*****
*Jayden*
“Why haven’t you turned back? Are you hiding something?” Corey gave Zeke a suspicious side-glance as we waited for Bianca to help us back to the town outside the forest. Instead of us walking back for another two days, she was going to teleport. Corey thought Zeke staying in his wolf form was suspicious because we could use our werewolf abilities just fine when at Bianca’s house.
‘No clothes.’ Zeke growled in response. We all chuckled as Corey’s mouth shaped into an ‘O’ while he nodded.
“I would teleport you all the way home but I’m tired and that would take hours of preparation,” Bianca said.
“Oh, that’s alright. You’ve done way too much for us already, we’re cool driving home.” Sean said.
“Yeah, you’re paying for the trailer,” Corey said making Sean glare at him. We were too many for just the van now with the extra three people added.
“I’m with Corey on this, Bro. You’re paying.” Trent said patting Sean’s shoulder.
I chuckled at them as Sean rolled his eyes at them.
“Just hold onto someone.” Bianca smiled as she took Hayley’s hand. We followed her lead, everyone taking hold of someone else but I paused after taking hold of Kaden’s hand when I realised Corey was on my other side.
“Give me your tail, Zeke,” Corey smirked. Zeke growled at him before he lifted his paw onto Corey’s leg and Corey laughed grabbing the paw.
I had a feeling those two were going to be arguing a lot and still going to be great friends because they seemed to get along despite the constant playful fighting.
I tensed slightly as Corey put his other hand around my own and smiled down at me, it automatically made me look down to break eye contact while feeling overwhelmingly shy. I wasn’t quite used to it yet; Corey actually wanting to touch me and not glaring at me, but I was so happy about it.
“I would advise you to close your eyes, unless you want to end up with very sore eyes and a massive headache that will last for days,” Bianca said.
I shut my eyes before I felt wind as Bianca spoke the spell out loud. It seemed fast, the spell over in less than a few seconds.
“We’re here.” She announced. I opened my eyes and grinned as I looked around. We were just outside the forest, back in the little town we had slept in a few days prior.
“You should come visit sometime, Bianca. I’m sure Marcus would love to see you.” Izabella said.
“I should, shouldn’t I? I haven’t seen him in years. Tell him I’ll see him around Christmas.” Bianca replied.
“I will.” Izabella smiled.
After we greeted Bianca, she teleported back home and we headed back to the people we had left the car with, Trent’s friends.
“Trent!” The woman, Mrs Kent, greeted as she let us into the house.
“We’re back!” Trent smiled.
“With extra people,” Sean added.
“Speaking of extra people…” Corey drifted looking around for Zeke.
“You got a wolf?” Mrs Kent asked, shocked.
“Uh… Kind of…” Corey mumbled, “I’m going to take him to the animal shelter, see what they can do with him, but I need to get changed first, so I’ll see you all later. Come here, Dog,” He said.
I chuckled as Zeke growled at him but followed him into the hallway towards the room we had left our bags in.
“That’s one massive wolf.” Dan, Trent’s friend and Kent’s son, said walking in.
“You have no idea,” Kaden mumbled.
—–
*Corey*
Zeke followed me into the room and I rampaged through my bag looking for clean clothing for him. “Hopefully you’re not Jayden’s size.” I threw the clothes behind me having already heard him shift.
“Do I look Jayden’s size?” I raised my eyebrows and turned to face Zeke standing in the clothing I had just given him. He looked pretty much my age, he definitely wasn’t Jayden’s size. We had almost exactly the same build, my clothing fit him perfectly.
“So ten years?” I asked. He nodded.
“Since I was seven or eight, I think. Yeah. Anything before that blank.” He said.
“Your pack?” I asked.
He shook his head. He could not remember them. Whatever happened before he became a rogue must have been pretty traumatic to result in him having no memories of it.
I lifted my hand and patted his shoulder to sense his power.
“You guys are NovolunÃs?” He asked looking incredibly relieved.
“Yeah, some of us, I guess you’ll fit right in at our pack.” I chuckled. He was the same type of wolf as I was. I was happy about that. It was tough for even Alpha Ian to get the pack to accept Izabella because she was an Amarelo, at least Zeke being the same type of wolf we were would make the pack a little more comfortable with him until he earned their trust.
“How come I sensed two Alphas downstairs?” He asked.
“Sean’s the young Galaxy Alpha while Kade’s going to be the Inferno Alpha. Our packs are very close. There’s also the Titan pack – they’re Amarelos, we all used to hate them but we’re strong allies now, you’ll understand when you get there and meet Laurence, he’s their young Alpha.” I said.
“Sounds like a long story.” He said.
“It is.” We both looked at the door and I smiled as Hayley walked in. “Hey, you’re cu…” She drifted as her face began to turn pink when she looked from Zeke to me.
I laughed as Zeke chuckled. “Thanks, Hayley.” He said, “You’re pretty cute too.” His compliment only made her blush more.
“I’d keep my thoughts to myself if I were you. Trent and Corey aren’t very friendly when it comes to Hayley – and Izabella.” I frowned at Sean as he walked in before shrugging, he was right.
“It’s true.” I admitted, “So keep your distance.” I warned Zeke. He smiled.
“Uh-huh.”
“We need to find a trailer,” Sean said.
“You’re on your own,” I said, “I’m going for a run, with my ‘Dog’. Need to tell him about our pack.” I added. Zeke rolled his eyes at the name and we laughed.
“Fine, whatever. At least Jay will be willing to come.” I stopped at Sean’s words. Maybe I should go then?
“Speaking of Jay, that guy just disappeared.” Zeke mumbled, “I mean, after I told you guys he was following you,” he added.
“Who was following who?” Hayley asked.
“Disappeared?” I asked, alarmed. How could that asshole just ‘disappear’? “Jay’s not going anywhere then,” I said.
“Jayden’s already gone. What’s going on?” Trent said looking confused as he walked in.
“What? Why? Where?” Sean asked.
“He left about six minutes ago with Kade and Izzy, they’re going to get some food. What’s going on?” Trent asked again.
“Jayden’s father has been following us,” I said.
“Jayden’s father? But… Jay’s father is dead.” Trent said.
“Yeah, even I remember that,” Rita said.
“No, Joe just told everyone he was dead. The truth is, Joe banned him from Inferno because he was abusive to Jayden. That day Jay got beat up back at Finn’s place, it was him. Now, I have no idea why the psychopath is following us but he’s out there somewhere and so is Jayden.” I had to take a breath to calm down as the amount of worry that filled me suddenly made me dizzy. It was exactly what I was afraid of. Him possibly getting hurt.
“Jay’s with Kaden and Izabella,” Trent said.
“That’s not very reassuring, Trent. You know how Izzy randomly disappears on all of us and Kade, well he’s Kade. Has anyone ever seen that boy get pissed enough to fight?” Sean said.
“Yes, actually. It’s not a pretty sight.” Rita said.
“Yeah,” Trent agreed, “Though it takes a lot to make Kade angry, it’s almost impossible to calm him down when he does lose it.”
“Alphas and Betas alike.” Hayley rolled her eyes. True, but that didn’t matter right now.
I sighed. “Let’s just find them before someone gets hurt,” I said walking out.
*Jayden*
“Want anything from the sweets aisle?” I asked as I walked towards it without waiting for them to reply because I would still hear them from a few isles away or they would link to me.
“Yes. Cookies! And chocolate.” Izabella said.
‘And M&Ms.’ Kaden’s voice popped into my head.
I nodded despite being on my own while glancing down each aisle to see if it was the one I was looking for. I figured our shopping would go quicker if we each looked for separate things. The aisle was easy to find and I began to walk down it gathering the stuff they had asked for while adding what I figured the others would like as well given how Sean and Trent had eaten all the Twinkies before anyone else could have any on the drive towards the peaks. I had packed a few things into the basket and was about to head to find Kaden and Izabella when I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to a woman that looked to be in her late 30s.
“Hey, my car broke down, I was wondering if you would help me and my son push it?” She asked.
“Uh… Sure. I could call my friends to help too if –” I was saying.
“No, you’re fine, it’s not a very big car. One more person should do.” She smiled.
“Uh… Alright. Where’s your car?” I put my basket down. I would only take a few minutes, the basket would still be there when I got back.
I followed her through the store and out of the front where many cars filled the lot before I slowed as she led me around the store, away from the open parking and into the deserted delivery alleyway. There were currently no cars parked anywhere though.
“Uh… Where’s your car?” I asked not feeling too threatened because I could tell that she was human.
“Thank you, dear.” I turned around shocked when I heard a familiar voice, “You can leave now.” He smiled at the woman behind me.
“Uh… Oh-okay.” It was obvious he had compelled her. How had I not notice that before? She just… She just looked like she needed help and I wanted to be helpful… I was stupid. I should have spoken to Kaden and Izabella before following her outside, but she was just human. I did not want to seem helpless.
“Hey, what happened to your face, son? You looked so good with the black eye and all.” He said walking up to me slowly.
My shock faded and for once it didn’t turn into fear, just anger. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked.
“Wow. When did you become this rude? Must I remind you what happens when you are rude, Jayden?” He asked walking closer to me.
I stared back at him. We looked a lot alike, the biggest difference being he worked out so naturally, he was basically double my size plus a load of muscle. Though, even when I did work out I continued to be scrawny. As he stopped in front of me, I resisted the urge to look scared and step back. I wasn’t afraid of him. I wouldn’t let myself be anymore.
“There’s a good reason I’m here.” I almost cringed as he placed his hand on my shoulder, “I’m here to tell you that my car is around the corner, we’re going to get into it and leave. And then when we get back to that pathetic pack where you will to fetch my mate and bring her to me, because if you don’t, I’ll make sure you never walk again, I’ll get my mate anyway and you will never see your mother again. Do you understand?”
I must have been insane…
“Was that supposed to scare me?” I asked slowly. Izabella’s blood had definitely done more than just make me stronger.
“Listen h –” he began to grip my shoulder but I shoved him away from me before I slammed him into the wall, much to my luck he was stunned so badly, he didn’t respond to my movements.
“No, you listen here. You’re going to disappear. I will never see you again, you will never give me another threat and if I ever even feel like you’re after my mother, I will kill you. Do YOU understand?” I was shocked at my own words and actions. It was like I had become someone else in the moment. I would normally never have spoken to him that way or dared touch him when he approached me.
Of course my new demeanour basically just cracked and completely shattered when he just laughed. “You? Kill me? Really, Jay?” He asked, “We both know you’re not capable of that.” I gulped, it was true. We did know that. He smirked. “How’ve you been doing, Son? Spent some time with Mike lately?” I stared at him stunned. Mike. The mention of his name made me sick. It made me light-headed and completely terrified. My father smirked shoving me away from him without much force but I stumbled back still shocked by the mention of Mike. I rubbed my arm with my hand suddenly feeling small and cornered. “No?” He smirked. He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. No one knew. “Oh, I know.” He chuckled. He couldn’t have linked to me. I had that blocked at the moment. Had I spoken out loud or was it just that easy to read my face?
I stepped further back slowly creating distance between my father and I. There was no way. He beat me so many times, said so many horrible things to me but he could not have had anything to do with Mike.
I was so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t noticed him advance towards me until a hard force had my face snapping to the side and my body following the movement. I stumbled trying to keep myself from falling. I wouldn’t stand a chance if I lost my footing.
“That’s for disrespecting me earlier.” He said before grabbing hold of my collar to drag me towards him and slam me against the wall I had pinned him to earlier. I was still too stunned to react. “Of course I had something to do with it! You think you can get me banned from my pack, take my mate from me and I’ll just let it slide?! What do you take me for?” He shook me before chuckling. “How was it though, Jay? Isn’t that what you wanted?” He smirked glancing over me before our eyes met again. “Don’t worry. When I’m back with your mother, he can have you.”
I shook my head as anger covered my shock and fear before I slammed my fist into his face with as much force as I could muster.
He fell back and instead of doing what I should have, instead of running, I attacked him. I jumped onto him and began hitting him but I had only gotten two punches in before he retaliated with a very forceful punch of his own that sent me rolling off him. I made a futile attempt to get up but he rolled onto me and pinned me down.
“I gave you exactly what you deserve you disrespectful son of a bitch!” I tried to cover my face seeing his fist swing at me but he had gotten much faster since he left and my attempts at blocking were in no way successful. I ended up getting hit square in the face four times before managing to push him off of me and then quickly backed further away from him, moving across the wet tar that made up the ground of the delivery alleyway. Once a safe distance away, I scrambled to my feet and watched as my father stood. There was no way I could fight him. No matter what I did, despite the boost in power Izabella’s blood had given me, I was weaker than him. I was weaker than everyone. I watched him cautiously waiting for him to advance again but he just chuckled making no move towards me as he dusted his jacket lightly.
“I’ll see you, Son. Send Mike my greetings when you’re having your… moments.” He smirked before he left.
I stood frozen for a few seconds before I grabbed my phone to text Izabella telling her I was heading home before I sprinted away from the store afraid that I would run into him again.
*****
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