Chapter 18:Cause and effect.

Chapter 18

It had been four days since Marcus left and I’d spoken to him exactly once since his disappearing act. That particular conversation had been short and clipped at best and I really didn’t expect it to get much better anytime soon.

My brother was the most stubborn person I knew and short of falling to my knees and begging for his forgiveness -which there was no way in hell I’d be doing- he wouldn’t be coming around unless it was of his own accord.

I looked around at the vast majority of people standing about and not for the first time that night I was just in awe at the size of the pack, especially after being told that  this still wasn’t everyone.

It was certainly interesting to watch such a large number of people interact with each other, to come together in such a peaceful way simply to observe two of their members complete a mating ceremony.

Almost everyone seemed to be in a sort of trance, their faces were aglow with excitement and awe as they looked to the crest of the hill where the ceremony was taking place. Scott and Jessie were especially attentive; their hands were interlocked and their eyes never left to hill, the reason for which I could only guess was their own upcoming ritual.

I didn’t think they’d set a date yet but there was no doubt that it was coming and as with this ceremony I could only imagine many would be in attendance.

I glanced back onto the stage just in time to witness the chief elder wrap the cord around the couple’s wrists joining them together as a symbol of their union. The couple looked equally euphoric and nervous but their eyes were only for each other.

“Wanna get out of here?” Lucas asked beside me and I nodded even before I turned toward him. We’d been there for about forty-five minutes already and while the others were still enjoying every minute of it, I’d grown bored stiff long ago.

I felt his hand on my arm and a second later he was ushering me through the throng of people and then we were trudging through the dense forestry.

“Where are we going?’ I questioned him as we walked, leaving the crowd behind, but he chose not to answer, instead pulling me along indicating that I needed to speed up.

“Think I’d go crazy if I had to stay through the whole thing.” He said and I had to agree.

“Why is it so long?” I asked him after ducking under an overhanging branch.

“Ask them that, I really don’t see the point of making people sit through all that, fifteen minutes would have been good enough as far as I’m concerned.”

We walked for about a good ten minutes before either of us spoke again and this time it was because I was getting even more curious as to where we were headed.

“You sure you know where you’re going or are we just walking to past the time?” I asked.

“The first time I showed myself to Laken, I was trying to get him to go someplace with me, I want to show you where.” He said, slowing down a bit so that we were walking side by side.

My eyes narrowed at his words but I chose not to say anything. This should be interesting.

“I can’t say I’m not glad he didn’t go with me, that wouldn’t have ended well.” He went on and my brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“It was a trap. Remember the original plan was to execute him?” he asked and when I nodded he continued. “Well the plan was to lore him there, where a few of Victor’s men were waiting to transport him to their pack.” he said

“Kidnapping huh? So why didn’t he go with you?”

He shrugged “I think it had something to do with Carson as always.” He responded and I looked at him closely to see whether he was annoyed by the fact. He wasn’t…at least it didn’t look that way.

“We’re going outside of the territory?” I questioned when we spotted the guards up ahead who were overseeing the mending of the torn fence.

When Carson had said the fence had been torn down I hadn’t quite imagined it was so extensive. I could make out at least forty men bent over various sections of the enclosure as they repaired it. I imagined they’d be done before the night was over.

Lucas nodded to a guard as he stepped over the torn section and not long after, we were making our way further away from the border. The night air this far up was frigid and the earth beneath my feet was slightly slippery from the earlier rain.

“It’s not far up, it’s a man-made cave, pretty impressive really. I think it was the wolves doing. Maybe even a hide out for rogues at one point but it’s was empty for years before I came last time.”

It didn’t take us very long to find it but when we did I had to admit it really was impressive for a man-made structure. Wide enough to allow the entrance of three broad shouldered men at a time but low enough that we had to bend slightly to get in. It was made into the side of the hill, covered over with vines so that if one didn’t know what they were looking for, they would easily overlook it.

The further in we got the more I held the belief that it was more of a tunnel than a cave really if you considered the way it was cut. It wasn’t long before we came to the end of it and by this point we could stand fully with our heads just brushing the ceiling.

“Why here?” I asked, “Why not transport him as far away from Carson’s territory as possible?”

“It’s not particularly easy to find unless you knew what you were looking for, even in the day, so they figured they’d keep him here overnight and transport him early morning where it would be easier to handle an attack if one were to arise.” He told me and I raised an eyebrow at the flawed logic.

“The short of it was…they were all idiots and they refused to listen to me.” he finished and I smiled.

“So why are we here?”

He shrugged, “Just thought I’d share a little bit of my past with you, besides walking here had to be a lot better than standing there watching some drawn out mating ceremony.” He said I nodded with a grin.

“Did you ever tell him about this place?”

He shook his head, “No he’d been through enough without me telling him that that first night would have been it for him.” He spoke, then turned around to survey the place. The medium sized hole in the centre of the ceiling allowed for illumination from the moon which meant this particular cave couldn’t have been built for shelter but maybe really just for a hideout like Lucas had said.

“I’m guessing it ends on the other side of the hill?” I asked indicating the moonlight and he nodded.

“So what’s really on your mind, because I know you and you didn’t bring me all the way out here just to show me some cave.” I said knowingly and from his expression I could tell I was right.

……………………………………….

~Lucas’s POV~

I really hadn’t brought him out here to look at the cave, it was just while I was walking that I even remembered it was out here, but he was right, something was on my mind and I’d used to walk to clear my head as well as to work up the courage to broach the topic I needed to get off my chest.

“You’re right there’s something you should know.” I began and his eyes met mine when he took in my grave tone. Only, as I was about to explain I was interrupted when my phone rang.

I turned from him, flipping it open, glad for the distraction however short it would prove to be.

“Yeah?” I answered and I was instantly on alert when I recognized the voice on the other end.

“I’ve got something for you Lucas.” My buddy down at the London agency spoke. I hadn’t heard from him since I’d been in London and I was a bit surprised he’d actually called…at this hour no less.

Our business was always conducted whenever I decided to drop by his office. He only contacted me on my cell in cases that needed my immediate attention or to call off a case he’s assigned to me. None of which had happened before.

“What’s up?”

“This one’s big Lucas and I mean huge. We’ve got a couple guys on it already and the government investigators already have a head start but I thought I’d pass it on to you as well. This could make you Lucas, you crack this one and all the higher ups will be all over you.” He said sounding a bit too excited.

He seemed to have forgotten that my goal wasn’t to get anywhere in this business, it was simply to see justice served by offering open services to those who needed it.

“You’ve got that many guys on it yet you’re still giving me the case? This must really be big, tell me more.” I went on.

“Two words; Corsetti brothers.” He said and I froze, almost dropping my phone.

My eyes flashed to Adrian who was leaning casually on the wall opposite me, his head down.

“Care to elaborate?” I said carefully, my eyes still on my lover who was now looking up at me, probably because of the slight tremor he heard in my voice.

“Well apparently they’ve been looking into them for awhile; they’re drug dealers, big bosses from what I hear; only nobody seems to be able to dig up any real dirt on them. That’s where you come in, you get proof, we’re set.” He said and I took a deep breath trying to calm my quaking nerves.

“What exactly do you have on them?”

“I’ll send over to file in the morning, everything you’ll need to know is there.” He said and I shook my head even though I knew he couldn’t see me.

“No I’m not in London, tell me now.”

“Well pick it up at my office when you get here, it’s too much to go through tonight, but hurry back, we need to move on this pronto.” He said then a beep sounded signaling the end of the call.

I stared at the phone for a minute as my mind tried to process it all then glanced back up at Adrian who was waiting somewhat impatiently for some response from me.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. It really shouldn’t. I’d told him that this could happen, that what he had going on couldn’t last and now I had proof. My plan tonight had been to get him by himself, try to convince him to see things my way before it really was too late and now it could very well be.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian questioned me when I still hadn’t made a sound and in that moment I made the decision to keep it to myself.

The best thing I could do was to find out what was in that file, do some digging to figure out what evidence the other guys had, if any and deal with it from there. Adrian had caused this on himself…I just wasn’t sure if I was going to be the one to pick up the pieces.

“Got another case...just some surprising news that’s all.” I said as convincingly as I could manage with my heart racing the way it was.

“You sure?” he asked, taking a step toward me and I nodded, turning from him.

“Yeah…we should ah…we should get back to camp, the ceremony should be over by now.” I said without even glancing his way. I just turned and began making me way out of the cave, not long after he was following behind me.

…………………………………..

~Adrian’s POV~

It was the very next morning that my world shattered.

Everyone was still hyped over the ceremony the night before and the constant chatter in the dining hall didn’t seem to stray from that particular topic of conversation for very long. The only person besides myself who didn’t seem willing to join in the festivities was Lucas who sat by my side silently picking at his barely touched meal.

He’d been this way since that phone call down in the cave and while he tried to hide it, pretending that everything was normal, I knew better. Something was bothering him and for whatever reason he didn’t feel inclined to share.

“And the way he held her afterwards…that was just beautiful.” Jessie was saying, her eyes looking distant as she reflected on the night before.

“One hour and fifteen minutes they had us out there. I swear that’s the first and the last mating ceremony I’ll ever go to.” Grady was telling Thomas who only smiled indulgently at him.

“Why can’t people elope these days? I mean why waste so much time and energy on something so simple.” He continued and Rivers rolled his eyes.

“It’s not as simple as a marriage you moron, it’s a…ahhhh!!!!!!”

Every head in the room snapped up at the sound of his scream and Grady grabbed him as he fell backwards off the bench.

“Oh god oh god oh god!” Rivers was screaming as he clutched his side and writhed on the floor against Grady.

Several others had run over to give assistance and before long a crowd had gathered to watch.

“What’s wrong with him?” Lucas asked in horror as we watched him twist, turn and scream as he clutched at his side.

“Rivers? Rivers hunny what’s wrong?” Jessie shouted to be heard over his screams and another wolf yelled for the doctor.

“I watched with wide eyes as the tears seeped from Rivers’ eyes but his screaming never ceased.

“I don’t understand, one minute he was fine and now this.”Lucas said, going on his knees to pull Rivers’ head onto his lap before he hurt himself.

“Something’s wrong, something’s wrong!” he screamed, the tears coming faster now.

“Where’s the fucking doctor!” I shouted across the room just in time to see the man bursting through the door with a teenage boy on his heels.

“Get the Alpha!” somebody screamed.

Rivers’ continued to thrash, he was sweating profusely, “Please please please!” he continued and I fought the urge to turn away from the sheer anguish written across his face.

“Rivers, Rivers, calm down buddy, tell me what’s wrong, are you hurt? Are you in pain?” Grady questioned anxiously, his eyes on Rivers.

“Step aside.” The doctor said calmly coming to kneel before him.

It was then that I got the call. I don’t know what it was that made me take it. Rivers was on the ground screaming for dear life and I was automatically putting the phone to my ear as soon as it rang.

The voice on the other line shouted something and at first I didn’t hear it as my mind focused on the scene before me but as soon as I heard the name I froze, my entire body going cold and it was as if Lucas sensed something because in that second he tore his eyes away from Rivers and looked my way. His brows furrowed and he was pushing up from where he knelt, placing Rivers’ head gently onto the floor.

He came over to me quickly, grabbing my free hand and he was shouting something at me but my mind didn’t register, all that kept replaying in my head was what the voice on the other line had said and even as he shouted and shook me asking what was wrong, I could only replay the message I’d just been given. The words were out my mouth before I even knew I was going to utter them.

“They shot him, they shot Marcus.”

AUTHOR'S NOTES

THERE YOU HAVE IT..AND THE DRAMA BEGINS....

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.