Chapter 2 On the Down Low

DRAKE POV "For the last time, Xander, we are not going to Athens for the Halloween festivities," Callum snaps adamantly. "Why, just cuz you hate fun?" Xander snarks back. "There s gonna be so many babes there, man, most of them not dressed for the weather, if you catch my drift, and after a man to warm them up—" "And also mostly underaged for you and human," I cut in. It s not the first time they ve had this argument this week, and I m tired of hearing it. "Sorry, Xander, but I m with Callum on this one." "Course you are. You also hate fun." Xander chucks his phone at the floor in frustration; fortunately for him, it bounces harmlessly on the carpet and lands partially under the coffee table. "The music scene is gonna be so sick, man! And you know I m not after the human girls, but Callum, you were the one who pointed out when we came to this stupid city from Maine that there were some packs in southeast Ohio we could investigate for mates, and if you think none of those lycans are gonna be in Athens for Halloween—" "Actually, I think if they any smart, they ll be avoidin Athens like wolfsbane and silver that weekend," Callum answers frankly, gold eyes flashing anger. "You have any idea what kinda law enforcement they be gettin down there for Halloween? We supposed to be on the down low while we here, man! The Elders are not happy about all three of us bein so far from home—" "Don t need to remind me. My dad just texted me again," I mutter. Elder Eric has always been a bit on the protective side, but he was more than his usual brand of less than thrilled when I, his eldest son, decided to go on a months-long out-of-state trip with my best friends without consulting him. "What reason does he have now for telling us to come back to Maine?" Xander demands, snatching his phone off the floor and shoving it into his pocket. He s stalking back and forth irritably through our living room; in his wolf form, his tail would be swishing violently, knocking video game controllers and empty beer bottles off our coffee table. "Something about WASP being more active than usual in Columbus. Apparently the higher-ups are more trigger-happy than they normally are or something." Truth be told, I don t read most of what he sends me about WASP. The alliance might have been necessary back when it was officially formed, at the end of WWII, but I don t think it s necessary anymore, and I m sick of their meddling in our lives, and sick of having to hide my true self except on pack land. "We should maybe actually pay attention to that," Callum, ever the most cautious and circumspect of the three of us, suggests. I toss my phone to him. "Read the text if you want. It s probably nothing serious." Callum quickly scans over the message. "Naw, man, he s sayin he s heard rumors of WASP special ops being deployed in the area. That s a death sentence for someone." His eyes are wide, standing out more than usual in his dark face. Callum doesn t scare easily. Maybe this is worth taking seriously. "But not for us. We ve been following the rules," Xander points out. "You haven t left us any choice about that, even though Drake s supposed to be in charge—" "Drake can t be trusted to follow the rules instead of whatever hare-brained 'peace and love and harmony between humans and supernaturals scheme he s come up with on any given day, and you re a loose cannon on the best of days. Don t be givin me that shit. Someone s gotta keep our heads attached to our necks." "Hey, man, that s not fair. I sided with you on this Athens argument," I protest. "Proof you ain t lost all your marbles yet, that s all. I stand by that, by the way. No way in hell we goin to Athens for Halloween, and not for their Homecoming, neither." "Well, you can t possibly think we re gonna stay cooped up in this townhouse until Elder Eric gives us the all clear to live normally and have fun," Xander counters. "If that s the plan, we might as well give up and go back to Maine to live the rest of our miserable lives in mateless obscurity." "No one said anything about taking things to that kind of an extreme," I assure him, trying to smooth things over. "We just don t need to be taking unnecessary risks or putting ourselves in potentially troublesome situations." "What, all of a sudden you re spooked, too? Because some of the jerks in charge of WASP have their panties in a twist?" "However any of us feel about WASP, they really do kill those who break the rules." I don t have to remind him that I ve seen it happen. I was there when they executed my uncle for not following the proper procedures to accept and turn his human mate. Then they killed her, too, but at that point it was more of a mercy killing than an execution, once she d watched them murder the love of her life in cold blood. "Don t need to get bogged down in all that," Callum says quietly after a few moments of heavy silence. "And no need to stay locked in here forever, neither. There s middle ground, between being shut-ins and being raging party animals." "That s good," I reply, forcing a smile and a more jovial tone to try to shift the mood. "We came here to find our mates, and if they were hiding in this townhouse, we definitely would have found them by now." "I may have found a sufficiently 'safe option for entertaining ourselves and continuing our search," Xander suggests, a crafty gleam in his golden eyes. He s been fiddling with his phone since I shot him down earlier. "I ll be the judge of that," Callum replies immediately. "Whatchu got?" "Sleepers Awake is playing at a bar downtown tomorrow night. They re one of the bands that I wanted to see in Athens during the Halloween shindig." "Never heard of them," I remark, which is true of most of the bands Xander is into. He revels in listening to bands that no one else has ever heard of. "That s because you have no taste. They re a local group, and it s a local bar. We d be supporting local businesses—which I know you think is super important—having some fun, maybe meeting some ladies. It s in a part of town Liam recommended to me." Liam is Xander s cousin s mate, native to the Columbus, Ohio, area. When we decided to come here, Xander asked him for tips on the area. It s thanks to Liam s advice, for example, that we re renting this fairly nice but overpriced townhouse owned by an absolutely incompetent property management company. "Liam s advice has been pretty hit and miss," Callum points out. "Those restaurants down the street? Awesome. This townhouse? Biggest headache of my life." "The property changed hands since Liam spent any time here; that s not his fault. Come on. If I can t see Sleepers Awake live at a block party, at least let me see them live in a local dive bar." "Why d he recommend that part of town to you?" I ask. "Lycans and other supernaturals tend to hang out in the area. It s safer for us in that sense." "Sounds like a very good compromise to me. Callum?" "Yeah, all right, for once I don t completely hate your idea," Callum agrees with a heavy sigh. "We can go, but don t go overboard with the booze this time, aight? I am not here to babysit yo wasted ass." "Sure, Dad," Xander mocks, but he s grinning like he just won the lottery. "If the band s as good live as they are in their tracks, I shouldn t need any booze. This is gonna rock." "I just hope at least one of us finds what we came to this town for," I mutter under my breath. I don t want to bring down his mood, but I worry more and more about the question of our mates with every full moon that passes. Most lycans find their mates well before the age of 25. A couple times I ve thought maybe I d found the one, but each time there was nothing when we kissed, and the disappointment gets worse with each false attraction. Where could she possibly be? With any luck, I ll find her soon. Maybe even tomorrow night.