Chapter 44

“So you think you have found this guy’s sister?” Mully spoke up once they were on the road again.

They had left the motorway services as soon as Kade bought their drinks. However, by that point Mully was in full teasing mode and was currently teasing Karim like a hyena teasing a tired lion. It would only be a matter of time before Karim lost his temper but there was no stopping Mully and frankly, Kade wasn’t going to try. It wasn’t his battle to sort. He’d step in if things got physical but that was unlikely so really he had nothing to worry about. Now stuck in a car together though, there was no escaping the blatant sexual tension between the pair. Kade had never felt like a third-wheel before but if Mully started to try and mark his territory then Kade would happily throw himself out of the car while it was still moving.

“The intel I have seen would suggest that.” Kade replied.

“And based on what you’ve told me, are you sure it’s a good idea to bring the kid along?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karim bit back, glancing at Mully through the rearview mirror.

“Nothing, just that you’re not exactly built or trained for this kind of tactical mission.” The blonde shrugged, his blue eyes failing to hide his mocking.

“How about I pull over and we see just how tactically prepared I am?”

“Mully.” Kade cut in, casting the man in the back a warning look.

Mully held his hands up in surrender, sinking back in his seat in the back of the car. Kade had been too late though. Mully had finally pressed too many of Karim’s buttons and now the detective was pulling the car over into a layby in the butt-kiss middle of nowhere, anger and frustration radiating off of him like a tsunami. Even in the pitch darkness, Kade could make out Karim’s glowering expression while behind him Mully continued to look arrogant and amused as if he had won some secret bet.

“What are you doing, Karim?” Kade asked.

“I am refusing to drive any further until you tell me what the hell is going on!” Karim hissed. “Either you tell me what the hell is going on or I’m leaving you both here and I’m going back to Manchester.”

“But if you do that then how will you find your sister?” Mully prodded.

Karim let out a growl of frustration, throwing open his door and getting out. The force in which he slammed the door shut was enough to make the car rock a little even with the weight of two fully grown werewolves inside. Silence filled the small space as Kade gave Karim a few moments to himself, hopefully to calm down even if he knew they were about to spin Karim out of control by flipping everything he knew on its head.

“We should do this.” Mully finally broke the silence. “It’s not fair to keep him in the dark any longer.”

“Yup.” Kade let out a fed-up sigh and opened the door on his side.

When both males stepped out of the car, Karim had his back to them, staring into the darkness that threatened to swallow them whole if it weren’t for the headlights of the car. Kade picked up the scent of sheep nearby mingling with the earthiness of the cooling ground. A fox had been creeping along the hedgerow but when it sensed the presence of the two werewolves, it let out a growl before backing away and heading back the way it had come.

“Karim, listen—”

“No, you listen!” Karim cut Kade off, whirling around to glare at the man. “You gave up on helping me two years ago. You don’t get to just waltz back into my life and give me half truths. You owe me more than that. So I want to know *everything* that going on and I want to know it right now.”

“You heard the man.” Mully shrugged, looking at Kade. “He wants to know right now.”

“I heard him.” Kade sighed. “Alright but, try not to freak out.”

Kade huffed as he pulled his leather jacket off roughly, throwing it onto the roof of the car. Neither Karim or Mully moved or said a word until Kade was half way through taking his shirt off.

“Whoa, wait a minute…what are you doing?” Karim took a step back, hands raised as if to protect himself.

“Undressing. I don’t want my clothes to get ruined.” Kade replied frankly, continuing to undress.

“What’s the matter, Karim?” Mully smirked. “Never seen a naked person before?”

“Is this some weird sex cult?”

Neither Kade nor Mully could hold back the laughter that erupted from them. Karim however, failed to see what was so funny about what he had said or why Kade was the only one now standing in only his boxers. Mully had made no attempts to follow suit and didn’t appear to plan on doing so either, leaving Karim even more confused about what was going on.

“Oh you crack me up, kid.” Mully managed between breathless giggles. “No, this isn’t a sex cult. You really are naive. You might want to take a step back, Legion is a big boy.”

“Legion?”

Before Karim could ask anymore questions, Kade relaxed his muscles and let Legion come forward. Karim wanted to know the whole truth and there was only one way Kade could think of to make sure Karim believed him. So, he let his wolf out. Every bone cracked and realigned as he changed shape and dropped onto all fours. With a thorough shake of his pelt, Legion stretched, his maw opening wide as he yawned, revealing razor sharp teeth and pink lolling tongue. In front of him, Karim had gone pale, black eyes glimmering in disbelief and yet he was frozen to the spot. His heart was thrumming like a rabbit’s and Legion could see the first glistening droplets of a cold sweat breaking out on the man’s forehead.

“What the…”

“No you’re not hallucinating.” Mully spoke up, stepping around the giant grey wolf to stand by Karim to prevent him from bolting. “Kade is a werewolf. So am I actually but we didn’t think it would be a good idea for us both to shift.”

“This has to be a joke or a prank or something.” Karim shook his head, still staring at Legion as if he would attack if he looked away. “What the fuck is going on?”

The wolf let out an unimpressed huff, stepping over what remained of Kade’s boxers to circle the car. Only once he was out of sight did Kade take over, shifting into human form once more. Standing up right, he glanced over the roof of the car at the other men as he grabbed his jeans and t-shirt. Thankfully Karim hadn’t started screaming or tried to run off but his fear was turning the air around them bitter and frankly, they didn’t have time for that. If they wanted to find the girls then they needed to act quickly.

“I wasn’t being completely honest about why I needed you on this, Karim.” Kade finally spoke up. “I do believe Laila is involved and needs our help but she wasn’t the one I was looking for. The same person who has your sister has my mate and if we don’t stop the one that has them or the black market auction then a lot of people are going to die and everything we know will be destroyed.”

"But why drag me into this?" Karim stammered.

"Because we can't intervene in human matters and the auction is a human matter." It was Mully's turn to provide an explanation as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It has to be handled according to your laws so we need you to lead the attack against the human traffickers."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Finding the girls and putting a stop to the person behind all of this " Kade replied.

"Oh no!" Karim shook his head. "I'm helping find my sister!"

"You can't Karim." Kade snapped back, charging the air around them with his dominance. "This man isn't some wealthy mob boss or typical criminal. He isn't human so your laws don't apply to him or to us. He will kill you before you can even think of moving. I will take him on and I will find Laila and my mate. You need to convince the local police to assist with stopping the auction and closing down the ring. I will not have your death on my conscience so you either do as I say or I leave you here."

"C'mon, Karim," Mully's voice was softer this time, taking on the role of caring friend. "I know it's a lot to take on but Kade is right. We need you on this."

Karim sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes squeezed shut. Both Mully and Kade waited quietly for the human to process what was going on. It was never easy bringing a human into the fold but sometimes it was unavoidable. Karim was a bright kid and it had always been obvious he was suspicious that Kade and Mully were not telling him everything about themselves and he was right to think that. Kade had never had to work so hard to keep the truth from a human that it was almost a relief not to have to do it anymore.

"You two were in the army together. How is that possible?" Karim asked. "Isn't that a human matter?"

"Not completely." Kade answered slowly. "There have been supernatural species within the armed forces and police for as long as they have existed."

"In medicine as well." Mully added. "It's how we keep our side of the line secret from your side."

"The less humans know, the safer it is for them." Kade continued.

“Okay but why are you telling me all of this?”

“Well, you did ask.” Mully pointed out and slapped a giant hand on Karim’s shoulder. “So now you know.”

“We need to get moving.” Kade changed the subject. “There is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of work to do before we can make a move on Prague.”

---

Don't forget to follow me on facebook and instagram

Insta @ ZaydaWattsWrites
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/zaydawattswrites
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/258362796383416