Chapter 13: Philip Harrington vs. Troy ‘Travis’ Stanton~ The beat to his heart … The alpha’s woes!

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In his room, on the tenth floor of the magnificent Stanwood building which stood proudly in the middle of the vast land of the Stanwood Pack, a naked Alpha Philip Harrington paced. He’d had a fierce run but still felt restless. He didn’t understand why Travis…or Troy or whatever he called himself, made him so angry. Maybe it was because they were close to having a full moon. That would understandably intensify his emotions. But that notwithstanding, no one had managed to get him so angry so quickly in his thirty-three years of existence. The boy knew the exact buttons to push to get him into furyland.

Philip prided himself on being a very understanding person. He’d always had to be because his best friend, Jeremy, had been a handful right from their childhood because of his Ojah power. He’d had to assume the role of the voice of reason which had had a calming effect on Jeremy. Philip had therefore never had the luxury of giving in to anger like a typical male werewolf would.

As an alpha, that calm attitude he’d always had seemed to be working just fine. When he needed to be fierce…like he’d had to be during the battle with the evil Wyatt Clan, he hadn’t hesitated to show his ferocious side. Unfortunately, in the course of doing his job…fighting that battle to save his species, he’d only ended up angering someone who was supposed to be the most important person to him…his mate, Travis.

He was grateful that Jeremy and Gloria had found their brother and son and he had found his mate. But that happiness was nothing like the frustration he felt at Travis’ anger and attitude. The silly boy had actually had the nerve to insinuate he and that Paul kid were lovers. All he’d wanted to do at the point was to shake him until his teeth rattled. The boy made him so angry.

“Lip?” Philip heard his Beta and close friend, Stan, shout from the entrance to his suite. But he didn’t stop pacing. “Dude, what’s wrong?” Stan asked as he entered Philip’s bedroom. “Jeremy asked me to check up on you.”

“That boy…” Philip growled low in his throat.

“Travis?” Stan dropped into the plush couch in the bedroom and stared at Philip in surprise. His friend was always so…controlled. But the Philip pacing before him looked anything but calm.

“Calls himself Troy now.” Philip rasped. “Has a human with him that he clearly cares about. The way he acts around him urgh…it’s getting on my last nerve.”

“Oh, so this is all just you being jealous huh? Cool.” Stan grinned as he relaxed into the seat.

“Fuck you,” Philip muttered as he turned and headed for the closet. He’d already taken a shower after his run but was yet to dress up. “I thought the boy knew what Trav was. I’d have enjoyed disposing of that nuisance.” He pulled on boxer briefs and then grabbed a pair of jeans. “But Trav doesn’t even know what he is himself so…”

Stan gave a piercing whistle. “Saved by the bell. Lucky fella, whoever he is. So tell me what went down when you found him.”

“Brace yourself for the shittiest scenario ever, Stan.” Philip gave a humourless laugh. “So the little fucker…” He trailed off when they heard his big sister, Paige, enter the suite. “In here, Slip,” Philip called out, using their nickname for Paige.

The tall, dark-haired beauty was clad in her usual skintight black leather pants and vest, with black spiky-heeled boots. She could easily pass for a dominatrix. Jeremy, Philip, Paige, and Stan had had a very close friendship since childhood. They had disagreements and arguments like any group of friends did. But they also had a lot of fun together and always looked out for each other.

The three men affectionately called Paige, Slip because of her blunt nature. She never held back her thoughts. She would always say innocently, after dropping whatever outrageous thought that was on her mind, ‘it slipped out’. Something that others would find difficult to say, would just slip out of Paige’s mouth with cheeky ease. Although people found that trait irritating, the three men adored her for that.

“Start talking,” Paige said as she flopped into the seat beside Stan. “I want every juicy detail.”

“Travis Stanton is annoying as fuck.” Philip growled. “Has Ryan told you about the little drama he witnessed?” He asked as he pulled on a t-shirt.

“Ryan?” Paige looked confused. “He didn’t go with you guys, remember?”

“Oh…” Philip couldn’t stifle his amused grin. “You don’t know…” He gave his sister a look so annoyingly mysterious Paige growled.

“Don’t know what, Lip?” Paige frowned.

“Never mind. We’ll talk about that later.” Philip said as he sat on his bed and looked at his sister and his friend. “So that brat…”

By the time Philip was done telling his story, both Stan and Paige were screaming with laughter.

“A cactus?” Stan laughed. “Oh, I like this boy. He’s a fucking genius. To think you actually thought he was only sixteen...”

“You saw him too that day, moron,” Philip growled at his friend. “We all thought he was just a kid.”

“That’s because he hasn’t had his first shift yet.” Paige chuckled. “That aura of innocence is therefore still around him. Wait till he shifts.”

“Innocence?” Philip rasped as he stood up and headed for the living area. “There’s nothing innocent about that brat. But for Ryan’s…the baby’s…Ryan’s timely intervention, he would have roasted all of us.”

“You know what I mean, Lip.” Paige laughed as she and Stan followed Philip into the living room and relaxed onto the plush rug. “I still can’t get over the powers that fetus has. Know what kills me in this entire narration though?”

“What?” Both Philip and Stan asked in unison.

“Jer, the cat.”

All three erupted into uncontrollable laughter. They were still laughing when Jeremy entered the suite some minutes later. The alpha of alphas didn’t have to be a genius to know the cause of the raucous laughter. From the way the laughter turned hysterical upon his entrance, Jeremy could tell exactly what was cracking his friends up.