Book 1: Chapter 44

*** Silas POV ***



My eyes peeled open and I looked over to my nightstand at the disturbance that woke me up. It’s was my phone that was vibrated on the dark wood. Someone was actually calling me, which meant it was most likely Charles. I closed my eyes, it could wait till later. I had gone to bed around three in the morning after Sam slammed a giant request for a new building within the town. It required a completely teardown and rebuild which was crazy. Not just that but they requested it within a stupid short amount of time. It took six hours to just go through all the information and quotes for everything. Whatever time it was, it was too early.

I started to fall back asleep once the vibrating stopped when suddenly it started up again. Growling, I sat up and snagged my phone.

“What?”

“Morning, Silas.”

Groaning, I rubbed my eyes. “What time is it?”

“Just after eight. I just got into work.”

Sighing, I leaned back against the headboard. “Why are you calling me so early?”

“Silas, I need you down to the station as soon as you can.”

Cursing, I peeled open my eyes. “What happened?”

“Nate was booked last night.”

Sitting up straight, my mind suddenly fully awake. “I’m sorry, did you just say Nate was booked?”

Charles sighed on the other end. “Yeah. He’s been behind bars for the night and his Jeep was impounded.”

“Why the fuck is he in jail?”

“Look, I think we should just talk about this while you…”

Cutting him off, I snapped at him. “Why is my Beta in jail, Charles?”

“Assault, Silas. He’s been booked in for assault.”

Getting up from the bed, I pulled on some jeans and grabbed a shirt. “Was it a bar fight? I mean usually we don’t get booked for…”

“Silas, I need to speak with you down at the station. You are technically his next of kin. Since he he was adopted by your father. I need you to come down to the station and we can talk specifics. Someone will also need to get his Jeep out of impound.”

“Just…”

Charles huffed. “For fucks sake, Silas. I have to do this officially. This is a big deal, I need you to realize that. I have to do everything by the books on this one. I’ll talk to you when you get here.”

He hung up the phone and I looked down at my phone, surprised. Charles usually let certain things slide because really our territory ran much like its own country. We handled our own issues and basically had our own police force. We also handled punishments for any issues and so usually Charles would hand them over to me for punishment. But he had never acted this way before. Not in this official of a capacity.

Pulling on my shirt, I grabbed my wallet and shoved it into my pocket. Throwing open the door, I quickly headed down the stairs.

“Sam!”

I saw a head poke out of the kitchen. He had a mug of coffee in his hands but at least he was dressed.

“Alpha? You’re up early.”

“With me. We have to go down to the station.”

His eyes widened and quickly put the mug down. Sam raced after me, following as I strode to my truck. He was already in getting buckled when I got into the drivers side.

“What’s going on? Another bar fight?”

I started the truck and pulled out. “No. Charles wouldn’t say specifics but it’s Nate. Apparently, he has been there overnight.”

“What? Why?”

Shrugging, I sped down the road. “Last thing I knew is that he was going to talk to Aelia. I don’t know what time he ended up leaving but he spoke to me about it around lunch. His car is impounded as well. I want you to take care of that once we get there.”

“His car was impounded too? What happened?”

“All Charles would say was assault. But bar fights usually don’t get booked at all, let alone overnight before anyone is called.”

Sam nodded but didn’t rely. He was running through the possibilities I was sure. His mind worked a mile a minute and he would see all the possibilities. For now though, I needed to figure out what the hell was going on before we got to the possible outcomes. There was still too much unknown. Not only that, but I was worried. Worried that this didn’t happen after his talk with Aelia. That something had happened and it was something I would need to handle between my brother and my sister.

We pulled up to the station in about twenty-five minutes. Getting out, I walked into the station which was pretty busy for that time in the morning. One of the guys recognized me and waved. He disappeared for a second but Charles soon came out with him.

“Greg will help you with the impounded car.”

I nodded to Sam and he followed Greg out the side of the station into the lot they head all the vehicles. Charles held up the counter and I walked behind it. I knew from previous experience that the cells were all the way in the back of the station. As kids, Charles, Nate, and I had gotten into enough fights we’d ended up there but not for long. Charles didn’t lead me back, instead opening up one of the rooms down the hall. We walked in and I pulled out a chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

“What the hell, Charles? The fuck is going on?”

Charles didn’t answer. He turned to the intercom near the door and pressed it. “Lily, can you send Mitch in please? Room 3.”

“Sure thing, Chief.”

He heaved a large sigh and sat down in one of the other chairs. “I got in this morning and was making the rounds when I saw Nate in the back. I didn’t know what was going on and so I pulled the paperwork from last night. Part of me couldn’t believe the shit written down on the paper. Mitch just got released from the hospital so I needed to get the story from him as well. Thought you should be here for it before we go into the paperwork.”

My jaw set in my mouth. This was really bad. After a minute, there was a knock on the door. It opened and Mitch walked in. I realized who he was I just hadn’t put the name to the face. Or what was his face. Now, it was mostly purple. He was sporting a black eye and a bruised jaw. His arm was in a sling and he was definitely holding himself like some ribs had been broke. Sitting up, suddenly, I realized why this was such a big deal. Nate had assaulted an officer.

“Can you sit Mitch, or would you rather stand?”

Mitch chuckled. “Standing is better right now. Until the pain meds kick in.” He acknowledged me with a nod as he leaned against the wall.

“I read the report but I need you to explain to me what the fuck happened.”

He nodded and briefly looked at me before starting. “I was off duty and just in plain clothes. My sister wanted to have a double date at Club Nocturnal. I had pulled in and was having a smoke before going into the club when I heard a woman’s voice asking for someone else to stop. It sounded desperate and pleading.” Taking a deep breath, he continued. “I didn’t want to get into it if it was something some drunk kids were getting on but something in the tone of the voice made the hair on the back of my neck rise. I followed the voice to the other side of the parking lot. A man had a woman against the wall of the restaurant and she was crying, asking him to stop, pleading with him. So I stepped in.”

Now I was shaking, fear coursing through me and I saw Charles also fidgeting in his seat as well. We were both very uncomfortable and both were trying to take in Mitch’s account.

Mitch continued. “I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to step away. At first, I didn’t realize who it was but as I looked, I saw it was Miss Ulrich who I had met previously working with her on the underage case. I knew Mr. Rivers previously from when he has come with Mr. Penn. I asked for him to step away and go home and I would call Mr. Penn to confirm that he got home and I would take care of Miss Ulrich. Mr. Rivers then threw me into the car hood behind us. He continued his assault of Miss Ulrich. It looked almost like he was going to bite her but he was holding her against the wall and definitely in pain.”

Charles nodded. “So you bodied him?”

Nodding, Mitch sighed. “I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to pull him off, so instead I body slammed him. We both hit the sidewalk and I was on top. I tried to subdue him while I yelled for Miss Ulrich to run. Eventually she did but Mr. Rivers got in a few good hits to my jaw and ribs. I was able to call for backup and it took three of us to get him under control. We put him in the back of Chris’ cruiser and figured we would book him for the night before we spoke to you in the morning. By the time we put him in the cell as well, whatever the matter was with Mr. Rivers seemed to wear off.”

This time I spoke up. “What makes you say that?”

“Mr. Rivers was in tears. He kept asking himself what he had done. Kept repeating that he fucked up too badly. He didn’t deserve a mate? Or something like that? I don’t know what was going on but he definitely able to snap out of it. Just it was too late.”

“What of Miss Ulrich?” Charles asked.

Mitch tapped his foot on the ground. “When we came back, we found her number within the records. One of the men she runs the bar with answered. They confirmed that she was home safe. They said she was having issues that day and thanked me for saving her. She was hurt from when I bodied him but outside of that and some bruising, she was alright.”

I buried my head in my hands. It was literally the worse case scenario. It sounded like Nate had gone crazy and tried to mark Aelia, if he was actually going in for a bite. That was one of the worst things you could possibly do and it was one of the highest forms of punishment. Even an attempted was handled severely. Not to mention he hadn’t done it on the territory. He was assaulting not just a woman but also ended up assaulting a police officer.

“Thank you, Mitch. Head home. I’ll make sure the time off gets approved.”

“Appreciate that Chief. If you have any other questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.”

The door opened and closed but I didn’t bother lifting my head out of my hands. Charles let out a large sigh as well.

“Well that was fucking worse than the paper.”

Raising my head, I looked at Charles. “How you want to handle this?”