CheckMate

Chapter 11

Two Weeks Later

Philip sits in his office smirking at the frustration coming through his office door from Tabitha.  He decided to prove to her that she and he were not ‘normal’.  She has a habit of talking to herself while working on the computer.  He's  usually in the habit of closing off all of the other's thoughts while in the office.  However, he's decided that it's simply too much fun to torture her.

In the middle of going over reports he suddenly hears.  “What the hell?  No don’t you delete that!  s**t!  Seriously I have to do all of that again?”

Smiling, he pushes the intercom on his phone to her desk…”Ms. Faeleen is that letter I asked you to write finished?  I’d like it in my office in five minutes.”

A weak, “Yes, sir” comes back.

The minute he releases the button he hears her…”Of course you want it in five minutes you overbearing, annoying lycan!  If you actually updated your programs around here, it wouldn’t have just eaten the last twenty minutes of my work!”

He smirks, so she does know!  Interesting, he muses but then it occurs to him… is she simply saying that because his last name is Lycan? He scrubs the back of his neck in frustration and pushes the button to I.T. downstairs.  When he hangs up, the department manager has been properly chastised. They begin rapidly downloading the most current version of every computer program on the market.  Within the hour, he begins hearing a series of beeps throughout the office.  Looking over at his computer he sees a company wide message from I.T..  Everyone is to reboot their computers for new software updates.  He nods in satisfaction and simply clicks the message closed.

A soft, “What?  Seriously?  Yes!  Thank you Goddess!” suddenly flits to his ears and he stills.  She just thanked the Goddess.  He wants to rush to the door, pull her out of her chair, and shake her.  WHO IS SHE?  Which supernatural creature is she that she shares his Goddess but she can be so well hidden before him?

In frustration he pushes his chair back and stands, his feet are about to march to his office door when he’s suddenly frozen with an angry mind link.

“ALPHA!”  Fenrir growls in his head.

“Fenrir, where’s Gregory?”

“With our little mate. We need you here.  Mates place is destroyed! I want to find them but Gregory says we must wait for you.  Hurry!”

Philip doesn’t even have a chance to get a word in, the connection is closed and isn’t reopening.  

SHIT!  That’s all he needs is an overprotective lycan on the loose in the city!  He grabs his keys from his drawer and his jacket off the hook.  He storms to his door and throws it open, stopping shortly in front of Tabitha.

“Ms. Faeleen, I need you to come with me immediately.  Something has happened with Gregory and Sam, I’m unsure of what and may need your assistance.”

She glances up quickly, her eyes going wide.  She goes to save her work and he stops her.  “NOW, Ms. Faeleen, we must get there quickly and it’s a long drive.  I feel that time is not on our side.”

She nods, grabs her bag and abandons her work.  Deja vu sets in as she is once again running behind him on the stairs, trying to keep up and find out what she needs to do to help.  Once in his car she finally gets to ask.

“What happened?  Are they hurt?  Do I need to call medical services?”

He answers more curtly then he intends as he is focusing on speeding through the underground parking lot like it’s a raceway.  “I don’t know.  Fen…Gregory was very cryptic just saying something about Sam’s place being destroyed.”

“Her apartment?”

“I’m assuming so.  However, I had told them not to go there so I’m unsure when it happened or how they found it.”

She gets her nerve up and asks quickly as they exit the garage.  “Could we stop by my apartment quickly on the way out sir?”

“Ms. Faeleen, what about time is of the essence do you not understand?”

“Yes sir, I understand.  However, I’m thinking that Sam must be really upset and I’d like to grab some tea that I have to help calm her down.  I believe it will be useful.”

He takes his eyes off the road for a moment to look over at her.  She seems genuinely concerned for Sam and is giving him large puppy dog eyes with her request.

He turns back to the road while rolling his eyes.  “Fine.  But be extremely quick about it.”

“It’s already made I just need to grab it out of my fridge.”

With a quick stop at her place, she is in and out of her apartment in less than five minutes, he is duly impressed.  

He speeds down the freeway like he did when Gregory was in the hospital, a demon with the devil on his heels.  He is anxious and worried about Fenrir taking control of Gregory and something happening before he can arrive.  Strangely, next to him is complete calm.  It’s the weirdest feeling.  He can feel it pushing at his anxiety like the eye of a storm.  He can feel it just on the boundary of his consciousness gently pressing against his anxiety, trying to dispel it.  He looks over at Tabitha who is simply staring out the car window, holding her little thermos.

When Philip and Tabitha arrive at Sam and Gregory’s complex, they find them sitting on the curb outside her of unit.  There are police and CSI units everywhere, yellow tape has been strewn along the front of Sam’s place.  On-lookers are gathered on the perimeter but once they locate Sam on the curb, they wander away, no one died.  Philip parks a few spaces away and he and Tabitha quickly get out of the car, making their way over to them.

Tabitha immediately sits next to Sam, who just looks lost.  It isn’t like she doesn’t know where she is but like her soul has left and an empty shell is sitting on the curb.  Gregory is beside himself.  He's doing his best to comfort her but knows that she has locked herself away inside where he can’t reach.  There’s something to be said about being fully mated where your mate can't hide from you.  However, with Sam being a human, they can’t be.  He watches the pain in his best friend’s eyes and decides to take him away so that he can collect himself.

The damage inside of Sam’s apartment is unreal.  He has a hard time controlling Drake as he surveys the damage and wonders what would have happened to Sam if she had been home.  Whoever did this, has a deep grudge and it appears that it might be a grudge against more than just his company and the embezzlement they are uncovering.  Without thinking he lets out his anger about this happening to a member of his pack.  Before he realizes it, Fenrir is just below the surface with Gregory and more upset that this has happened to his mate.  Talking about it hasn’t helped as Fenrir rises to the surface full of anger and anguish.  He wants blood and revenge and he doesn’t care who he takes it out on.  Philip needs to control him and now.  There are too many innocents around.  He allows Drake to come forward and force Fenrir into submission.  It’s painful for Drake and Philip to force his beta and best friend down but they both know it has to be done.  Gregory is given back control but he is just as torn up as Fenrir. 

CSI walks into Gregory’s apartment to start processing as his place has been vandalized also.  It doesn't have near the damage that Sam’s has.  Gregory has just collected himself so the two of you head back to the women.  As the men get closer Gregory stops and looks over at Philip with wonder.  Sam is resting with her head on Tabitha’s shoulder and she looks collected and at peace.  Tabitha is gently stroking her hair and singing?  Philip just shrugs back at Gregory. He has no idea what’s going on. 

As they draw closer Philip just stares at Tabitha.  He can hear her singing now and it’s familiar.  It’s in a language he doesn’t know but something is tickling the back of his mind, bringing an almost familiarity with it.  The spell is broken when Tabitha's song ends and she nudges Sam, letting her know that the men are back.  Sam lifts her head, stands up and walks straight into Gregory’s arms.  Tabitha melts into the background as if she wasn’t there at all.

He doesn’t smell anything strange around Sam.  Nothing smells off like she’s been drugged or spelled but she’s better.  How?  

She thanks the Goddess, she brews a ‘magical’ tea, and she’s not Tabitha.  Who the hell is this woman and why do I feel a sense of familiarity with her now, after that kiss?

Out of the blue Sam suddenly invites Philip and Tabitha to eat with she and Gregory.  Knowing that Gregory and Fenrir are still hanging on by a thread, Philip agrees so that he can keep an eye on his beta.  Greg goes all out and orders what looks like the entire menu from a nearby restaurant. 

In the middle of dinner Philip looks over to see Sam fast asleep in Gregory’s lap.  Her calm has rubbed off on him and Philip can sense more ease in his presence.  As Greg gets up to put Sam in bed, Philip assists by opening the door and pulling the sheets down.  He waits by the door for Gregory when Sam, who they thought was sound asleep, reaches out and grabs Greg's arm.  

Philip smiles from the doorway, lucky son of a b***h he thinks as he closes the door on them and walks out to help Tabitha clean up.