CheckMate

Chapter 5

Sam is worried about Gregory and Philip protecting each other after Greg refuses to let her in on the action.  Does she really think she can provide protection if she is with us?  What could a mere human do to protect two strong lycans?  He is however, impressed that she cares enough to want to.  Philip suddenly realizes that Sam has no idea how long he and Greg have been protecting each other.  Being the devils advocate has always been one of Philip's biggest flaws.

Oh, this could be good!  How will he talk his way around being over four hundred years old? 

“We will be fine Sam."  He says, "After all, we’ve had each other’s backs for over four hundred years.”

He watches in amusement as Sam reacts as he expects.  She's shocked and sits up, out of Greg’s arms, turning to look at him.  “You…you’re four hundred years old?”

Feeling demonic Philip adds, “Respectively, he’s exactly four hundred and twenty five, his birthday was last month.”

Philip’s head begins to explode with expletives from Gregory. 

"What the bloody hell Philip!"

"You miserable piece of s**t, what are you trying to pull?"

“Damn it Philip! Why?!  Are you trying to lose me my mate asshole? What game are you playing?”

Philip finally responds to the tirade.  “It's just another test.  One I’m sure she will pass.  Why do I have more faith in your mate than you do?”

“You bloody ass!"  Gregory rips back instantly.  "Because I can feel how she’s reacting you i***t.  And you obviously can’t! Fine, you want to play this game?  It’s on your head.”

Philip is amused for a little bit until the unexpected happens.  They’ve never had a human as a mate in their pack.  Sam is now asking the hard questions that he didn’t think about before he started his fun.  

Damn it.  Gregory has every right to be pissed at me.  Why am I like this?

Gregory places it on Philip’s shoulders to explain about the history of human and lycan mates or just mates in general.  He bites his tongue before he begins.  I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut, s**t.

Philip sits forward and begins to try to explain to Sam that mates are a gift from the Goddess.  However, that’s not what she’s asking for and he must go into how a rejected mate can die if they don’t accept the rejection.  He almost forgets to add for wolves, not humans.  Sam than brings up the worst question.  What happens to Gregory after she dies…is there any way for her to become a lycan?

Philip closes his eyes briefly.  How do I tell her gracefully that she can be bitten but may die from the bite?  Many died in our creation. He takes a deep breath and looks straight at her and Gregory.   I’m the one who brought it up, I’m the one who must clean it up.  Goddess, help me.

Sam wants time alone and as she retreats to take a bath, all Philip can do is tell her he's sorry.  He is now left with a very worried, very angry wolf. 

“I don’t understand you Philip.  Why?  We’ve barely been together over two weeks and she didn’t even know our kind existed before that!”

Gregory’s hands go to his head, rubbing back and forth in frustration.  Philip has the decency to at least look sad.

“Dude, I’m sorry.  I thought it would be funny!  I didn’t know it was going to lead to a conversation about death and leaving your mate.”

“I’d already told her we mate for life, just like any wolf, where did you think it was going?”

Philip gets up and starts to pace.  “We’ll figure something out.  I don’t want you to lose your mate to anything; same as you.  I’m going to take a walk, talk to Drake and see what we can figure out.”

Greg nods as Philip places a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't look up or tell his buddy to be careful as he passes him, heading out the door.

Riding the elevator down, he stops at the main floor and simply walks outside like a zombie.  He's just standing in front of his building looking left and right.  Raising his hand to his forehead, he rubs that headache that building.  The weight of what he’s just done finally falling on him.

“You’ll feel better after a run,” Drake comments.

“That doesn’t help solve the problem.  I need to think and research, who is the oldest wolf we know?”

“Alpha Jace of Lunar Sky Pack but he is a werewolf, not a lycan.”

“Then that doesn’t help us.  Who knows our history?  Who has lived longer than us?”

“Mother.  She would know.”

Philip nods to himself.  That is logical reasoning but the Moon Goddess hasn't spoken to anyone in centuries.  There has to be someone or something that will have more details.

He picks a direction and starts walking.  Street lights begin to turn on as he wanders around aimlessly.  He's searching his memory of his last four hundred years.  Looking for any information he may have seen, passed by, or heard.  He stops when the road stops and sits down on a bench, situated at the waters edge.

He’s having a difficult time processing his thoughts.  Old images, memories, and recent events keep merging together and forming bizarre images.  Why can’t I concentrate?  What is blocking me from my memories?

Repeated texts start coming in from Gregory.

“Sam fell asleep in the tub.”

“She locked the door on me.”

"She could have drowned and I couldn’t have gotten to her.”

“I’m going insane at the thought of losing her now.”

“Philip you have to help me.”

Shit!  Philip puts his phone down, not knowing how to answer his best friend.  He pulls at his hair and lets out a loud yell that turns into a howl of pain.  He buries his head in his hands, sitting in frustration and grief.  The combination of the two emotions is ripping apart his insides, feeling like someone is stabbing him with a hot blade.

Several minutes later, his phone rings.  He turns to look at it and immediately picks it up, hoping nothing else bad is adding to this evening.

“What’s wrong?”  He anxiously hollers into the phone.

There is silence for a moment, than a small voice responds. 

“Mr. Lycan?  This is Tabitha.  Mr. Hansforth asked me to call and check on you.  He says he texted you over thirty minutes ago with no response and that you’ve been gone for over two hours.  Is everything okay?”

“No.  But I’m fine.  You can let him know I’ll start back soon.  I just went for a walk.”

“By yourself sir?  It’s after ten o’clock at night.  Is it safe to be wandering around by yourself with Mr. Hansforth just getting out of the hospital from being attacked?”

“I can take care of myself, don’t worry Ms. Faeleen.”

“It seems the thing to do right now sir.”

There is silence for several minutes.  For some reason Philip is reluctant to hang up.  Although he doesn’t trust her, right now she’s the only other living being around him and he’s feeling horribly, terribly alone.

He looks down at his phone to see if she has hung up.  Rather, she is patiently waiting on the other end.

He sighs deeply, “Thank you for checking on me Ms. Faeleen.  I’ll let you get back to Mr. Hansforth so he can rest.  He has enough on his mind tonight.  I’ll be back in the office tomorrow afternoon after my meetings with him.”

“Yes sir.  I’ll keep that in mind.”  She still hasn’t hung up and after a few seconds she finally speaks.  “Sir?”

“Yes Ms. Faeleen?”

“Would you please text me when you get back to your condo?  I would like to also know that you’ve arrived back safely.”

He pulls the phone away from his ear and just looks at it.  Standing up, he begins walking back the way he came.  “I’m on my way now.  I will text you shortly.”