CHAPTER 6

"GO AND WASH up, son" Alpha Ezra said to Kincaid. "I will be coming to speak with you soon. Maybe you will tell me what you were thinking when you were caught by North London patrol."

Kincaid snorted. His mother rubbed his cheek fondly with her hand and herded him into the house. 

"I could ask the same of you, bringing the girl here," Luna Amelia said, coming to stand beside her husband. 

"Jake was eager to sell her off to me. Even if she was going to be my sex slave," He muttered.

"What?" Amelia gasped. Her hands covered her mouth. "But why? Wasn't she part of his pack?"

"She was part of his pack, but I do not know the reason she was being mistreated." He shrugged off his thick woolen coat and hung it on a rack. "I am going to see how she blends in with us, and maybe I will think of inducting her to be part of us."

"I think she would like that."

Ezra chuckled. "I don't think she would like anything. Besides, I hope Kincaid might pick a fancy in her, she is a beautiful girl, and well mannered too. You saw how she asked for my permission before leaving."

Amelia nodded. She clapped her hands together. "I pray he does. Oh moon goddess, let my son find a worthy Luna before his father steps down. Give him a second chance mate."

Alpha Ezra touched his forehead with his index finger in a gesture of prayer. "Arrange some sizable clothes for the girl and send them up to her room, and then I want to see her."

Amelia nodded and said, "I will do so immediately." She started to walk away, but then stopped and came back. "Do you know why Kincaid was spotted in North London territory?"

Ezra sighed and shook his head. "I was hoping you would get that information for me. He speaks to you more than me." 

"The boy is in pain. Give him a break."

"It's been years, Amelia. Far too long. Besides, I'm also in pain," Ezra grunted. "When I stand up, my waist hurts, you don't see me sulking or doing something reckless as being caught on rival territory, do you?"

Amelia scoffed. "Give him a break." She repeated. 

"When you speak to him, tell him he doesn't have much time left. I will be stepping down soon and if his emotional and mental being isn't strong enough, the weight of the pack will bear his physical being down." Ezra said. He walked to his minibar and poured out a bottle of scotch. He took a small sip before adding. "Tell him to pick a chosen mate soon. We have girls of his age mate in the pack for him to choose from." 

Amelia nodded and left the Alpha to drink alone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

*KINCAID*

"HOME," HE SNORTED as he walked into his room. It was just as he had left it. The back-turned piece of an adult magazine still laid the exact way he had tossed it aside 3 weeks ago. The one foot of his yellow sock still hung out his drawers. 

Who even has yellow socks? He asked himself and gave a wry smile. He pulled his shirt over his shirt and looked at himself in the full-sized mirror in his room. His muscles rippled and moved as he twisted and turned. There were marks on his skin where the chains had held him. He shook his greasy hair from his face and went to the bathroom to wash for the first time in almost a month.

Just as he lathered his hair and turned on the shower, Caer, his wolf said, "We are not alone,"

Kincaid snorted. "We are never alone," he muttered under the shower. He took his time washing off the grime and dirt from his body and scrubbing till his skin was red and sore. 

When he came out of the bathroom, with only a towel wrapped around his waist, he saw his best friend and future beta, Liam, standing in the middle of his room. Liam was a tall, slim young man with brown sandy hair. He was also one of the wolves that had followed Kincaid in the revenge mission all those years ago. The two had been inseparable since they were 4 years old. 

"I was beginning to wonder when you would be back," Liam said as Kincaid took another towel and rubbed his hair dry. 

"I was caught," Kincaid said. "And thrown in their dungeons."

"You wanted to get caught, Caid," Liam said. "We both know Caer knew I was in the room even with the sound of the shower all around you. You couldn't have got caught unless you wanted to."

Kincaid shrugged. "Maybe."

"But why?" 

"I waited for a week, wanting to catch a glimpse of the girl," Kincaid said, putting on a fresh shirt. "I didn't see her. I needed to get inside."

"And you thought getting yourself locked up in a prison cell was going to make you see her?" Liam chuckled. "Why don't you just speak to your father? Tell him you would want that girl to be --" 

"Careful, Liam," Kincaid growled. Nobody ever spoke of Roxanne or even mates near him. Liam sighed and raised his hands in surrender. 

"Sorry," Liam said. "Now tell me, did you get to see the girl?" He sat on the bed and picked up the adult magazine.

Kincaid shook his head and Liam burst out laughing. "So you got caught. Thrown in the dungeons and suffered for 2 weeks, all for what? Nothing?"

"Fuck you, man," Kincaid muttered, which only made Liam laugh even harder. A knock sounded on the door and the door opened. 

"Luna," Liam immediately stood up and bowed.

"How are you, Liam?" Amelia asked softly. 

"I'm doing fine, ma'am," Liam said. "I only came here to check on Kincaid. I heard he was back."

"It's alright, Liam," Luna Amelia said. "I will let you two boys catch up later, but now, I need to speak with him. Do you mind?"

"Oh of course not, Luna," Liam said, bowing again and walking out while leafing through the adult magazine from Kincaid's room. 

"Hello mother," Kincaid said when they were alone. Amelia walked across the room and stood at his window, thinking of how to start. 

"What do you want?" He urged. "I want to dress up."

"You can dress with me in the room," She said. "I've seen everything, you have nothing to hide."

"Yeah, right," Kincaid scoffed and walked back into the bathroom. He came out a few seconds later wearing brief shorts. 

"Your skin..." his mother commented. 

"It's nothing. They bound me with chains," Kincaid muttered as he pulled a fresh shirt over his head. 

"Why were you there?" His mother asked. Kincaid paused what he was doing to look at her. He wondered how he was going to answer the question. After thinking for a while, he shrugged and muttered, "I needed a break from Scotland."

"And you thought going to a rival pack's borders was a good idea. Especially it, being the pack that was responsible for--"

Caer's growl rumbled deep from Kincaid's chest. It reverberated against the room. But Amelia was not deterred. She continued, "Especially it, being the pack responsible for your mate's death."

"Mother!"

"You are going to need another mate, son," Amelia said. "Every Pack deserves a Luna."

Kincaid scoffed and pulled on a brown cargo trouser. "Good thing this pack has you then."

"Kincaid Stuart!" Amelia snapped. Kincaid sighed and sat down beside her. "Your father can't be the alpha of this pack for much longer. You are going to find a mate, I have prayed to the moon goddess for a second chance mate, "

Kincaid groaned. "Mother, if she planned to give me a second chance mate, wouldn't she have done it all these while?"

"That doesn't matter," Amelia said. "I have prayed. And if she doesn't give you one, you are going to have to pick one and get yourself a chosen mate."

"Mother --" Kincaid started to say. 

"Promise me that you would," His mother cut him off.

He looked at her tenderly, he could not refuse his mother so he nodded and said, "Yes ma'am. I will mingle more with the female wolves around and hope for a second chance mate."

"And if you don't find one?"

"I'll pick a chosen mate," Kincaid answered. "Can I go now? I need a run to clear my head." He asked sarcastically. 

Amelia nodded. Kincaid walked out of the room. It was after he was gone that Amelia remembered that she hadn't told him about the new girl staying with them. 

She sighed, smoothened the bed, and removed a yellow sock hanging from a drawer, she figured that Kincaid and the girl would meet on their own accord there was no need to interfere. She tucked the sock in his wardrobe and walked out, closing the door gently.