Arrow Inferno
Chapter 85: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Duty Calls!

***

Sydney, Australia

In the basement of an abandoned building, a roguish-looking hunk who looked to be in his late twenties let out a piercing whistle for silence. Eight pairs of eyes focused on him with rapt attention. After all, he called the shots.

"I can tell you're excited," Jaxon Spencer bellowed from where he stood in the doorway. His hard gaze shifted from one face to the other. "But don't count your chickens before they're hatched. "You will only get that money if you execute the job I'm about to give you to my satisfaction."

"We won't disappoint you," One of the eight men said with confidence, eliciting agreeing nods from the others.

"Succeed, and you're set for life with your share of that money you're all excited about. Fuck up and you'll find yourself in the lion's den with no help." Jaxon stared the men down.

"What do we have to do?" The oldest amongst the men asked.

"See that building?" Jaxon said as he switched on the projector on the desk. The men in the room stared at the building on the screen with grave expressions on their faces. "We're going to steal something from there." "ASIS?" Gasped one of the men. "How the fuck do you expect anyone to rob the Australian Secret Intelligence Service?" he questioned harshly.

"You don't need to know the how." Jaxon shrugged. "Just show up when and where I tell you to that's all."

"Hey, I know you're paying us to do a job but you need to tell us the plan," The man argued. "Surely you can't expect us to just blindly show up. What if you've arranged for the police to arrest us? I for one, am no fool." "So leave," Jaxon said quietly. Too quietly. His dark eyes bore into the eyes of the speaker. "Now!"

"I was only..."

"If you don't leave now, I'm going to break your neck." It wasn't what was said really. It was how it was said. The man quickly grabbed his backpack and left the basement. "Does any other person want to leave?" There was silence as everyone looked at Jaxon. "And there were seven," he muttered. 'Good."

He stood up and folded his arms across his broad chest.

"For this job, two things are needed." Jaxon addressed the men. "Courage and a poker face. That poker face just might save your life. For that shit load of money, I'd practice my poker face morning, noon, and night if I were you." The men laughed. Who would refuse all that cash when all they had to do was school their features? Just a week earlier, none of them had any hope for a good life. But thanks to the man standing before them, they had some hope. "Any particular reason you picked us?" The oldest asked with a curious look.

"Good question." Jaxon looked from one curious face to the other. "I always work with professionals. This is the first time I'm working with...people with no training whatsoever. I must be nuts," he gave a brief chuckle. "We're not complaining," One man bellowed, drawing chuckles from the others.

"I've watched each of you for months," Jaxon said. "Y'all reek of poverty. I'm sure your pac...families would rather you were dead. One less mouth to feed." He shrugged. "So I just thought...why not give them a break. But what's the fun in merely giving you money? You enjoy spending money better when you actually work for it. I say stealing is a lot of work." He grinned, making the men laugh.

"You make it look very easy," A redhead of about twenty-six commented. "What you did with that bullion van was amazing." He looked at Jaxon with awe.

"You just have to be extra brave when you're doing the wrong thing, that's all." Jaxon rasped.

He'd made them watch as he stopped and robbed a bullion van in broad daylight. That was supposed to be their training in bravery.

"You didn't even use a gun," Another man said. "What did you tell those policemen to make them so eager to open the door for you? And why did you even bother destroying the door? They opened it."

"Maybe it was rather something I showed them," Jaxon said mysteriously. "But I wanted it to look like the robbery that it was. That's why I destroyed the door."

"Those policemen would have had a hard time convincing anyone that they weren't accomplices otherwise." The oldest man said softly. "You're a good man."

"Me? Good?" Jaxon laughed. "Far from that."

"Well, you're so strong," The redhead murmured.

"I am. And it will be in your best interest not to forget that," He said chillingly. "Fuck with me and I'll rip your heart out of your chest, chew it, and then spit it out. Literally!"

"Jesus Christ!" one dark-skinned man gasped.

"Hey, I'm not ready for the epic return yet so don't call him just yet." Jaxon's eyes glittered with mirth. "At least let's finish the job first." He turned to look at the screen. "I need to get my hands on some classified information inside that building." He turned his gaze back on the men. "And you're all going to act as decoys."

***

"Calm down Stan," Philip muttered, his eyes on his agitated beta.

"I can't," Stan growled, not pausing in his pacing.

"This is just fucked up," Paige sighed, relaxing further into her seat and folding her arms across her chest. "I mean there is a very high possibility that he'll hurt someone and expose us."

"I know," Philip sighed.

"Can't we give him a crash course or something?" Jeremy asked quietly.

"A crash course for a beast?" Stan looked as if he'd never heard anything so out-of-scope in his life. "Please!" he snorted.

"It's possible, Stanley," Jeremy said, setting his cup of coffee on a side table. "Between mum and Deloris, something can be done."

"I want him here with me," Stan growled. "Where I can keep an eye on him."

"Be reasonable, Stan," Jeremy said quietly. "He is a soldier. A soldier doesn't say no when he's called upon to serve. That is his job. How the fuck do you expect him to tell his superiors that he wants to sit it out? For what reason? That he's still mourning his dead mother or that he wants to spend time with the love of his life?"

"When you put it like that..." Stan mumbled.

"Would you tell me you can't handle an important job simply because you want to spend time with your mate or keep an eye on him?" Jeremy stared Stan down. "Answer me," he growled.

"I am a warrior," Stan grunted with a frown. "It's what I do. I can't turn my back on that."

"And you think this is any different?" The alpha of all alphas raised an eyebrow challengingly. "You think your job is more important to you than Will's is to him? Are you shitting me right now?" Jeremy looked pissed.

"Jer..." Philip began softly but Jeremy raised a hand for silence.

"I need to make something very clear to him, Lip," Jeremy said quietly. "Let's not make the mistake of forgetting his level. The last thing you would want to do is make him feel you're dictating to him. You can't tell him what to do. What you can do is to state your opinion in an unaggressive manner. Otherwise, he will rebel. No soldier turns his back when duty calls."

"That is true." Paige nodded.

"Take Philip here, for instance. Tell me...who finds their mates and yet ignores that intense pull to concentrate on a battle? But he did exactly that because in that instant, he was thinking like a leader. And lives were at stake. That battle at hand was more important."

"Preach!" Paige raised both hands, drawing a chuckle from her brother.

"Well, same shit," Jeremy growled.

"Sorry, alpha," Stan seethed. "But he's been a werewolf for only two days. He's to start his training today. I say this is shitty timing."

"Let's speak to Del first," Philip said. "But what happens if she's unable to do anything about it?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Jeremy stated. "Let's call a meeting. Then we can all..." he trailed off when the door to the conference room opened to reveal a sexy-looking Will.