Chapter Three

15 years ago

“Hey!” 

The man shouted and dropped the rest of his bags, dashing right after the boy. 

“Hey, you little shit, come back here!” 

The market was crowded, tens, maybe hundreds of people were walking around, some in a hurry, others chatting in the middle of the street, carrying bags full of tomatoes, meat and all kinds of things you could buy in this run down part of London in the China town part which wasn’t for the tourists. 

“Hey! Someone grab this brat, he stole my wallet!” 

The man kept shouting, but no one really paid attention. Stealing happened all the time here. No one cared. 

“Hey! Get back here or I’ll call the police!”

It was a desperate attempt from the man to threaten the boy with the police, because what were they going to do about him?

Judging by the ripped clothes and dirty, bare feet he didn’t have any parents, and lived on the street. 

Or if he did have any parents, he didn’t really have a mother who made cookies and served dinner every night. 

The man yelled again and just before he saw the boy in front of him, another person- some old guy in the market came to stand in front of the victim. The man ran over the stranger and the contents of the  whole bag with apples and carrots spilled right down on the ground. 

“Watch where you are going!”

The old man said, trying to get up with the man whose wallet was stolen trying to get up too. 

“Hey!”

The first man got up and dashed again in the direction he’d last seen the boy. 

The old guy yelled after the man who pushed him and got up, shaking his head. 

“I hope you never catch him!” 

“I hope you rot, “ 

etc, etc…and all those shouts and names people call each other at the market. 

I was leaning against the door of one of the bars in the neighborhood. At that time I was still in the police, still not working undercover and still hadn't joined Richard as the boss of his bodyguards and security. 

I also still haven't taken my first really big bribe, although I was often closing my eyes for things like the one that just happened. I was minding my business when 

the boy turned at a very fast speed behind the corner- he couldn't have been more than ten, he was dirty and shabby, and I had seen him a few times before. A boy like any other his age- only one that most likely lived on the street, but one thing made him stand out- he had one of the most expressive dark eyes I had ever seen. Kind of scary, even. 

If he wasn’t so skinny and fast - like a cat, and if it wasn’t for all the dirt covering his face, I could swear his features could easily belong to a girl.

I took a sip from my coffee when the man, whose wallet the kid had stolen came to a halt when the man reached the corner and realized there was no way of catching the boy anymore. 

“Damn bastard!”

The man was panting and rested his palms on his knees, leaning forward. He looked like he was close to a heart attack. 

I pushed away from the wall, heading towards the inside of the bar when the guy saw me. 

“You! Hey you!” the guy was walking in my direction, pointing a finger at me “did you see what happened just now? I was robbed!  “

I was supposed to investigate a dealer today. His gang had already bribed me and I had come earlier while still in my uniform just to check the place. The plan was : I was going to come in and pretend to do a regular check, while the leader was going to be inside, just sitting and chatting with his pals. I was going to “fake check him,” not discover anything on him and let him go. I also hadn’t slept since the other day because of another operation. 

I had no time for dealing with this dude and his wallet. 

“I didn’t see anything and you’d better go back to your wife, and if you keep yelling at me I’ll arrest you for violation of public order and officer offense. “ I grumbled, “Not get out of my sight. ” 

The man looked stunned, but I really had no time for any of this. The less civilians, the better. The guy just had to fuck off. 

“Hey, officer!”

The man caught up with me just as I was pushing the door of the bar to get in. 

“Excuse me, please, “ 

I turned slightly around and he came to stand in front of me, reading my name. 

“Officer Garrey, I …” he was still breathing heavily, “I am sorry for my tone, but did you really not see what happened? This kid…he..he stole my wallet and everything, I…”

I opened the door of the bar and saw my guy was inside. The plan was about to be executed. 

“What?” I asked, distracted, “no.”

“But how…”

“I said no, now get out of my face before I arrest you. “

“But, sir, he…”

I shut the door in his face and headed towards the inside of the bar. 

“This kid, “ I laughed and shook my head. I didn’t think anything further about what had happened just now and proceeded to do my business, under the protection of my uniform. I thought nothing of the kid until only a few days later when that child appeared again. And again- he was stealing. 

At that time I couldn’t have known this would be a kid I saw growing up in front of me, a street cat that is now like a son to me. A thief who turned into the future head of one of the biggest political (and criminal) empires, and a belonging to its King - Killian. 

****

Mike got back to his place, still feeling Killian’s scent. 

Someone had been there, following them at some point on, which meant- after all- Richard had sent people around, watching Killian. 

But Killian had let Mike kiss him. It was somehow more important than the whole following thing, because he had been prepared that someone would be watching them. He hadn’t been prepared for Killan to kiss him like this. 

 Mike checked the time- it was almost six am, so he went to take a shower and made himself a coffee. There was no point in trying to sleep when he had to get up in a few hours. 

He was going to see Killian again soon. 

Mike sat at the TV and turned it on for probably the first time since he’d come here. 

There were the usual, mind- numbing shows,repetitions of last night’s program, or on some channels- the morning news and “Good Morning, Britain”,  but Mike didn’t really follow what the figures moving on the screen were saying. He took another sip from his coffee and opened his phone. 

The last message was from Killian and he kept staring at it. It said a simple “downstairs” but it was so much. 

Mike hesitated. 

“Thank you for the walk. “

he typed and laughed quietly, especially toying with the word “walk.”

What would Killian think of him when he saw his wolf. 

“I can’t wait to show you. “ 

Mike thought and locked back his phone, occasionally checking and glancing for a reply before he had to get up and get dressed to back to the manor.

No response came. 

***

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