Derek and Shane strottled away from Emma's front porch before they started to discuss, not wanting to risk Emma listening in on them, even though it was highly unlikely; their Luna already had the human girl hooked.
"What was the message?" Derek asked finally, when they were out close to Mr Kletch's house.
"Didn't know you were interested." Shane replied, taking sharp steps like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.
"Shane quit joking around and come clear." Derek said, getting impatient with his gamma's blurred remarks.
"Joking around? You're the one that seems not to take certain things serious. What if we were under attack Derek?..I had mind linked you to come immediately." Shane stated, coming to a halt, as he tried to curb the anger that was trying to bubble to the surface. He didn't understand why his soon to be alpha was joking around with a human girl, that wasn't his mate, when they had more important issues on ground.
Derek came to a halt, as soon as he saw that his gamma had stopped walking, and was actually fuming. He knew that he was wrong not to have rushed back to the pack when he had heard him through the pack link but he also knew that there hadn't been an attack, at least not yet. If there was, his father would have mind linked him first; his beta too.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Shane queried, folding his arms across his chest.
"I'm sorry about that." He apologized, knowing that it was needed; not his ego. "It won't happen again." He concluded, taking up walking again at even paces.
Shane batted his eyelashes in suprise. It was a rare sight to hear or see his soon to be alpha apologize. Snapping out of the suprised haze, he took a few long steps of his own until he was walking with matching strides with Derek.
"But you should quit goofing around with Emma." He finally said, not failing to note the flash of anger on Derek's face at his statement. "Did he really like the human that much?' He pondered, as he waited for a comeback from his closest friend and alpha.
"We are not goofing around." Derek stated, understanding his gamma's point of view. The dude didn't know that the human he was taunting would be their Luna if everything worked out well enough for him. He was already making plans towards that; he couldn't afford to lose his little witch.
"So what are you doing with the human? Courting?" Shane asked, smirking now; his anger gone.
Derek stopped walking, and turned sideways to the left to look at his gamma. When he found him smirking, he sighed. He knew that his friend had entered the teasing mode; a mode he wasn't really in the mood for.
"Maybe." He replied truthfully, curious to see his friend's reaction. The outright burst of laugh from the latter made him shrug. Of course his gamma wouldn't believe him. He wouldn't believe himself either if he was in the same position.
"Whatever you're doing with her, let it not interfere with the pack's issues." Shane said finally, after laughing to his fill; although he still found it hilarious that his closest friend was now teasing along with him. He refused to believe that he was serious. It couldn't be possible. A human mate for an Alpha wasn't possible. The moon goddess wouldn't crack such a joke, especially in this perilous time of the pack.
"Alright, alright." Derek muttered, relieved that the topic was being closed. For a minute, he had debated on telling Shane the truth. Trust wasn't the matter; he trusted his gamma with his life, and knew that he would keep it a secret. But then his reaction after the confession was what he was unsure of.
'I guess it would have to be later.' He thought to himself, taking walking steps again.
"So what's the message?" He asked, remembering the reason they were out here.
"It's your uncle." Shane said, his voice laced with worry and contempt; a weird but possible combination.
"What about him?" Derek queried, getting tired but annoyed at hearing his uncle's name for the umpteenth time today.
"He has done it this time." Shane said, not knowing how to break the news to his friend.
"What has he done?" Derek inquired, his patience wearing out already. He could understand that his gamma was going around in circles, trying to look for a less bad way to break the news, but this only heightened his curiosity and worry. He wondered what his uncle had done this time around. His mother hadn't looked perturbed, when he had seen her earlier as she came to his little witch's place.
"Your mother rarely looks perturbed. The ground could be opening, and she would still keep her calm." He heard Maru say, and he couldn't agree less. His mother was an expert in hiding her feelings.
Thinking of it now, he concluded that she hadn't said anything earlier at his little witch's place, because of her. She didn't want his mate to notice anything. She distracted her.
This understanding only hyped his restlessness, as he looked onto his gamma for answers.
"He brought his pack warriors." Shane said, holding his breath as he awaited his friend's outburst. He knew the whole story between the man called Arnold, elder brother to their pack's alpha, and their pack as a whole. The man had betrayed them at the last pack war, causing a lot of casualties to emerge from the war. He had also broken the pack into two. He also knew of his hostility towards Derek since he was born. The man had almost killed his friend during a pack training. He had cited that it was a mistake; only his brother, Derek's father, had believed him.
"Brought? He told I and father earlier today that it would be sometime later." Derek said, confused at his gamma's proclamation. Perhaps he had seen wrong.
"You should know your uncle by now. He could talk your father into anything." Maru, his wolf said.
"But how could he?" Derek wondered, getting angry at the thought.
"He had said he would bring them later, after Father and I hold a meeting with our own pack warriors. So what are you saying now?" He repeated again, to his gamma.
" Talk to me, this instant!" He shouted, as he saw that his gamma wasn't forthcoming with the explanation.
"I don't know how he did it, or how he managed to convince your father; but his pack warriors are present in our pack house at the moment." Shane replied in a rush, not wanting to be on the receiving side of his Alpha's anger. His friend's anger could be disastrous most times.. It was what had landed them the cleaning job.