Fault Lines

by K. C. Stewart

  *****

  Cobie had left school and was on his way to Vince’s house. They had only met twice so far but already he felt himself seeking Vince’s approval. The first time they met, he had gotten right to the point. Vince walked him through changing, even telling him stories of when he was a pup and the many ways he had almost given his mother a heart attack. What Cobie found out was that his struggles were normal; he wasn’t going to be perfect right off the bat and he needed to practice. That’s what Vince was for. He was like his own private tutor.

  He just couldn’t tell his friends that.

  They’d tease him about it. About how the Alpha gave him a babysitter, but Cobie found that he didn’t care what they said. Vince wasn’t a babysitter; he was a cool guy and didn’t treat him like a burden, like most men he met. Cobie found himself excited to be going to his house after school instead of hanging out with his friends till his mom got home.

  Vince lived outside of town a few miles. Cobie had left his bike at home that morning and was walking back to get it. About one block in front of him he saw the woman from the woods; the one Mr. Purcell liked so much. Cobie couldn’t blame him, she was pretty great. If she hadn’t found him as she had, he would have thought of her attractive but all he felt towards her was respect and loyalty. She had sat and talked with him and even though he had been a wolf. She hadn’t been scared at all. When he had calmed down enough to her liking, she had gotten the trap off his leg and used her shirt to wrap it. Unfortunately he couldn’t thank her without confusing her. They all knew the rules about that. But he hoped that she knew how grateful he was.

  Mira, he had remembered, was a block and a half in front of him on the other side of the street. Her shoulders were rounded and sunken down as she slowly walked, her feet dragging every so often. He could see that her head was down and her gradient hair was thrown up and twisted on top of her head. It wasn’t her normal look of polished confidence, but more sorrowful. Cobie wished he could thank her for that day. If there was anyone who needed a hug, it was her and he would have been glad to make her smile even if it made him late to meet Vince.

  She had just crossed an alley way when a van pulled out behind her blocking Cobie’s view of her. A cut off scream came from her direction. His wolf perked up. Instincts told him to keep his head down and not to be seen. And he did his best not to look startled because the man driving the van looked at him. He kept his eyes glued to his phone even though he really wanted to check on Mira. The man’s eyes were still on him, he could feel the heavy weight of them just watching him. Cobie hoped that with his sun glasses on and his ear buds in looked like an uninterested teenager on his phone.

  The van door closed with a bang and the van pulled out onto the street. Mira wasn’t where she should have been on the sidewalk. She wasn’t anywhere. He needed to do something but his mind wasn’t processing fast enough. As the van passed, Cobie opened the camera on his phone and lifted it up like he was taking a selfie, which he never did unless Kara Patrick was the one asking. He clicked a string of pictures before the van turned off the street heading for the highway.

  Once they were out of sight, Cobie ripped out his ear buds and fumbled with shaking hands to called the only person he could think of, Vince.

  “They have her!” he yelled when Vince picked up.

  Unlike most adults, Vince didn’t ask stupid questions. “Who?”

  “Mira.”

  “Who is Mira?” Vince asked calmly.

  The words were heavy in his throat. “She…she’s the woman who got my paw out of the trap. I just saw a van take her.” Even to Cobie, he was beginning to sound a tad hysterical.

  “Take a breath Cobie,” Vince’s deep calming voice told him. “Where are you?”

  Cobie gave his address and promised to stay there until he arrived. It only took Vince five minutes. Cobie had sat down on the curb and stared at the place where Mira had just been walking, where a woman was just snatched from the side of the road. How could he just stand there and do nothing? He didn’t yell or run to help. He could have done…something, should have done something. He was thoroughly stuck in the process of blaming himself when Vince parked and came to sit beside him.

  “That where it happen?”

  He nodded. That’s where he let a woman be taken.

  “Did you get a look at any of them?” Vince asked.

  “Just a little of the driver.” And he had gotten a look of me too.

  “Something is better than nothing. What about the car?”

  Cobie pulled out his phone and found the picture he took, then handed the phone to Vince. “It’s all I could think to do. It’s…” He wasn’t sure what he would have said. Luckily Vince cut in.

  “This is good. This is really good Cobie.” He sounded proud, which made Cobie look up at him. Pride wasn’t something most people felt when they looked at him, especially when he screwed up this badly.

  “I could have done more.”

  Vince was a “tell it like it is, no nonsense” kind of man. “Maybe. Maybe not. What if you would have yelled out and they came and took you too? Or just shot you for getting in their way? The best thing you could have done is exactly what you did. Now we know she was taken and have a head start on this. And this picture,” he handed back Cobie’s phone, “this might just save her life.” Vince bumped his shoulder with his. “Like I said, you did well.”

  Cobie felt a little better but guilt still ate at him.

  “We need to tell the Alpha,” Cobie knew that was coming. He wasn’t looking forward to it. “He’s waiting for us just around the corner.”

  “Did you tell him anything yet?”

  Vince stood up and Cobie followed after. “No, I just told him it was an emergency and that we were on our way.”

  He was so calm and collected about everything that Cobie began to settle. The drive was only about two minutes and Mr. Purcell was waiting outside for them. Cobie couldn’t tell what he was thinking because he had totally shut down his face. This was what Cobie considered the “Alpha face.” Usually, Mr. Purcell was smiling but when he had his Alpha face on, he was all business. Cobie had seen that face directed at him quite a lot in the past few weeks.

  “Vince. Cobie.” He shook not only Vince’s hand but also Cobie’s which surprised him and made him feel important. That simple act made him feel more like a man. “Let’s go sit down and you can tell me about this emergency.”

  *****

  When Owen had gotten to The Wick, he had spent some time with Chuck gathering what he could about Mira’s visit with Mitch Riley. Nobody had bothered to call and fill him in on the events of the night prior. No one thought that he might be interested to know what was happening to the woman he obviously was sweet on and the man who was here to hurt in some way, one of his wolves. The only reason he was there was because Chuck had noticed the lack of Mr. Riley and when he went to his room to check on the man, he had apparently packed up and left at some point in the night.

  But they knew better.

  Chuck smelled an unknown wolf and suspected Canidae. Without a pack Enforcer, these things fell on Owen’s shoulders. Lee had taken his appointments at his veterinary clinic and he was going to take the day to hunt down the lawyer.

  Mira had put a small chink in his plans. First he was furious and a little bit proud of how she schmoozed herself up with Mr. Riley. And second because when he saw her run down the stairs, next to tears, he felt helpless. Mira and Sadie were in a perpetual state of anger and tears. So of course Mira felt the need to curse his town and his people, instead of just talking it out with her sister who was the real person she was angry with. He understood her pain but it still hurt to hear her talk about his home and family like that. So in his petty frustration, he let her run off into the morning.

  He found Sadie upstairs in Mira’s room with the door open. She sat on the bed staring at nothing in particular. Tears streaked down her cheeks as her eyes swelled. She was puffy faced and feeling migh
ty sorry for herself. He sat beside her and took part in one of his favorite reasons for being Alpha of the pack, he comforted her.

  Owen, by nature, was a nurturer. He liked to take care of both people and animals alike. His father had always told him that a good Alpha was not only the most dominate wolf in the pack, but also the best hugger.

  He wrapped his arms around her and let her poor herself into his chest. Sobs shook her shoulders. Owen rocked her and rubbed soft circles in her back. Through the pack bond, he could feel her pain. It was muted to nonexistent for the other wolves but as Alpha, he could feel it, sympathize with it.

  When she settled he asked her what happened. Apparently things had been said by both of them but it was the guilt over her mating with Tyson that had done her in. She had always carried some guilt concerning her family but with Mira here, it came to the forefront.

  Owen didn’t have many words to offer Sadie. He had given her permission to tell Mira but she refused. So this pain could have been avoided. Or at least, some of this pain. Zach stood in the doorway. His young face staring equally horrified and mesmerized at Sadie’s crying.

  “Now is not a good time Zach,” Owen told him.

  “I can see that.” But he didn’t leave. “I heard everything if you need a more detailed description of what happened.”

  “Thank you. I’ll find you if I need too.”

  He continued to stand there. “There’s something else. I have this feeling…”

  “Yeah,” he told him partially cutting him off. “I know. I do too.”

  He blew out a breath. “Ok, that’s…well, okay.” Zach left quietly, closing the door behind him.

  The feeling they both had was a heavy weight in his gut. Something bad was happening. He thought of Sadie and Mira, but it was something worse than their family spat. He needed to care for her but that feeling was growing heavier. Owen let go of Sadie in order to stand and pace the small room.

  Sadie had wiped at her eyes, a black smear of mascara running across her face. He paced his way to the bathroom and ran a cloth under some warm water. When he came to her, he knelt and started to wipe away the aftermath of the tears. He had to swat her hands away twice.

  “Go,” she told him when he had cleaned her face. “Go handle whatever it is. I’m good. We can talk about it later.”

  Owen leaned over and kissed her hair. “It will be ok Sadie. Call Tyson and have him pick you up and take you home.” She nodded but didn’t look too enthused.

  The news came quickly. On his way down to the bar is when his phone rang. He had been expecting it and steeled himself for what was to come. Vince was on his way in with young Cobie who witnessed something. This was the feeling. This was the bad thing.

  Now Owen, Vince and Cobie all sat at a table while Chuck locked the door behind them. Waters were brought all around before Chuck left them in peace.

  “What happened Cobie?” Vince’s call had been vague but at the time he didn’t know anything.

  The adolescent wolf fidgeted. Recently, Owen had yelled at the boy because of his antics. It was no wonder that he had trouble speaking now.

  “You are in no trouble. I just need to know what happened so I can fix it. It’s what I do Cobie, I fix and I protect. Please, let me help.”

  Cobie looked to Vince who nodded ever so slightly.

  “I was on my way home from school, I was going to pick up my bike then ride over to Vince’s house but on my way home I saw her being taken.” The hard part was out and now the boy couldn’t stop the words if he tried. “She was on Third Street at the alley that runs behind the thrift store. She was all sunken into herself as she walked and I thought that she looked so sad and then this van pulled out behind her. They weren’t racing or nuthin’ but blocked my view of her.” His eyes, wide and fearful, bored into his. “She screamed. It wasn’t that loud and sounded like they cut her off somehow but she screamed and then they left and the street was empty. I did see the driver a little and I got a picture of the van and the license plate.” He pulled out his phone and with shaky hands he found the picture.

  Owen took the phone from him and sent himself the picture. It was a run of the mill white panel van with no special qualities except for a small ding in the bumper.

  “Who was this woman, Cobie? Was she pack?”

  He knew. He knew the moment the queasy feeling began in his gut who it was. Still he prayed that he was wrong.

  “Mira, Sir. It was Mira.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Did you kill her?” was the first thing Mira heard when she woke. It made her wonder the same thing because her head and neck were ungodly sore. The cold metal she laid on rattled and shook underneath of her but the coolness felt good against her heated skin.

  “Nah, she’s still breathing.”

  Well that was good to know.

  Mira took stock in her injuries. Her head and neck were the worst but her arms were beginning to cramp too. Other than that she assumed that she would live. Assumed because she was just kidnapped and who knew what they had planned.

  It was a good thing she pissed everyone off before she left or she might have a chance at rescue.

  Not helping.

  “Boys are gonna like her. The guy from yesterday broke way too fast for their liking.”

  Oh fuck.

  Someone turned around and looked at her. She could feel their eyes traveling the length of her, taking stock of her and her…assets. Her back was to them so at least they couldn’t see her face and the fear that was beginning to make her breath choke.

  “Jones said I get first crack at her. So no more bruises.” The driver, she assessed, spoke slowly, softly and deadly. His voice wasn’t deep but it did purr.

  “Don’t break her in too much. Leave some for the rest of us,” said the passenger, the one who had called out to her on the street and hit her on the head.

  “What about that kid?” The driver asked.

  “What kid?”

  The van began to slow as they pulled off the road on to a non-paved one.

  “The one on the street. Did he see anything?”

  “How the fuck should I know? You were supposed to be watching.”

  “And you were supposed to be quiet about it,” he growled.

  Mira wondered what kid had seen her and if they actually saw anything. A small flutter of hope tingled in her gut.

  “We’ll pick him up later,” the driver said. “Give her some company.”

  The passenger laughed as he looked back at her again.

  “The pack is going to love that.”

  *****

  His face remained passive but inside he was raging. The bond he shared with the pack flared to life and he could do nothing to stop the flow of emotions. It would only take a moment before they felt it. But right then, he didn’t care.

  Chuck came running out from the kitchen ready for a fight, seconds later Sadie and Zach came stampeding down the stairs. Vince and Cobie stayed seated but he could see the flex in Vince’s muscles.

  “What is it? What happened?” Sadie asked as she looked franticly around the room.

  Owen shut down the pack line to a trickle. Everyone sunk in relief but that was only because they could see he was still sitting in front of him. The rest of the pack might think he was dead with how tight he put the lid on his emotions.

  “Chuck,” he said and didn’t need anything else. The man nodded. “I’ll start the calls.”

  “Thank you.”

  Chuck would tell everyone that Owen was fine and that there was an emergency of some kind. The closing of the bond was just a precaution. At this point, they didn’t need to know what he knew.

  “Owen?” Sadie asked. She looked between Vince, Cobie and himself. “What is it?”

  He couldn’t tell her. He could barely hold himself together; he couldn’t be there for her too. Her eyes were wide and trusting. How did he tell her that her sister had been taken and the odds were great that it was all because of
him? He was failing as an Alpha, and strangely, he didn’t care.

  A tap at the door brought everyone’s heads up. Tyson stood there, eyes beating into his. Sadie hurried over to the door to let him in. Tyson looked her over and ran his hands down her shoulders and back. When he was content with her state, he pulled her into his chest and kissed her head.

  “You ok?” he asked and she nodded. He then turned his concern toward him. “Owen, care to explain why I almost wrecked Mira’s jeep into the bank?”

  At Mira’s name a pulse went through him. The bond that he had all but shut down swelled to bursting. He saw it in all their faces. The pain that was hidden, churning inside of his chest reflected in them.

  Tyson was the only one who caught the trigger. “Fuck.” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “What happened to Mira?”

  He couldn’t answer. He couldn’t speak. His hands were fisted at his side. He wanted to rage. To change and destroy everything thing. He wanted to kill like he has never before experienced. It would be easy to do, become the berserker his kind was once known to be. But that wouldn’t solve this. That wouldn’t save her.

  Tyson’s hand came down on his shoulder. “I know where you are at right now, Brother. You need to breathe.”

  Owen looked to Tyson. He didn’t think he could breathe. But Tyson showed him how.

  “Come on. Slow and deep.”

  He watched him take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Owen did the same on the next breath. Soon they were breathing in unison. His fists had relaxed somewhat and his need to change has resided.

  “Good,” Tyson said when he had calmed a degree. He then turned to Vince, his anger at full blast. “So what the hell is going on?”

  Cobie opened his mouth to explain but Vince cut him off. The boy had done his part. Done more than his share. Owen needed to focus on what they had, which was a picture of the van and license plate, a short description of the driver, and a head start. Cobie, young and scared, didn’t deserve to see his Alpha like this.

  “Cobie saw Mira taken on his way home from school. He called me and I called Owen. It happened about,” Vince looked at his watch, “40 minutes ago and we have the license plate of the van. We haven’t gone over the driver yet.”