Julius felt good about how his plan was coming together as he left Dominic and Mason.
He had secured them as bouncers, and he felt sure that with their experience, they would be great at it.
Now he had all the men set up for the night, and it was time to go get ready himself, so he could assist the men to their new positions.
For the first time in days, he was excited and optimistic.
Ayla and Alexander were waking up from their much-needed power nap as Julius was walking back into the apartment.
Sleep was not something the pair had gotten a lot of since their initial encounter in the woods, so they got it every chance they could.
Ayla went to stretch and realized fairly quickly that she couldn't, as the prior events came flooding back to her.
Not only was Alexander almost on top of her, but when she pulled her arm, she realized it was still linked to his.
While she lay on her side, the arm beneath her was pulled up to meet the one draped over her, both his, bound together by a chain.
Both their wrists branding a black metal cuff.
"Are you going to let me go yet?" she whined as she noticed he was awake.
"No."
Alexander held her even tighter.
He had no intention of letting her go or getting out of bed yet.
She huffed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said.
"How do I know that? If you aren't trying to go anywhere, then I don't need to let go?"
His words struck her deeply, and she paused to figure out what to say next.
"This isn't comfortable. I'm not going anywhere."
He answered quickly, his eyes still closed.
"How do I know that?"
She recently said those same words to him, and she knew exactly how it felt to hear them.
How do you prove something like that?
"You don't," she said with a defeated sigh, "but you can try to trust that I mean what I say."
He lifted his head from her shoulder, shifting to meet her gaze.
"You promised me you wouldn't run before."
Those words cut her deep.
"I know, this time is different. Leaving you hurt me," she began, but was cut off by the touch of his lips on hers.
"Okay."
He didn't say anything else as he removed the cuff from her wrist, and she started rubbing where it was.
She stood up and stretched as she'd never done it before in her life.
Suddenly, she yelled, "THANK THE STARS," as she bolted to the door.
Alexander was in a state of shock.
Unsure of what was happening, he jumped to his feet.
"What the hell?"
He was positive that she was being serious with her confession.
Julius wasn't sure what was happening as Ayla darted past him.
Then he saw Alexander chasing after her, handcuffs dangling from his wrist, and he no longer wished to know.
"COME BACK HERE," he yelled after her, and she didn't appear to slow down.
Not in the least bit.
'SLAM!'
The bathroom door attached to the living room slammed shut.
Loud laughing could be heard from behind it, accompanied by a loud "AAHHHHHH," after.
Julius couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
Alexander hurled himself against the bathroom door.
"Really, you thought that was the right thing to do?" he said, sounding defeated.
He hadn't decided whether to be mad or laugh.
She made him think that she was bolting, after everything they had been through the last few days.
In theory, she was, but it was only to the bathroom.
His heart couldn't take the hell she was putting him through.
"You know you are going to be the death of me, right?" he told her.
"That was for last night. How dare you think it was okay to keep me prisoner, asshole. Ha."
"Prisoner! How dare you think I would ever? Plus, I know you enjoyed it, at least a little," he laughed.
Knowing she wasn't mad because she giggled after, helped him breathe after her words.
Julius was looking at his friend, amused.
"You handcuffed her, really," he started shaking his head.
Alexander knew he would never hear the end of his decision.
"Did you not see how she was acting? It was the same exact way she was the last time she ran. I couldn't take the chance of her running again. You would have done the same thing."
"No, Alex, I don't think I would have. That's the difference between you and me."
Ayla was listening in from the bathroom, feeling guilty again, but then she heard Julius laugh.
"Don't you think that was a bit extreme?"
With a stern and firm voice, Alexander replied.
"NO."
"Alexander. She is not going to let you get away with stunts like that. Have you not learned anything about her?" he laughed.
Ayla started laughing from the bathroom as she opened the door.
"I think he figured that out. Anyway, he won't get close to doing that shit again," she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Alexander still didn't think it was funny as he rolled his eyes and looked away from her.
Then, Alexander got a sly smile and looked back at her, "I don't know. I think you might have enjoyed this stunt."
Ayla didn't want to acknowledge anything.
"You mean running from you? Yeah, I did enjoy that," she said as she started to walk away with her chest puffed and her chin raised.
"Whatever. Where are you coming from, Julius?"
Alexander was now directing his attention away from the situation.
He didn't like the feeling that they were both ganging up on him.
"Well, I just finished getting all the guys settled into apartments on the second floor. You should have seen their faces as I showed them everything they came with. It was like it was a whole new world. Makes you wonder about pack life."
Ayla piped in from the couch that they were now all sitting on together.
"Because it is. For all you know, they lived in caves in the woods before this. Not saying that they did, but what do you really know about where they come from? Don't just assume everyone lives like you?" she scolded.
Julius felt bad about his comment now.
He knew she was right because he didn't know how they had lived, let alone how she had truly been living.
"Well, as I was thinking about everything, I figured they needed something to do now, you know, daily. Since chasing you is off the table, what better than to work at some of the vacant club positions?"
Alexander was looking at him, upset.
Julius didn't seem to catch the look or thoughts directed at him, at first.
"You offered them jobs at the club without talking to me about it?" Alexander snarled.
He was trying to keep his cool, but anger was starting to boil over.
"Since when do we make independent decisions about the club. Every decision is made together. Now, you are bringing people into our apartment, making a team, handing out jobs, and giving them an apartment to live in inside the building without talking about it first."
Alexander was starting to wonder if his best friend's alliance had shifted since finding his father.
Julius raised an eyebrow and looked from Alexander to Ayla and back to Alexander.
He didn't have to say anything, but he gave it a second and then spoke.
"Am I the one who started making independent decisions? Who was the one who started bringing random people to the apartment without talking to me first?"
Alexander couldn't believe that he just said that.
Ayla was right there beside them, and it was not the same.
"That was different, and you know it," he answered.
Ayla knew that they were talking about her as she slumped back into the couch.
It felt like her curse was rearing its ugly head as she tried to hide herself.
She knew that she was causing a rift between the two friends, but she didn't know what to do.
"Alexander, Julius, please don't fight because of me. I can leave. It's my fault."
Julius looked at her as if she had said something extremely stupid.
"Why on earth would you do that. You aren't going anywhere. This isn't about you. Stay. Please," he told her.
Nothing she could say in that moment would help, because he was right, it wasn't about her, not anymore.
Would it be best to just stay quiet after that?
Yes, she needed to just stay quiet and let Alexander defend himself.
"He's right, Ayla, this isn't about you. Even if it might have started with you, it isn't about you. He had no problem with you coming. This is about much bigger issues."
She waited as she listened to Julius speak.
"Is what you did any different than what I did. It's all in the name of protecting her. The goal is the same in the end. Why are you mad at me for doing what you did? It's not like it's a surprise. You knew I was talking to them, and that it was a possibility."
Alexander was mad, but he had no right to be.
Deep down, he knew his friend was right, but he didn't want to admit it, not yet.
Or maybe, he didn't want to admit it to himself.
Whatever the case might be, he dug in ten toes deep to defend himself.
"I never brought all those people into our hidden apartment building. This was our place of safety from the world, our haven, and you brought them here in hopes of making a team, gave them an apartment to live in without knowing if we could truly trust them. I never did that," Alexander said defensively, "let alone I never took it to the club."
Julius was in disbelief, throwing his hands in the air as he went to speak, before reigning both his hands and words back in.
Pausing for half a second to gather himself, in an attempt not to explode, didn't exactly work.
His hands had gathered, clasped below his chin, attempting to control the tone of his voice.
"Yes, you did!"
Alexander looked appalled as he rebutted Julius's accusations.
"No, I didn't! I would never take it to the club."
I was clear that Alexander couldn't see the similarities or what he had done.
Julius was just the person to point it out to him.