Arrow Inferno
Chapter 46: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks ~ Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Shaken alpha!

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"How are you going to fix it?" Ryan asked quietly, stepping out of Jeremy's arms. Ideally, he would have handed Jeremy his arse for taking away his will and almost getting him killed by none other than his lover. But he didn't want the man to feel any shittier than he already did so he curbed that urge.

"Same way he got you to see the pack as untouchables." Philip rasped. "Come on Prof. We have to get you home."

"I'm not going, Philip," Ryan said stiffly as he looked down at his tattered shirt. "I just need a shirt."

"Jeremy?" Philip virtually growled, waiting for the alpha to back him up. "A little help..."

Jeremy looked torn between his Beta who was clearly exasperated and his adamant mate. But in the end, safety for his mate reigned high.

"Ryan please..." Jeremy sighed.

"No. It's just an hour lec..."

"You're not safe here," Philip growled with clenched fists. "Anyone can attack again. And again you'll be a sitting duck. Jeremy needs to take care of that immediately."

Since Jeremy had compelled Ryan in his wolf state, Ryan needed to shift into a wolf for Jeremy to undo what he'd done. And since it wouldn't be appropriate for Ryan to shift at their current location, they needed to go back home immediately. Philip had expected Jeremy to simply order his mate to go home. But guilt was obviously eating at the Alpha, making it difficult for him to be firm with his mate. It was therefore up to him to get Ryan to see reason.

"Your life is more important than some one-hour lecture, Ryan." Philip sighed. "I don't want anything to happen to you." He whispered with so much feeling Jeremy reached out to grasp the shoulder of his visibly shaken Beta. "Hey..." The alpha rasped.

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't take your eyes off him." The veiled accusation from Philip made Jeremy's jaw clench.

"It was my fault, Philip. I asked him not to follow me in here." Ryan defended.

"The Jeremy I know would have come anyway," Philip growled. "No one tells him what to do and what not to do." The Beta fixed his intent gaze on his alpha. "You're getting soft." His mumble was directed at the alpha. "More than soft actually. Your brain is liquefied."

An angry growl erupted from Jeremy. "Are you..."

"You know I'm not challenging you," Philip said evenly, cutting Jeremy off. "I can never do that. I understand that you feel you have to allow him to have his way. But know that it can..."

"Hello... Will you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Ryan cut in, actually amused. It was surprisingly refreshing to see the friends disagreeing on something. It made them seem...normal. "Alright, you win Philip. I'll go home. But we need to fix the..." He trailed off when he noticed that the door was actually intact. He turned to look behind him and saw that there was no trace of his blood on the floor. Had he imagined what had taken place? "How..." "Stan made Camille fix it before taking her away," Philip informed Ryan as he led the way out of the washroom.

"Is she a werewolf or a magician?"

Philip couldn't help his laughter. "Both. Half warlock, half-wolf."

"Really?" Ryan looked shocked. "You have those too? Her parents..."

"Uh-huh." Philip seemed to be enjoying Ryan's shock.

"A werewolf married a war..."

"Mated, Prof." Philip cut in smoothly. "Get your terminologies straight." He drawled, making Ryan laugh.

"She must be pretty powerful then."

"She sure is." Philip nodded. "But don't worry, the next person to come at you is not going to live to tell the tale."

A frown marred the space between Ryan's brows at Philip's words. "This is about me, Philip," Ryan said quietly. "I'm not you. In my world when someone gets in your way, you outthink them. You don't end them." "Yeah, yeah, yeah we'll see," Philip said dryly as he opened the door to Ryan's office.

"Jeremy..." Ryan turned to implore Jeremy to help him sway Philip but the dejected look on his mate's face stopped him. He waited by the door till Jeremy entered the office. Then he locked the door, grabbed the alpha's hand to draw him to the couch, and then gently pushed him into it. "Hey, you okay?" He asked softly.

Jeremy raised his eyes to look at his beautiful pale mate. He'd lost a lot of blood, thanks to him. "I'm so sorry Ryan."

"For what?" Ryan asked, crouching before Jeremy.

"Everything." The alpha whispered.

Ryan went quiet for a moment, and then got to his feet and began to shrug out of his ruined shirt. "I still need a shirt." He muttered, reaching for his blazer. "Should have made her fix my shirt too." He mumbled. Surprisingly, he didn't feel as weak as he'd been immediately after the attack.

"Vincent is bringing a change for both of you," Philip assured him.

"Great," Ryan said as he sat beside Jeremy on the couch and cuddled against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. All he wanted to do was offer comfort to his troubled mate. And when Jeremy's arm went around him, he gave a sigh of contentment and turned beautiful green eyes on Philip. "Now tell me all about warlocks."

Philip laughed. Even Jeremy couldn't suppress his amused chuckle. But even that light fun couldn't get rid of the alpha's unease. Was he really going soft as Philip had said? Was he being too soft where Ryan was concerned? Coming from Philip, it had to be true. If the other wolves got any hint of the possibility of their alpha going soft, there would be challenges. Jeremy wasn't afraid he would lose a challenge. He just didn't want to hurt any member of his pack. To avoid any of that, Jeremy knew he had to be firm. How he reacted to his mate when they were alone was his business. But where people were watching and listening...expecting him to act in a particular way...the right way, Jeremy knew he had to act right. It was time he made Ryan know his place.