Chapter Four (The Bastard Son)

CHASE LUCAS, ILLEGITIMATE SON OF THE ALPHA OF THE MOON HOWLERS PACK

I turned once on the bed and the pain pivoted straight to my upper arm. I groaned and cursed. 

Lucas, my father often said that drinking did no good to anyone, this time, I could almost imagine him telling me that I was reaping from where I had sown, accident being the reward of driving while drunk. I smirked because he'd be believing that without second thoughts.

My personal body guard and most trusted man, Pedro, came to have me discharged from the hospital. He was his usual self, casually dressed and ready to hoist me off if he thought it was necessary for him to do that.

He had a smirk on his face when he came into the room I had been admitted in, alone.

"How did everything go, Pedro?"

I asked the moment he was fully inside, the door shut behind him.

"Hope no one got hurt like I am?"

I asked him. He frowned his face as if to say I was not hurt at all.

Well, alright, just a small discomfort on one arm 

"No one was hurt, my lord. They are all fine and they are happy they are okay." He said. 

I sighed in relief, the people in question were working with me. They are all part of the whole scheme and I would not have forgiven myself had they been hurt. 

"Are you sure no one knows this was planned? If the word slips and someone suspects that this was planned, it's you who's going to be doomed."

I said. He shook his head. 

"I assure you, no one suspects a thing. It was carried out smoothly.”

He said with confidence. I nodded and sat up on the bed. 

"Ensure that the bills are cleared and settle the men as agreed. I'm glad none of them came out hurt."

I said. He nodded.

"One says he sprained a wrist and would like a bigger pay, we spoke on my way to your room."

He said. I frowned. They were getting paid handsomely enough, but it wasn't unlike them to be greedy when they had the chance to be, of course. I waved it off, not willing to get pissed over it. 

"Let him have what he asks, Pedro," I said, and then in the same breath, I asked, "How is the royal household faring?"

He shrugged. He was not a man of many words and often, he spoke with his body language more than he did with his own mouth. 

"What about my dad and my step mother?"

I asked him. He shrugged again at first and then he went back to the door to see if it was locked, it was not so he locked it. 

It was unnecessary, if ever someone wanted to come in, they would knock first even if the door was ajar, but I had said too much about not wanting words to slip about the fake accident which might get them to start paying an unhealthy attention to me, ultimately leading to the ruining of whatever plans I was going to be executing in the future.

"Everyone from the royal household is totally fine, my lord. The alpha and his Luna are the same as you had left them, your step brother, Oliver had gone to the Blood Venom pack to see his soon to be bride. The woman who was betrothed to him years back."

That was the summary I needed. 

I nodded.

"Good. As the legitimate child of the alpha, he is expected to get married soon. That is okay."

I said. Pedro nodded.

"What about my step mother?"

I asked after a long pause. 

He did not shrug this time. He looked at me with those keen eyes of his and held on until my eyes met his own

"She is under our watch and would continue to be. You have nothing to fret about."

He said. I was not fretting, I was asking because I wanted to be sure.

"No, I'm not fretting, Pedro. I just want to know that she his still under our watch."

He nodded calmly because he didn't even share the same panic that I had on most things. He was the relaxed one, the composed party who always seemed to have everything under total control. Would have envied him if he was not my guard and was working for me alone. 

"You have nothing to worry yourself about."

He said with aplomb.

We did not say anything else for the next one minute.

My father, Alpha Lucas had impregnated my mother outside wedlock and had gone on then to marry a woman who was from a powerful family and could help his political ambitions, he had thrown away his love for my mother and the right to legally sire me all because of his quest for power, a trait which years had not diminished one bit in him. 

He was the one alpha who would do anything to retain his position as the most feared and most respected alpha in the southern lycanthrope community. He liked being a symbol of authority and power, and for as long as I could remember, he had always done everything to keep that, never showing his feelings and weaknesses.

My phone started to ring and Pedro grabbed it and handed it to me before I could even reach it.

"Hello, father?"

I called into the phone when I heard his sonorous voice sound in the background.

"Chase, I want you to come home without delay."

He commanded as soon as he was sure I could hear him.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I can make it in time from this hospi..."

"That's enough. I'll have none of your excuses today. Come home now. This is totally important. We have important guests and you must be present."

He said.

"But father, I just said that I won't be...."

"This concerns your brother's mating ceremony, Chase. Don't make me look for you when I call your name here."