***
“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.”