by Ben Reeder
“I was...I …” Again the words refused to come, and Kain tilted his head to the side. I felt a strange warmth pass through me, then it was gone.
“You were forced,” he said. “Only a very powerful alpha could have done this. They forced you to change...more than once… and you were beaten. Severely. On top of all of that, your new alpha compelled you not to talk about it.”
“Chance, nod if that’s what happened,” Dr. C said. My head bobbed up and down, and I let out a relieved sigh.
“How did you do that?” Kain demanded. “He shouldn’t have been able to counter an alpha’s command like that.”
“It’s a wizard thing,” Dr. Corwin said. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me,” Kain said. Shade pulled me to the side, her musk getting stronger the longer we were together.
“I want you so bad right now,” she whispered when we rounded the corner of the house. I took her in my arms and kissed her, trying to say the same thing with the kiss instead of repeating what she’d just said. She held me tight, kissing back just as eagerly.
“Shade! Chance! Get back here!” Kain’s voice cut through our bubble of bliss.
“Asshole,” we muttered together. Shade smiled at me and giggled.
“Come on, we better get back before his highness starts doing more than yelling,” she said. She pulled away and took my hand, tugging me after her with a smile that promised to finish what we’d started. We walked back to the adults hand in hand. Dr. C and Kim smiled when we came around the corner, but Kain’s face went dark. He came up to us and shoved us apart.
“This isn't the time to be playing kissy-face and grab-ass,” he said, turning to Shade. “You have responsibilities to something other than your crotch, girl. And you need to be setting a good example for how an alpha should be treated, even by an equal.”
“I’m not one to kiss ass,” Shade said.
“You don’t have to like me or agree with me, but I am an alpha, and you do not set the kind of example you just set for a lesser pack member. Now, get out of here. I need to start teaching Chance here how to behave.” Shade glared at him, but kissed me and headed for her bike. “You, come with me. It’s time you learned how a real pack works.” He headed for his bike, and all I could do was follow, since my car was back at the house, as far as I knew.
“Chance,” Dr. C called after me. I stopped to let him catch up. He gestured, and the air was filled with a low buzz while he stepped around in front of me, putting his back to Kain. “Be careful. Your magick is getting weaker. You can’t rely on it any more.”
“I’m starting to develop other gifts,” I said.
“I know, but you still need to learn how to use them. Look, I don’t exactly...trust Kain. He’s got another agenda here.”
“He’s not the one you need to worry about,” I said softly. Dr. C nodded and smiled, then patted me on the shoulder and moved out of the way.
“Corwin was trying to sow distrust, wasn’t he?” Kain asked when he tossed me a simple bowl helmet. “Trying to tell you I was up to something, isolate you from your support as a Were’.”
“Not your business,” I growled. “It was between a master and an apprentice.”
“You don’t keep things from your alpha, boy,” he said. He started the bike and gestured for me to get on.
“You’re not my alpha,” I said as I climbed on behind him. He pulled away from the curb and headed east, until we were circling the edge of the lake going north, through the country club section and the marinas where the big, fancy boats waited for their owners to come play on them. Once we cleared the weekend condos and high end tourist traps, we were heading northwest, into the national forest. Kain took a side road that was marked with an old sign that read “Nevada 2” in white on a brown background. We drove past side streets full of overgrown yards and abandoned houses, and turned onto a four lane road that ran between old brick buildings. My hackles went up, and my mystic senses started a buzzing in my head as we headed further west. Dark magick permeated the area ahead, even my dulled perceptions could tell that. The town was too quiet, not even the sound of birds reached my ears. Kain turned south, and the harsh sensation fell to the edge of my senses. He turned left, past a sign that read “Radio Springs Park.”
We stopped in the open area of the park, and I pushed myself off the back of his bike. Even this far away from the source of whatever darkness permeated the town, the place felt oppressive. The air was heavy, the silence almost a feeling of sound being absorbed more than absent. I took my helmet off and set it on the back of the bike, then looked around. Nothing felt right here. Kain set his helmet on the handlebars and got off the bike to face me.
“Who is your alpha?” Kain asked. I looked at him and struggled with how to reply. The part of me that had been Dulka’s slave for eight years wanted to say no one, but the wolf in me knew who it was subject to, and couldn’t answer the question. “Oh, that’s right, you can’t talk about that. But you do recognize that you have one. And don’t worry, we’ll fix that whole issue with the alpha who turned you. But here is what you need to remember. First, there is a hierarchy in a pack, one that you are at the bottom of now. You are no longer Shade’s equal. None of the pack is, save me.”
“And Sinbad,” I said.
“Maybe,” Kain shrugged. “I’m sure now that Shade is stronger than he is, and I know I am. He’s been struggling to keep her under his thumb these past two years or so, trying to pair her with lesser betas and cuckolded alphas in order to keep her in line. Either way, that isn’t your concern. You are, at best, a gamma in the structure of the pack. And the absolute best you can hope for is to end up as a weak beta. Still far from ever being in her league, as far as real power is concerned.”
“I don’t do well with authority,” I said. “And Shade had no problem with dating a mage.”
“That’s because she could overlook your weakness while that’s all you were,” Kain said. “She could ignore her true destiny without doing much harm to her pack while you were outside the structure of it. But now, you’re subject to the same laws she is, and an alpha only mates with another alpha. You will only make her look weak, Chance. And that will end up hurting her. It will probably end up getting her killed. She won’t be able to lead effectively if she has to protect you all the time, and she’ll never command the respect of other, more powerful pack members if she’s with you.”
“They already respect me,” I said. “And I’ve already killed an alpha. I can take care of myself, and so can Shade. Why is it everyone’s so dead set against us being together?”
Kain’s answer was a casual backhand that sent me flying back several yards. I hit the ground and skidded across the turf on my back. When I came to a stop, Kain was already hurtling through the air toward me. I rolled to the side and came to my feet, but I wasn’t fast enough. A second backhand sent me flying again, but this time, I was ready and stuck the landing. Kain flew overhead, and I jumped up, then spun in a sideways roundhouse that should have sent him flying. It connected and knocked him off his trajectory, but he landed on his feet. I ducked under the flying kick and rolled in his direction, coming up under the punch he threw. He brought his knee up, and I kicked it aside at the same time I thrust my fists forward. The double punch caught him in the chest and staggered him.
The next thing I knew, I was on my knees, my skull pounding from a new assault, this one in my head. An immensely powerful will hammered at mine, seeking to overcome me by sheer force. I started to fight against it, only to face a new attack from Kain. I blocked the first few punches before I realized what was going on, but suddenly, I found myself overwhelmed, my will battered. The next punch connected, hard, and I hit the ground again. The shock stunned me, and in the next moment, my will crumbled, and I was on my hands and knees, my wolf whimpering in my head and begging me to stop. I would never beat Kain like this, he was too strong, both mentally and physically. The realization was like a relief. There was no sha
me in it, in knowing what was true. In understanding that he was right.
I shook my head. I knew mind control when I felt it, and the change was too quick. It didn’t feel right. Still, I knew I wasn’t going to win against him. That part was right.
“Submit to me,” Kain demanded.
“Shut the hell up,” I said. I turned my head so I could look up at him. “And get out of my head!” I closed my mental shields up again.
“You dare!” he said.
“Yeah, I dare, and I won’t stop. I had a fucking demon rooting around in my head for years. If this is how you run things, you’re no better than he was, and I will do everything I can to kill you.” The assault in my head stopped, and Kain straightened.
“That’s more like it,” he said.
“Don't give me some bullshit about this being a test,” I said, getting to my feet. Kain’s punch slammed me back down.
“It wasn’t a test, it was a lesson,” he said. “You saw how easily I beat you. And I was holding back. Another alpha won’t. You may have the respect of Shade’s pack, but you haven’t earned anyone else’s, least of all mine. Without a powerful enough alpha at her side to protect her, she is going to face challenge after challenge, and the first one is going to come right after they kill you to prove how weak you were. The best thing you can do is to be the one to walk away. Because you can think what you want, but I just proved that you can’t do anything to back it up. If you say anything about this to Shade, you’re going to look weak to her, and prove that you’re not worthy of her. It’s better for you to be the one to walk away, so she can at least remember you being strong.”
“Is that why you brought me out here?” I said. “To tell me I have to break up with Shade?” I got to my feet, my movements slow.
“No, I brought you out here to teach you to control your change, but I see you aren’t ready for anything of substance. You’re still clinging to your pride, so you're not ready to listen to your betters. And as much as you think you’re in love with Shade, the truth you’re not ready to accept is that you’re letting your crotch call the shots here.” He went back to his bike and grabbed his helmet, then straddled it and put it on. I started to follow, but he turned to me and pointed a finger in my direction. “If you can’t accept the truth, you’re on your own. So find your way home without me, boy.” He gunned the bike and took off.
“Asshole!” I yelled after him while he roared away. I watched him ride out of the park, then started walking. If he was waiting for me to break down and beg for his help, he was in for a long wait. Besides, I’d gone further with less before. Dr. Corwin had started me on a fitness regimen a couple of years ago, the whole fit mind in a fit body approach, and if I was in decent shape before, I was a freaking werewolf now. If you have the time, pretty much everywhere is walking distance, or, in my case, running distance. I took off at a jog, my route already set in my head. I knew I could probably make it home at a full run, or, if I knew how to change, I could turn into a wolf and get there even faster.
Since I was out in the middle of nowhere, I figured I might as well test my speed and endurance, even if I couldn’t go furry at will yet. I picked up my pace once I made it to the entrance to the park and went all out, to see how far I could go before I had to take a breather. Less than ten minutes later, I was passing the two mile marker sign for Nevada, and I was only just starting to feel the strain. I went from a dead on sprint to a more sustainable run, and realized that I was probably still moving about as fast as a normal person could sprint. Less than half an hour later, I was in the yacht and condo district, and looking at the ferry that plied the tourist crowd. It made regular runs across Diamond Lake, every half hour. The ferry was just pulling away from the dock, and everyone was looking forward, listening to the tour guide extol the wonders of the lake and New Essex. If I was a normal person, I would have been stuck, with the ferry almost twenty feet away from the dock. But just then, I wasn’t normal, not by a long shot. I could make that jump, I was sure of it.
Before I could doubt myself, I was running toward the edge of the dock, then I was in the air, flying across now twenty-five feet over the cold blue water of the lake. But my wolf had been the one to make the jump, and mid flight, I realized I was leading with my hands. Then my palms were making contact with the railing and pushing me upward so my feet could plant on the rail beside them and push off so that I bounded forward again in a low, flat dive that brought me to the deck right in front of a bench. Instinctively, I rolled under the bench and pushed myself to stand, coming to a stop two feet behind the crowd of rapt tourists as they listened to the guide go on about Hamblin Tower. My heart was pounding in my chest, and there was a light sheen of sweat on my forehead, but more than that, I was grinning like an idiot. Looking back at the widening gap between the dock and the ferry, the only thing I could think was that I was gloriously alive!
For the rest of the ride, I stayed at the bow, enjoying the wind on my face, the new scents and the sensation of movement. When the boat docked at the downtown marina, I was the first off, heading for the elevated train. An easy fifteen foot jump brought me to the roof of the awning over the platform. When the train started to move, I jumped to the roof of the last car and grabbed the edge of the vent on the top. Then the train got moving, and I just ducked my head down next to my arm and held on until the train got to the stop I needed.
The biggest way the transit authority kept people from doing exactly what I was doing was by making the tops of the cars almost impossible for normal people to get onto, and equally difficult for them to get off those cars without being seen. But for me, the top of the awning at the next station was in easy reach, and I slid down the arched side until I was walking down the angled support beam.
It was another two or three miles to get home, and I made it to the back gate in under twenty minutes. I let myself in the back door, grabbed last night’s leftovers from the fridge as I went through the kitchen, and bounded up the stairs to my room. My backpack and my keys were still on my desk, and I grabbed my dark phone from its hiding place in my closet. The message light was blinking when I pulled the flat black phone from its spot. I used my fingerprint to open it, and found Shade’s text waiting for me.
>> Shade: Where are you? Are you okay?>>
My fingers danced across the glass.
<
>> Shade: He said you’d say that. Why did you take off? He said he would have given you a ride home.>>
<
>>Shade: We need to sit down and talk about this, baby. Meet me at Dante’s?
<
>>Shade: Miss you, too. See you soon.>>
By then I was out the front door, and I stopped in my tracks, staring at the screen. Shade usually ended our texts with “Love you.” This time, that was missing. I sat there, staring at the screen, waiting for the words to pop up, trying to will them into existence. Not daring to be the one to say them first. Kain’s words bored into my skull. I’d look weak if I dropped the words first, trying to get her to say them back. Shade needed me to be strong, she’d said that the first time things went rocky with us. She needed someone to be in charge sometimes, to be an alpha to her, so she didn’t have to be the big wolf all the time.
The first sign I was in danger was the sharp sting at my neck. Only when I looked up did the scent of other people register. The world started to go fuzzy for a moment, but I fought it off and tried to focus on my phone. More by muscle memory, I closed the text page and tapped the round, red icon on my screen. It turned into a red three, then two, then one and disappeared.
“Okay phone,” I said, my words coming too slow. “Call Mom.” I hit the grass after that, unable to move, barely able to make out sounds.
“Get the phone,” I heard a voice say. “And help me
get him in his car.” The last thing I was aware of for a while was being picked up.
Chapter 6
~ The teacher who does not learn from the student is no teacher. ~
Proverb among Chinese mages
I woke up quickly, which was new. I’d been knocked out more times than glass-jawed boxer, so I knew a few things about regaining consciousness. Usually, it wasn’t a quick thing. And usually, I spent a little more time being confused and disoriented. Evidently, my new condition meant I woke up fast. And alert. My eyes opened and I knew right where I was. The smell of woodsmoke, the spices in the air and the scent of the people around me all told me I was not far from the Mulani camp. I was stripped to the waist and my hands were chained over my head to the pole I was leaning up against.
“I am sorry it must come to this,” my grandfather said from behind me. “But we will spare your mother the worst of it.”
“That’s real nice of you,” I said.
“As far as she will know, you just disappeared tonight, running away to spare her the pain of having to kill you, and to spare yourself the fear of accidentally hurting her or your sister. Your body will never be found, and you will die with a clean conscience.”
“I thought you were smarter than this, grandfather,” I said.
“Your mother is Roma,” he said from behind me. “She knows what we must do. But she refuses to see what must be done. But, it’s understandable. You are her son. If it was her…”
“If it was her, you’d probably tell her it was for her own good right before you pulled the fucking trigger,” I snarled, turning to face him. He stood there, out of easy reach, with a revolver in one gnarled hand. He shuffled his feet a little, the soles of his work boots scraping against the asphalt. “You’d justify it in your head and never look back, you heartless bastard.”
“Never!” he yelled, walking up and bringing the pistol across my cheek. “She is clan! She’s my blood!”
“So is he!” Mom’s voice carried across the pavement. We both turned to see her walking across the parking lot toward us. Behind her, Mulani were emerging from the camp and heading toward us. Mom’s van was parked midway between where I was and the camp. I looked around and saw that I’d been chained to a metal pole that had supported a chain link fence once upon a time. We were near the edge of the open lot, not far from the trees.
