Chapter 138

The Pack

The boy was always moving. Stillness felt like death.

It had been two days since he’d left that place, since he’d been pushed down this path by fate in the form of a golden wolf. He still wondered if it was all some test, if there would be a catch at the end.

And so he kept going.

He was different now. He was stronger, his body felt like many bodies in one. On the first night, in the forest, he easily transformed into his wolf. Still young, he remembered the discomfort and confusion of the early years.

This time, it was the most natural thing in the world. He felt more free than ever before, limitless. The stars were brighter, his senses keener, the natural world around him seemed to bend forward to meet him.

And then he turned into a bat.

He wasn’t sure how, at first, except that he seen one fly by and then suddenly he was in the air with it. It was unbelievable to him, but he was not afraid.

He brought himself back into his human body, slumping awkwardly onto the ground.

He was different now. The doctor had changed him into a shapeshifter.

Rage consumed Julian at first, but he knew he had no choice but to accept it. And then he grew to love it.

He spent the rest of his journey experimenting and exploring as he headed south towards home. He barely had to think about where he was going, and he felt like he would never grow tired.

And that is how he traveled almost one hundred miles in two days.

Dominic

We arrived at the junction of interstates 78 and 9 after midnight.

It was a rural area, and the two roads met at a four-way stop light with a few buildings around. Everything was quiet when we got there, and Lucas parked in a corner of a dark parking lot. There were a few signs of life in the area in the form of parked cars and neon signs, but otherwise the night was still. There was a chance we were wrong, that this was not what Julian’s message meant.

“You will stay in the car,” I told Rae. She had started to unbuckle her seat belt but paused when I spoke. “You can still communicate with him, and in case anything goes wrong Lucas will get you out of here immediately.”

I could see she was pouting, but she didn’t try to put up a fight.

“Fine,” she said, sullen. “I think I feel him, but my mind feels…different, smaller.”

I furrowed my brow, unable to offer any explanation. It had been a while since I’d communicated with Mira. Sometimes it seemed we were both just being stubborn, not wanting to be the one caught with their guard down.

“Just keep trying, tell him he can trust us,” I said as I opened the door. “And inform us of any changes immediately.”

Rae nodded, and Lucas turned to face me giving me his own expression of obedience and loyalty. I knew he would follow through on keeping Rae safe, no matter what.

Wyatt and I walked a few yards away from the car, staying in the shadows as best we could. Trying to make ourselves visible while drawing attention away from the car.

We took up a solid stance facing opposite directions and began our watch.

My body was still but my eyes were constantly shifting side to side, scanning the area from the ground to the treelined. I was looking for anything that would give away a fugitive boy’s hiding place.

And if he had been a pawn to lure us here, I would be ready for that too.

Wyatt had a similar tactic, covering the area on the other side. I could tell he was distracted by something else, and every so often his eyes would linger on me. Then he would look away and continue his surveillance.

It was after one too many sighs from him that I had to bring it up.

“Something bothering you, Beta?” I asked, my voice low. “Besides the obvious.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m alright, Alpha,” he answered, matching my formality with titles. “Just… a lot on my mind.”

I let the moment hang. A hawk had landed on an out-of-use billboard. Even in the dark, I could see it’s beady eyes were trained on us.

“You can speak openly with me,” I told Wyatt, “if you wish to.”

“I—“ he exhaled heavily, then started again. “I have been keeping something from you.”

I felt myself freeze, muscles clenched, then eased back into a neutral place.

“I see.”

“I was keeping a promise,” he went on, fighting not to raise his voice in his urgency to confess. “And then, now, it seemed like it was too late to share. I am ashamed.”

“Wyatt, it’s alright,” I said to him, knowing he was the type to be sensitive with his own shortcomings or failures. “You are not obligated to share every detail of your life with me. I only ask that you never lie to me, as you swore to uphold.”

“Yes, sir,” he said quickly, “I have never deliberately lied to you. But I withheld, which feels almost worse.”

He went quiet, and I let him simmer until he was ready to tell me.

“It’s not just about my life,” he said slowly, “but Mira’s.”

I stiffened again, and had to turn to face him directly to hear the rest. My movement caused the hawk to leap and soar away from his perch and out of sight.

“She told you she was going to see Rae, and I went with her,” said Wyatt. “She told me the same thing, but that is not who we went to see.”

I felt my eyes narrow, but held myself steady so as not to overreact.

“We went to see him, the doctor, Malachi.”

My eyelids dropped and I plunged myself into darkness, images of Mira and Malachi flashing through my mind.

“She was testing him, trying to get information from him,” Wyatt went on, taking a step towards me. “I didn’t fully understand, but it was like she was playing along with his twisted game, hoping to earn his trust. She must’ve already had some plan to go out there, and I was just tagging along for a part of it.”

“Why would she—“

“She got Julian out,” Wyatt interrupted, “she must be the reason he got out.”

I nodded, trying to put these pieces together.

“I’m sorry, Dominic,” Wyatt said, eyes downcast, using my name to speak to me as the man who’d know him his whole life. “I should have told you, but Mira was insistent. And then, when we found out that’s where she was— I panicked, and didn’t know how to say anything. It was wrong.”

I sighed, and reached my arm towards him. He flinched, but softened as I placed my hand on his shoulder. I fought to show him a softer facial expression.

“I forgive you, Wyatt,” I told him, with all sincerity. “You stood by your word to your Luna, and to the woman who deserves your trust more than anyone. Even more than me.”

The tension went out of his body, and I gave him an appropriately small pat of affection on his shoulder. He was relieved, like he imagined this could’ve gone much worse.

“Thank you, for understanding,” he said.

Before Mira, I probably would not have been as understanding, but full of rage. Even I could see the marks she’d left on me, all for the better.

A cat meowed, pulling our attention to the bushes nearby. A tomcat with mottled fur was watching us, it’s eyes bright saucers in the moonlight. He kept making noise, like he wanted our attention.

I took a step forward, and he disappeared.

I thought it strange, but not unnatural, until I heard Rae banging on the window of the car. The rustling of bushes brought me back to the scene in front of me. Suddenly I felt a mysterious power surge in the vicinity, like crackling magic.

And then a man appeared from the bushes where the cat had disappeared.

It was Julian.