20. Adam

20

Adam

“ W here is she?” Nolan asked Adam the moment Shiro led Lan away.

“Study room,” Adam said.

Nolan sighed. “I can’t believe it came to this.”

“Me neither,” Adam said. “I didn’t expect the woman to turn up.”

Nolan said, “I’m not surprised. With your looks, any woman would stalk you, given the opportunity. She probably got your info from the company’s staff database. It’s not like you to let your guard down. What happened?”

Adam shrugged. “I never gave her any indication I was interested, but I guess there are a few who won’t take no for an answer. That, or it’s because of Shiro.”

Nolan raised a brow. “You told her about Shiro?”

“I mentioned in passing I picked up a little fox,” Adam said.

“Well, whatever. Let’s just get this over and done with. I hate dealing with woman, and humans especially. ”

Adam led Nolan to the study room. There he knocked on the door once and then entered.

Debra, sitting on the sofa and with a cup of coffee in her hands, straightened when she saw Adam. A nervous smile spread across her lips, then she said, “Adam, thank goodness. You dealt with that beastkin?”

Adam said as he came into the room, “Did seeing the boy frighten you that much?”

“Not really.” She chuckled, noting Nolan behind Adam. She widened her eyes and asked, “You are?”

“I’m Adam’s brother,” Nolan said. “The name’s Nolan. Adam asked me to help with the… situation.”

“Oh, I see,” Debra said. “That’s… great. I mean, beastkin should be in the institute, right? Where they could be monitored properly. They shouldn’t be living among us. You just never know when they’ll do anything crazy.”

Adam took a seat on the armchair while Nolan sat next to Debra on the sofa. Nolan said, “So you’re frightened of beastkin?”

“Well, not really,” she said. “That one just now, he doesn’t look that… frightening. But like I mentioned before, they need to be monitored. They’re different so…”

Nolan said, “Debra, that’s your name, correct?”

Debra nodded. “Yes.”

“Debra,” Nolan said. “I’m a therapist, of sorts. I know you’re scared of the beastkin and I’m sure it shocked you to have encountered one so close.”

Nolan couldn’t believe he spoke of his own kind like they were some sort of dangerous beasts, which was the furthest from the truth. Sure, a few of them were wild and psychopathic, but so were humans. The majority of them, however, were tamed and only wished to spend their lives in peace, but it seemed it was the institute’s, and to a certain extent the populace’s, wishes that beastkin should never get any.

Again, Debra nodded. “Yes, it was unexpected. I was very shocked.”

And started screaming like a banshee, Adam thought. He was glad this was a penthouse and not an apartment on the floors below. The loud scream would have most likely attracted the attention of the neighbors and would have brought even more chaos.

“Then would you care to let me do a light therapy on you? To ease your mind. This sort of thing, the shock, it tends to stick. It will only affect your daily life if you don’t treat it.”

Debra frowned in thought for a moment. “Yes, you’re right. Something like this, it does tend to stick, doesn’t it? Psychologically, mentally, and emotionally. The shock. I was definitely shocked.”

Nolan smiled pleasantly. “The therapy, it’s hypnotism. Have you had it done before?”

“Hypnotism. No, I’ve never had it done before,” Debra said. “But I’ll give it a go if it helps.”

“Great,” Nolan said, giving her a dashing smile, which made Debra blush.

Adam watched as Nolan leaned closer to Debra. Then he gazed intensely into her eyes. From the small distance between them, Adam could see the supernatural power Nolan was releasing from within him, the blue haze of flame dancing about his form. Nolan’s eyes, too, were glowing, and within moments, he had Debra in a trance. It only took a few more seconds after that for the work to be done, and when Nolan snapped his fingers, Debra closed her eyes and fell unconscious.

Nolan caught her and then rested her back against the sofa. His supernatural power fading away, he turned to Adam and said, “It’s done. She won’t remember shit after this.”

Adam said, “Thanks.” He got up and made a quick phone call. Within minutes, the door opened and two men in black suits came in. One picked Debra up while the other said, “Sirs.”

Adam said, “Take her back to her place.”

“She won’t be up for a couple of hours yet,” Nolan said. “You have plenty of time.”

“Yes, sirs,” the man said, and he and his partner left, taking the unconscious Debra with them.

Now that Debra’s memory was taken care of, Adam said, “I should see how Shiro is getting on.”

Nolan said, “You worry about him too much. You’re not his guardian, Adam.”

Adam chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not, but I like worrying about him.” He left the study room then, and Nolan followed.

As Adam headed toward Shiro’s room on the other side of the penthouse, Nolan went into the open-plan kitchen and started searching for something strong to drink.

Adam knocked on Shiro’s door and then opened it to see Shiro and Lan sitting on the bed. He said, “All good now,” as he walked into the room.

Lan asked, “Does that mean we can come out?”

Adam chuckled. “Yes.”

“Awesome,” Lan said and merrily hopped off the bed. Then he headed out the door, calling, “Master Nolan? Can we like stay for dinner?”

In the kitchen and in the process of pouring himself a glass of whiskey, Nolan said, “Of course we’re staying for dinner. We deserve at least a meal after I’ve gone out of my way on my day off to come here and fix Adam’s shit.”

Lan burst out laughing. “Yeah, you say that but you were freakin’ happy when Master Adam called you before.”

“Shut up, you little rascal,” Nolan quipped.

“ L ook at him,” Nolan said sourly to Chase about four hours later. “Just look at him, smiling like an idiot. I can’t believe my brother, the infamous beautiful monster, the head of the fearsome Sullivan Clan, has turned into a smiling idiot.”

Nolan was right, Adam thought, he had indeed turned into a mushy, smiling idiot and a doting guardian since he had taken Shiro in, which hadn’t been that long. He must admit though, seeing Shiro so happy when the boy finally met with his adopted brother was a joy to watch. He was glad he and Chase had instigated their meeting.

Rings of cheerful laughter from Shiro, Aka, and Lan echoed across the penthouse from the other room once more. Adam chuckled and Nolan rolled his eyes.

Chase said, “He’s not the only one. I saw you grinning like an idiot, too, when you saw how happy Lan was when he was finally reunited with his childhood friends.”

“Shut up, Chase,” Nolan snapped. “I wasn’t… grinning. I was frowning… with annoyance. I can bet you a hundred bucks that brat is going to beg to stay the night. No, not just the night, but two, since it’s his days off.”

Adam said, “And I’m going to let him. They need time together. Shiro has spent the last six months searching for Aka, and Lan hadn’t seen Shiro and Aka since they were thirteen.”

Chase nodded, chuckling. “Besides, it’s not like your life will be in any danger if Lan is away for a night or two.” He added, “It’s not like you’ll be missing out on anything fun if Lan isn’t around. As for me, well, I will definitely be missing out on some fun.”

“I swear you’re teasing me, Chase,” Nolan said. “And just a reminder, I have boundaries, unlike you, idiot doctor. I don’t go fucking my own employee.”

Chase shrugged his shoulders. “At least I’m true to myself. I go after what I want and the reward is fucking satisfying.”

Adam said, “You’re too stubborn, Nolan. Don’t go sulking when Lan is taken away.”

Nolan snorted. “Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen. Lan is very loyal to me.”

Adam said, “Sure, I don’t deny Lan is loyal to you, but as for him sticking around long term, I don’t know about that. Lan is quite close with the other guys he’s friends with, that wolf bunch. The boy is a pretty little thing and a lot of older guys and girls finds him attractive. You’re not the only one, Nolan. I’ve witnessed quite a few confessions over the years since he came to work for us, and it won’t be long until someone appears and snatches him away.”

Nolan narrowed his eyes. “That’s nonsense.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m with him nearly twenty-four seven, and I’ve never seen anyone confessing to him, let alone dare to even snatch him away from me.”

“That’s because you’re with him,” Chase said. “No one is going to confess to Lan when you’re around.”

Adam chuckled. “Rather than Lan acting as a bodyguard, I fear it’s the other way around.”

Chase nodded in agreement. “A mother hen. No one would dare come near Lan when you’re around, you overbearing gorilla.”

“I’m not a gorilla,” Nolan snapped.

Loud noise came across the hallway then, and the three youngsters came into the living room. Lan said, “Need any help with making dinner, Master Adam?”

“If you can help with setting up the table, that would be great, Lan,” Adam said from the kitchen.

“I’ll help, too,” Shiro said.

“Sure,” Adam said. “But be careful with your wrist.”

“I will,” Shiro said, stiffly waving his sprained wrist Chase had bandaged up for him.

Aka didn’t offer to help. Rather, he avoided getting anywhere too close to Adam, which amused Chase. He walked over to the man and said, “Umm, Chase, I’m going to stay over with Shiro tonight and tomorrow. ”

Chase sighed. “The moment you found your brother, you ditched me. You’re such an ungrateful little runt. Well, I’m going to be lonely, but sure, go ahead and stay with Shiro since he’s so important to you.”

Aka laughed. “You won’t be lonely. You have work at the clinic.”

From the kitchen, Lan said, “I’m staying over, too, so I won’t be going back with you, Master Nolan.”

Nolan happened to see Chase smirking at him, which annoyed the hell out of him. To Lan, he said, “Do whatever you want. It’s your days off.”

Adam said, “You’re welcome to stay, too, Nolan. There’s a third spare bedroom.”

Nolan snorted. “No, thanks. I’d rather sleep in my own luxurious, king-sized bed back at the Sullivan Mansion where there’s a ton of bodyguards to keep me safe.”

Lan noticed Nolan’s sour tone and whispered to Shiro, “He’s pissed I’m not going back with him.”

Shiro whispered back, “You’re his bodyguard, right? Is that allowed? You ditching your job?”

“It’s my days off,” Lan said firmly. “I can do whatever I want. He has other lousy bodyguards to keep him safe.”

Adam said to Lan, “That’s right, Lan, you can do whatever you want.” He ruffled Shiro’s hair. “You don’t have to worry about Nolan throwing a tantrum like a little girl, Shiro. You have fun with Lan and Aka.”

Nolan glared at this brother. “Throwing a tantrum? Like a little girl? Me?”

“Aren’t you?” Chase said, chuckling.

“I most certainly am not,” Nolan snapped .

Ten minutes later, everyone settled down around the dining table and started dinner, which was roast pork and root vegetables plus side salads.

“Oh, wow!” Shiro said, his eyes sparkling, which made Adam smile. “It’s roast pork.” He turned to Aka and said, “We’ve never had roast before, right?”

“Actually, I had it before. Chase took me out for dinner in a fancy restaurant and we had roast,” Aka said, grinning from ear to ear.

“So I’m the only one then,” Shiro said.

“Pretty much.” Aka chuckled.

Adam came around the table with a bottle of wine and poured it into three glasses. Nolan eagerly grabbed one and brought it to his lips for a sip. When he put the glass down, he asked, “What do they feed you guys at the institute?”

Aka said, “Unpleasant stuff.”

“Yep, disgusting stuff,” Lan said. “Mainly dry toast, tasteless cereals, or runny oak porridge for breakfast. For lunch it’s plain sandwiches, and dinner, sometimes meatballs and weird-tasting pasta and sometimes rice and minced meat with who knows what’s in them. They probably put drugs in there, too.”

Shiro said, “They were unpleasant. Nothing like Adam’s cooking.”

Nolan ruffled Lan’s head. “You poor boy. No wonder you love Adam’s food so much.”

“I like your cooking, too, Master Nolan,” Lan said, giving him a toothy grin.

Nolan chuckled, pleased. “Do you, now? So I’m not such a bad cook, after all. ”

Lan said, “Yes, you’re not bad, but Master Adam is definitely a better cook than you are.”

Nolan shook his head. “It’s unfair being compared to a man born with a gift of everything.”

“I’m not gifted with everything, Nolan,” Adam said. “You of all people should know that.”

“Yes. Yes.” Nolan waved nonchalantly.

When dinner was done and the boys disappeared off into Shiro’s room and continued with their seemingly endless catching up of sharing stories and reminiscing the memories of their past, Adam, Chase, and Nolan retired to Adam’s study room, which was located across the living area on the other side of the penthouse away from the bedrooms.

Crossing one leg over the other and taking a sip of his wine, Nolan said, “I hear you two are planning something fun with those filthy rich bastards.”

“What?” Chase asked. “You want to join in?”

“Most definitely,” Nolan said. “Besides, you’ll need me to hack into their memories. I don’t know, passwords, safe codes, bank accounts, and whatever else that could be deemed useful as blackmail, won’t you need those?”

Chase burst out chuckling. “You’re right on that. We’ll definitely need those. Hmm, we might be able to add even more millions as donations to my clinics from willing filthy rich bastards.”

“Right?” Nolan said, chuckling.

Leaning back in his seat, Adam asked, “Nolan, have you figured anything out yet? ”

Nolan knew what his brother was referring to and smiled. “What if I tell you that I… may have?”

“Then let’s hear it,” Adam said. “I can’t afford to have my life essence this low for too long.”

Nolan snorted. “You know it’s dangerous, both for your life and the clan’s, and yet you still go nonchalantly giving it away just to save a boy, and I bet he doesn’t even know it. That little fox would have been dead, I bet, if you didn’t give him some of your life essence.”

Chase raised a brow. “So my suspicion is correct? You did give Shiro some of your life essence, Adam?”

Adam nodded. “Mm-hmm. If I didn’t, Shiro wouldn’t have survived. His body was already very weak from malnutrition and other shit that happened to him even before the beating. Tony and his gang gave him the final blow.” He sighed, remembering the horrendous sight and condition Shiro had been in. “He had multiple bone fractures and organ failure. His heart was very weak and I knew it’d stop if I didn’t do something.”

Chase nodded. “In that case, life essence would be the best option. No way a surgery would have helped, with multiple organ failure. Even if you did get him to me in time, I wouldn’t be able to save him through normal means.”

“Mm-hmm,” Adam agreed.

Nolan sighed. “All right, so the situation called for it. I wouldn’t want to see a fellow beastkin die from shit like that, and more especially the likes of a boy that beautiful and a boy my brother has taken under his angelic wings. Come to think of it, Shiro is kind of like my nephew now that Adam has adopted him. ”

Chase chuckled. “True. Aren’t you lucky, Nolan, to have such a beautiful nephew.”

Nolan snapped his fingers. “Which means this beating the shit out of those filthy rich bastards is calling out to me. Seriously, what man doesn’t want to avenge his nephew?”

Adam chuckled. “You’re going off topic, Nolan. And I haven’t adopted Shiro. Can we get back to the subject of life essence, please?”

“Still the same. You taking Shiro under your angelic wings translates to you adopting him,” Nolan said. “But yes, life essence, let’s get back to that. Ways to increase an alpha’s life essence are, as you both know, through sucking it out of another alpha by either beating them into submission or murder, obviously.”

Chase sighed. “Which is why it’s never safe for an alpha to be too unguarded because one never knows when an alpha psychopath decides to go on a killing spree just so he can become an almighty.”

“Aren’t we glad New York City has three big clans with powerful alphas to keep each other in check?” Nolan said.

Chase continued for him. “But with Adam’s life essence down, that balance of power is no longer in place.”

“Only if the other two find out though,” Nolan said.

Adam said, “I’d rather be safe than sorry, so, Nolan, out with it.”

Nolan shrugged. “Well, since you’re so adamant you won’t go and beat the crap out of an alpha or murder one, then the only thing I found out so far, and might I add that it was fucking difficult, in that I had to go to the vault of the beastkin library underground and read old texts.”

“Yes,” Adam said. “We know you hate going there, but get on with it.”

“Yes, yes,” Nolan said. “The very old texts from very dusty old books with fancy medieval handwritten texts state an alpha can obtain life essence from, and you are not going to believe this, an omega.”

“Omega?” Chase asked, frowning. “But I thought they didn’t exist.”

Nolan shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me. But seriously, we alphas are rumored to be merely urban legends, but here we are in blood and flesh, so surely an omega might exist in blood and flesh?”

Adam rubbed his temple. “That is not helpful at all, Nolan. How the fuck are we to find an omega, if they exist, besides the fact that we have no clue what they even look like, assuming they look somewhat different from both beastkin and humans? If their appearance is anything like beastkin or human, then the chance of finding one is next to zero, too, considering there are more than seven billion people in the world. Is that the only lead you have?”

Nolan nodded. “Yes and no, so far anyway.”

Adam took a sip of his wine to ease the pain of the disappointment. Fuck, he had been so optimistic there’d be a few new solutions.

Chase asked, “So if Adam can find himself an omega, and that’s a big if, then what? He’d just have to beat this omega into a pulp and suck their life essence? ”

“Nope,” Nolan said. “It doesn’t work that way. Apparently, alphas and omegas life essences are two different entities and you can’t just suck an omega’s life essence off them and expect the alpha’s life essence to magically rise. Apparently, as stated in the weird medieval texts, the Shakespearean style if you must know, of which I had to bleed my brain to translate into layman’s term, an alpha needs to mate with an omega and the omega’s life essence will be transferred to the alpha, and vice versa.”

Chase frowned. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Wait, I’ve read of this somewhere before.” He tilted his head to one side. “Some beastkin medical texts I read back when I was a student.” He widened his eyes and snapped his fingers. “Back in the old day, and I mean during the medieval period, alphas and omegas were quite common, as in the numbers of population. It’s only in the past few hundred years or so during the war and then the great incursion that beastkin numbers are dwindling.”

“And eventually, we’ll become an endangered race,” Nolan said sourly.

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, well, we’re on the verge of that now, aren’t we? Especially compared to the more than seven billion people living on earth, our numbers are small.”

Adam said, “So back in the hay days, beastkin were common.”

Chase nodded. “Living separately, yet in harmony with the humans. The alphas did not have our current forms. They were in the alpha form, though they didn’t glow with supernatural power or shift into primal form unless during a fight or flight mode. We evolved during the last few hundred years due to the need to survive.”

“And hence, here we are, looking perfectly like humans,” Nolan said. “Our ancestors are smart-ass beastkin. Blend in with the enemy. Hide in plain sight. Except with our alpha genes, we stand out a mile away with our striking looks.”

Chase rubbed his chin as he chuckled. “Strangely enough, Aka doesn’t find me attractive. He told me I’m too scruffy for his liking.”

“Yet, women drool the moment they see you and are only willing to spread their legs out for you,” Nolan said. “Must be the alpha genes working to its full effect.”

“Mm-hmm. Alphas do have strong survival instincts, and most definitely, passing on their genes,” Chase said. “We are just like other species of beasts, showing off how dominant our genes are just to ensure there’s a next generation.”

Nolan said, “Except for our clan, there isn’t going to be a next generation because it looks like Adam is batting for the other team now that Shiro has come into the scene.”

Adam sighed. “We were talking about life essence, so how did it come to me batting for the other team?”

Nolan chuckled. “Because it’s connected, somehow.” He clasped his hands and narrowed his eyes. “It looks like we’ll have to adopt a few alpha kids, Adam, to ensure the Sullivan Clan has a future leader—our protégé, just like Calum adopted us as his protégé. ”

Adam stood then and said, “Right, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Anyone care for a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, please,” Nolan said. “If I drink any more wine, I’d be too drunk to go home.”

“Me, too,” Chase said, chuckling.

Adam headed to the door then, leaving Nolan and Chase to discuss further the history of alphas and omegas. He was just entering the living area when he saw Shiro in the kitchen, his face flushed and his eyes bright as he brought out snacks from the cupboard and left them on the countertop.

He asked, “Hungry again already?”

Shiro jolted and stammered, “Lan and Aka want some snacks.”

Just as he said that, Lan popped his head through the living room’s door. “You got the snacks?” he asked. “What’s taking so long?”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Shiro said. “I’m coming. Don’t be so impatient.” He gathered the bags of chips, and after giving Adam a smile, he rushed over to Lan, who snaffled a bag from Shiro’s arms and opened it. As they headed back, Lan fed Shiro a chip, which made Adam chuckle in amusement.

He was just finished brewing the coffee about ten minutes later when Nolan came out of the study room. In the kitchen, the brother rooted around searching for something, and when he turned, he had a bottle of wine in his hand.

“I thought you said you’d get too drunk to go home,” Adam said.

Nolan shrugged his broad shoulders and then popped the cork. “It’s Saturday night and I haven’t drank with you and Chase for a while so I’m going all out.” With that, he left the kitchen and headed back into the study room.

Adam chuckled. So, he thought, Nolan intended to stay the night after all, the mother hen.