Chapter 26

When he woke up, Constantine found himself laid down on a bed and his hand chained to the bedside right next to him.

This wasn't an unusual thing at all, and he often appreciated just how comfy the beds he found himself in were, but this wasn't a result of a fun night. Well, his night was indeed fun, but the part where he was handcuffed to a bed wasn't part of the fun. In fact, he was sure that he had been knocked out for a day at least and his head was throbbing.

Struggling for a bit, he wondered in which part of the mansion he was in. Based on that, he could plan his escape before anyone walks in. It was always an annoyance whenever someone walks in asking him too many questions or try and reason with him.

Usually, it is Alpha Dietrich himself who'd walk in and try to get as much information out of him as possible about the dysfunctional 'pack' he managed to find and join. Questions like its whereabouts and whatever activities they were up to.

If it wasn't Chris, then it'd be a doctor, a psychologist, or whatever else that would help with fixing whatever screws that were loose in his mind.

To this day, none of them managed to make any progress and it only made him grow even more annoyed and unwilling to stay than ever.

He sat up and felt around for keys that, sometimes, were there whenever he actually behaved himself and was just restrained for convenience. Seriously, why did they even bother? He never cared about those stupid parties they hosted no matter how big they were.

"The hell am I here for?" Constantine grumbled when he was sure there were no keys around.

He tried to remember what exactly was said before he willingly drugged himself into unconsciousness before it finally hit him and he couldn't help but snort at the stupidity of it all.

With a forceful tug, Constantine broke the bedside that was restraining him and was content with having just the handcuff hanging from his wrist. Deciding to deal with that later, he stood up taking an experimental step to make sure walking wouldn't make him fall over. Waking up after being drugged so heavily was never a pleasant experience.

His luck wasn't on his side, though, because just as he as about to quietly sneak out someone walked in scowling the moment they saw pieces of broken wood scattered all over the floor.

It was the last person Constantine wanted to see, Christopher Dietrich.

"I am surprised you're able to walk already." He said completely unperturbed by the fact that Constantine was standing in the middle of the room unrestrained. "Sit, please. We're not done talking."

"Please." Constantine repeated with his lip twitching upwards in amusement, but he still obliged with the request and sat back on the bed looking expectant. "Someone's mad."

"Someone is." Despite his words, Chris calmly pulled a chair and sat down in front of Constantine who was waiting for his next words. He knew that once Constantine loses interest, he'd be gone before anyone could do anything. "We need to talk about the omega you're planning to kidnap."

Constantine laughed.

"What's so funny now?"

"When did I ever kidnap anyone?" Constantine snorted fiddling with the handcuff in his hand absentmindedly. "You really think I'd kidnap someone?"

Chris scowled. "Yes, I think you would."

"What makes you think that?"

"You said so, don't you remember? About stealing the omega from the Hawthornes pack." Chris reminded him still maintaining his calm, but from experience Constantine knew that he was anything but. He did put on a convincing display, though.

Not wanting to prolong his time there, he decided to give some answers, but was disappointed that Chris didn't know him as well as he thought he did.

"Don't you think that if I wanted to kidnap someone, I'd have already done so?" Constantine asked wondering how Chris, out of everyone, managed to overlook this obvious detail. Besides, he wasn't stupid. "Also, I wouldn't be telling anyone about it if I really wanted to kidnap him. It'd be annoying having people after me constantly."

Silence fell the room as Chris sat down contemplating what Constantine said. While Constantine can be deceitful when he wants to, something told him that he was telling the truth for once. There was no instance of Constantine kidnapping anyone that he could recall. Furthermore, Constantine was indeed someone who hated attention.

Loathed it in fact.

Having people after him as he said would irritate him as he'd have to deal with it constantly. For someone so whimsical, this wasn't ideal as he needed people to be unaware of him so he could do whatever he felt like at that moment.

Kidnapping Eli Rivers would be a very unattractive idea for someone like Constantine, so this whole thing didn't make a lot of sense.

"Just confirm this one thing for me." Chris said sitting up in his chair trying not to be annoyed by the devilish amusement Constantine was showing. "You don't actually plan on kidnapping Eli."

"Correct."

"This whole thing is just a game to you."

Constantine nodded his head. "Also correct."

The Hawthornes would be happy to learn that, but it might be unwise to tell them to drop their guard after learning this. As far as he knows, there's a high chance that Eli Rivers is safe with the Hawthornes and he isn't at the risk of being kidnapped anytime soon. There's also the fact that he has found his mate and it would only be matter of time before he's finally claimed.

This whole game seemed pointless, maybe even harmless, and it made Chris relax in his chair because he knew for a fact that if Constantine wasn't killing anyone, he'd be messing with them instead.

"Would you stop this nonsense?"

Constantine snorted. "No."

With a heavy sigh, Chris searched his pocket for something before he took out a pair of keys that jingled when he held them up for the other to take. "I suppose if Eli wasn't at risk, then I wouldn't have anything to worry about." He said handing Constantine the keys and watching him skillfully unlock the handcuffs to free himself. He had too much practice with his. "Did you really kill five of their men?"

"Uh," Tilting his head thoughtfully, Constantine threw the handcuffs away trying to remember since it probably sounded like any other day to him. "I think so, yeah."

"I would appreciate it if you keep that bloodlust of yours in check. Those men didn't deserve to die like that." Chris told him sounding very unhappy about it. He might be used to all the killings, but that didn't mean that he approved of them. Ferals weren't much of a concern since they were already too far gone and better off dead, but men with families were another thing.

"They had what's coming for them." Constantine shrugged. To him, there was nothing more to say. He might not remember every person he killed, but he knew that there always was a good reason – to him at least – for ending someone's life. A crazed killer he was not. "Just know that if they had crossed my path, they weren't exactly squeaky clean."

"So you didn't kill them because they caught you intruding on their territory?"

That question resulted in a scoff from Constantine. "Why would they attack me for that?"

Chris hummed noncommittally at his answer. It was true that strangers aren't met with animosity whenever they pay a visit to another pack. Especially if they're alone. Caution might be expected, otherwise there was nothing that would prevent Constantine from walking right into their town without any troubles. After all, judging from his meeting with the Hawthorne's alpha and his son, they don't really know who killed their five men.

Deciding that he asked enough questions for now, he gestured at the door behind him still deep in thought.

"You may leave now."

Constantine didn't need to be told twice as he immediately made his way to the door. It was one of the rare times he didn't sneak or force his way out of there.