The Liar, The Wolf, and the Songbird

Chapter 2

Alec

I met Adam at the airstrip that was just outside pack lands. By the time Adam got there, I was already pissed off. He was twenty-five minutes late, Cassandra had been blowing up my phone about me not leaving my credit card with her so she could get her nails done, and to top it all off Zeke was texting me lude photos of various omegas in compromising positions involving him.

"You're late." I said in irritation.

"Yea, well Haven was throwin' a tantrum. I'm not gonna leave Tawney to deal with it by her lonesome." He said, grabbing his bag from his truck bed.

"Tawney is fully capable of dealing with the kids. We have to keep a schedule." I snapped. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" He said as we boarded the aircraft. I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing! I just don't like bein' late." I muttered. He narrowed his eyes at me. His jaw started ticking, but he didn't say anything. The plane took off. We sat across from each other and I could feel his eyes on me. I ignored him and stared longingly out the window. I started thinking back to the moment I found out Cassandra was my mate.

I was on the training field sparing with one of the junior warriors. I was trying to show the kid the proper way to take down his opponent when an artificial scent of sunflowers hit me. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was nothing to write home about either. I could hear the warriors whistling and cat calling an approaching figure. When she came into focus, I saw Cassandra wearing a skimpy neon pink dress that barely covered her ass. Her breast were barely contained and she more matching neon pink heels that looked wildly out of place on a training field.

She stopped dramatically and visibly sniffed the air. She let out a low purr like growl.

“Mate.” She said simply, a fake smile plastered on her face.

“Gentry?” I asked my wolf.

“I don’t know. I feel a pull to her, but it’s not strong. I don’t know, Alec.” Gentry said with uncertainty. I stood silently staring at her. She got an annoyed look on her face at my obvious indifference.

“Are you sure?” I asked her. Her cheeks started to turn a cherry tomato red, her face was like a mask of fury.

“Of course I’m fuckin’ sure!’ she snapped quietly as she looked around at all the warriors who were watching us curiously.

“Gentry?”

“I dunno. I guess?” he said as he wandered to the back of my mind and laid down, completely disinterested. I shook my head of my conflicting thoughts and plastered a smile on my face.

“I found my mate! Awesome!” I said with a forced enthusiasm. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react, but apparently that wasn’t it because she was giving me a look of irritation. She huffed and pouted. When she did that, it reminded me of Smegal from Lord of the Rings.

I had to fight back a laugh at the thought.

“Are you gonna come back to my place to complete the bond?” She was fuming at this point.

“I have to finish training, but I’ll meet you there.” She growled and swiftly turned around and went back the way she had come. Warriors were leaning forward to watch her ass jiggle as she walked away. I felt like I should be jealous. Offended even, but I felt nothing. I shook of the feeling of complete puzzlement and clapped my hands.

“Alright guys, back to it.”

“Alec! Alec!” I was shaken out of my memories by my brother who was eyeing me with both curiosity and concern.

“For f***s sake! What?” I snapped.

“You alright man? You look like you’re really strugglin’.” Adam said, voice saturated in worry. I sighed heavily. He was my twin. Of course he could tell I was off.

“It’s nothing. Just got a lot on my mind is all.” He pursed his lips.

“You know you cain’t lie to me, right? I know you and Cassandra were fightin.’ Nathaniel said he could hear y’all all the way down the street.” He said with a shrug. I grimaced.

“Well, shit.” I muttered.

“So spill it. What’s eatin’ at cha?” He said as he leaned back in his seat and stared at me expectantly.

“When you found Tawney, what did it feel like?” I asked. It was like my brother has drifted off into the sweetest dream for a minute.

“It was like the world stopped spinning. She was playin’ with the kids down at the rec center. It was her eighteenth birthday and she wanted to spend it chasin’ them pups around.” He chuckled at the thought.

“She was playin’ ‘duck, duck, goose’ with the little ones when I walked in. I dropped the folder I was carryin.’ She smelt like the most delicious pecan pie. Her soft laughter filled my soul and her little bell-like voice shot right to my heart. All I wanted to do was run to her and claim her. She was so perfect. Still is as a matter of fact. The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” He said dreamily.

“Y’all don’t ever fight or argue?” I asked.

“Well, sometimes. But not a lot. Usually it’s cause I give the girls candy when she told me not to. Or I’ll track mud in after she done mopped the floor. Stupid s**t, but we don’t really fight or argue. It’s more like a little spat. Then I kiss her, she giggles, then before you know it we’re done off to the bedroom for- “I cut him off.

“Ok. I get it.” I said quickly.

“I’d you ask me that? You know what it’s like with your mate.” I just turned my gaze back to the window.

“Alec, what’d it feel like when you found out Cassandra was your mate?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t know. Normal I guess.” I said with a shrug. He laughed.

“What the f**k does that mean? Normal?”

“It means normal. Like everyone feels like I guess.” I said uncertainly.

“How do you think everyone else feels when they meet their mate?” He pushed.

“I don’t know, Adam! Can we just drop it?” I snapped. He held his hands up in the universal signal for surrender.

“Jeez! I was just askin’.” He said.

“Well, don’t!” I turned and looked back out the window. The sooner we got Adeline, the sooner I could get home and try to salvage my mate bond.

I pulled out my ear buds and plugged them in my ears. I had been brought up to have a firm appreciation for music. When we were small my father would bring his guitar out every night and we would sing as family before retiring to bed. Those were far simpler times than they are today. Now, I am constantly at odds with my twin brother, and I prefer not to be around my sister at all. Once again, I blame Addy. After everything happened, my brother took her side, and we grew apart. I resented both of them. I would like to say that my parents understood my malevolence, but they didn’t. They always took their side saying, ‘you don’t know what really happened that night’.

I must have dozed off because I was awake by a rough shake from my brother.

“Hey, you got some spit right there.” He said rubbing his own chin. I wiped at mine but came up empty. Adam just chuckled as he walked down the aisle and off the plane. Jerk. I grabbed my small bag from the overhead compartment and followed him out.

“Are we going over to Momma and Daddy’s apartment? Addy should still be at work right now?” I asked Adam.

“Yea. I reckon. We should get cleaned up a bit before goin’ over there.” There was a car waiting at the airstrip and we climbed into it and headed into Butte. We decided to stop at a little diner before we got to the apartment. The food wasn’t bad, but the waitress left much to be desired. She was clumsy and spilt coffee all over the front of my jeans. Then she proceeded to try to clean up the spill much to my horror. Adam roared with laughter as the poor girl scrubbed away at the front of my pants which were growing tighter due to the friction. After a few minutes and older woman saved me from the awkward situation I had found myself in much to Adam’s displeasure.

After we ate our dinner we went to my parent’s little apartment on the outskirts of the small city. I showered and dressed, glad to be rid of my wet soiled jeans. I rolled my eyes as Adam tried to mimic the young girl by attempting to rub my pants.

“Stop screwin’ around Adam! We need to head out to Addy’s house.” I scolded. Adam’s face filled with a mischievous grin.

“Bout that… what do you say we just f**k with her? For old time’s sake?” He said with a crooked smirk.

“You’re a child, you know that?” I said in annoyance.

“Yea. But you love me! So, what do ya say?” He wiggled his eyebrows like an i***t. I sighed heavily. I knew he wouldn’t let it go until I gave in.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Last time I talk to Addy, she mentioned this creepy asshole, Adkins I think she said. Anyway, I say we creep into her house in the middle of the night and creep up on her when she’s sleepin’.” He said as he smiled proudly at his maniacal plan. He was so dumb.

“You know Athena will warn her.” I stated.

“Nuh uh! Athena has been mad at Addy for awhile now. I reckon I could give her the old McCloud charm and talk her into it.” He said with a wave of his hand. Athena was mad at Addy?

“Fine! What time are we goin’?” I asked irritably. He grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“Bout three.” He said innocently.

“Three? In the fuckin’ mornin’?” I said in outrage. He shrugged.

“She’ll be good and sleep then.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Of all the assholes, in all the world, I got stuck with him. The Moon Goddess must hate me.