SIW: Adam & Bronwille Ch. 07

Here we are with the next chapter, sadly it is a bit later then I wanted to and from now on I'll just have to result to submitting the chapters is I go along. 08 is currently with the editor and I'm working on chapter 09. Things are a bit crazy in that thing called a real life. But don't panic, I got plenty busting my ass to keep on working, which I am, just a bit slower then I want to.

Muchos kudos for Mikothebaby for a job well done editing Nulli, EvilJ and many others for their continuous support and encouragement.

Enjoy the read!

Mokkelke

Chapter Seven : Offspring.

Both men stood there waiting. The smaller one knew what was going to happen so he had a relaxed stand. The other one didn't know what was going on so he appeared relaxed while his senses went to their full potential, trying to be prepared for anything.

"Relax John, nothing bad is gonna happen. Just don't move, I got your six covered," Adam said, shoving his old LT.

John gave him a credulous look as he relaxed his stand.

A few seconds later, the air in front of them started to cloud up. Another few seconds later, two men appeared in front of them. Both were about the same height, but where one was tall and blond, the other was tall with raven black hair. The one with black hair stumbled a little bit and cursed.

"I'll never get used to this no matter how many times I do this. It's not natural!"

"Don't get your pants in a twist. It's as natural as anything else, Ed, so stop moaning. I spared us from a long flight in way too small seats and food that isn't to our standard," the blond replied in a teasing voice.

Adam looked amused as the two quibbled for a few moments longer.

"It's good to see the both of you. You're doing me a huge favor here. I don't know if I can ever repay it!" Adam said his welcome, stepping forward and giving Ed a manly hug. Once he stepped back he grabbed the hand of the other one and slapped him on the shoulder.

Adam stepped back and held out a hand and motioned John to get closer.

"Let me introduce to you my old LT from my days in 'Nam, John Bradley. He kinda surprised me with being here but it seems we have a common interest. I've asked him to wait till you both got here so he didn't have to explain twice what his interest is."

Adam turned to John and started to introduce the two men to him in turn.

"This is Ed Whelan, a Beta of the SIW pack," Adam paused then and looked at Merlin, silently asking if he could tell who he really was or that it should be the cover he used. A small nod told Adam what he needed to know and he went on, "And this is Merlin, an old friend of the family."

"Nice to finally meet you, Ed," John directed at both men, extending his hand in greeting. He recognized Ed; he was one of the Whelan brothers that basically took in Adam as their brother. "It's nice to put a face to the name I've been hearing about," he added. As he looked at Merlin he couldn't really tell what it was, but all his alarm bells were going off. He smelled old and that was all he could distinguish. He gave the tall blond a curious look and waited for a plausible explanation.

"Any friend of Adam is considered a friend of me," Merlin said before continuing with caution, "I see you're puzzled at what I am. The name doesn't ring a bell?" Merlin couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

"The only Merlin worth mentioning is just a legend," John replied.

"Is that so? Don't they say that each legend has truth to them? I'm not gonna start a little show, but I am who I say I am. However I do trust you, being a friend of Adam, to keep that little fact to yourself. If word got out..." Merlin explained.

For the first time in ages John was speechless. Somehow it didn't add up. The Merlin of those old days was always portrayed as an old man with a white beard and long hair and here he was looking at a tall handsome man with blond hair. As the words Merlin had said sunk in, he had to correct a little something.

"I can promise to keep this from my children and fledglings, but I can't hide this from my wife. For starters she would get very mad at me if I tried to hide anything from her. She can be trusted not to tell, I have my ways with her."

The look that appeared on John's face was proof that he adored his wife.

"I sense the bond between the two of you is pure, she can know, but no one else. Now that we have this out of the way, why don't you enlighten us with your interest in this little endeavor?" Merlin asked.

"I'm assuming you both know why Adam is here, so let me pick up with that. He can fill me in later. I know generally why he is here, I've kept tabs on him."

Ed and Merlin nodded in agreement, Adam just stared at John for a second. He couldn't believe his old LT had actually cared enough to do such a thing.

"Don't worry Adam, I never interfered in your life, but after 'Nam you were a wreck, especially when I found you at one of those VC-camps."

John didn't go into detail. Adam knew what he was talking about. Now it became clear to him why the LT was able to sneak up on him like that. Vampires could move very silently and a were couldn't sense them at all.

"Let me first tell you all a bit about myself, my mate and how we ended up in this situation. As you probably have picked up, I refer to some of those I sire as children and others I call fledglings. The fledglings are those that either me or my wife have sired. We don't do it often and we do our best to keep track of all of them. From the moment they stray from the path we follow, we bring them back to the mansion and have a serious talk. They all know the consequences.

"I don't mind providing them with cash, a living space and whatever else they want. We only ask that they behave themselves and keep their feeding of humans to a bare minimum. We don't need much to survive and the older you get the less you need. After a few decades, our fledglings can live with a single feed each month and only need a few mouthfuls, not even so much that it would make the human dizzy. The strict rule is the human can never know unless they happen to find their mate. In those cases, we help them in every way we can to make that transition as easy as possible."

John looked around the room and saw everyone was listening to him with great interest so he continued.

"Then there are those that my wife and me deem our children. Those are the very few that over the course of years meant a lot to both of us, people who would go to hell and back to help protect us and keep our secret safe. The reason why those select few are special is we sired them both; we both drained the human and gave him or her both of our blood and powers.

"The difference is, that once our children awake in their new form, they have a huge advantage over our fledglings. They feel the need to feed like any of us, but since they have both our blood they can instantly control that need and they can tap into their powers right away. This isn't something we share with the other vampire covens because they would frown upon it, to them they're all mine, not Gabriella's.

"We only have three children, Jassy, Davinia and Derrick. The girls are doing fine. It's Derrick that is going wrong. I don't know how or why, but we failed him. We saved him as a little boy and raised him as our own for two decades. As you know," he said while looking at Adam, "we have no issues walking in the sun, so raising him was a nice thing to keep us busy. Gabriella doted on the boy. The arguments we had about that, but she got her way every single time. That woman is cunning; there are no words for it.

"But, back to Derrick. When he hit puberty, he went through a rough period, got in touch with the wrong crowd, we nearly lost him. Neither of us understood what was going through his mind, but then one evening he barely made it home alive. He had pissed of the wrong people again, only this time he wasn't fast enough and they got their hands on him.

"When he called us that fateful evening he could just tell us where he was. I've seen a lot in my years but to see someone you care so much about being beaten to a pulp."

It still riled him to even think about this, telling this wasn't easy either. Gabriella and he hardly spoke of these events.

"It was that night we gave him the choice. He wouldn't survive his injuries for much longer. So, he died or we made him one of us. We both stayed with him during his change as it took longer than normal due to his injuries. But he pulled through. We went easy on him those first few weeks, but once we got wind of it that he was once again picking fights with the same people who beat him up that first time, we knew we had to do something."

The men had moved to the sitting area and were still listing with great interest, especially Adam. There was a bitter undertone to what John was telling them. In 'Nam John had never shown emotions and had kept them in check, always, well almost always, as he thought back. It seems we all have a burden that marks us in some way Adam thought, before he focused back on John.

"We didn't know but bit by bit Derrick worked his way up, being a vampire made it easy for him to win the fights, but he'd been tricky. He made sure to lose some so they wouldn't pick up that he'd changed. Before we knew it he'd taken over and the little control we did have over him lessened over time. At first he still dropped by, he still considered us his parents and respected us thus.

"Then we started hearing many rumors of others he attracted and he set up his 'Genus Gang'. He keeps a low profile and lets others do his dirty jobs. But again, as time went by, even that changed. He changed. There isn't much left of the Derrick we brought up. We tried to stop him but because we both sired him as our own he seems to know every step as we make it and keeps avoiding us. And like this it has been for nearly two decades now.

John shook his head in defeat. He hated to admit this failure, but for the first time in a long time, he had a little bit of hope he could put a stop to him once and for all.

"The one you're after is part of his gang now, how you come to know of them I don't know, I just got told you asked for a certain file and that file triggered one of my fledglings to warn me. I was glad to be told it was you Adam. I dug a bit deeper and can only assume it has got to do with the woman that has survived all those years ago," John concluded.

"Yes, this is about her. She's my mate. The night I found her, I lost her out of my sight and she got attacked. I intervened in time before she really got hurt, but the damage had been done by a previous attack. Through a mutual friend I learned about her past and well I'm guessing you know how protective we wolves can get. I won't rest until I've put a stop to this. I am sorry to hear this involves one of your own," Adam said sympathetically.

"I'm sorry too, but I'm hopeful now we can put an end to this once and for all. I know it's going to hurt us as parents, but we have responsibilities towards our kind as well. The gang he created is getting too dangerous and too careless. He turned into an emotionless bully. He doesn't show his powers often but he trained them and despite his young age he's strong and smart. You're going to have to be smart and witty to get close to him. He doesn't trust strangers easily." John paced the room, rubbing his temples in annoyance. He wished his wife would be here with him right now, she'd know how to get rid of the beginning headache.

He turned back to the other men; "So how did your evening go in 'The Pit'?"

"I bumped into Chasey DiSarbonne. He offered to give me tour of the place after I showed some interest in how they do things. It wasn't planned, I improvised on the spot. Once I got outside, I called in some help. Once I found out this gang includes vampires and whatever else, I knew I was way in over my head," Adam told. "So here we are. How do we go on from here?"

"You at least have to tell Dave, so when they do contact him he can back you up," Ed said.

"That's a given. I'll do that in a few. It's more about how we go about getting close to Derrick and see how he operates. I don't want to draw attention to us and I also don't want to participate in anything they provide. I can play along, but only for so long," Adam added. He had to think back at his time in 'Nam, he'd lost it there at one point. If it wasn't for the LT showing up, he didn't know how things would have turned out for him.

His mind wandered a bit and he thought of the challenge Bronwille presented him with. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let her in on that part of his live. He'd moved on, but seeing John and finding out what he really is, made him realize he had moved on but hadn't really worked through it.

"I think your best shot is going up there tomorrow or the day after. Maybe the day after is best. It seems he might be expecting you back tomorrow and might have something planned. Going a day later may help you avoid doing anything you don't want to do. You can also tell them you took a lot of time explaining to your Alpha. I will go along with you. They won't know I'm even there. I'd suggest for Ed to stay behind, same for John. They might get recognized," Merlin said as he started planning.

"I have to agree with you, mate. I just hope I don't run into that Ruben character right away. I'm close too snapping as it is. Let that be clear, once we go in for the finale, that one is mine and mine alone." Adam paced the room once more.

"Adam, my friend, sit down before you walk holes in the carpet. I'm sure the hotel wouldn't appreciate that," John said.

"I know, but I need to move, I need to run. Back home, I'd go to the lake and get rid of this tension, but I can't here!"

"I might have a solution, if you don't mind some company to keep you safe," John countered.

"How's that?"

"Gabriella likes a good run herself and we have a large property ourselves. You keep your room here, I'll make sure any calls get forwarded and we all move to my place. God knows I got the room to put you all up and then some. We even have a large forest to train our fledglings," John explained.

"That sounds like a good thing to do. At the same time it would keep Merlin and Ed out of view in case they follow me. I just hope Merlin doesn't mind playing taxi driver for a while. I have to arrive and leave from this place and have to get to yours without them knowing."

"I don't mind, Adam, you know it's only a little trick for me," Merlin mused.

"Ok, that's settled then I guess. Let me go make that call to my Alpha first, and then we can get moving. My wolf is anxious for that run. Not to mention I wouldn't mind meeting the woman who can put up with you," Adam added in a joking voice which rewarded him with a familiar slap against his head.

"Better watch it, I'm not your LT anymore but I can still kick your ass."

Adam let out a loud laugh and felt some of the tension leave his body. As he slapped John on the shoulder he said, "I am glad you're here, I never would have imagined this, but I am glad." He gave John a hard stare silently thanking him for all the sound advice he had given him all those decades ago. It had been John who had hinted that his time serving might be up and that he'd best indulge in other interest, John being one of the few who had known back then that he liked to cook.

A simple nod of acknowledgement showed him John understood.

Adam stepped up and dialed his Alpha's number. Some tense minutes were spent explaining the whole situation, bringing in Ed, Merlin and explaining John. Once that was done his Alpha didn't need much time to agree and go along with the plan.

Ed had been silent mostly and when he saw Adam hang up the phone he stood up. "Let's get this show on the road and please let me hit something soon." His voice was dark and void of any emotions.

Adam knew of Ed's darker side. He also knew he battled it on a daily basis, though most didn't pick up on it. When they had their revenge on the MacLachlan wolves he was stopped before he could really sink deep down into that dark state. He had seen this in Ed's eyes when the wolf had died at his hands. Somehow he was sure that this time around Ed would get what he'd craved. Adam just hoped he'd come out of it still sane.

"Don't worry. You'll get your share of ass whooping. Let us get moved to John's now and work on our plan in more detail," Adam replied.

+ + + +

As Bronwille and Mia left after breakfast, it was clear to Mia that Bronwille was fretting over something. She could make a very well educated guess what it was about. Mia couldn't blame her friend, and the first moment she got a hold of him she would make sure Adam knew all about this. How could he leave town and not let Bronwille know, not even a little note! Mia sent a mental warning to Chris and asked if he could get a hold of Adam in any way. She then settled down next to Bronwille on the couch.

Bronwille sniffed a few times, not wanting to give in to the tears and the feeling of abandonment. Just as she felt she was getting better this happened, or rather something didn't happen. To her it was just proof that she obviously didn't mean that much to him as she thought. Here she was getting her hopes up just to get that gusto handed back to her on a platter.

"Come here Bron and let it all out. I know you're upset about something and you're gonna tell me why," Mia motioned her friend to scoot closer, as she held open her arms.

Not a second later Bronwille was in them and tears were staining her cheeks. Mia just stayed quiet and let her friend cry as she gently stroked her hair. After a while Bronwille started sniffing again and the sobs started to lessen.

"Now, can you tell me what this little outburst is all about?" Mia asked.

"I'm probably overreacting again," she replied in between sniffs.

"Tut tut, there is no such thing. Just tell me and let me be the judge of that."

"Fine, you asked for it. It's Adam. I don't know why but there is something about him that makes me feel safe. That evening, he listened to me, he talked to me, and he cared." Bronwille sobbed again. "That evening in 'The Viper', after Fran and Nick went home and then you guys, he wanted to follow me home to make sure I was safe. It...it never got that far. I was attacked again." Saying these last few words opened up all those pent up emotions and her tears came freely again.

"Oh Bron, why do you always think you have to cope on your own! I knew something happened, but I didn't want to push for it," Mia consoled her friend. Deep down she was glad Bronwille had finally opened up and told her what had happened to her. And now she didn't have to pretend she didn't know anymore and really be here for her as a friend and confidant. "Whatever you need to get of your chest, just tell me, ok?"

"There were these men coming up to me. I told them no, but they wouldn't have any of it. As I tried to bypass them, one started groping me, one other grabbed me from behind. I don't know but it felt like he actually didn't want this all, he tried to pull me away from the other one, but he wouldn't budge. Then it all became a blur. One slapped me in the face, the other kept trying to pull me away. I think at some point I got thrown into a wall. Suddenly I heard a loud growling like a huge dog and, and ... I don't know, things turned black. Next thing I know, I was feeling very drowsy but comfortable. I remember Adam being there before I drifted off to sleep again."

Mia processed what her friend was telling. She could conclude she didn't see Adam in his wolf form, so for now that secret was still safe. She hugged Bronwille closer wanting to comfort her.

"I do wonder Bron, why you always think you have to deal with anything on your own? You know we're all here for you whenever you need or want. Now about that attack, do you remember anything else about it?"