“Well, he can try, but to be honest, I don’t see him even doing that much,” Keith said calmly.
“Then why is here?” Brian shouted as he flipped around and stomped his way back.
“Well, if history is anything to go by, that coward came here to manipulate someone else into killing me.”
“Who?” Brian turned and retraced his steps. He was pacing again. “You’re my mate. Nobody here would do that.”
“That’s a mystery for the ages. Not even Sherlock Holmes could solve it with the information we already have and the existing context clues. Totally impossible.” Keith shrugged. “Oh well, guess we have no choice but to invite Junior in for tea and cookies so we can ask him directly.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Brian shouted, his voice high-pitched. He tugged on his hair and walked back the way he had come.
“That seems to be the consensus, yes. Also, you need to get a handle on yourself before Junior gets here because sounding like you’re in the midst of puberty probably isn’t the vibe you’re going for in this situation.”
“We are not inviting him here! That’s out of the question. I need to keep him away from you.”
Keith shook his head and sighed.
“Fuck. I need to handle this.”
While Brian continued unraveling, Keith stepped over to the table, picked up the phone, and called the last incoming number.
“What are you doing?” Brian asked.
“Helping you,” Keith replied.
Jennifer answered the phone and said, “Yes, Alpha.”
“It’s Keith. Bring Rupert Junior here.” He ended the call.
“What? No!” Brian rushed his way. “Why did you do that?” He reached for the phone. “And how did you get into my phone?”
“I’ve seen you type in your password.” Keith wound his arm behind his back. “You can’t have the phone.”
“Why not?” Brian moved forward until they were chest-to-chest.
“Because you’re going to call Jennifer and tell her not to come.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He curled his arms around Keith and tried to pry the phone away. That wasn’t going to happen.
“I realize telling someone to calm down generally has the exact opposite outcome, but seriously, mate, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down because we don’t have much time to implement our plan.”
“What plan? We don’t have a plan!”
“Sure we do.” Keith shoved the phone past his waistband and dropped it into his underwear. “I need you to listen to me.” He clasped Brian’s shoulders.
“I need to…” Brian glanced at Keith’s hand and frowned. “Where’s my phone?”
“Spending time with my ass. Don’t be jelly.”
Brian’s eyes widened.
“Good. I got your attention. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll hide in the dining room and you’ll take Junior to the living room, just like what we did with CC.”
“Who’s CC?”
“Cringey Claire.”
Expression frustrated, Brian shook his head. “And then what, Keith? What’s the next part of the plan?”
