Chapter 309

Kieran stayed behind at the closet after discussing with the police officers, someone still had to deal with the wrecked closet.

He waited till the cuffed girls were all gone, this was going to look fucking good on paper - he was the one writing the report.

He took out his cigarette case, if he had known that this was how shitty his day was going to turn out, he would have filled it up…

"You shouldn't smoke so much." Bryan mumbles and Kieran remembers that the kid is still around.

He scoffs. "Sure." He mutters, irony coloring his tone as he pulls out his lighter.

This makes Bryan retreat into himself, he is sitting on the ground in a corner, arms wrapped around himself.

Kieran suppresses a groan and flips the cover over the lighter, shoving the unlighted cigarette into a back pocket.

"Why are you still around, kid?" He asks coldly watching the way he flinches at this. "You're free to go."

Bryan glances up at this, confusion in his sea blue eyes. "B-But I did something illegal." He protests.

"And you look terrified as hell for it, you won't do it again so you can leave." Kieran insists.

"I don't mind staying here." Bryan mutters under his breath, wrapping his arms tighter around his bent legs.

Kieran curses. "Look, kid…"

"I'm nineteen, going on twenty." Bryan grumbles. "Not a kid."

Kieran goes quiet for a while, praying for patience. "Sure." He mutters laconically. "I'm not a babysitter so you really should get going."

"Why though?" Bryan is quick to ask, looking up again.

The stuns Kieran, not expecting that response. "Don't you have anything to do?" He asks in disbelief, he doesn't remember having this long a conversation with anyone before.

Bryan shrugs. "Not really."

Kieran curses again, hands itching to get out his cigarette, what was this? When did he ever care about people's opinions enough to change his mind?

"Fine, suit yourself." He mutters, bringing out his phone to make a couple calls, they would have to fix the door and a cleaning service would have to be called to clean up the interior.

He also had to supervise, welcome to the joys of being the Head Beta.

It takes almost an hour but the door is good as new, this time he doesn't hesitate before taking out a fresh stick and lighting up, Bryan had been seated in his corner all this while.

They were alone again, at least until the cleaning service got up here then would Kieran be free to leave.

"Scared of facing your mom?" He says on the tails of a drag, a cloud of smoke floating around his hard face.

Bryan shrugs again, a subtle movement of lanky shoulders. "Not really, she was really happy that I was trying to make friends and leaving the apartment, I'd get off with no worse than a harsh scolding."

Kieran raises a brow at this. "It was awfully easy for your sister to convince you then if you weren't going to even get in serious trouble." He notes.

Bryan buries his face slightly on his bent knees. "I don't want her to be disappointed."

Both brows go up this time but the Head Beta makes no comment. "Where's your dad?'

"Dead." Bryan says simply, floppy red-brown hair in his eyes. "Don't worry…" he adds when he hears Kieran's sharply indrawn breath. "...it was a long time ago, I barely remember him."

"Well you can't stay here, the cleaning service should be here right about now." Kieran says again, wondering why he was irked by the kid just sitting there, he wasn't his responsibility.

"I'll just wait outside till they are all done."

"Oh for fuck's sake." Kieran explodes, dropping his cigarette to the ground to be crushed underfoot. "What do you do at home, all the time?" He asks, noting that Bryan had said he was a bit of an introvert, he looked it.

"I write." Bryan whispers, staring down at his palms.

"What?" Kieran blinks, not sure he heard well.

"I'm a writer, my mom doesn't mind this, she just wishes I went out more." He sighs miserably.

"Get up." The Head Beta says shortly, turning around.

"W-What?" Bryan looks up with wide eyes, his legs already moving to obey, the Head Beta was like that, imposing, terrifying, he really just wanted to hang around alone in this closet where he couldn't disappoint his mother more by not living up to her expectations.

"Why?" He asks again when he is on his feet, scared to take a step so he wouldn't trip over his unsteady legs and go sprawling.

"Do you need your device to write?" Kieran asks, voice cold, eyes harsh.

Bryan cowers away, wondering what kind of life the Head Beta led or what he had been through, no one was constantly in a bad mood.

It takes a while for his brain to produce enough power to comprehend the question, his eyes widening further in confusion.

"N-No, I can write anywhere, I just need to log into my docs account." He explains shakily, flustered.

"Sure." Kieran acknowledges, another cigarette out because he has no idea of what the fuck he is doing. "Let's go."

Bryan relies on his instinct to obey the older man to move his legs, his brain the mental state of an omelette because what the hell is happening here? And why did he smoke so much?

Werewolves might have a more powerful immune system but there had to be other dangers.

Like his brand of cigarettes looked and smelled expensive, how much must it cost for him to use them up constantly, the Head Beta was basically a chainsmoker.

"Keep your eyes on the ground or you'll trip." Kieran says calmly, meanwhile his internal state is a wreck, red signs are going off at every point in his brain, alarms blaring as he tries to understand his own actions.

Bryan colors up slightly at this, staring down at the floor of the hallway, eyes widening when they take the last flight of stairs.

He has lived in his apartment on the third floor for years and he has never been up here, he glances up at Kieran's broad shoulders moving smoothly under his crisp, silk white shirt.

He had no idea how the Head Beta still looked spic and span while he looked rumpled, skinny jeans dusty.

Maybe he should have just gone home.

•~•

Dale went right up to his office, closing the door quietly and immediately pacing.

This was the last place he wanted to be but he knew better than to go see Dream before he was ready, he couldn't believe he didn't see how bad things had gotten.

What did sting a little though was that Dream didn't tell him and didn't even seem like he planned to.

Now that he was calmer - maybe - and he could look at the situation without bias, he could understand why Kieran had wanted to tag along.

Apparently, his Head Beta was way smarter than him but then again that was exactly why he had hired the guy.

Although Dream had been able to handle the situation and that still stunned him, in a good way like he always knew the Omega was dangerous but seeing it first hand was a different experience.

He was still relieved that Kieran had been around because he might have not known about it still, till they tried something drastically worse.

•~•

Dream undresses as soon as he steps into his apartment, throwing his soiled clothes every which way - was that blood? Ew…

He was still pissed, the urge to fight thrumming under his skin, hopefully Kieran would be nice enough to overlook this so he could get a rematch, this time he would make sure he had his trusty metal bat in hand, he was starting to get a little rusty anyways.

His body stung to high heaven and he wished he had not been so conscious of Dale showing up then he would have waited for them to wake up so that he could beat them unconscious again.

Of all the nerve, whenever people underestimated him because of his looks it irked him and made him want to tear things down just to show them how wrong they were.

He pulled out a bottle of wine from the fridge and a wine glass, uncorking it as he strode to his bedroom.

The alcohol content in the wine was not much but it would be enough to numb him, he would also take painkillers but that would be after his hot soak.

Minutes later he is in the hot tub, wine in hand, expression furious.

Good thing he would be going on his first Pack run the next night, shifting to wolf form always helps to heal Werewolves faster, he just had to stay out of Darian's sights till he shifted, explaining to his older brother would be a pain in the ass.