Page 1 of The Wolf and the Monarch

Chapter One

Benji

Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Benji couldn’t help but groan as he shoved his arm out from under his warm and cozy comforter and slapped his hand around on his nightstand, looking for his alarm. Unfortunately for him, he usually slept like the dead so the only alarm that actually woke him up sounded like a warning that there was an incoming airstrike. And while, yes, he did sleep hard once he was asleep, it took him forever to actually get to that state. So once Benji was up, he was up. Unplugging his phone from the charger, he turned the screen on and frowned at the time, even though he knew what time his alarm went off. Five AM. Every day. He hated it but that was just how life went.

He proceeded to lay there for another ten minutes or so as he found the will to exist before he finally forced himself to leave the warmth of his bed and take a shower. Benji lived alone, which was a good thing, because he often looked like death warmed over when he woke up. Stepping into his bathroom, he flicked the light on then began to get his shower to the cold temperature he required to properly wake up. While that happened, he took the time to look himself briefly over in the mirror. Benji had reddish-brown hair, blue eyes and a myriad of freckles and scars all over his face and body. None of his freckles were in condensed spaces. They were just scattered about haphazardly, it seemed. He also had a few random tattoos that he got when he was a teenager. A small anchor on his left forearm, a wolf on his left pec and a bleeding rose on his right calf. All of them were horrendous. His friend at the time wanted to be a tattoo artist and Benji had let him practice on him. Who told him that was a good idea? The only one that wasn’t blown out and totally awful was the wolf.

With a huff, he finally stepped into the shower and gritted his teeth as the cold water washed over his body. He had been taking a cold shower every morning for years and it always sucked. The cold was not his friend. But he knew there were benefits to it so he just stuck it out. The only time he turned the water to warm was when he was washing his hair. Why? He had no idea. It just seemed like warm water washed his hair better. Or at least that’s what he told himself.

After his cold shower was finished, he finished getting ready. He threw on his normal attire. Boxer briefs, black cargo pants, some sort of dark colored t-shirt, and high quality socks. There would be no toes ripping in his socks. Once dressed, he wandered over to his kitchen to pour himself a tumbler of coffee that had already brewed thanks to the timer function. Benji then headed towards the door, threw on his heavy boots and coat that he never moved from the entrance of his apartment, grabbed his keys and headed out. He locked the door manually, as well as with a keypad lock, then got into his Jeep so he could begin his hour-long commute to work. There had been several times in his life when he thought about moving closer to work, but he liked the drive. It was soothing. It gave him time to think about all the shit he was going to get himself into and slightly mentally prepared him for it.

Benji worked at his family's business. And his family’s business was a special one. So special, only the very elite knew of them. One might say they were a form of black ops, they just weren’t inherently connected to the military. They were just paid by them and given jobs by them. They were there to do the jobs that everyone else was afraid to do. The jobs that the government didn’t want to risk their ‘important’ people to do. The jobs that were just too dirty. The jobs that required stealth and secrecy that they didn’t want anyone else anywhere to find out about. At the company, it was himself, his twin sister Andrea, Andi for short, his dad Matthew, and his two uncles Spence and Travis. His mom, Meredith, used to work with them too but she had recently retired due to an injury.

By the time he arrived at his job, AKA the base of operations, he had finished off the majority of his tumbler and had to piss like a racehorse. He pulled his Jeep into the underground parking facility, locked up and speed walked inside like a grandma at the mall getting her steps in for the day. As he walked by the main office, he heard the voice of Spence call out, “Someone’s gotta piss. Did you chug your coffee again?!”

“Fuck off, Spence. It’s cold out and I’m tired.” He shouted back as he approached the bathroom and closed the door behind him as his uncle cackled.

Spence was the middle child between the three brothers, but his dad was a good ten years older than him so he didn’t have that true middle child syndrome, which was probably good considering his specialty. Spence was the weapon’s guy. He knew everything about them and if he didn’t, he always had a guy that did. He was usually on the field as their eagle eye as well. He was more than efficient with a sniper and always had their backs.

A few minutes later, Benji emerged again and moved back towards the office, immediately going for the coffee pot. He needed at least three cups to be functional. “Who made the coffee today?” He asked, mentally guessing it was Travis from the color of it.

“Travis,” Spence answered. “So you know it’s shit.”

Ben sighed and nodded. “Maybe one day he’ll learn how to make a good pot of coffee.”

“I doubt it. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks, ya know?”

Spence was probably right. If he hadn’t figured it out by then, he doubted he would any time soon. He would just have to have four cups instead of three. It was fine. “Anyone else here yet?” Ben asked as he took a seat at his desk and threw his feet up onto it.

“Not yet. Your dad will be here soon though, I’m sure. And Andi will roll in shortly after that,” Spence shrugged. “Guess we got some big mission coming up.”

His brow raised. “Oh? Bigger than normal or…”

“I guess. I heard Matty on the phone talking about it yesterday. Not sure what the whole deal is though.”

Benji sighed softly as he brought his cup to his lips and took a sip, grimacing immediately from the taste. “Fuck, it’s so bad.”

“What’s so bad?” Travis asked as he entered the room and took a seat by his brother at the table in the center of the room. Travis was the youngest of the three. He was the field tactician. He was the one that made sure all of the missions went according to plan. On top of that, he was kind of a brute. He looked like he could punch anyone through a wall with a minor effort so he was often the person who got up close and personal with the people if necessary.

“Your coffee,” Spence answered with a shake of his head.

“It’s not that bad,” his brother immediately countered. “I’ve already had two cups.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s good, unc.” Benji muttered as he took another sip of the off colored coffee.

For a while, he just stayed quiet and listened to his uncles banter with one another about what constitutes good and bad coffee. They were pretty funny and he could honestly listen to them for hours. But it didn’t last too long because soon enough, his dad was walking in.

Matthew Madison was the man who created their whole business. He used to be in the military and he was always interested in the jobs no one else wanted and it eventually garnered him a reputation. One thing led to another and he made a whole business out of it once he was discharged from the military. And since he had always kept a good rapport with everyone and he was trustworthy, they started hiring him and his family for even bigger jobs that absolutely no one else would touch. As the years went on, Matthew gave up the field work. He had just gotten too old. He had always been the one in charge of getting the missions ready, simply because he was the guy who knew everyone and everything and he had that trust with the military. His dad always made sure to do his due diligence with every mission they took, making sure it was something they could do and something that wouldn’t get them killed.

The weird thing, however, was that he looked at peace, because most of the time, he looked stressed as hell. “Hey, dad,” Benji said, “You alright?”

His dad just nodded his head and smiled a bit. “Yeah, I’m good, kiddo,” Leave it to his dad to call him ‘kiddo’ when he was thirty one years old. He supposed he would always be his kiddo though. “Feeling good.”