Animal Instinct

by Noelle N

  "Luna," Dion breathed, his eyes wide as he took in the state of mess that I was in. "We were all looking for you. Where did you go?"

  "Detour," I said vaguely, before brushing away their worries with a gentle wave of my hand. "I'm fine, really. Go on in," I added, holding the door open and gesturing them inside.

  The teenagers traipsed in first, and I went along with them, leaving Dimitri to shut the door behind us. The lights overhead was blinding, after all the darkness and shadows I'd seen that night, and it threw me off for a moment. But I barely had the time to get my bearings before several people stepped up to me, a plethora of concerned questions and desperate demands to know what had happened.

  It was overwhelming – the idea that they were all turning to me at a time like this now that they could no longer mind-link Jed, that I was meant to head a pack when all I knew about it was based on what I'd seen Jed do, that a group of near-immortal beings were looking to me – a human – to lead them into what could easily be called Titan's most trying period.

  I'd almost given in to anxiety and plain nerves, when I felt someone slip their hand through the crook of my elbow. The grip was steady and unexpectedly comforting at a time like this. "Give her some space to breathe." Lorraine's voice was firm as she levelled an even gaze at the others. "How's she going to answer anything if you keep bombarding her with questions?"

  Everyone else backed away, some reluctantly and others with dissenting murmurs as they threw sideway glances at Lorraine. No one had forgotten about the debacle she'd gone through or the moods she'd displayed after Spike's death, and it seemed that they didn't trust her much after she'd caused Titan to lose Lance and Giles. But I remembered how devastated she looked at Spike's funeral, and how she was the first person apart from Jed to acknowledge my potential in the kitchen by giving me a chance to prove myself in the first place.

  "Take a seat," I told the others quietly, offering them the bravest smile I could possibly muster at a time like this. "We'll figure this out together." To my greatest relief, the crowd dispersed, some to the booths, others to the counter and the remaining few just standing around. I turned to Lorraine gratefully. "Thank you."

  She nodded. "I lost Spike. Then Lance and Giles. And now Brutus, Jade, Katya, Alpha." She swallowed down a wave of emotion and met my gaze evenly. "I cannot lose anyone else."

  I didn't know how to answer her. Didn't want to tell her that the odds of losing someone in a war like this were highly likely. Just the thought of losing Jed forever was enough to make my mind shut down with grief, so I forced that premonition aside and focused on the matter at hand instead.

  I squeezed Lorraine's hand fleetingly before telling her to make some coffee for everyone, along with some food if we could spare any. Then I turned to Bianca, who was standing nearby, examining her blood red nails like she had all the time in the world. "They took Jade and Katya?"

  Her head snapped up and her eyes met mine steadily. "Yes."

  I felt a chill race down my spine. Brutus, Katya and Jade being captured was devastating and a huge cause for worry in itself, but I was more worried for the latter two. Bianca had kept her face impassive, but I could see it all – the fear, memories of the past flooding back in and horror at the prospect of Katya and Jade suffering the same fate she had under Malthus's deviant methods. Now the stakes were so much higher with the two girls in his hands, and I knew that we had no time to loose.

  Taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on the bag that carried Jed's files and made a snap decision. "We're going to war with Prometheus," I said, my voice far louder and clearer than I'd expected, far steadier and calmer than I felt, and I wondered whether any of them could sense how truly terrified I was.

  There were murmurs of approval at this, several queries of what I needed them to do, what my game plan was, but I tuned them out and considered the situation. No, we were not going to dive straight into battle the way Jed had led them to do the previous time. He was about confrontation, brave and stalwart and true. But I was human and we were so fallible that self-preservation was always a priority.

  I turned to Dimitri, who was standing a good way behind and leaning against the glass doors with a bored expression on his face. "I need you to draw out a plan of Prometheus's headquarters," I told him. "In full. I need to know every exit they have, every means of escape, every secret pathway there is. The dungeons, where the prisoners are held, where Malthus's office is. Show us how to get in and out without having to cross paths with Surtur or Kalyke or any of the other packs that are associated with them."

  He raised an eyebrow challengingly. "You want me to sell out all of Prometheus's secrets?"

  "Is that a problem?"

  One corner of his lips twitched up in a smirk. "Not at all."

  "Good," I said and smiled, before turning to Bianca, lowering my voice this time so that the contents of our conversation wouldn't be heard by the rest of the pack. "I need supplies. Medicine, especially, and you know who it's going to be for," I added, giving her a meaningful look that she caught immediately. "Do you think you'll be able to go back into that room when we get there?"

  Her jaw clenched as she nodded. "I'll get everyone out, dead or alive," she promised, her voice a deathly quiet that I barely heard. "Then I'll raze that room to the ground."

  "You do that," I agreed.

  Bianca left immediately and, after glaring at some of the older werewolves long enough that they felt uncomfortable and vacated the nearest booth, Dimitri took post in there and began drafting out a basic floor plan of Prometheus. I left him there, heading to the counter where Lorraine was and showing the rest of the pack several of Jed's files.

  It wasn't until then that I realised how much Jed had planned ahead, not just for me but for the whole pack in his absence. Each clause under the contracts he'd made with the other packs had a call-in during emergency. Most of the packs he'd signed with would willingly lend their troops to Titan should the pack require it.

  "Contact Io, Phobos and Deimos," I said at last, after Vaughn had showed me the similar clauses under those files. "They're the closest to us, they can get here in good time. Does anyone have the file for Callisto?"

  "Over here." Rowle held up the black file in his hand and pushed his way to the counter to lay the contents out in front of me. "But Callisto's always been neutral in any war."

  I bit my lip and scanned the contents of the contract. Callisto was always a tricky one. It was the second biggest pack after Ganymede, but legend had it that the Alpha of Ganymede was a vicious one, and Jed's mother had proven it. Raum, she'd called him, if Raum was still the current Alpha there.

  But Callisto was different. It was a pack known for maintaining peace, not just within but throughout the rest of the packs. Jed had once told me that ever since taking over as Alpha, he'd been trying to push Titan in that direction. The fact that Callisto had been single-handedly managed by a Luna all this while made the pack even more formidable. Its resources were vast, security top-notch and, most of all, was just past the intersection as a neighbour to Titan.

  "Look at this," I said to Rowle, pointing out the last section of the contract. "Callisto will provide shelter should Titan require it," I read out, before nodding at him. "Contact Callisto. Ask them if it's possible for us to send our old and young over to their side for the time being – basically anyone else who chooses not to or is incapable of going to Prometheus can wait there. And the prisoners we captured from Prometheus – ask if we can leave them over there for the time being. Tell Callisto that Titan is in a state of emergency without an Alpha, and that we would appreciate if they could offer us supplies in any form, as well as security to seal up our perimeters while the rest of us are gone."

  Rowle agreed and grabbed the file to dial Callisto's headquarters. Minutes later, Vaughn returned and the expression on his face was far less grim this time. "The other three packs are on their way, Luna."

  "Good."

  I smiled at him and instincti
vely reached for the pendant on my neck as I gazed round at the others. Worried faces, hopeful ones, terrified for the remaining few. It was all a blend that made me feel like Armageddon was round the corner and the only person whose hand I wanted to hold through it all was gone.

  Still alive, though. His emotions felt like a pulse, like I could feel his heart beating despite all those miles that separated us.

  "Don't give up yet," I said to the pack quietly, taking the cup of coffee that Lorraine held out to me and dragging in a deep breath like it was going to be my last. "It's going to be a long night."

  * * *

  Prometheus was nothing but sinister shadows.

  It cut an eerie sight in the dark, its towers tall like a wrecked castle that loomed ahead, blocking out all the stars in the night sky. Some distance away, I could hear the crashing of torrid waves against the rocks. The back tower had been built on the edge of a cliff, where an abyss of dark water and jagged boulders lay many feet below. I remembered seeing it when I was previously locked up in the headquarters. Remembered wanting to hurl myself off the balcony as a desperate means of escape but realising that it wasn't escape that awaited me below, but death.

  "Luna." Vaughn's voice was quiet as he sidled up to me, not making a sound despite the fact that we were standing on the forest floor, dried leaves scattered about and the sandy grass beneath our feet. "The packs have secured the other exits. We're ready on your count."

  "Alright," I returned quietly. "When I give the signal, we get in as discreetly as we can. Take out the guards first. And Harvie," I added, to the boy who was standing several feet away, looking far more anxious than he let on. He and his friends and insisted on coming along, despite my attempts to persuade them to stay at Callisto. And I figured – if Spike and Jed trusted them enough to teach them how to fight, maybe I needed to trust them enough to do this too. "Take Dion and Terence with you, and disconnect the siren along the main door. I don't want Prometheus finding out that we're here before we can even attack."

  Harvie nodded and offered me a bright smile that seemed to mask his nerves, if only for a few seconds. Everyone else seemed just as nervous. Only the few who'd been fighting more battles than they could count – like Vaughn and Dimitri, were waiting calmly with impassive looks on their faces. And Bianca was actually chewing gum, blowing it into a bright pink bubble and swallowing it before it could pop.

  I would've laughed at the ridiculous nature of her actions had I not been so terrified myself.

  I shut my eyes and let out a quiet breath. The air was still and the place was as silent as a grave. All I could think about was how I was this close to Jed and I couldn't lose him. Not now, not ever. My knife was in my hands and if you gave me a choice between losing Jed and killing someone to save Jed, I would've picked the latter option without a second thought. Maybe days ago, the mere thought of that would've terrified me; but now, I didn't even blink.

  And now I finally understood. Understood the thin line that Jed had been treading upon this whole time, the reason why Jed did the things he did, over and over and over again, more times than he could ever count.

  Maybe, in order to rid the world of monsters, you had to become one of the monsters yourself.

  Opening my eyes, I took a deep breath and nodded.

  The sound of the rowdy waves in the distance drowned out everything else – the discreet sounds of bones cracking and fur sifting as the rest of the pack shifted, except for the few who remained by my side in their human form. Vaughn was communicating my orders quietly with the other packs, and when he was done, he led Titan towards the closest door. He moved with the proficiency of a skilled fighter, not as swift and fast as Jed but bulkier in nature. The two guards had already sensed that something was amiss, but they could barely shift before Vaughn clipped them neatly on the back of their heads, tossing them aside as though they weighed nothing at all.

  He was the first one to unlock the door and, after he shifted, was the first one in, with the rest of the pack following him. A moment later, I heard the distant sound of growls and howls echoing through the silence of the night, but thankfully, the alarm didn't go off and I knew that Harvie, Dion and Terence had somehow disconnected it. Good thing, too. We couldn't have Surtur and Kalyke joining in the fight so soon.

  I lingered behind with Dimitri, Lorraine and Bianca; and the latter's eyes were sharp as she eyed one of the side doors. It was the one that I'd escaped through the previous time, and Dimitri knew the guards' schedule like the back of his hand. No one was guarding it now, and we made our way to the wooden doors quietly.

  Bianca picked the lock, her deft fingers shoving a strip of metal through the metal case until she heard a click, before twisting the lock and opening the door with a flourish. "Voilà."

  She was still smirking, and Lorraine and I were still looking impressed when Dimitri suddenly sent two knives whizzing past us. The silver shards buried themselves by the hilt into the limbs of two guards who'd been charging at us, and we hadn't even noticed them heading our way when the door opened.

  Dimitri gave her a flat look. "Remember when you called yourself Luna of Prometheus?" he started sardonically, as he retrieved his knives from the fallen guards. "What made you think that was an apt title?"

  Bianca shot him a frosty glare before tugging the strap of her bag further up her shoulder. "Come on," she said to Lorraine, jerking her head in the direction of the east wing. "Let's go visit Malthus's playroom."

  Lorraine rolled her eyes but followed all the same, and I watched until the two of them had disappeared out of sight before turning to Dimitri. "Are the prisoners usually kept around there?" I asked, pointing towards the west wing, where there seemed to be no doors in sight.

  Dimitri frowned. "Usually over there." He gestured to the spiral staircase straight ahead that would lead us up to the upper floors and I recognised it immediately. It was the same stairs that led up to my room when I was held here.

  I took two steps that way before pausing in my tracks. Something was pulling me back. Like gravity, an intangible force that made me want to backtrack instead of moving forward, threw that metaphorical compass off its bearings until all the needle was pointed towards was – Jed.

  I glanced at Dimitri and made a quick decision. "Let's try that way," I said, pointing to the west wing. The walkway was narrow, with only a faint, flickering light positioned along one of the pillars. "Where's the secret passageway you drew on the floor plan?"

  Dimitri paused for a moment, his eyes darting in clear hesitation to the stairwell he'd pointed me towards, before turning back to the empty corridor. "Over there," he said at last, striding ahead until he'd reached a patch of wall that seemed to have no visible signs of a door, even one that was wedged within the concrete. But he stretched out a hand, seeming to know exactly where it was, placing three strategic fingers along the edge.

  Neither of us were prepared for the siren that immediately wailed throughout the grounds.

  "Shit," Dimitri swore, flinching away from the wall, even as a digital print crept to the edges of concrete, outlining the distinct shape of the door before the patch of wall slid open to let us in. Inside, a spiralled staircase wound up, the pathway dark and dusty. Dimitri ignored that and shook his head, glancing sideways to check if anyone had come after us. "They must've keyed me out of the system."

  "No backtracking," I said firmly, when he braced himself for an inevitable attack. The alarm was all but screaming at such a terrifying decibel, but it had already been triggered and we couldn't waste any more time. "We're going in."

  Dimitri nodded and stepped in with me, letting the door slide shut behind us. We scaled the small flight of stairs, only to come by a landing that led up to still another flight of stairs. Dimitri simply gestured me up, and we continued climbing, until I knew we'd reached somewhere near the top of the tower.

  But it wasn't all for nothing, because when we rounded that final corner, I stopped short when I saw a familiar figure hun
ched over in the far end of the room.

  "Jed!"

  I immediately rushed over, sinking down to my knees on the gravelly floor in front of him. He was dressed in nothing but a ragged pair of jeans, cuts and bruises scattered all over his body, open wounds that didn't seem to heal as quickly as they should have, and I knew at once that silver had been used on him.

  Reaching for him, I cradled his face gently between my palms and choked back a sob. It hadn't hit me until then how close to the edge I had been all this while, hanging by a frayed thread that had long worn thin without him. "Jed," I whispered, shaking him lightly when he kept his eyes shut, lashes fanning out against his bruised cheekbones. "Jed, wake up."

  Slowly, as though it took a tremendous effort just for that single action alone, Jed peeled open his eyelids and his tired green eyes latched onto me. His features crumpled with relief, and he swallowed, his voice raspy with fatigue and pain when he finally spoke. "Quinn?"

  "Hey." I smiled, blinking back tears as I pressed my lips gently to his forehead. He smelled of blood, sweat, and another scent that was uniquely him, and it was all so fitting at a time like this. "I'm here now," I said softly, "and I'll get you out of here, I promise. Just stay with me."

  He nodded weakly and I shifted to the side, holding him up with one arm. It wasn't until then that I realised what had kept him trapped there – a set of chains that gleamed silver latched to the wall, and the cuffs wrapped around his wrist required a key to unlock. Silver spikes lined the inner side of the handcuffs, so that if he so much as tugged, the sharp edges would dig into his flesh. There wasn't even a glimmer of a chance for him to pull himself out, and he'd tried, if the lacerations across his wrist were any indication.