***
“Deloris, we are ready.” Philip Harrington, the Alpha of Stanwood Pack growled low in his throat as he stared at the warlock in their midst. “It’s ten a.m.”“So…the four of us?” Deloris asked, glancing from the determined-looking woman standing before her, to her scowling son.“Mum, I really think you should stay home and…” Jeremy Stanton, the Alpha of all Alphas, started to say but got cut off by his unrelenting mother.“Not on your life, Jeremy.” Gloria Stanton said heatedly. “I’ve told you not to waste your breath. That’s my son we’re talking about. I need to be there.”“Four of us, Deloris.” Philip breathed as he rubbed the back of his neck in obvious agitation. He could feel his wolf going crazy inside of him. He was having a difficult time stopping himself from shifting.“Calm down, Lip.” Jeremy, his boss and best friend murmured beside him. “We need you calm otherwise this will not end well.”“Should I give you something to…” Deloris looked at her alpha with worried eyes.“I’m fine.” Philip breathed. “Can we just…”“Let’s go bring your mate home, Alpha.” Deloris grinned as she gestured for them to hold hands.“Paige?” Jeremy called out to Philip’s big sister and his friend as he stepped between his mother and Deloris and linked hands with them. “Keep an eye on Ryan.”“Will do.” Paige gave a thumbs-up sign. “Hey, Lip?” She called out but her tensed-up brother didn’t even spare her a glance.The Alpha’s entire being was focused on meeting his mate. The feeling inside was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Until he saw Travis Stanton safe, nothing mattered in his world. Somehow it felt surreal that his mate was none other than Jeremy’s presumed-dead kid brother, Travis. Hell, it was even strange that they’d been able to figure out who the kid was in the first place. As he watched Deloris begin her chant, Philip allowed his mind to wander…recalling all that had taken place the day before…how he’d found out who his mate was…and how shocked he’d been…**Philip had been surprised when Jeremy Stanton, the former Alpha of their pack, had returned from his planned two-week getaway with his mate, earlier than expected, the day before. When the grim-faced Alpha of Alphas had summoned him, Stan his head beta, Joel his father, Paige his sister, Gloria - Jeremy’s mother, the High Priestess, and Deloris - the resident warlock, to an urgent meeting, Philip knew that something serious was up. Without beating about the bush, Jeremy had informed them that his brother, who they’d all thought had been killed by hunters sixteen years earlier, was not only alive but was also Philip’s mate. A collective gasp of shock and joy had gone up from the people gathered in the conference room at the shocking news...“All these years, he was being held at the fortress by Reynard Wyatt,” Jeremy growled through clenched teeth as his eyes went to his mother who was whimpering pitifully. “I’m so sorry, mum.” He groaned when Gloria Stanton began to cry.Philip saw the sheer anger on his friend’s face and felt an answering anger in his own chest. Jeremy had never met the evil warlock personally since he’d been away serving time in purgatory when the pack went into battle with the Wyatt clan and defeated them. But Jeremy had once told him that if there was one person he wished he had the power to resurrect and kill all over again…slowly and excruciatingly, it was Reynard Wyatt. He’d jokingly added that he would have done the killing somewhere his mate, Ryan, wouldn’t be able to witness. Philip had laughed at the irony of it all. To think the man Jeremy hated with a passion was actually his mate’s father… Talk about complicated twists, Philip couldn’t help but think. But the rage he saw on his friend’s face as he addressed them, made him certain that Jeremy would have loved to do exactly as he’d told him when he came back from his incarceration and learnt about Reynard Wyatt.Philip watched as his father, Joel, went to take a sobbing Gloria, into his arms. By a twist of fate, his father and Gloria had become lovers some months earlier. Although his father had been the best friend of Sylvester Stanton, Gloria’s husband, and father of her children, Jeremy and Travis, it was not strange at all that they had become lovers. After all, for the past sixteen years that Gloria’s husband had been dead…killed by Reynard Wyatt and not by hunters as they’d originally thought, Joel had stepped in and taken care of Gloria. Not that she needed to be taken care of though. After all, not only was she the baddest warrior the Stanwood Pack had ever had, she also had the most powerful werewolf ever, Jeremy, as a son. But his father just loved taking care of Gloria. Philip, whose mother had passed on when he and his sister, Paige were kids, had no problem with the relationship between his father and Gloria because Gloria had always been a mother to them anyway. Everyone loved Mama G, as they all affectionately called Gloria. Philip turned his attention back to Jeremy and smiled when he heard his friend next words;“If there was any way I could resurrect that asshole and kill him again…painfully and slowly, I would.” The thought of his brother in the grips of the most wicked warlock that ever lived was clearly killing Jeremy. “Sorry baby.” He muttered to his mate.But Ryan gave a nonchalant shrug as he stood up. “I wish you could, honey.” He said, leaning down to place a kiss on Jeremy’s lips. Then he went to take the seat beside Gloria and then began to soothingly run his fingers through her long hair.Philip knew that Ryan wasn’t just comforting Gloria with his touch. The half werewolf, half warlock mate of the Alpha of all Alphas was probably transferring a calming energy to the sobbing woman. Jeremy’s mate was one of the most powerful beings in the entire world. In fact, to Philip, Ryan was even more powerful than Jeremy because he had the power to calm down the murderous Ojah spirit within Jeremy that made Jeremy so powerful. Everyone watched as Gloria visibly calmed down. It was a bittersweet moment because in as much as everyone at the table was thrilled to know that Travis was alive, they couldn’t help but be sad that he’d been taken and held by their enemy for virtually all his life without the knowledge of his family.“We all know that but for Philip’s timely intervention, his mate would have been killed by our warriors during the battle with the Wyatt Clan.” Jeremy continued to speak, reminding everyone of how Philip’s very first command as alpha had been to stop their warriors from ripping a fire-throwing Travis to shreds during the epic battle with the Wyatt clan. “What we didn’t know was that that boy was my brother, Travis. We had almost killed Philip’s mate and my brother.” He shook his head sadly. “We must all be grateful to Luna for her mercies,” Jeremy said solemnly. He then went on to explain how his mate, Ryan, had been able to figure out who Travis was after seeing Travis’ picture on the Island during their visit.“But how?” Gloria asked shakily. “He was only five years old in those pictures on the Island. And you only saw him in the battle for what…a minute?” She stared at Ryan with confused eyes.“I’ll explain everything.” Jeremy chuckled.“Before you do that…” Philip rasped as he stood up. “It should be easier to find him now, right?”Everyone watched as Philip pulled off his t-shirt, unabashedly exposing his ripped muscles and sexy abs to the people gathered. His wolf wanted out. It wanted to go to his mate. The coolness of the air-conditioned room couldn’t stop Philip’s profuse sweating. Everyone in the room understood what he was going through.“Calm down, Lip,” Jeremy murmured.***“Deloris, is it possible to do a location spell?” The alpha of all alphas asked the powerful warlock.“Piece of cake.” The warlock grinned as she leaned in to rub Gloria on the back. “I’ll need your blood, Alpha Jeremy.” She addressed the Alpha of Alphas. “And yours too, Gloria. Ryan, why don’t you go get some sleep?” Deloris asked with a frown. “You look sleepy. Amazing but sleepy.”“Well, there’s a reason for that,” Jeremy said with a cocky grin, looking at the faces around the table. “Mum, you might want to brace yourself for this one…” He watched as Gloria pulled out of Joel’s embrace and locked curious eyes on his. “Ryan is pregnant.”The collective gasp that went up said it all. Everyone in the room, except a grinning Deloris, looked shocked.“Impossible!” The High Priestess exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock.“How?” Paige screeched.“Err… you mean lesbians don’t know how babies are…”“Shut up, Stan.” Paige snapped as she turned shocked eyes on Ryan, who considered her his be
***“You must be kidding me.” Troy couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice as he stared at the guns pointing at his and Paul’s heads. “I thought we had an agreement.”“Well, consider it canceled.” Blaze grinned as he relaxed in his seat and lit a joint. He already looked high. And from the traces of white power on the table and the rolled-up dollar bill beside the substance, Troy could hazard a good guess what the gang leader was high on. He’d watched enough TV. “This is a lot of cash.” Blaze pointed his joint at the sacks of cash as he watched the two boys from beneath his lashes. “I don’t want any of this getting out so we have to shut you up…permanently.”“But we helped you get…”“What did you do?” The leader of the gang scoffed as he took a long drag. “Your work was to stop the police if they showed up. They didn’t.”“That was because I changed their course.” Troy was literally shaking with disbelief and anger. He was, however, more concerned about Paul who was trembling and plea
***A shocked Jeremy tore his eyes off his now stiff fireball-wielding brother when he felt a familiar warmth against him. His eyes widened in shock when his gaze landed on his sleepy mate. He was still in the sweats and t-shirt he’d left him sleeping in back at home. He couldn’t even seem to keep his eyes open.“Baby?” Jeremy ran his fingers through Ryan’s disheveled hair. He thought his mate looked absolutely gorgeous with that sexy bedhead. “How…”“Not me,” Ryan mumbled sleepily as he wrapped his arms around Jeremy’s waist and laid the side of his face against his broad chest. “The baby thought you were in danger. It brought me here.” He yawned. “As you can see, I was sleeping.”“What?” Jeremy gasped as he wrapped his arms around Ryan too. “It can do that?” He looked stunned.“It’s your kid.” Ryan chuckled. “What’s going on here?” He looked at a fireball-wielding gorgeous young man and smiled. “Your brother looks pissed,” Ryan murmured.“Oh, he is.” Jeremy chuckled. “At Lip.”“Oh b
***The story of the bank robbers who were mysteriously found with their loot and weapons in a locked police cell was to later become a hot debate in media houses and on social media. Blaze of course sang like a canary, talking about a magician called Troy and his team. Of course the story of the flabbergasted police team who found themselves in another state just as they got to the bank that was being robbed by Blaze and his team, only fueled the story. The story of the Vigilante Magicians was to trend for weeks.Magicians were urged to help the police do their jobs like the selfless group who had, according to the story of the robbers themselves, given up Blaze and his gang. Among the speculations that were rife on media was the possibility of an alien invasion.Meanwhile, in a quiet farmhouse, where unbeknownst to the public, the nine original residents had been murdered in cold blood with the help of magic, five warlocks watched the news with grim faces. They knew for a fact that
***“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 cl
***“Paul is not here,” Troy said quietly immediately after they materialized in Gloria’s living room. They’d all decided that the best place to break Troy in was in his mother’s house.“He will come over as soon as you and your mother are done talking,” Philip muttered as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began to type, sizing Troy up intermittently.“I won’t say anything until I see him.” Troy insisted, a dark scowl in place. But he added after a moment; “Please.”“How about we call so that you talk to…” Jeremy began to say but trailed off when his brother began to vigorously shake his head.“How about I see him first?” Troy didn’t sound as if he was going to accept anything else. “I’ve been around warlocks long enough to know the tricks that can be played.” He glared at Jeremy. “For all I know, the voice I heard on the phone in the warehouse was not really his. I just want to see that he’s okay.” He added quietly. “Is that too much to ask?”“And what makes you think th
***Troy’s worried eyes followed Philip until he disappeared through the door. He was surprised at the sudden feeling of guilt and unease that washed over him. He wanted to call Philip back but he stifled the urge. What was wrong with him, Troy combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was convinced the so-called werewolves he was in the room with had cast a spell on him. Even if they couldn’t do it themselves because they were werewolves, the Deloris woman could do it for them.“Can I get some water please?” Troy asked quietly.“I’ll get it,” Jeremy said as he turned towards the dining area. He came back in no time with a bottle of water.“Thank you,” Troy said as he took the water from Jeremy. By the time the bottle came away from his lips, it was empty.“Want another?” Jeremy asked.“No, thanks.” Troy shook his head slowly, looking at the bottle in his hands.“Are you okay?” Gloria asked softly but Troy didn’t respond. He kept staring down at the bottle in his hand. Af
***Back in the dining area, Camille was laughing uncontrollably. “Philip is not a bad person, Trav…Troy. He will only take a life if it’s for a good cause.”“And you think taking Paul’s life is for a good cause?” Troy looked and sounded incredulous.“I didn’t say that.” Camille tried to compose herself. “Listen, you said yourself that your mother said no harm will befall Paul, right?”“She promised,” Troy responded.“Her word is gold.” Camille smiled. “Trust me on that. I’ll take good care of Paul. Don’t worry about him, okay?” At Troy’s nod, she added; “And remember, Philip is the most kind-hearted and amazing man. It would be great if you tried to get to know him.”“Not on your life.” Troy breathed, ignoring Camille’s gasp. “I don’t trust the guy. I know the woman meant…”“Gloria.” Camille interrupted. “That’s her name.”“Glori…”“Don’t call her that.” Camille interrupted again.“But you just said that’s her name.” Troy groaned, looking confused.“Yes but she’s your mother.” She sa