He closed his eyes, shaking his head slowly. When he opened them, he gave me the same look you give the town’s imbecile. Sighing, he said, “On behalf of the pack, I accept your debt. Understand that at some point, you will be asked to repay it.” He stated this in a reserved, professional voice as he stood to leave.
What the hell just happened? I could see Josh shaking his head slowly out of the corner of my eye. He looked at me one last time before giving me a wry, forced smile, and then he left the room.
My eyes trailed Josh as he exited. At that moment, my brain decided to boot up and start functioning properly; then I realized what I had done. “Is being indebted to the Midwest Pack a stupid thing?” I asked.
Ethan’s lips pressed tightly together. “Being indebted to anyone is never wise. But there could be far worse things. I advise you that in the future, choose your words carefully and be cautious about whom you accumulate debts with.”
“Can I retract?” I asked
“No. Your debt has been accepted,” he stated with a complacent grin before he left.
Oddly, the newly acquired debt didn’t bother me. I felt truly obligated to Midwest Pack. I lay back on the bed, finally allowing myself to feel a certain level of relief that I hadn’t felt in so long. We knew where the gem was and the all-consuming sense of victory filled the house.
CHAPTER 15
I started pacing the moment they left the house that night. After a very angry exchange between Sebastian, Ethan and me, it was agreed that I stay behind. Or rather, I was forced to stay in the house by the two highest ranking control freaks. Sebastian made it very clear: “Skylar, it’s a simple extraction if things go as plan. However if it doesn’t, you in the vampires’ home with the gem is a bad combination. One we choose to avoid.”
I couldn’t argue with his logic. Yet, I wanted to be there when it all ended—no, I needed to be there. The desperation must have been sensed because our exchange ended with them leaving Dakota, the bear with less-than-human-like behavior, behind to make sure I complied.
First, I sat on the bed doing my best impression of a kid who hadn’t gotten her way, pouting like a brat. Then I started to worry about their safety when several hours had passed and they hadn’t returned. I was sure a fight occurred, and my heart skipped at the thought of their impending danger. The carpet would soon be worn thin as I paced it neurotically.
Light footsteps in the hallway caught my attention. I listened closely; they weren’t Dakota’s. Despite being a were-animal, when in human form, he was clumsy and awkward. The steps were cautious and lithe as they ascended the stairs. The scent was familiar, but not quite memorable. I stood behind the door listening as they came closer. “Skylar,” whispered the Southern drawl from behind the closed door. It was Owen. When he opened the door, I stayed behind it, hidden.
“Skylar, we must go! You aren’t safe here. Demetrius is sending someone for you. They found the pack in their home,” he informed me.
“What happened to Sebastian―”
“They’re dead,” he interjected quickly. He grabbed my arm and we started running down the hall. They were all dead? Something just didn’t seem right. It’s not that I believed they were invincible, but for the strongest members of the pack to be taken out so quickly? It didn’t sit well with me. They had the element of surprise; I couldn’t conceive that the vamps could overtake all of them so soon. I came to a halt right before we reached the stairs.
“Owen, why are you here?” I asked suspiciously, backing away from him.
He lunged at me, his heavy body knocking me to the floor. “I was sent here to retrieve you,” he stated in a low growl. “Now be a good wolf and come with me,” he stated as he started to stand.
I helped him up by flipping him over my body. Then I kicked him in the ribs while he was on all fours sending him onto his back. When he attempted to get up, I jabbed my elbow into the bridge of his nose. Using my elbow as leverage, he pushed me away. I countered with a spin kick, connecting the side of my foot with his face. He fell, but didn’t stay down long. Enraged, he grabbed me by the face with vice-like force and pushed me back, sending me into the wall, hitting it with a thud.
Sliding on my back, I inched away from him. But he moved with cat-like stealth, perching over me, “Before I was the Southern Pack’s accountant, I was the Midwest’s Beta,” he stated through gritted teeth. His eyes changed to a light brown with ringlets of deep yellow, making them appear feline. “Your little bodyguard will not be able to help you; he’s indisposed at the moment. It’s just you and me kid. Do you really want to play this rough?” he snarled out angrily.
I continued sliding away from him. “Don’t make me hurt you,” he threatened. He yanked me up by my arms. When I pulled away, he grabbed me by the shirt and pushed me against the wall.
Leaning into me, he inhaled. “You have Ethan’s scent all over you. Has he had you yet? It doesn’t take him long to have his way with most females he comes in contact with,” his lips kinked into a display of avid disgust. He was incensed; so angry, he was trembling.
“Who was she?” This had nothing to do with Ethan’s indiscriminant sexual behavior. There was a she involved. You don’t see that level of contempt without it being personal.
He glared at me, his grip tightening, pressing harder into my throat. “Know that you meant nothing to him. They never do! You were just a simple conquest. Just because he can!” he snapped. He was slamming my back against the wall with each word. Each push harder, rougher, less controlled. A volcano on the brinks of erupting. I didn’t want to be there when lava spilled, destroying everything in its path.
Hard lines formed around his increasing ruddy face. “Chris was mine! He only wanted her because she was mine! He had to be Beta because the position was mine!” He was panting hard, his eyes frenetic, his face twisted into a nefarious scorn.
Oh, this is what were-crazy looks like.
When he jammed me into the wall again, I kneed him in the stomach. He went down to his knees hard.
I started to run but he recovered, grabbing my leg and yanking me toward him. My calf burned under his vice-like hold. I smashed the heel of my hand into his nose. It halted him for a moment but didn’t break his nose as I had hoped. But it was enough of a distraction to allow me to escape. I couldn’t take him in a fight. I ran. I leapt over the rails onto the first floor, landing awkwardly. I either twisted or broke something in my right foot. I wasn’t sure which, but the jagged pain that shot through me was definitely a sign of an injury. Owen’s footsteps pounded angrily behind me as I ran to the basement. I dashed into the cage, pulling the large metal bars closed behind me. Locked in, I couldn’t get out—but he couldn’t get in either.
“You’re not as helpless as I was led to believe,” he stated in that pronounced Southern drawl that I had grown to hate. He slinked down the stairs slowly, keeping his eyes on me the entire time.
“And you’re a bigger ass than I could ever imagine,” I snapped between breaths.
He pounced around the cage rattling it. The first time he did it, I jumped. Standing in the middle of the cage, I watched as crazy, anger and malcontent fused together, creating the enraged person standing in front of me. It was the only thing separating me from my brush with his insanity.
When he rattled the cage again, I didn’t move. He could be as mad as his lanky frame would allow, but he wasn’t getting in the cage. A look of satisfaction danced across his face. He started punching numbers into the key pad. “Remember I used to be part of this pack. They were probably too stupid to change the code when I left. ” The access light must not have changed colors because he pressed in more numbers, and the look of triumph vanished from his face.
“Guess they aren’t stupid.”
“Shut up!”
“What? No more good ol’ Southern hospitality? Where’s it hiding, in the same place with your integrity and pride?”
He roared.
“Impressive. Now can you try to so
und like a lion?” Antagonizing him was stupid, but I noticed that when he was distracted or angry he didn’t function well. If I kept him distracted enough he wouldn’t be able to try to figure out the code.
His fingers worked frantically punching in a series of numbers as he rambled on. The access code must not have lit up because he slammed his fist into it. “That’s not going to open it," I pointed out.
Returning his attention to the keypad, he punched in more numbers. “I am going to kill Josh first; make Ethan watch. Then I will squeeze the life out of Chris right before I kill him, giving him just enough time to mourn their deaths,” he hissed.
I chortled. “You can kill Chris if you want, but it won’t bother Ethan. He threatened to do so not less than three weeks ago. He threatened her after he kissed her passionately in front of everyone. They’re very hot together. I wonder what they were like when they actually loved each other.” He stopped abruptly and stared at me, disgusted. Ethan not only took Chris from him, his words not mine, but cared so little for her that he would kill her. “And his brother? He’d prefer death than to live without him. Killing him after murdering his brother would be an act of kindness, not vengeance. Didn’t really think this through, did you?”
Now he was just punching numbers into the keypad without thinking. Nearly trembling with anger he spoke in a callused tone, “He’s a self-absorbed bastard, but everyone ignores it because he’s Sebastian’s golden boy, his future successor. Everyone’s so enamored by his charm and wit they won’t see him for what he really is.”
“What is he, a simple-minded were-animal who betrayed his pack to help Demetrius? Is he a dishonorable man who abandoned his obligation to his pack because of jealousy and revenge? Oh, my bad, that’s you.”
His eyes were blazing with fury. Swift hands darted through the bars to grab me. I moved just in time to get out of his reach. He rattled the cage, his fist beating against it brutally as he made sonorous roars that resounded through the room. I cringed until the sound came to an abrupt end. “Yes, the cage can be unlocked by rattling it real hard and yelling at it. Keep doing that; I’m sure that’ll work.”
Gaining control of his anger, he stared at me with a long haunting gaze. But his appearance had lost all remnants of humanity. It was raw, animalistic, stripped down to his purest primal form. “I would have killed you. If I had been the Alpha, and you were this big of a risk to my pack, I would have killed you as you slept here in our bed,” he asserted.
“Your ability to kill someone in cold blood, who has entrusted you with their life, is impressive only in your warped mind. Ethan didn’t take your position. He relieved you of a job you didn’t deserve.” I shot back.
Who would have thought that type of iniquity lurked behind the sweet Southern drawl? I shook my head. “You know what Demetrius plans to do with me and you are okay with that? They’ll be stronger than the were-animals. Are you prepared to be responsible for that?” I asked, revolted.
“Who do you think gave him the gem? I couldn’t use it, but I made sure I would benefit from it.”
Somewhere in the crowded space between his anger and craziness, he found peace because he had calmed down as he studied the key pad. “I suppose you think you will control the Midwest Pack when Sebastian and Ethan are gone.” Looking up briefly, his gaze roved over me, but he ignored my question.
He smiled; it was dark and ominous. I tried not to show fear as his fingers worked anxiously punching in numbers. “Demetrius may kill everyone who will challenge your power, not for you but just for the hell of it. Then he’ll kill you just because you’ll be a nuisance. All of this will be for nothing,” I reminded him.
The gold ringlets of his eyes were sharp and intense as they focused on me. His gaze was lingering as he studied me. Inch by inch his eyes roved over me. His voice was soft, cynical and eerily calm. “We all have weaknesses. Michaela is his. She’s passionate, gregarious and intrepid. She has a thirst like no other. A thirst that has led her to commit murders that she shouldn’t have, murders that, if ever exposed, will cause a war between them, the elves and faes. With my help, he’s covered them. If he betrays me, everything comes to light. Don’t worry, my little wolf; I am protected.”
The crazy, frantic, belligerent Owen was far less scary than the calm psychopath he had turned into. He returned his attention to the keypad, staring at it deep in thought. Now, I really couldn’t let him in here. “Betrayal of your pack, abetting murders, alliances with vampires—
the trifecta. Are you proud?”
As though he had taken a sedative, he couldn’t be riled. I needed him upset, unfocused, hysterical—in that state of mind he was ineffective.
There was a long discouraging silence. I know he could hear the panic in my heartbeat and my paced breathing. “No matter who intervened, you would have been found. You haven’t lived as unnoticed as you believe. You wear the daily struggle of you existence on your face—a tortured soul. It could very well be art if it weren’t so tragic.” He stopped fiddling with the key pad and stared at me. “You lay trapped between the world of the lifeless—which you cannot share in; the wolf—which you don’t want any part of; the unknown—which you fear; and humanity—which doesn’t want you,” he admitted serenely. “Now that the pack has gone through such extremes to keep you alive—you think you deserve to exist. You don’t. If not the vampires, it would be someone else. Your life is an abomination. Don’t ever think you deserve to live.”
I refused to let this psychopath, with a grudge solely based on a woman and his hurt pride, get to me. I refused. But saying it was harder than actually doing it. On so many levels, he was right. Dark magic clung to me as though it sensed a kindred spirit, I had a terait that linked me to the vampires and I was a were-animal that hosted a spirit shade. My death was my birth. “I am no more of an abomination than you. I didn’t have a choice in what I am. You did.”
There was a look of resolve on his face—acceptance of what he was—what he had become, and he didn’t care. Quietly he punched in the code and snatched open the cage door. Before he could step in, I charged at him, trying to knock him down as I left the cage. Instead, he crashed to the ground pulling me down with him. We struggled and eventually he held the advantage. After pulling me from the cage, he hovered; rage distorted his face. The predator in him lurked, ready to inflict violence and pain.
“I hope your death is painful,” he snapped, catching his breath as he licked the blood from his lips. His lips were busted, nail marks covered a great deal of his face and neck and bruising was starting to shadow along his left eye. Infuriated, he hung over me, clasping my arms across my body and clenching my legs together with his.
An aggressive feline rumble radiated within the large room. Owen stiffened. His hold on me loosened. In an open space, my ears may not have continued to ring from the sound as it did at the moment. He stood up and looked in the direction of the sound. The jaguar slowly padded toward us. When it was close enough, the full power of its presence was felt. It growled, baring its teeth and periodically licking its lips.
When I stood, my ankle gave and I collapsed to the floor. I crawled over to the wall and sunk into the corner, hoping to go unnoticed. I didn’t know this animal and wasn’t sure if it were a good thing that it was here.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I gave you time, hoping you would choose loyalty for your pack over your hatred for Ethan. You’ve held this vendetta against Ethan for too long and now I must end it.” Joan’s voice emanated from the feline’s mouth. If I weren’t so damned terrified, I would have been impressed by her unique ability to speak while in her animal form. I inhaled a ragged breath; ,there was nothing about the creature that stood before us that held the same warmth and kindness that I had come to know and adore in Joan.
“You don’t like pack life either; you just accept it. You detest the rules and unwillingly follow their ways. We are cut from the same cloth. It is a life we chose but by no means enjoy it. Help me, a
nd I promise the life that you want can be ours. We can change the pack to function the way we see fit. Joan, you want this. I know you do,” he assured, attempting to persuade her. Somehow, that honey-sweet Southern drawl had returned.
“We are not the same. I may not always like the rules, but I respect them and understand why we have them. I stand by pack honor and commitment in ways you will never understand. Your deceit and disloyalty is nothing less than appalling. The debt for your betrayal must be paid with your life. I am here to claim payment,” she stated as she soared toward him.
Owen started to change, but before he finished his transformation, the jaguar’s claws ripped into him, tearing his upper torso from the midchanged lion’s body. She tore into the remains, viciously hurling pieces of him throughout the room. When her wrath was finished, her eyes still contained the fire of anger that she tried to extinguish. She tracked back and forth closely in front of me as deep rumbles escaped from her. I kept my eyes on her, avoiding the gruesome display of severed flesh that surrounded me. The aggressive sounds were eventually reduced to gentle purrs as she calmed herself. Finally, she languidly stretched at my feet, gently purring while licking her paws.
I hadn’t moved from my spot when Sebastian walked down the stairs, followed by Ethan, Winter and Steven. Sebastian surveyed the area and then looked down at Joan, who purred, releasing a stifled roar. Sebastian nodded, I wasn’t sure to what, but he seemed to get its meaning.
Joan returned to her human form and Steven rushed past Sebastian, taking off his t-shirt and handing it to her. Her human eyes showed no signs of the viciousness her animal displayed. As she looked over the area, it was in fact sorrow that covered her face.
“Pack betrayal,” she finally stated hoarsely. “It was an error on my part to convince my Alpha to take him in,” she admitted regretfully.
“There is no shame in trying to save a pack member’s life when possible,” Sebastian stated.
Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) Page 32
