CheckMate

Chapter 4

Philip and Gregory arrive at the condo and it’s a silent trip in the elevator.  Gregory and his cast take up the majority of the space.  Getting him out of the car wasn’t as difficult as getting him in.  Philip simply opened the backseat door and Greg just kind of fell out.  What?  He was good, he only laughed for five minutes!

Opening the door, Philip hefts Gregory over to the couch and dumps him.  He stretches his arms and back, twisting this way and that. 

Gregory looks at him in disbelief, “I am NOT that heavy.”

Philip looks back, deadly serious.  “YOU were not just hauling your heavy ass around with an encumbering heavy freaking cast!”

Gregory looks down at it and pats it.  “What do you think, it's maybe an extra ten pounds?” 

“Twenty.  At the very least.”

Greg smiles in glee.  “Good.  You deserved it for maiming my sweatpants.”  Before Philip can retaliate he then asks, “Do you want sign it?”

For the next twenty minutes, markers in hand, the two grown men vandalize the cast with words and crude pictures.

Gregory’s phone rings and Philip remembers that he sent Sam to pack bags for both herself and Greg.  He quickly makes an excuse and almost runs down the hallway to safety.  Within minutes his fears are recognized.

“PHILIP!”  He hears Greg holler.  Philip closes his eyes for a minute, remembers he’s the Alpha and there is honestly nothing Greg can do to him.

He yells back, “WHAT?”  as he purposefully wanders nonchalantly back up the hall.

“WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY APARTMENT?”

Feigning innocence is the easiest thing in the world for Philip. Too bad everyone buys into it except Gregory.

“What do you mean, what did I do to your…” he steps up to the back of the couch while Greg turns his phone to show him the mess he made.

Oh, I did do a good job of messing it up, didn’t I?”  He’s doing his best not to smirk in satisfaction.

“oh, that.”   He simply replies.

Greg raises an eyebrow at him, “Oh that?  Is that all you have to say?”

Philip shrugs, “You wanted your sweatpants.”

“So you tore up my bedroom?”

“I was in a hurry!  I knew you wanted out of there and I wanted you out too.”

“And what about my kitchen?”

Okay,  he thinks to himself.  That one was totally not my fault, you brought that one on yourself.  He glares over at Gregory.

“I couldn’t find the scissors!  Who the hell keeps their scissors in the bathroom of all places?”

“Men with beards do!”  Gregory responds, pointing to his face.

Philip points at his own face, “Well I don’t have facial hair do I?  How am I supposed to know that?”

Gregory scrubs his free hand down his face.  “Good Lord man, I’ve taught you time and time again to put things back where you got them.  Don’t take it out if you don’t need it!”

Really?  Philip glares right back at Gregory.  You’re climbing up my ass all day because you can’t get laid and are worried about your mate.  Favors shall be in short supply for a while dude. Instead he says out loud, “And this is the thanks I get?  Bloody weremoon, you’re welcome!”  And he storms back down the hallway.

Philip is flipping through channels on the television in his room.  I wonder how long I can stay in here before he calms down?  He looks at the corner of the television at the time.  When is Sam bloody going to get here? When the doorbell rings, he gleefully jumps up but then stoically walks down the hallway, ignoring Greg on the couch.

His face lights up when he sees Sam.  He quickly pulls her into a hug and in through the door. 

“Oh thank the Goddess!  Now perhaps he’ll quit nagging me and concentrate on you.”  He pushes her towards the living room and a pouting Gregory, while grabbing the bags she carrying.  He’s almost made it down the hall when he hears, “YES!  Finally someone beautiful to look at and intelligent to talk to.”

He shouts back, just for the sake of shouting.  “I heard that!”

He makes it triumphantly into the guest room to put their luggage down before he hears his name being hollered once again.

“WHAT?!”  Seriously?  Does this man not know what an inside voice is?  I know his mother taught him. My neighbors are going to call and complain.

“Come get this damn thing off my leg!  I want to hold my woman properly!”

Fine. Greg does have a point and if he wants any peace, he should get the cast off quickly and get him out of his hair.

To continue his show of reticence he grumbles to himself  the full length of the hallway but with a smile.

Knowing his best friend, he only cuts the cast down three quarters of the way so that he can rip the bloody thing off himself.  It’s a show of strength in front of his mate and an act of vengeance at having to be in it in the first place.  

It works like a charm and within minutes, the two of them are off by themselves in the bathroom and he has blissful peace.  Looking around at the mess made, he grabs the cast and shreds it with his claws, stuffing it into a trash bag.  He sweeps and vacuums his living room three times to get every single dust particle.  He then collapses onto his couch, arms spread out, and his head thrown back in comfort.

Nice and clean, nice and quiet.  Ah...perfect.

After a few more minutes of rest he checks in with the office.  He knows that even in one hundred percent shape, they’ll have to emerge from the bathroom and bedroom at some point.

“Mr. Lycan’s office, this is Tabitha.  How many I help you?”

There it is; that weird feeling every time he hears Tabitha’s voice.  He hates feeling like he’s stuck in the fog.  Show no weakness, he reminds himself.

“It’s me, Ms. Faeleen.  How are things going there today?  Anything important come up?”

“No sir, not that we haven’t been able to handle.  How is Mr. Hansworth?”

He glances down the hallway, listens for a minute and then shuts his ears again.  “I’d say doing extremely well at this exact moment.”

“That’s good sir.  How long will he be out of commission and unable to continue with work?  Several people have inquired about him today.”

Right.  Damn.  He should have already sent out a pack link to inform them of Greg’s condition after the attack.  He’ll have to do that after the phone call.

“I’d say he’s in very good hands right now.  It wasn’t a full break so his cast should be able to be removed in a few days.  Let’s give him at least a week.”

“Yes sir.”

And if you are a spy or I have a mole in my company, they will think that he’s vulnerable and spread lies about his condition.  Perhaps we can catch them if they try something again.

He sits up with his elbows on his knees.  Should he feel bad for using his Beta as bait?  Hell, he hasn’t even really had to try, they seem to just attack him anyway.  Drake voices in, “At least warn him.  That would be the civil thing to do.” Yeah, yeah.  He replies.

“Sir?”

He’d forgotten he was on the phone.  What is it with this chick?

“Sorry, I was thinking for a minute.”

“Not a problem sir.  I’ve finished that report you wanted.  Would you like me to email it over to you or will you be coming into the office?”

“Email it over.  I have meetings with Gregory tomorrow to go over business matters and that report will be essential.”

“Yes sir.”  She pauses for a minute before continuing.  “And...how is Mr. Hansforth’s friend?  She seems very nice.”

He c***s his head to the side.  Sam?  Now there’s a thought.  Perhaps he could use Sam to help get more information about Tabitha.  If she’s asking about her that means she likes her right?

“I’d say she’s very happy to be with Gregory right now.”  He chuckles to himself, knowing exactly his double meaning.

“Good to hear.  Is there anything else that you’ll be needing for today?”

“No.  Since you’ve finished with that report, send it over and you can go home. You’ve been up early and traveling, you deserve a rest.”

“Thank you, sir.  I do have some errands to run.  If that will be all, I’ll say goodbye.”

“Goodbye Ms. Faeleen.”

Within seconds his phone alerts that he has a new email.  True to her word, Tabitha sent it over immediately.  Well, even if she is a spy, she at least knows how to do her job.

Sam and Gregory surface and he sees Sam is only in what looks like pajama’s and Greg is only in sweatpants.  He’s not going anywhere near that topic again.  He raises an eyebrow at the two of them as Sam gets comfy on the couch, grabbing one of his Minky Couture’s.

“It’s about time.  I take it we’re ordering in?” 

He glances over at Sam who is rubbing her face all over the Minky.  He raises his other eyebrow and just watches in disbelief.  If she orgasms right there on the couch because of his blanket, than that’s it, he’s done with the both of them.

He hands his wallet to Philip and tells him to order food and begins heading down the hall to get comfortable. Just to be a smart ass he stops and turns back to them.  “No extracurricular activities on my Minky’s.  I don’t want them ruined.”

Sam throws a pillow at his head and barely misses him.  Damn that woman has a good arm, he thinks as he simply says.  “Good aim.”

Gregory ordered pizza and Sam actually found a movie they could all agree on.  John Wick 1 and 2, along with four boxes of pizza are finished off in just over four hours.  He mind links across the couch with Gregory.

“We need to have a meeting.  Sam can stay or go.  The pack is asking about your health.  I told Ms. Faeleen to tell them it would be about a week for you to be completely healed.”

“A whole week?  They’ll think I’ve grown weak!  Why would you do that?”

“To see if we have a mole or spy among us.  We need to catch these guys before someone is seriously hurt or worse.”

Gregory nods and Sam looks between the two of you.  “Okay, seriously, that’s rude.  I get that you guys have things to discuss that don’t concern me, but you could wait until I’m out of the room at least, to make it less obvious.”

Gregory looks dutifully sheepish and leans down, kissing Sam on the head.  “Sorry love, habit.”

Philip nods in agreement and adds his own apology.  “My apologies Sam.  I know that Greg is worried about you and I just wanted to make sure that anything we discuss in front of you he’s okay with.”

She nods her head.  “So what are you discussing?  Do I get to be in on it?”