Arrow Inferno
Chapter 34: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Meeting the pack!

***

There was Jeremy, Philip, Ryan, Troy, George, and Pete. Will had a good time chatting with them. He thought they were all amazing people. It felt as if he'd known them for years. Probably because of all the stories Stan had told him about

them.

"How's Sylver doing?" Will asked Ryan at some point.

"He's great. Naughty but..."

"Kids these days are all naughty." Will chuckled. "I'm pretty sure my nephew is worse than Sylver. He makes Dennis the Menace look like an angel."

"No kid on earth is worse than Sylver, my friend." George drawled, earning himself the finger from Troy.

"So Gaia says you have a pet wolf," Troy said.

"Yep." Will nodded. "It's an absolutely beautiful wolf."

"What colour is it?" Troy looked curious.

"Brown. But it's not even about the colour," Will said. "It's so intelligent it's fucking mindboggling."

"I bet, it is." Philip nodded. "Wolves are generally very intelligent animals." His expression remained serious just like every other person on the zoom call. "I'm sure you're going to miss it when you come back home." They all waited for Will's response.

"I will," he sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't take it with me because it's not a domestic animal." Then he suddenly let out a wide grin. "But I'm working on it."

"What?" Stan virtually bellowed. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Easy, tiger." Will chuckled.

"Make that wolf since we're talking about wolves." Pete grinned.

"Oh, the guy doesn't even like wolves so tiger works just fine." Will gave a mock-serious look that made everyone laugh.

"I never said I didn't like wolves." Stan gritted his teeth. "What's the plan?" He repeated.

"Well, I've spoken to the Department of Game and Wildlife of Ghana to see how best I can take it to the States."

"You plan on caging the wolf." Stan looked bemused...just like all the others.

"Why the fuck would I want it caged?" Will seemed taken aback by Stan's words. "I will let it go in the wild or something. Somewhere I can visit..."

"Visit it in the wild?" Stan cut him off, the incredulous look on his face saying exactly what he thought of Will that very moment. "And how do you plan on getting the wolf to follow you out of that jungle onto a plane or a ship bound for the States?"

"Ever heard of tranquilizers?" Will shot back.

"So the plan is to deceive the wolf." Stan couldn't help his growl.

"Stanley!" The warning in Jeremy's voice was clear. "That shows just how much you like this wolf, Will." The alpha of alphas smiled. "Be sure to keep me posted on the plans. I'm friends with the bosses of USFWS so I'm sure I can pull some strings. Just let me know when you're ready."

"I will. I appreciate that." Will's smile was filled with gratitude but his eyes looked worried. "What is your problem?" He directed the question at Stan.

"Nothing."

"Seen this wolf yet, Stan?" Pete drawled, wanting to ease tensions. It was obvious that Stan was upset.

"No, he hasn't." Ryan chuckled. "Gaia said he hasn't, remember?"

"Oh yeah, she said that." Pete nodded, a curious look on his face. "I forgot. How come you haven't seen Will's pet yet though?" The laughter that followed and Stan's groan indicated, to Will, that the group was not surprised at Stan's stance towards the wolf.

"Oh, so he's always been afraid of..."

"Shut up, Will," Stan growled but of course, his mate wasn't one to shut up when he had stuff to say.

"I hope to convince him to go with me to see it before we leave here." An amused Will told the others who couldn't seem to hold in their laughter. "I've told him I will protect him. In fact, once he's with me, that wolf won't harm him. Ask Gaia." Gaia at this point was rolling on the bed, laughing uncontrollably. "Hey, will you cut it out?" Will laughingly admonished Gaia. Then with a sigh, he looked at Stan, "Hey, you don't have to go with me to see it if you don't want to." He said softly. "Thank you." Stan's exaggerated sigh of relief was totally lost on Will.

"It's settled then! Stanley is officially a pu..."

"Don't you dare complete that sentence..." Stan growled at Pete who instantly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"What will you do if he does?" Will was surprised at Pete's reaction.

"He knows," Stan muttered as he got off the bed. "Come on, let's go to the living room and leave this mischievous old maid to continue with her 'shady zoom"." He gave the phrase air quotes.

"I take offense to that, Stanislav." Will looked up at Stan from his seat with a straight face. The laughter from the group on the zoom call was deafening.

"What?" The look on Stan's face was priceless.

"He called you Stanislav," Paige repeated unnecessarily but Stan pretended he hadn't heard her.

"You called Gaia an old maid." Will stood up. "She's only twenty-five. You can't refer to her as an old maid. Take it back."

"What?" Will looked incredulous. "She's not exactly a spring chick..."

"Stan?" Philip groaned. Stan was clearly not thinking straight that very moment. "I agree with Will. She's not an old maid."

"Alright, let's leave this beautiful wicked witch of the west to..."

"Aw not a witch, please." Gaia groaned pitifully, making everyone laugh.

"I think you'll have to make do with that, darling." Will drawled. "After all, you've had a good laugh at his expense."

"Very observant." Jeremy chuckled. "It was nice meeting you, Will. Looking forward to a visit from you soon."

"Oh, you can count on it." Will's grin was downright lewd. "I'm not one to pass up on a kiss." His wink was directed at Paige. "Till we meet, milady." Paige all but swooned.

"Come on." Stan rolled his eyes as he headed for the door.

"Hey, Stan?" Jeremy's voice stopped Stan. He turned to look at the screen. "I'm proud of you." The alpha of alphas said softly.

"We all are," Philip added, followed by thumbs-up signs from George and Pete.

A smiling Troy blew Stan a kiss. And when both Paige and Ryan formed a perfect heart shape by each joining their curled index fingers and thumbs together, Stan looked a bit overcome which surprised Will. He gave a slight nod and then left the room.

Will watched him leave and then turned to ask with a curious look, "What did he do?"

"A lot, Will," Ryan answered with a proud smile. "He's been amazing."

"Right. Well, it was great seeing you all." Will said to choruses of same from the others. "Regards to Mama G and little Sylver, Jeremy."

"I will pass it on." Jeremy grinned.