“I know what you’re thinking Lycell, no, there aren’t any porn or strip bars to visit. You can’t do that. You would break the bond between you and Adrienne,” Drayton said warning him. He placed his hand on Lycell’s shoulder and Lycell gazed at it as if it was a snake. Drayton dropped his hand.
“I won’t forget it was you who arranged for Adrienne to visit Wilder in the cave. It was where he met her remember. I won’t forget what you did to me.”
“You think it was all about you? It was for the good of the pack. Wilder is the Alpha of our group.”
“I’m an alpha too.”
“You don’t get it. You created this all on your own by throwing in Wilder’s face how fertile you are because you have six sons. I have one. You would think since Adrienne bore you six sons it would make you humble, but I should have known better. You’re what you are. A selfish werewolf who cares about his own sexual gratifications. You don’t deserve a woman like Adrienne,” Drayton said.
It appeared this same conversation had played out earlier, but between Tracker and Damon.
When Drayton took his hand from Lycell’s shoulder and dropped it, Lycell turned away looking at the stairs, wishing he was lying with Adrienne rubbing her stomach, and she would place his manhood into her mouth because she was too pregnant for him to have her any other way. Lycell imagined Wilder would be doing that now.
The pictures Lycell conjured in his mind about Wilder and Adrienne were too real and he had to do something about it.
It was no talking to Lycell when he was like that. There were only so many times he could ride his steed around the ranch during the full moon. So many times he could wipe away the thoughts and pictures of Wilder making love to Adrienne without him going full wolf on him and attacking.
Drayton caught up with Lycell as he approached the stairs. Lycell stood in one spot staring at the floor. When he felt Drayton’s presence he turned.
“Look at you, Drayton. How can you be so happy and satisfied the way things are. Adrienne is pregnant again and I haven’t been with her in months,” Lycell said his voice raised and his eyes staring blankly at Wilder and Adrienne’s bedroom door.
“It won’t be long. You just have to understand what is happening with her. You agreed to this because you wanted it, and now you have a problem with our family. Remember she belonged to Wilder first. She was his mate not yours.”
“But she loves me equally,” he countered.
“If you continue to whine like someone just died, and you make the mistake of leaving to find comfort in Samsaville, and Adrienne discovers you have been unfaithful, she won’t want you anymore, and our pack and family will be forever destroyed because you couldn’t control your cock,” Drayton said his voice registering higher than normal.
Why did he have to be the one to bring peace? Drayton thought. These are his elder brothers and you would think they knew better. Even Wilder shouldn’t have wanted to tax Adrienne’s body any more. She has given birth to nine pups. It’s time to give her a rest, he thought.
Lycell turned away and stormed down the stairs. Always the impulsive reckless one in the family, and no amount of talking would calm him at least not today. He had to sort this out on his own.
Staggering out of the house, like a drunken man looking for another round of drinks, Lycell found his way to the stables to ride his black stallion, but instead, he turned and ran to the garage and opened the door to his Ford truck and started it up.
Not waiting for the engine to warm up, he gunned the gas and took off widely out of the garage and not waiting to lower its door.
In a blind rage he headed the truck east. He had been driving for an hour when he looked up to see the dim lights in a distance of Lake Tahoe. Nearing a hotel the lights grew brighter as he cruised on by wondering how he got there.
Dressed in his jeans and flannel shirt he decided to stop the truck and park. His thoughts were to turn around and go back home because he had enough time to think and when he did, he realized he had been acting like a dick. He had been in love with Adrienne since the day he set eyes on her, and there would never be any other female for him. Never.
He took a deep breath and started the truck, but it wouldn’t turn over. He cranked it again before he glanced down at the gage, and it was out of gas. “What the fuck,” he murmured. He hadn’t seen or heard the warning light.
Turning to reach for his phone, he realized in a fit of anger he left it in his jacket. He hit on the dashboard and placed his head over the steering wheel. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
Raising his head, he watched out through the frosty window at the falling snow. He could call someone to bring gas if he had a phone. He could rent a car if he had a phone. He could change into his wolf and run home. Or he could get out and walk a few steps to a casino and get a room.
With the first snow he never knew what he would happen. It could be heavy as he ran and trekked through it. He wouldn’t make it home anyway until the morning because of the winter winds blowing strong.
To risk traveling as a werewolf in the snow just to get home and be confronted by Wilder didn’t set well with him. He decided against it and resolved to let Adrienne worry about him. Maybe she’ll appreciate me. That’s right let her worry. Think about what it would be like not to have me, he thought.
He checked his pocket and pulled out an envelope with twenties and hundreds. Why did he have cash? Then he remembered he had forgotten to go to the bank. It was the money from the club.
“What the hell,” he said out aloud. I’ll get a room until tomorrow and maybe look around, he thought. He locked the truck but he didn’t know why he did that. It couldn’t move anyway. It was probably a habit, and he sauntered among the many cars parked and followed the crowd to the front of the casino hotel.
It wouldn’t be a problem getting a hotel room, he thought. The place didn’t look like it was full this time of the year. “I’d like a room,” he said to the clerk.
The young man looked at him and said, “We have a convention here, and I don’t think we have any rooms available. I think we’re fully booked. You can try someplace else. Maybe they’ll have some rooms at the Hilton.”
“My car is out of gas and this is the first place I stopped. Now if you don’t mind could you check to see if you have anything available?” Lycell wasn’t a patient werewolf but he had to be a patient human. He stood with his arms on the counter, leaning forward looking around as the thin young man with a nervous look about him searched the computer.
The young man about twenty turned and looked up at Lycell wearing a pair of jeans and a blue and black flannel shirt, and said in an arrogant voice, “Sir. We have something, but I don’t think it’s in your price range.”
“I’ll take it and what do you know about my price range?” He pulled out his credit card and dropped it on the counter. Have my car filled with gas when I get up in the morning.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Samsa.” He glanced once more at the card. “There’s a town called Samsaville about an hour west.” The young man tried to make small talk as he handed Lycell the papers to sign and turn over the key.
“Yes, I know. I own it.”
“Will there be anything else, Mr. Samsa?”
“Don’t ever talk to me with that tone of voice again. I have sons older than you.” The young man couldn’t or wouldn’t believe the person standing in front of him had son’s his age because Lycell looked to be about twenty or younger.
With a wide grin the clerk said, “Will there be anything else, Mr. Samsa? Do you have luggage, Mr. Samsa? Do you need someone to show you to your room, Mr. Samsa?”
Lycell glanced at the man with a raised eyebrow. His deep and piercing eyes narrowed. The young man leaned back as if struck by something. Lycell turned and walked away without saying a word.
Riding the elevator up to the penthouse, Lycell opened the door to a luxurious room. He had promised Adrienne he would take her on a trip where she could sleep all day, lay on the beach, and fuck him all night without Wilder and Drayton’s prying ears.
It would be a long honeymoon. One he never had with her.
They would visit Paris or Venice. He would show her the world. But now she was bogged down raising another brood of pups. Wilder was content with his life, and with her now that she would give birth to the last of the Samsa pack.
Wilder’s litter would command her attention day and night, he thought. Watching out at the snowcapped mountains and the lights of the hotel casinos, Lycell asked, “What the fuck am I doing here all alone?”
Surely there was something he could do tonight to pass the time away.