"Oh, shit," Phoenix breathed, leaning close to Raphael.
"I did not expect him to drop that on Julius."
Phoenix slapped Raphael's shoulder.
Raphael jolted like he'd been hit by a shock, nearly sliding off the stool.
Raphael stared at Dominic, then at Julius, mouth open, struggling to make his brain catch up.
"Me either! I only half believed that he found him." Raphael whispered back, "I thought he was chasing a rumor still. If he's sure... then what happens when Julius realizes what that means?"
They went still, eyes locked on the bar.
Dominic and Julius stood inches apart, the music roaring around them while everything between them went quiet.
One question burned behind Phoenix's ribs: How does a man hear "I'm your father" and not hear the wolf in his own blood?
Julius hadn't awakened yet.
If Dominic pushed too hard, he could break him or trigger something neither of them could control.
The two men were too stunned to do anything else.
That was not how they thought the night was going to turn out at all.
Though it wasn't better than the night of sex they had planned, it was getting up there.
They had hoped they would find those women again and head back to their rooms.
Never did they imagine that their General would lose his mind like that.
Phoenix and Raphael were looking back and forth from Julius to Dominic, waiting for what was coming next.
Unsure what to expect now.
Most werewolves feel it when they sense their wolf's presence around sixteen.
The heightened hearing, smell, sight, and instincts.
They were positive that Julius hadn't been through his awakening yet.
Somehow, Dominic was going to have to make him accept that he was both his son and a werewolf.
There was something else.
Phoenix had caught the way Julius said 'us' earlier, like he wasn't alone in this.
Like he was protecting someone.
He wondered how many of them were protecting Ayla.
Dominic knew that the road before him was convoluted with muddy water, and he needed to wade through them carefully.
The thought of anyone other than Julius was blurred from the forefront of his thoughts.
That included the mysterious Ayla, who had just managed to scurry her way into the safety of the apartment with Alexander.
Seemly safe in the apartment, Ayla and Alexander were now passion deep, in uncontrolled lust, as they unleashed the desires they had held back while sneaking home.
Adrenaline coursed through their veins as they pushed them over the edge of desire.
They were lucky they made it to their bed.
Back at the club, the music kept pounding, but the air between the four men was razor thin.
Phoenix couldn't let it go: Julius had said 'us', not I.
Phoenix stayed quiet and watched for any sign of who Julius was protecting.
The young Lieutenant waited for his leader to say something.
Dominic sat for a moment, collecting his thoughts before attempting to say anything.
Dominic glanced at the crowd and lowered his voice.
"Not here."
All four of them scanned the room at once, too many ears, too many eyes.
Raphael nodded toward the door.
"The hotel?"
Julius shot him a look, absolutely not.
Julius wasn't bringing them into anyone's home, especially not Ayla's.
He needed somewhere private that wasn't personal.
There was no way he was leading them straight to Ayla.
Then it hit Julius.
"Follow me".
Julius led them through a staff-only corridor to a private section of the building.
Somewhere, the crowd noise dulled, and the door locks clicked.
At their blank stares, Julius sighed.
"I know. Just—trust me."
"I own half this place," Julius said, "Almost nobody knows. This room is secure, so talk.
But keep your voices down."
It was either time to trust each other or not.
Phoenix was smart.
His eyes squinted as he looked at Julius with curious eyes.
Phoenix filed it away: half-owner, secret partner, and that earlier 'us'.
Julius wasn't just hiding a room; he was hiding a person.
Himself, but who else?
Was it a Freudian slip?
There was no need for Julius to guess what Ayla and Alexander were up to while he was dealing with this mess.
Was it Ayla's mess, though?
Yes, yes, it was.
'They would have never been here if they hadn't followed her there,' Julius thought to himself.
His thoughts went back to the apartment for a brief second, and Ayla, while he waited for the men to file in.
At some point, they would be making this up to him in double, whether they liked it or not.
He shook his head to remove the unwanted thoughts.
Minutes later, the four of them were in Julius's office.
The door shut.
The club disappeared behind thick walls.
None of them knew exactly where to start.
That being said, the quietness made them all uncomfortable.
Julius didn't want to sit at a desk like he normally did, so he stood around with the others.
Phoenix and Raphael glanced around.
From outside, the building looked windowless.
In here, the walls were all glass, night sky pressed up close.
Even Dominic looked distracted for a second.
"How'd you pull that off?" he asked, nodding at the "windows."
Julius looked at him, unsure of what he was talking about.
Then realized what he meant as he looked behind him.
Julius followed his gaze.
"A visual effect. Micro-perforated metal over the glass—lets us see out, blocks anyone from seeing in."
Dominic nodded once, impressed despite himself.
"Smart."
It was smart and tactical.
He was impressed.
The area was spacious, with two desks, and a large, fluffy-looking couch sat straight in the back with a thick brown rug in front of it, and a glass table in the middle.
It wasn't too much, yet seemed just enough, inviting.
Julius didn't wait.
"So, can we talk now?"
The story of him being this man's son was far-fetched at most, but he didn't care about that part.
Dominic nodded.
"Of course. I know you have questions—but I have a few too. Do you know who your father is?"
He knew information about his son, so he could piece it together.
Dominic's son knew nothing about him, so it would be nearly impossible for him.
Julius hadn't thought about it in a long time.
It was a part of him that he figured he would never know.
He had essentially given up on finding anything out without realizing it.
"No," Julius said. "I tried to find him for years. No records, no paperwork, nothing. It's like I showed up out of nowhere."
Dominic's words from the bar came back in a rush, missing children, vanished without a trace.
Then the one sentence Julius couldn't shake: You're my son.
Suddenly, the last thing he said hit him.
Was it true?
After all that time, was his father actually standing in front of him?
If everything he heard was the truth, then that man had been searching for him from the moment he had been taken from him.
Then it hit him.
Why was he and all of these other supposed children taken?
Dominic could see the words rolling around in Julius's mind, trying to be accepted.
"Why was I taken?" Julius blurted. His voice sounded too loud in the sealed room. "Why me, and the others?"
"What?" Dominic answered, confused.
"Why was I taken?" he asked.
Dominic hesitated.
"That story only makes sense after you understand what you are."
Julius's hands curled into fists.
"Then start there. What am I?"
The room seemed to shrink.
Julius's pulse thundered in his ears so loud it drowned the club's distant bass.
His hands went damp against his palms, and his eyes flicked to the locked door like it might be the only way to breathe.
Julius's breath hitched into a sharp, ugly inhale.
"What... what am I?" His voice cracked.
"Am I a freak? Is that why I can hear things I shouldn't, why I always feel like something's watching me?"
"You're not a freak," Dominic said.
"You're like us. Your senses are sharper: sound, smell, sight, instinct, because there's a wolf in you."
"All those things are sharp, yeah. That's how I knew to give you the slip last night," he said, smirking, "Might I add, I was pretty good at it too. You're mad, though."
"Honestly, what you did was pretty impressive. You and your friend managed to do what very few can. I'm not sure who taught her that, but they did a good job," he smiled in approval as he spoke.
"Nobody taught her. It's her instincts from evading you for years. She is naturally better than you. Guess that rings true for me, too," he boasted in a cocky tone.
Phoenix and Raphael could hear the defiance in his tone, and it made them smile.
The team of men all had confirmation that she was, in fact, in league with him.
"Oh, he is definitely your son, sir," Raphael giggled, unable to stop himself.
Dominic shot the same cocky smile to Phoenix and Raphael standing next to him, "You thought I was lying".
"NO, no, sir," Raphael answered quickly, "We just thought that maybe you were losing it after searching for so long. We apologize, sir," he finished before pulling Phoenix to take a step back with him.
Dominic shook it off.
"No need to apologize, I would have thought the same thing. Honestly, I don't think Julius believes me yet."
Finishing with Rahael and Phoenix, he turned his attention to his son.
"That's fine if you don't believe my words. I've waited this long already. I can wait for you to accept this".
Julius was stuck on one thing.
"What did you mean by we are special?"
"As I said, I have to show you. Words wouldn't do anything but make you think we are crazy," he stated.
Julius nodded his head.
He knew that the man before him wasn't going to tell him anything else.
Suddenly, Dominic's eyes began to glow bright amber, and he lunged toward Julius, bursting into his wolf form, leaving his clothes on the floor behind him.
Unsure of what to do, Julius froze in place.
There was once a man standing in his office, and now there was a majestic wolf with hair matching the same deep, dark brown hair Dominic had just had.
The wolf was standing at his feet, panting like he wanted a head scratch.
Julius looked at Phoenix and Raphael, "Can you do that too"?
They nodded their heads as their eyes began to glow, but before they lunged, "STOP, don't. What am I supposed to do with three wolves in my fucking office? I can't talk to you if you're a wolf," he said, rubbing his forehead.
His thoughts were racing.
"Bigger question, do you expect me to be able to do that"?
Phoenix and Raphael looked at each other, concerned because they didn't know how to answer that question.
Neither one of them wanted to step up as the person to talk.
"Now I know why he is the leader. You two might as well become wolves if you are incapable of answering a simple question. Me, wolf, change, yes, no".
Raphael felt like he owed Dominic the most, so he decided to step up.
"Not right away. You have to go through your awakening. That might actually be what this is. It still takes time and practice. Before now, you didn't know anything about all this. What I do know is that your wolf knew. It was guiding you, I'm sure of that".
His words piqued Julius's interest.
"What do you mean? How"?
"Well, you can trust your instincts, and they are strong because of your wolf. Just like your other senses. That is all due to your wolf. Finding other wolves is..."
His words stopped as his General was now growling at him.
Raphael wasn't sure what he was allowed to say.
His attention was now aimed at his General.
"He has to know. Until she is ready, she wouldn't believe him anyway. It doesn't mean that he will say anything, right?" Raphael asked as he was looking back at Julius, who was confused.
"Tell who? What?"
Phoenix couldn't just sit on the sidelines anymore.
"If you tell someone that they are a werewolf before they are ready, it can cause major problems. Your father thought you were ready. That isn't the same for your friend Ayla. At least we don't think it is. Obviously, we have not talked to her, so we don't know enough to know. Please don't say anything to her".
Julius's words came out slowly at first, gaining speed as he continued.
"You mean you don't know if she is a wolf. If you haven't met her, how do you know? You are all running on the assumption that you know who she is. I haven't seen anything that made me think she was one of you," Julius stated.
The three men before him knew he had a point.
"As of right now, I won't say anything to her. You won't talk to her either," Julius said in protest.
"We understand how you feel about her," Phoenix said, "We will leave her alone, you have our word. If you want, we can help you from a distance, assist you with finding out about yourself, because you will need both".
"So, I'm a werewolf then," Julius said, not realizing Dominic was changing back into his human form.
"Yes, you are. I agree with Phoenix and back his words up".
Dominic's words startled the newly awakened wolf, who was focused too much on the new developments.
Even though Ayla was unaware of it yet, she had three more people purposely protecting her, it seemed.
It appeared like she was recruiting a mini army without any effort.
Julius started thinking about Ayla again.
He couldn't help himself.
At first, he was pissed because she had brought these men into his life.
Now, he was wondering if she was really the reason he had found his father.
That's when the thought of random men appearing around him crawled back into his mind.
"What about those guys from earlier?" Julius asked.
"What's their story"?
"They will be back. This isn't the first time they have snuck into this town trying to catch that girl off her game. She needs to be careful. If she slips once, they will be on her tail."
"How about we go to the forest and help you work on that wolf transformation, if you're up for it," Phoenix asked excitedly.
This was an opportunity that Phoenix couldn't pass up.
Normally, within the pack, others would feel their wolf awakening and be guided by those around.
With the number of kids missing, these chances were rare, and he felt lucky to have this chance to see a first transformation.
As the four of them ventured to the woods, Ayla and Alexander were finishing up feeding their hunger that was fueled by danger and excitement.
Ayla was starting to wonder if all the excitement made her extra horny or if it was the idea of being protected.
While the two of them lay in his bed, cuddling, her mind drifted back to the club.
To Julius.
The words that trickled out of her mouth were full of concern.
"Oh no, Julius isn't home yet. Do you think something happened to him after we left"?
Alexander scrunched his eyebrows.
"I'm sure he is fine. He knows how to protect himself. Plus, I didn't get any alerts from the club. That tells me that nothing happened, at least on the inside".