Chapter 57

The glass in his hand was refilled as he sighed heavily in his chair.

Chris had heard the news, the catastrophe. It was all anyone could talk about and he wondered just how many glasses of wine will it take for him to pass out and forget about it all. Too bad this was only his second before the source of his headache appeared and was thrown on the chair across from him.

Constantine sat upright with both of his hands shackled behind his back, and Chris could hear the metal as his son shifted in his place. Today he didn't want to contain his son, he just wanted to talk – which is why not many restraints were used – and he knew this was the only way they could, otherwise it'd be too boring for Constantine for him to bother with coming.

Asking Constantine to come over himself so they could talk like normal people? Absurd.

"Thank you." He nodded his head at the pack members who were only following his instructions, and they all nodded their heads and left them. All of them used to this.

Chris took a sip of his drink glaring at the entertained grin his son was giving him.

"You could have just asked. I would have come quietly."

They both knew it was a lie, and Chris let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You deserve to be wheeled in like the animal that you are."

Unbothered by his words, Constantine shrugged still grinning. "You're more animal than I am."

"Maybe so, but at least I don't mindlessly kill people like an animal." That would have probably irritated Constantine, but unfortunately the annoyance in Chris' voice made those words have no effect on his son. All they did was make him even more entertained than he already was. "You inherited the worst parts of me and your mother."

Chris mumbled the last words as he shut himself up with a large gulp of his drink before he sighed heavily and refilled it. He cursed his lycan blood for making him more resistant to alcohol, but that still didn't prevent him from trying. He still had more bottles.

"Luckily you have a spare son."

Chris snorted at that. "A normal son, yes."

If his wife knew about this, he wondered how she'd react. The Dietrich pack doesn't have a luna because his chosen partner is human who is unaware of his wolf side. It was fortunate that her job kept her busy and his wealth explained his frequent and long 'business trips', but it still boggles his mind how an entirely human mother could result in a monstrosity like Constantine.

Maybe he should have paid closer attention to what aspects his son selectively picked up from both sides to turn out like this. The wolf and the knives.

Irritatingly brilliant.

"So," Constantine said resting his cheek on a hand that had a shackle hanging from it. He didn't bother to unlock it fully. "Why am I here?"

"Where do I start." He muttered bitterly, this time his drink stopped before an inch away from his lips before he set it down. He didn't feel like drinking anymore. "Maybe we'll start with the game you were playing. Telling everyone you were after Eli."

Ingenious.

Constantine narrowed his eyes at him, imitating a doubtful look. "Did I ever say that?"

"That's what irks me about it. You never did." Chris sat back in his chair unable to help himself from giving an amused smile of his own. Everyone assumed Eli was the omega he was after including Chris who should have figured it out sooner. Constantine even denied it outright when he asked about it once. "You did it on purpose, didn't you? Point the attention an Eli."

Constantine shook his head. "It honestly just happened."

"I see. Nobody expected a second omega." Chris nodded his head accepting that before he leaned forward in his seat with a face filled with displeasure, and his fingers facing each other as he sat there considering his next words. "It doesn't explain why that second omega suddenly went missing, does it?"

There was no hint of surprise when Constantine whistled to express said surprise. "They went missing?"

Years of dealing with Constantine made him aware that if he really wanted to make Chris believe he was surprised at that, he'd be a lot more convincing. The obvious pretense was only there to annoy him further and nothing more, and it only confirmed his suspicion.

"Stop acting as if you didn't know. I thought you didn't kidnap people."

"I did say that, didn't I?"

"So then where are they?" Chris asked opening his arms in a gesture that conveyed his annoyance and thinning patience. "How did they suddenly go missing and then their mother is found dead right after? Not to mention all the dead alphas."

He heard all about it from his friend, alpha Hawthorne, personally.

It was his friend's way of indirectly asking if Constantine had a hand in it, and when Chris heard the details of her death, he was almost certain that his son was involved. The way she was murdered told him everything he needed to know. Not many would think of drowning someone using a sink, and none would be so bold to do so in the middle of a town filled with wolves who could hear it.

This was Constantine alright.

But the alphas were what confused him. Other than the one with crushed spine and rib cage, they were all left intact. Not a single drop of blood. He assumed it was done intentionally to cause his confusion and mislead him.

But Constantine scoffed. "Have you ever considered that I might be innocent?"

"No." Came the quick and flat reply.

It was expected, and it made Constantine's lip twitch up.

"You're right, I am not entirely innocent." He finally admitted not so shockingly. There was nothing shocking about his admission of guilt, Chris just wanted him to say it so he could be sure of what he knew. "But I never killed the alphas."

"Do not lie to me, Constantine." He spoke to him as if he was speaking to a child.

"Yes, because I often lie about the bodies I kill." Constantine muttered sarcastically. Surely his father was aware that he had no problem with admitting to killing people. He had been doing this for years, there was no reason for him to lie about this. "You got me, I killed them, too."

Whether his father believed him or not wasn't his problem.

Funnily enough, his father quickly accepted the false admission without question.

"That's what I thought." Constantine shook his head at his father's words not believing the distrust he is faced with. Didn't matter that it was his fault, he hoped his father would have been a bit smarter than this. Maybe he really did drive him crazy since he started groaning as he held his head. "Can you please just return the omega to their pack? Please."

Constantine raised an eyebrow. "Hawthornes giving you a headache about this?"

"Yes!"

"As I said before, I don't kidnap people."

The stunned look his father gave him almost made him laugh as he watched as the annoyance crept in when he slowly lifted his hand to point his index finger at him. "I have had it with your petulance." It really wasn't his fault that he wasn't believed, Constantine had only been telling the truth – mostly. "Just return them. You killed their mother."

"Per their request."

Chris felt himself recoil back at the unexpected words. "What?"

"Per their request." Constantine repeated again boredly. "And if anything, he's part of this miserable pack now."

A frown appeared on Chris' face as he tried to process these words he has been told, and he leaned back in his chair with a distracted nod and a persistent frown as he stared at his son. For a long moment, he sat there without saying anything waiting for the deadpan look on Constantine's face to be replaced with amusement for falling for his tricks.

But the deadpan look remained.

"Mate?"

"Unfortunately for him, yes."

"Hm," Chris liked his son's self-awareness. "I see. So you didn't kidnap anyone."

"No."

But Chris felt another incoming headache as he reached for his bottle of wine once more. "Two of you." He said drinking straight from the bottle with a laugh devoid of any joy, only exhaustion. "There are two of you. How splendid."

There was no way he could explain this to his friend, alpha Hawthorne.

Maybe it is best if he just didn't say anything.