by Sarah Beth
Just as quickly as they had broken in, they started fleeing out of the hole. Wolves followed them out, no doubt to make sure the creatures never made it to the fence of the compound. And if they did make it over — they were the lucky ones.
Wesley bumped her side, again. Ira has a vampire cornered. It’s still alive.
Abby wondered if it would ever not be weird to have Wesley’s wolf form looking at her and his voice speaking in her head. Nodding, she held some of his fur in her hand as they headed for the corner where Ira and Alex stood, snarling deep in their throats. Soryn kept close to her other side, his sword still held firm in his hand. When they reached the cornered vampire, Abby felt a pang in her chest. It was just a kid, no older than Tori had been when she was Turned. How different his life must look. He should’ve been in school and hanging with friends, not fighting a war.
Speaking low, a whisper so quiet Abby barely heard him and she was standing beside him, Soryn spoke in the Faye tongue. The vampire fell limp onto the ground, his face no longer panicked. Before she could ask, Soryn sheathed his sword. “He’s asleep. I didn’t kill him.”
As wolves began the painful process of shifting back into their human forms, Abby couldn’t take her eyes off the vampire in front of her. She wasn’t naïve; she knew why Soryn had spelled him. She just hoped he would give up information quickly, and sooner rather than later. For his own sake.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Wesley
The clean up from the full moon attack took longer than any of them had been ready for. Hours later, they were back in the control room. “We’re going to be interrogating him this afternoon, when he’s at his weakest.” Alex said, looking across the table at Wesley, as if he knew what Wesley was thinking. “I’d like you to accompany us.”
A pit formed in Wesley’s stomach, but he nodded. He’d only been present for one interrogation before, and it had left him shaken. His wolf may have revealed in the blood and violence, but if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t like it. Defending those he cared for, defending Abby, was a different story. But hurting someone to make them talk? No, it would never be his cup of tea. But he understood what Alex was trying to do — they were at war. The more prepared he was for what lay ahead, the better. And besides, Warren wasn’t there. Alex needed the support of his pack just as much as they needed him.
Warmth spread up his arm, and over his body like a blanket. As Alex began asking a question, Wesley glanced at his Mate. Even without the emotions being shared between them, he could see concern etched into every inch of her face. She was trying to comfort him, knew that he wasn’t looking forward to what lay ahead, knew he was scared. Shouldn’t he be the one comforting her? Her lips pulled into a small smile. We comfort each other.
Uncaring about the dozen eyes in the room, he clasped her hand tightly in his own. Her emotions and concern for him amplified by their touch, but he welcomed the all-encompassing distraction. The room fell away, the fear of what lay ahead for them dissipated. All that mattered was his hand on hers and their own world.
He could have stayed in the space they created together forever, but a strange sensation was poking at him. It took him a moment to realize it was someone else’s mind, trying to make contact. He recoiled from it, unused to anyone being in his consciousness except Abby. But his Mate seemed unconcerned, only sent more comforting emotions to him before slowly extracting herself from their world.
As her warmth was pulled off him, snaking down his arm and out his fingertips, he shivered. His eyes refocused on the room. Everything around him was in hyper-focus — Abby’s face held a slight blush dusting her cheeks, Soryn’s face over her shoulder looked apologetic. He could see the specks of dust floating in the air around them, could hear every heartbeat in the room. Even without a mirror, he knew his eyes were more wolf than human.
Someone cleared their throat, loudly.
Wesley snapped his head to the sound, a growl only just contained in his throat. Ira was looking at them with a brow raised, but his lips quirked up in one corner. With effort, Wesley took a deep breath and upon exhaling, let his wolf sink back under his skin.
Ira eyed him for a moment longer before shaking his head, “Interesting.”
Wesley didn’t like the way the old wolf said the word interesting. It felt like the man wanted to studying him; study Abby. Wesley knew without a doubt that that would never happen.
“If you’re back with us, we were just discussing the course of action for the day.” Alex’s voice was light, the sound of a barely contained chuckle in his voice. Wesley fought a blush threatening to appear on his face. It didn’t help that his pack siblings were looking at him like he would regret every second of it for the rest of his existence.
“I have a penthouse in the City. Briggs will take Abigail and the rest of your pack there for the day. I have some of my best wolves guarding the area, so don’t let her safety be of your concern.”
He struggled not to snort. Abby’s welfare would always be his concern. It was more of a comfort to know that Tori, Kyle and Soryn would be with her, than the fact that Ira had his wolves on the job. But he nodded his head at the Alpha, “Thank you, Ira.”
The wolf nodded before turning back to Alex, his face losing its momentary smile. “Again, my apologies my old friend. I know you’ve just gotten your pack together again.”
Alex nodded solemnly, a slight frown pulling at his lips. “It’s alright, Ira. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up after all of this.”
Sharing a glance with Soryn over Abby’s head, Wesley wondered when “all of this” would be over. The look that Soryn gave him had the same question written in plain sight. As people began to move away from the table, Briggs arrived at his Alpha’s shoulder. Wesley turned away from them though, and laid a hand on Abby’s own shoulder. She didn’t look at all happy with the turn of events.
“I want to stay with you.” Her voice was strong and absolute, bringing a much needed smile to his face.
“I know. I want you to, too. But it’ll be better this way. I’ll call you with whatever we find out.” He pulled her into his arms, breathing in her scent. But his eyes focused on Soryn.
The Faye bowed his head, hand over his heart. Upon rising, Soryn’s brows pinched together, “I feel that I must apologize, Wesley. I did not mean to breach your mind, but neither you nor Abby would hear me.”
Sighing into Abby’s hair, he nodded. He knew all too well how oblivious he and Abby could get when in one of their states. What bothered him more was that he never realized that Soryn could do that in the first place. Could all Faye speak to others using their minds? He supposed that explained some of the weird looks passed between Elazar and Lady Neidre. Focusing back on Soryn, Wesley shook his head. “It’s alright, Soryn. I should thank you, actually. I’m not sure how long we would’ve stayed like that if you hadn’t woken us.”
The Faye smiled briefly before his eyes flicked to a spot over Wesley’s shoulder. Pulling away from Abby just enough to look, he saw Briggs standing a few feet away. When their eyes met, the wolf nodded. “I am ready to escort your Mate to the City.”
He nodded, only barley containing another sigh from leaving his lips. Abby’s hands gripped at his shirt tighter, before her hands laid flat on his chest. He looked back then, down into her bright green eyes. Placing a kiss to her forehead, he took a deep breath one more time. Lilac and fresh dirt. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Maybe we’ll order some New York style pizza for dinner.”
She chuckled, leaning into his kiss before taking a step back. Looking at him, she took a deep breath and held her shoulders back just slightly. She looked so much more sure of herself when she did it. “I’ll take that as a promise.”
Nodding, he looked to Soryn behind her. The shared a look before the Faye nodded solidly, taking his place at Abby’s shoulder. Wesley may hate having to send Abby away, but at least her Guard would be beside her.
As they followed Briggs, Tori, and Kyl
e to the lift, Wesley felt Abby tug at his mind. He smiled, focusing on the imaginary rope for a moment to tug it back. She smiled at him as the garage door closed, removing her from his view. But he could still sense her. All he had to do was close his eyes.
~~~
A few hours passed, and Wesley found himself waiting by the lift with Alex. They were getting ready to head down to the cellar where the vampire was being kept. Ira was busy on the phone, speaking to one of his packs outside of the city. Trying to distract himself from the clawing feeling in his gut, he glanced around trying to find something to focus on. After the second pass of the room, Alex put a hand on his shoulder.
“You understand why I want you to be there, don’t you?”
Wesley sighed, unable to contain it, as he turned to look at his father. There was concern on Alex’s face, but also determination. Nodding, Wesley ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, Alex. I do.” He broke off what he was going to say because he didn’t even know what there was to say. He knew why Alex was asking him to stay, but he sure as hell didn’t like it.
The hand on his shoulder squeezed tight. “You’re not a child anymore, Wesley. The last few months have been proof of that.” He broke off, a small smile on his face. It disappeared quickly. “I know this sort of work isn’t your favorite, that’s why Warren is usually the one to accompany me. But—.”
“I get it, Alex. Really.” Wesley cut him off, not really wanting to hear the excuses and reasons.
Alex met his eyes and held his gaze for a few moments before nodding. His mouth opened, as if he was about to say something more, but then Ira was walking over and Alex shut it mouth. But there was a pull on the pack bond in Wesley’s head — they weren’t done talking about this.
Ira finally headed towards them, hitting the button for the elevator. “Alright, gentlemen. Are we ready?” Wesley looked at Ira, his brow still raised. The old Alpha just smiled, patting Wesley’s shoulder as he walked into the lift. “When you get to be my age, my boy, your stomach gets a lot harder for these sorts of things.”
As the rest of them piled into the lift, Wesley held his lips tightly together. He doubted that his stomach would ever be hard enough for torture. Whether it was Abby’s presence in his head or some left over temperament from his mother. Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to be some enforcer.
The garage door opened to a dark hallway, a quarter of the size of the rooms upstairs. The single strip of lighting down the middle gave off weird shadows, and it flickered every once in a while. Wesley couldn’t help but chuckle to himself - it looked like it came straight out of a horror movie. He half expected the vampire, now freed, to come running around the far corner. It was either that or a stone angel.
They walked to the end, turning the single corner, only to stop at a doorway. Two werewolves stood guard outside the metal door, grim expressions on their faces. Wesley knew, without a doubt, that the door was probably a few feet thick. Ira nodded to his guards, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, only then did the guards unlock the door. The sound of grating metal filled the hallway, reverberating in Wesley’s ears.
He was right. The door was a good two feet thick. But it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been a standard wood door. The vampire inside the room was going nowhere anytime soon. Chained to the wall by his middle and extremities, the young man barely lifted his head when they entered the room. Before Wesley could even finish his thought of please don’t close the door, the sound of it shutting sent the room into silence. A single light bulb was the only source of light.
Upon closer inspection, Wesley realized that the chains holding the vampire were more like barbed wire than links of iron. Vampires may have been able to heal almost as quickly as a werewolf, but not when chunks of metal were constantly being pushed into their skin. Just as Wesley was looking closer at the chain going around the vampire’s middle, it tried to take a deep breath. The chains constricted, fresh blood droplets appearing where they punctured the guy’s chest.
The smell hit his nose, causing his wolf to stir under his skin. His wolf had no qualms with blood and gore. The full moon still pulled at his senses, making it even more work to push his wolf back down. Squeezing his eyes shut tight for a moment, he hoped they weren’t glowing yellow when he opened them again.
Alex stood just in front of him, partially blocking his view, when he opened his eyes. He and Ira were standing an arm’s length away from the vampire. Not like the poor guy could do anything with how many chains were wrapped around him.
Ira’s hands were clasped loosely behind his back as he towered over their prey. “Are you ready to talk yet? It would save us all quite a bit of trouble if you were.”
The vampire’s head lolled to one side, red eyes peering up through dirty bangs. When his lips parted, Wesley watched in fascination as fangs grew long before their eyes. How any vampire could talk around those things was a mystery. His voice was raspy when he spoke, like it was being pulled out of his throat. “I told you...I’m not a rat…”
Alex and Ira exchanged a glance before the latter sighed, shaking his head. “That’s a shame. I could end all of this for you if you would just give us the information we desire.”
Wesley caught the way the man’s body shivered at Ira’s words, like his body was preparing for more pain before it even occurred. Looking closer at the vampire’s partially revealed face, Wesley was stunned. How old was this kid? He was young, maybe Tori’s age. How did some poor teenager get mixed up in all of this?
Wesley’s nose told him that the vampire wasn’t hundreds of years old, probably not even a couple decades. Vampire’s scents changed over time, smelled older in a dusty sort of way. He always wondered if it was due to how many people the vampire had fed from through their life, that changed their scent. But he had never gotten the chance to ask one. Wesley had been so busy examining the boy’s face, that he didn’t see Ira move closer to the vampire, a gleaming blade in his hand.
He reacted without thought, jumping forward to grab the Alpha’s arm. “Wait!” Everyone froze in the room, including the vampire’s quickening breaths.
Alex’s brows were pulled tight, a muscle in his jaw flexed. “Wesley…” Ignoring the tone in his father’s voice, the one that said he was close to crossing a line, Wesley gestured to the vampire.
“He’s a kid! Did any of you take the time to notice that?”
Before Alex could speak, Ira growled. Wesley was pretty sure the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees at the sound. “He’s a vampire; a murderer. His age means nothing.”
Standing his ground, Wesley held Ira’s gaze for a moment — a dangerous action — before turning his back to him. Taking another step closer to the vampire, Wesley tried to catch his eye. “How old are you?” The vampire made no move to answer the question, just stared at Wesley with his bloodshot red eyes. A small growl escaped Wesley’s own throat as he grabbed the boy’s throat, forcing him to look up. Bringing his face inches away from the vampire’s, he asked again, “How old are you?” They stared into each other eyes for a moment before the boy let out a rasping answer.
“Fifteen.”
Christ. Even younger than Wesley had thought. Vampires didn’t usually turn children, they waited until they were at least twenty. Never aging was one thing, but being a child that never aged was a lot harder to hide over the centuries. What were they doing? “When were you turned?”
A moment passed where Wesley didn’t think the kid was going to answer him. But then he took a shuddering breath. “A few months ago, I don’t know.”
No wonder the pack had been able to catch this one. He was still learning how to even be a vampire. It suddenly made a lot of sense why his body wasn’t healing faster. New vampires had to feed more often, and this one had been in the cell for at least three days. His body was already starving, starting to eat itself to fuel the monster inside of it. Wesley could relate. “A few months? And you won’t end this torture for what? A few lousy vampir
e friends?”
The boy’s face changed, a snarl coming out of his mouth. “They’re my family! A family that I chose, that actually care about me!”
Wesley’s heart began to crack. A dozen different scenarios coming up in his mind and none of them good. Maybe he had been wrong — maybe choosing to be a child forever wasn’t all bad. Burying his feelings deep, Wesley shook the kid’s head harshly but left the hand around his throat loose. “You think they care about? They left you here, at the mercy of a few dozen werewolves. You’re just one in a sea of new vampires, there to serve a purpose.” He knew he was being harsh, the words serving to further break the cracks in his own heart. But he knew it was the truth.
The boy snarled again, struggling against his bounds. But Wesley could see faint pink tears gathering in his eyes. “Shut up! You’re lying! They do to care about me!”
Wesley sighed, shaking his head. With his free hand he gestured to the room around them. “Does it look like they care? You’re alone in here. No one is coming to rescue you.”
The boy struggled for a moment, fighting against Wesley’s hand on his throat, but just as suddenly as the fight had started it stopped. Wesley saw a single pink tear trail its way down the boy’s cheek.
Swallowing down the bile that threatened him, Wesley spoke softly. “I promise you, if you tell us everything you know, I’ll give you a painless death. It’s the best option for you right now.” The room was silent except for four quick heartbeats and one very slow one. He could barely hear anyone breathing. Just as he was about to drop his hand, the boy stirred.
“There’s a base, in the fishing district on the other side of the City. Everyone has been told to go there for orders and direction.”
Wesley was frozen to the spot, his hand still clasped lightly around the boy’s throat. He could feel the boy’s adam’s apple move as he swallowed. A strong hand was laid on his shoulder. Glancing to his left, he met Alex’s eyes. They were filled with both pride and sorrow, a mix that Wesley wasn’t entirely prepared to see. Swallowing, Wesley looked back to the boy, his head bowed as much as Wesley’s hand would allow. With a shuddering breath, Wesley let go his neck and took a step back. “Thank you. You’ve saved a lot of lives by telling us that.”
