***
“Hey, you good?” Jeremy grinned at his brother.
“Yeah.” Troy nodded. “I was wondering if you could take me to see Paul. Feels like I haven’t seen him in ages. “Do you mind, Ryan?” He turned to smile at Ryan.
“Not at all,” Ryan responded. “I need to go over some stuff with Paige so keep him for as long as you want.”
“Trying to get rid of me huh?” Jeremy chuckled. “Alright, ready when you are, kiddo.”
“I’m ready,” Troy responded eagerly as he turned to his mother. “Jeremy is taking me to see Paul. I’ll come home from there. Wait up for me, please.”
“I will.” Gloria was so thrilled her son was referring to her place as home she completely missed the implication of his words. It only hit her when she saw the surprised look on Jeremy’s face. “Err…wait… Wouldn’t you rather stay at Phil…”
“Is there a problem with me wanting to come to you?” Troy asked with a raised brow.
Gloria looked up at her eldest son with confused eyes. Then she turned back to Troy with a brilliant smile. “No, of course not. I just thought… I’ll be waiting up for you.” Gloria said.
“Good,” Troy said as he stood up. “See you guys tomorrow.” He called out as Jeremy kissed Ryan.
“Bright and early.” Stan responded amidst choruses of ‘see ya’ from the others. “You’re going to have the best of fun.”
“Looking forward to it.” Troy grinned as he headed for the door without a glance in Philip’s direction. He didn’t even notice when Jeremy went to speak to Philip. He simply waited outside for Jeremy.
As the two brothers took the stairs to the huge elegant foyer with its beautifully detailed brick and marble floor, Jeremy kept looking at Troy with a bemused expression on his face. Troy didn’t miss it.
“What?” Troy finally asked.
“You could have told him where you were going,” Jeremy said quietly as he turned towards what appeared to be a concierge desk behind which a pretty lady stood with a brilliant smile. “I mean he knew but…you telling him would have been the right thing to do.”
Troy didn’t need to ask who Jeremy was referring to. “Well, you did tell him, didn’t you?” He muttered, watching as Jeremy went behind the desk and grabbed a key.
“How are you, Clara?” Jeremy asked the smiling lady behind the desk.
“I’m great, Alpha Jeremy.” Clara beamed. “Hi, Travis.” She smiled at Troy.
“Hello, Clara.” Troy smiled back. “And it’s Troy.”
“Ugh…I forgot.” She slapped her palm against her forehead, making Troy laugh. “Ryan told me to call you Troy. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Travis is my name too. But I prefer Troy since I’m more used to it.”
“I’ll remember that next time.” Clara grinned. “Bye.”
Troy waved at Clara and followed Jeremy outside. “She’s beautiful,” Troy said, moving towards the imposing white Cadillac Escalade that Jeremy pointed to. He got inside and took a deep breath. “Err…”
“It’s for Philip.” Jeremy accurately guessed the question on Troy’s mind. The car was saturated with Philip’s scent. “Listen, I know what Lip did wasn’t right but…” Jeremy began as he strapped Troy in, “you really need to try and let it go.”
“Would you have been so forgiving if you were in my shoes?” Troy asked as Jeremy handled his own seat belt.
“I would have been pissed off,” Jeremy said as he started the car and moved out. “But I would have also taken into consideration the circumstances which led to what happened.”
“What circumstances exactly?” Troy asked, fixing his gaze on Jeremy. “I shifted and then the guy decided to link me to him for life without a word to me. What circumstances are we talking about here?”
“This is the first time ever that someone has actually stayed with a premier-shifter throughout their shift, Troy,” Jeremy said quietly.
“Huh?”
“When a werewolf is going through his or her first shift, they are left to shift on their own. They are usually locked in the room alone because they get really violent immediately after the shift. Never has anyone been held and guided through a shift as Philip did with you.”
“Never?” Troy sounded shocked.
“Never. But Lip did it for you because he felt your fear and wanted to be there for you.”
“You didn’t do that for Ryan?” Troy asked with an incredulous look on his face.
“No,” Jeremy responded simply. “When you shifted, Lip also shifted because that was the only way he could have been able to defend himself if you attacked him…which you did, I’m told. Now, I don’t know whether mum told you this but, although a wolf is one with its human, it behaves totally differently from the human. It was only natural for the alpha wolf to want to mark its mate, Troy. Lip didn’t have much control over the actions of…”
“That’s bullshit.” Troy rasped. “Are you saying he couldn’t have stopped it?”
“Oh, he could have. He just didn’t want to. See, a wolf is stubborn like that. Especially an alpha wolf.” Jeremy grinned. “Hey, shit happens, okay?” He sighed. “It’s partly your fault though. I’m told your wolf was so strikingly beautiful it went straight to the idiot’s head. He just had to make you his.”
“Yeah right,” Troy muttered. “What a douche.”
“Really, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to mark your mate. The only problem with what Lip did was not seeking your consent. By marking you, he’s effectively killed the attacks that were going to come your way.” He said as he turned onto Camille’s street.
“From who?”
“His exes.” Jeremy grinned, clearly enjoying himself. When he saw Troy’s confused look, he erupted into laughter. “Mum will explain. And of course, there’s the ceremony bit too.”
“That’s just a stupid rule,” Troy muttered, as they parked in Camille’s driveway. “How do they expect people to have sex with each other whilst other people look on? That’s so crude and tasteless.”
“Well, rules are rules.” Jeremy chuckled.
“Did you do that with Ryan?”
“Nope. We…” He trailed off when Paul rushed out of the house with Camille in tow. “Saved by the bell.” He muttered with obvious relief.
“I heard that,” Troy said as he unbuckled his seat belt. “Did you tell them we were coming?” He chuckled when he heard Paul’s excited laughter.
“Yep. I sent Cami a message.” Jeremy said as he opened his door.
“Hey?” Troy’s hand shot out to stop Jeremy from getting out. “You’re going to tell me all about the mystery surrounding you and Ryan, brother mine. I find it strange that you didn’t help him during his first shift like Philip did for me. And now you tell me y’all mated with no ceremony? Oh, there’s a story. And you’re going to tell me about it one of these days.” At Jeremy’s nod. Troy let go of him and turned to look at Paul who was rapping insistently on the window. “Hold your horses, pal.” He laughed, opening his door.
“What in blazes happened to you?” Paul gasped as he stared at Troy with wide eyes. “Did you start taking steroids or something…”