***
“They’re in,” Philip informed the people with him in the conference room and watched as Agyemang instantly shot to his feet and rushed for the door. As the alpha ran for the door, Troy made to run after him but Philip held him back, groaning when he felt how tensed up his mate was. “Come here,” Philip muttered as he drew Troy into his arms and buried his face in his soft blonde hair. His mate hadn’t slept a wink since Paul was taken. They were all stressed over Paul’s kidnap. Philip was actually relieved that the council had postponed their mating ceremony indefinitely. They needed to handle the threat first. “He’s fine.” He murmured against Troy’s hair as he rubbed his back soothingly.
“I just want to see him.” Troy groaned against Philip. He knew he wasn’t going to be okay until he laid eyes on his friend.
“I know.” Philip sighed as he started moving to the door, his arm draped around Troy’s shoulder. “I just want you to give Agyemang the chance to fuss over his mate first.”
“My brother deserves to be with Paul just as much as A. G.” Jeremy drawled as he fell into step beside them. “He was his friend before he became A. G.’s mate, you know.” He added as he reached out to ruffle his brother’s hair.
“Imagine these Stanton boys.” Philip shook his head with an incredulous smirk, drawing a chuckle from Jeremy. “I hope he’s okay.” He muttered with a frown. “Cami says he hasn’t spoken a word since they found him all alone on that bench in the park.” Philip sighed. “I’m glad we stopped A. G. from going. He would have gone crazy. Imagine seeing your chatterbox of a mate suddenly mute.”
“I know.” Jeremy chuckled. “He will start talking as soon as he sees him,” Jeremy said with conviction.
Both Jeremy and Philip had had a hard time convincing Agyemang to stay back and allow Camille and two warriors to go and bring Paul home. Jeremy didn’t think it was advisable for Agyemang to go too taking into consideration his history with the Wyatt Clan. They also wanted to minimize the use of magic as much as possible so the three had had to fly to Oklahoma City where they’d traced Paul to. Camille had been chosen to go with the two warriors because not only was she half warlock, half-werewolf, she was also a medical doctor and Paul’s friend.
If there was any need for magic, she could handle it. And if Paul, being human, was hurt in any way, Camille could see to him. Agyemang took the stairs instead of the elevator. He ran all the way to the front of the Stanton mansion where a car had parked and Camille and the warriors were getting out. Agyemang didn’t have the patience to wait for his mate to come out. He ran to the car and reached inside to pull Paul out.
“Oh baby, are you okay?” The overwhelmed alpha gushed as he drew a confused Paul into his arms. It was almost as if Paul didn’t know who he was. But what bothered Agyemang more was what he felt. He felt…nothing. “Paul?” Agyemang murmured with a frown as he stepped back, held Paul at arm’s length, and looked at him intently.
“Paul…” Troy screamed and then broke into a run towards his friend.
“Troy, give him some time with A. G.” Philip called out in amusement as he and Jeremy walked towards where Agyemang stood, staring curiously at his mate who was getting his breath squeezed out of him by Troy. “Everything alright, A. G.?” Philip asked a confused-looking Agyemang.
“I… I don’t…” Agyemang trailed off when Paul suddenly pushed Troy aside and started walking towards Jeremy and Philip with his hand extended for a handshake.
“Hey, buddy…” Jeremy grinned as he extended his hand too but before Paul could get to him, Ryan appeared out of nowhere to stand in front of his mate, preventing him from taking another step towards Paul. “Baby?” Jeremy looked down at his mate with a confused frown.
“Not one more step.” Ryan addressed Paul as he pointed a finger at him. Paul instantly froze.
“What are you doing?” Troy gasped, staring at his frozen friend in confused shock. Surprisingly, Agyemang remained quiet. “Why did you do that, Ryan?” Troy looked angry.
“Well, I’m merely a messenger at this point.” Ryan sighed. “But my child thinks this individual is dangerous and is here to kill my mate so…” He shrugged.
“Err…baby, I think…” Jeremy began to speak but Agyemang raised his hand for silence.
“Boss, I think we need to listen to Ryan,” Agyemang said quietly, looking intently at his frozen mate. “I think there’s some truth in what he’s saying. I mean I should feel something if I hug my own mate, right?”
“Right.” Said Stan who had just joined them.
“Well, I felt nothing.” Agyemang breathed.
“Great.” Stan rubbed his hands together with a huge grin on his face. “The warriors could use a live warlock for practice. Kate, where you at?” He called out to the head of the warriors who he’d come with. Of course, she stepped closer to her boss with a happy smile on her face. “Look at what we got.” Stan grinned. “Get you guy’s to take him aw…”
“Not so fast.” Philip stepped forward with a glare in Stan’s direction. “We need some proof. For all you know the warlocks are tricking us. The Wyatt warlocks are known for their trickery.”
“I trust my child,” Ryan said. “This is not Paul.”
“Unfreeze him and let’s question him, hon,” Jeremy said.
“Not with you here.” Ryan shook his head as he turned to face his mate. “You are the target. They clearly want to take you out so that they can attack the pack.”
Stan burst into laughter. “And they think he’s the super-power here?” The incredulous look on his face was almost comical. “I mean…they think he’s the only super-power here?” He gave an amused smirk when Jeremy gave him the finger. “Aw come on, let’s face it…you’ve got nothing on your mate, man.” He drawled.
“I agree with Stan on that,” Philip murmured. “Why would they want to target you and not Ryan?”
“Because they don’t know anything about Ryan,” Deloris said, joining them. “On the day we attacked the Wyatt Clan, Ryan and I were inside Reynard’s chambers whilst the battle was going on. By the time we came out, the warlocks who could flee had already fled so they didn’t see Ryan or what he did.” She explained. “Those dirty bastards, therefore, don’t know what we have here. Alpha Jeremy, you’ll have to move away from here whilst we try something, please.” She said and then smiled at Jeremy’s groan.
“Alright.” Jeremy sighed. “I’ll be in the foyer.” He closed the distance between his and Ryan’s mouths and gave him a sweet kiss. “Be careful.”
“I will,” Ryan whispered.
“Hey Troy, come on,” Jeremy called out to his brother.
“He said you were the target, Jeremy. Not me.” Troy frowned, moving to Philip’s side and leaning his head on his shoulder. When Philip wrapped an arm around Troy’s waist and threw Jeremy an amused look, Jeremy snorted.
“You have the most annoying mate,” Jeremy muttered to a chuckling Philip as he walked past his friend and his kid brother.