A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 13 - Siblings

Lewis stuffed his phone in his pocket and stared at the floor wishing it would open up and swallow him.   In all his years of training, he'd never had a problem with following protocols to the letter or questioned an order he was given.  He told himself the pack's welfare came first, always. His men waited for him to speak but he remained silent. Santo and Barnes exchanged looks as the awkward silence lengthened, finally returning to their work. 

Barnes returned to his seat and checked the tracker on the car. He didn't tell Lewis that it was now heading back to Perth.

"Sir....is that the extent of our involvement?" Barnes had read the reports the security company they'd hired sent over the last few weeks.  Ben Childs, the young human assigned to their case meticulously detailed Fischer's lifestyle.  It was underwhelming, Adam Fischer and his humans were harmless.  The restoration of the Ascension Ceremony forced the Fischer family into action, desperate measures by the look of it.  What was wrong with Wolf that the family would go to these lengths?

"Yes, I believe so." This is a family matter and none of their business. "We have to stand down and leave it to them."

"But..." Barnes stopped when Lewis's normally neutral features turned dark. The slightest growl rumbled up from his chest.  He forced himself to continue.  "What if they ask for help?"

"Goodnight." Lewis left the room without answering. He slipped into his bedroom and sat on the bed. He blew out a long tired breath in frustration, then pulled out his phone and stared at it, trying to decide what to do next.

He tapped in a number. "Hi Ben, sorry to wake you."

"That's OK Mr. Lewis, can I help you?" A tired scratchy voice replied.

"Those purchases we asked you to make for us, can you bring them here now? It looks like we may need them." Lewis spoke softly not wanting the others to hear. It was just a precaution he told himself. 

"They are secured at the office but I can collect them and bring them to you. I should be there in 20 minutes. Do you need anything else Sir?"

"No Ben, that will be all." Lewis was about to hang up.  "Actually there is something you can do.  I have to tell you upfront that it's morally dubious but I'm willing to pay you personally if you feel comfortable with it. "

The other end of the line was silent for a while.  "Explain yourself."  

"How do feel about breaking an arm or a leg?  Obviously, this will be just between us, your firm doesn't need to know."

"Just an arm or a leg?  I think that's doable.  Anyone in particular?"  Ben was now very much awake.

"A certain security guard.  I'll give you the details when you arrive."

"I'm on my way."

....

 "How the fuck did they find out about Shaun."  Adam slammed his elbow into the window.

He felt an unreasonable anger towards Constantine.   He needed to blame someone.  Adam would have liked to throw him out of the car and dump his carcass in a ditch like a piece of squashed road kill. All he could think of was Shaun waking up disorientated and defenseless and it was because of the moronic werewolf sitting beside him. If his brother thought that Shaun knew where they were going he would stop at nothing to get the information out of him.

Violent memories of Thanos filled his mind. He knew how cruel his brother could be, having personally experienced his brand of torture. He enjoyed inflicting pain and humiliation on his victims, whether it was a human, a werewolf, or his own brother.  They were all the same to him, inferior, mutts and aberrations. If they could bleed, scream, beg, they were fair game. As a child, he was always the ring leader, the one who sought him out to tease. His sisters would happily go along with whatever he said. They idolised Thanos, he was after all the perfect specimen of a Pureblood. Even the family guards stood by and let him torture me.