offer still stands,” I said when he picked up, smiling as Scott and Yuri glared at me.

“Well, of course. The Bloody rose? Let’s say… at seven pm?” he suggested without hesitation, sounding very pleased I called him.

Seven…? Damn that was ages from now, it was only noon. Guess I could try to get some more sleep… I agreed and hung up, Yuri and Scott looked like they wanted to bang my head against the wall.

“I hate Daniel,” Yuri growled, but that’s all the complaining I heard from them. They left, very displeased with my next plan. I wasn’t exactly satisfied with it either, to be honest.

I fell on the comfortable bed, sighing loudly as I stretched, my back popping. I felt tired, mentally more than physically. Still, it didn’t take me long to fall asleep…