Aiden shuffled his foot as he waited for Sarah and Charlie to appear from the building that housed Sarah's office. She had gone to arrange emergency personal leave, ready for the road trip to Scotland. It had been almost half an hour but there was no sign of them at all. Filled with concern, he crossed the road to look for them, then stopped. There was something in the air, something different about the way it smelled.
“Wolf,” he mumbled.
His stomach flooded to bursting, with a mix of fear and worry, while his mind wouldn’t stop with ‘what if' as he followed the scent. Trying to convince himself that he was overreacting, he rounded the corner onto an empty street. The scent grew stronger with each step that he took, but then suddenly faded when he'd walked halfway down the street. Aiden looked around in confusion, then backtracked to where the scent was strong. If he hadn't felt so uneasy, he would have laughed at his nose for leading him to a pub.
Walking through the door, he instantly spotted the un-shifted wolf, sitting in a booth at the back, smirking at Aiden. Ignoring him, Aiden went to the bar and ordered a drink, then took a seat at a table next to a window. From the corner of his eye, he could see the stranger, still watching him intently. The man finished his short, slammed the glass on the table and cracked his knuckles as he walked over to where Aiden was sitting.
“You want something?” The man said.
Aiden turned to look at him, taking in his broad shoulders, scarred face and crooked nose that had been broken more than once.
“Nope,” he said, “But you obviously do.”
The other man laughed and flexed his shoulders at Aiden, who struggled not to roll his eyes at the desperate attempt at intimidation.
“Oh, I think you do," the man said. "What was her name again? Chloe? Claire? Charlie! That was it, Charlie. Pretty one, she is. A bit big for my liking though. I prefer the skinny birds but I bet she still sucks well with those lips of hers."
Slamming his glass on the table, Aiden stood. "Where is she?"
"Oh, a touchy one, are we? Has she left you for someone else? Wouldn't have thought she would have that many options, to be honest, but then, she looks like she needs more in the sack than what you'd give her and there are some pretty desperate blokes around, these days."
"Where is she?" Aiden said through gritted teeth.
The man stepped back at the growl that erupted from Aiden's throat. "I'm going to ask you once more before I beat it out of you. Where is she?"
"Think you're a bit of a tough guy, huh? Do you have any idea which pack I belong to?"
Aiden laughed at the man's smug, toothy grin and stepped forward. He only stood as high as Aiden's shoulders and as he leaned forward, into his face, the guy shrank back. "I couldn't give a toss which bunch of pricks own you but I can guarantee you will be unrecognisable when you make it back to them."
The shorter man forced a nervous laugh but stood his ground and Aiden couldn't help but momentarily admire his foolish bravado. The stranger cracked his knuckles as he looked around, then swung a fist at Aiden's jaw. Aiden was ready for it. Grabbing the first, he twisted the man's arm in the wrong direction, holding it just before the point of popping.
"You might think you're a big, hard man because you have your bunch of pricks behind you, but there's a secret they haven't taught you," Aiden said, leaning to the man's ear. "Always pick your fights. Go for the ones you can win."
The man whimpered as Aiden squeezed the fist in his hand, forcing him to the floor. "I warned you, now answer the question. Where. Is. She?"
"We don't have her. Not yet," he whimpered, before bursting into a snarly cackle. "But we will and there is fuck all you can do to stop it, halfbreed!"
Aiden's foot connected with the man's chest as he let go of the crushed hand, sending him sprawling across the floor. "Thank you. That wasn't so hard, was it?" He said, walking towards the door.
Suddenly, Aiden heard a roar of anger and saw the floor looming towards him as he fell flat on his face. Flipping himself around, Aiden tried to recover his winded breath as the snarling man walked slowly towards him.
"You're going to regret what you did to my fucking hand," he said as he held it against his chest.
Aiden rolled to his feet, gasping for breath, and dived shoulder-first towards him. The stranger dodged to the side, laughing hysterically.
"Not so fucking hard, are you, little man?" The man shouted then dived after Aiden, who had almost recovered himself.
Aiden simply waited, before smashing his fist into the man's face, splattering blood across the floor as his head swung.
"Thunder! Take it outside for fuck sake."
Aiden turned to see the barman leaning on the bar looking seriously pissed, then felt his head being flung to the side as Thunder's fist connected with his jaw. Aiden didn't waste time spitting the blood from his mouth. Grabbing Thunder by the throat, he pushed him back, picking up speed as he forced him towards the window-lined wall.
"Get out, now!" The barman roared.
"He's going. I'll pay for the damage, later," Aiden shot back, shoving Thunder through the glass.
As Aiden left the bar, he heard someone shout for an ambulance and shook his head. He was nowhere near finished yet.