Chapter 9: Philip Harrington vs. Troy ‘Travis’ Stanton~ The beat to his heart … Family!

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“Paul?” Troy breathed when he heard his friend’s voice on the other end. “Are you at the police station?” He listened for a moment. “Okay, I’ll come and get you…don’t think because she looks like a nice person, she is.” He said urgently. “These people are murder…” Deloris snatched the phone away.

“Alright, that’s enough.” She cut the line. “At least you know I didn’t lie to you.”

“What do you want from me?” Troy asked quietly. “You’ve already taken everything that I have. My family…”

“We are your family.” Gloria finally said softly as she started towards Troy, who looked at her closely for the first time.

“Oh no, no, no I’m no kin of you people,” Troy said with a shake of his head.

“You are, son,” Gloria said quietly as she stopped in front of her youngest son, her cheeks wet with tears.

Troy stared at the woman and felt a strong wave of emotion he couldn’t understand but which made him want to comfort her, sweep over him. The feeling was so powerful he took an involuntary step closer to her. He wanted to hug her. But he checked himself and rather said softly;

“You have clearly mistaken me for someone else.”

“No, Trav.” Gloria gave a tremulous smile. “I’m your mother.” She whispered as she lifted a hand to cup the side of Troy’s face. “Feel. I’m your mother.” She repeated, knowing that a wolf would not miss a deep thing such as a motherly bond. “Let yourself go and feel.” She whispered as she closed her eyes. “I’m your mother.” Her tears never stopped.

Troy stared at Gloria for a moment, and then his eyes fluttered shut. He whimpered as an image of a younger version of the woman touching him flashed in his mind’s eye. She was looking at him with so much love. And he felt so safe with her.

“Mum…” Troy whispered as he leaned into Gloria’s touch.

“Yes...” Gloria choked on a half-sob, half-laugh. “You’ll always be my baby…” She opened her eyes and looked at her son with all the love that she felt, shining in her eyes.

But suddenly, Troy was stepping back and shaking his head vigorously. “Stop whatever spell you’re trying to cast on me.” He held out his hand as if to ward off an attack. “You are not my mother. And you lot are not my family. Stay back.” Troy wished for the umpteenth time that he had the ability to quickly conjure fireballs like his family.

“No one is casting a spell on you,” Gloria said softly. “I don’t know how to cast a spell, baby. Just like you, I’m a werewolf…”

“What?” Troy’s shock at what Gloria had said was so real it was palpable. “I’m not a werewolf.”

Gloria saw the look in her son’s eyes and knew he genuinely didn’t have a clue. “Oh, my god...he doesn’t know,” Gloria whispered as her hand went to her chest in pained shock.

“But you’re twenty-one. You should have shifted by now…”

“Not if it’s suppressed.” Deloris cut in, recalling how her people could actually suppress that part of a werewolf, just to rob them of their abilities. “They wouldn’t allow it.”

“What are you going on about?” Troy asked, feeling the sudden tension in the warehouse. Even the dark-skinned guy who had been virtually amused the entire time seemed furious. The least said about the handsome murderer, the better, he thought.

“Never mind, we will fix this,” Gloria said softly as more tears ran down her cheeks. “As I was saying, we are werewolves. We don’t cast spells. So is your brother, Jeremy.” She pointed at Jeremy. “You used to call him Jer.” None of them missed Troy’s involuntary gasp as his wide eyes turned to Jeremy. But he recovered quickly.

“Err…I hate to point out but…I look nothing like you.” Troy pointed out the obvious. “You two are.…”

“You favour your father,” Gloria said quietly. “You look exactly like him.”

“Hmm…how convenient...” Troy smirked. “So where is he? Daddy dearest…” He looked from Gloria to Jeremy.

“He…he passed on,” Gloria said quietly. From the look on her son’s face, she could tell he wasn’t buying anything she was saying. “I’m being truthful. I’ll never lie to you.”

After a short meaningful pause and a stern look that had Troy flushing with contrition, Gloria went on. “And that is Philip, our Alpha. An alpha is the head of a werewolf pack.”

“I know who an Alpha is.” Troy rasped, staring daggers at Philip. He should have known that Philip was the alpha. No wonder he’d been controlling those wolves. That also meant one thing: those animals did what they did because Philip had commanded them to. God, he hated the man.

“Good.” Gloria nodded. At least her son knew something about werewolves. It was surprising to know that someone in Reynard Wyatt’s murderous clan had even bothered to tell her boy about their species seeing as they hadn’t told him what he was. “Deloris is a warlock just like the people who kidnapped you sixteen years ago. But she hasn’t cast any spells on you.”

“Kidnapped?” Troy breathed.

“Yes. You were five.” Gloria said. “I’ll explain everything.”

“Why don’t we take this home?” Philip said. “Your mother will tell you everything you need to know.”

Troy looked wary as he looked from one face to the other. He knew he didn’t have any choice but to follow the people who claimed to be his kin to wherever they wanted to take him. After all, they had Paul. Troy gave a deep exhale and focused on the woman who claimed to be his mother.

“Will you allow us to go after…”

“As I said earlier, you’re not going anywhere,” Philip growled, cutting Troy off.

“Am I to be your prisoner then?” Troy asked Philip quietly. “Because kidnapped or not, I’m not going to stay with murderers like you.”

“Travis…” Jeremy started to speak but his angry brother cut him off.

“Troy.” He growled. “I saw what you did to my people. You massacred them. You’re definitely not people I’d like to associate myself with. I’ll go with you, listen to what you have to say, answer your questions…because I’m very sure you’re going to cast a truth spell on me anyway. And then Paul and I will leave. So help me god, if you try to stop me…”

“If you insist.” Philip shrugged, trying to hide his amusement. His mate was so adorably annoying, he couldn’t help but acknowledge. “This interrogation is probably going to take years anyway so…” He added under his breath but if the withering look Troy threw his way was anything to go by, he heard him perfectly.

“Asshole…” Troy muttered, drawing a grin from Jeremy. “Alright, since this is clearly going to…drag, I need to go for Jer.”

“Jer?” Philip’s confusion mirrored that of the others.

“My cat,” Troy said.

“You named your cat Jer?” Jeremy rasped with a scowl, making Philip laugh.

“Well, it’s a name isn’t it?” Troy snapped.

“It is.” Gloria smiled. “But why did you choose it?”

“It’s always been stuck in my head.” Troy shrugged nonchalantly. “How are we going?” He looked from one bemused face to the other.

“Here.” Deloris stretched forth a hand to Troy. “Take my hand.”

Troy warily took the hand offered whilst Gloria took his other hand. Philip and Jeremy linked hands with them. And just as the four from Stanwood Pack had materialized in the warehouse, they disappeared, this time with their long-lost pack member, son, brother, and Alpha’s mate.