Chapter 22 ~No Second Chances

Kendrick’s POV ~

Loren decided we go tonight. Olivia Helena and Alexis all decided that only Alexis will go..to maintain the portal. The ten of us step through. Right onto the front steps of Calhoun’s pack house. The King… being The King.. decides knocking is unnecessary and walks straight in.. yelling for Troy. We hear him scrambling down the stairs, trying to get his pants done up. Looks like he’s been caught in flagrente delicto and is trying not to let us know. Oops!

He regains his poise..well, as much as he possesses.. and asks what he owes this honor to. Loren sneers “Cut the crap, Calhoun…I am giving you ten seconds to tell me what you know about Ethan Simmons and where he is. Once that time is up, we will tear this place apart to find evidence of how the two of you are connected!”

Troy stammers “He’s just a guy I have known since high school. I don’t know where he’s at. I haven’t seen him in years” Alexis says “Lies! Your voice pitched higher and your vocal chords vibrated on your last two statements.”

Troy tried again “I haven’t talked to him in several weeks. If he’s not at his cabin.. I don’t know where he is. He doesn’t come to my pack anymore.. and the last time I physically saw him was the night after Alexander Sterling’s ascension ceremony. We had a falling out.”

Blake jumps on that “A falling out… an argument.. over which one of you were going to kidnap my daughter. Is that what you fought about? Anything less than full disclosure at this point, will sign your death warrant. You had better tell us everything you know!”

He sighs “Yes. Okay!? He wants her. I was to go to the ceremony and figure out the best way to get her alone. He stayed in the shadows all night. But Bella was having none of it. She called me out on my pickup lines.. caught me watching her.. and made sure she was never alone. I couldn’t get near her. She intrigued me..and I started formulating a plan to make her my mate. Ethan got pissed about it. We argued and he threatened to kill me. After that, I didn’t see him for several months. I spotted him outside the university one afternoon… staring at Bella with several of her friends. I had been checking on her from time to time.. but I knew I had to step up my game. I tried to take her one late afternoon a couple weeks later.. but she beat the shit out of my guys. Then, I heard through the grapevine that someone had tried to attack her a couple times to kidnap her. Knowing graduation was approaching, I tried to enlist Alpha Kendrick’s help in stopping her motorcade and taking her then. When he refused.. and he told me her mate had already found her.. I backed off. It would be an exercise in futility to try, once she mated. I called Ethan to tell him the news, and he went batshit crazy. Screaming into the phone.. accusing me of ruining his life.. blaming her mate on me.. I heard a snap and the phone went dead. I tried calling back..but it went to voicemail. I tried again a few days later and it said it was disconnected. That’s all I know. When the King called, I had already decided to cut my losses and give up”

Alexis had watched and listened carefully throughout his diatribe against Ethan.. “You were pretty quick to throw Ethan under the bus. Although most of what you said, was true.. you haven’t quite given up the idea of having my daughter as your forced mate. That is an act, punishable by death. Kendrick, is there something you’d like to say, son?”

Troy’s eyes shift to me, as I grin “Yes, Troy. The day you sat in my office.. spewing all that bullshit about you and your mate having had a disagreement.. I sat.. knowing every bit of it was a lie. Bella is MY mate.. my true mate.. given by the Goddess herself. You know me. You fear me! Rightfully so! I will not think twice about killing you, if I ever even hear of you speaking her name, again!”

Alexander says “That goes for me, too. My sister is not a plaything..to be fought over by two men, acting like children. Now it’s time to tell us everything you know about Ethan Simmons! Where his cabin is.. how many troops he has at his command.. and what his plans are now!”

Troy yells “I don’t KNOW his plans! I was a junior when he was a senior. It was cool! The bad boy of the school wanted to be my friend.. I was an Alpha-to-be.. But Ethan was the cool kid! Everybody wanted to be friends with him. They wanted to BE him! All the girls wanted to be with him. Tail chasing him for miles..and he never dated a one of them! He lived with his dad, in a little two bedroom cabin. It’s close to No Man’s Land.. sixty maybe seventy miles to the northeast of Sterling. About a hundred miles from here. I’ve only been there twice. Ethan is a very private person. Quiet. He doesn’t overshare anything about his life. His mother died when he was a kid. His dad was an alcoholic.. always ranting about a Goddess’s Legend.. but Ethan would always just say he was rambling and never makes sense. That’s it.. I got nothing else!”

Alexis tells us “All of what he just said is truth. As best as he knows it to be, anyway.” I nodded and reminded him “Mind what I told you, Troy! Ever come near my mate again.. other than events.. I will kill you! That isn’t a threat. That is my promise to you! Best heed it!”

Loren stood “Troy.. if I hear you have tried forcing a mate bond on anyone.. I will end you without a second thought. You need to take a sabbatical.. and search for your true mate! You will find the feeling of being with her is better than anything you have ever known! Everyone here can tell you that! Bring yourself back to the straight and narrow, boy! Stop wasting your time wanting what isn’t yours!”

We moved to leave.. walking out the front door.. Alexis opened the portal, and as we were all stepping through, I heard Blake say “You’ve been warned, Boy! There will be no second chances!”