Theo looks for his place in the world now that the war with Monroe is over. Liam chases after him, trying to convince him that he has a place in the pack, as well as his life.
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It was a big decision. Liam didn't know if he could handle the pressure. Theo was closing in on Australia—he nearly controlled every part of that and everyone knew that he who controls Australia controls the world. At least on this version of the Risk board game.
Liam was tired. Mason was tired. Corey vanished. Nolan was asleep in a beanbag chair ten feet away in front of MTV no one was listening to. Only Theo was alert and awake. Liam studied his boyfriend's face. Theo was far too perky to have been playing a game for four hours. Risk went long sometimes, but Theo's talent for charm and manipulation came out to shine—there had been more destabilizations of power and reversals of fortune than he could keep track of.
Theo rolled the dice, decimating Liam's forces with a grin. He had a chance to wipe Liam off the map, but instead he fortified and allowed the beta's game piece to survive. Liam watched him do it several times now—Theo never completely knocked anyone out of the game, and if it looked like someone was about to be destroyed, he stepped in to keep the peace with his sizeable army. The only one who'd managed to escape the game was Nolan, who rolled so bad several times in a row that he'd lost before things really revved up.
'Theo, you do understand the objective of the game, right?'
'You know, I don't go to a fancy public school like you Mason, but I think I can grasp the purpose of a simple board game.'
Liam rolled his eyes. On one hand, it was nice that his best friend and his boyfriend got along well enough to joke with each other. On the other hand it was driving him up the wall. He'd even spoke with each of them separately to try and get them to cool it, which lasted a grand total of three hours at the longest.
The game continued. Things were different without the old pack around. Scott still dropped by, usually with a werewolf seeking shelter from hunters. Some of them stayed the night, others took off after a week. The last one they had found, Alec, he had no one. Scott had invited him to join the pack, and the kid had settled down with Scott's mother until they could sort out logistics. Liam had invited Alec to game night. Now he was glad the teen turned him down.
Theo glanced over Mason's shoulder. 'Your turn.'
Corey materialized out of thin air, leaning on Mason's shoulder. He halfheartedly rolled the dice and moved his pieces around.
When it was Theo's turn again he marshalled his forces, cutting deep into Mason's territory but stopping before doing too much damage.
'Theo. Humour me. What is the point of Risk?' Mason asked.
'To keep a firm yet tactical grip on the balance of power, using the strong and the weak against each other in order to create a hierarchy of dependency that makes me the indispensable centre of power controlling all things.'
Mason threw up his hands. Liam was silent.
'You mean, you've been keeping the game going this whole time?' Corey asked.
