Instinctual

Chapter 11

Declan liked to think that he was a reasonable fellow and not prone to acts of violence or vengeance, and was, therefore, a bit disturbed to find himself considering those options as he stared at Rob Karly and his aunt Clarissa.

Finally, Rob at least couldn’t take the stalemate any longer, and shifted his weight with a growl, “Well – say something.”

“How could you do this?”  Declan’s mouth and vocal cords were working, but his voice came as if from outside himself, as if it had to beat itself past a ringing in his ears, “How could both of you do that to another Wolf?  Another person?”

It was Clarissa who replied, her voice level and gentle by contrast, as if she were calming a spooked colt instead of defending herself against attempted-murder charges before her Alpha, “What’s best for the one isn’t always what’s best for the pack, Declan dear, and one always has to look out for the pack at times like this.”

“ ‘At times like this’?” Declan echoed hollowly and bitterly, finding his temper sparking.  He wondered what his smile looked like right now; he could feel it pulling at his mouth, but he couldn’t feel any warmth or humor behind it.  It felt stiff and chilled, like a c***k in thick ice. “You mean at times when there’s an Omega you barely know, and who’s alone, and sick, and frightened-”

“Oh, he’s sick all right,” Rob felt the need to comment sardonically.

Declan rounded on him with a roar that shouldn’t have fit in human lungs. His bared teeth began to itch, promising to replace even, human teeth with fangs as long as fingers. Rob jerked back and cowered even as Declan snarled lowly, “Don’t you say another word until I tell you to.” It took some effort, but after a moment in which he coldly considered how easy it would be for him to seriously damage the male Beta, Declan found his calmness again.  His Aunt and her Omega powers might have had something to do with that, but he wasn’t going to argue with the outcome this one time. He turned to face Clarissa again and said with controlled frustration, “Everything you’ve got against Marcus is based on allegations – on hearsay.  You don’t actually know anything about him.”

While that reasoning made perfect sense to Declan, it only caused his aunt to shake her head almost sadly.  “That’s part of the problem, Declan.  No one does. With his Alpha killed, that conveniently removes all hopes of anyone being able to detect lies from him.” She paused, watching the way Declan’s eyes narrowed.  She apparently decided to read the look as indecisive, because she went on convincingly, “Besides, I’d hardly call the work of trained policemen and investigators hearsay, and Rob did a decent bit of research on the matter.”

“Yes, and Rob also apparently broke into Marcus Rushton’s apartment and tore it apart.”

Rob growled.  Declan switched his attention to him again – not a fun experience.  “I don’t hear you contradicting me on that,” the Alpha pointed out shrewdly.

The Beta sullenly continued to say nothing, which saved Declan the trouble of listening for a lie in the young man’s voice.  He was already so sick of all this.  And worst of all, he didn’t know what to do about it!  His emotions were pretty clear and pretty violent on the matter, but logic dictated that he take this whole thing to the local authorities – which would promptly bring the authorities down on Marcus’s head, which Declan also didn’t want. It wasn’t uncommon for Werewolf packs to take the law into their own hands, and while it was frowned upon by the overall judicial system, it was allowed, but even then…

Declan realized with a jolt that all of this was too fresh and too hot in his head for him to think clearly on it.  He’d had two pack-members whom he had considered family just days ago, and now he couldn’t look at them without being sickened by what he knew they’d done. Marcus had often talked about how Declan’s ‘wolf’ side would persuade him to attack a backless Omega, but suddenly it wasn’t Declan being the animal at all, but Rob and Clarissa. For a brief moment, he wondered if he’d done something wrong – something that had led to such an unthinkable disaster as this.  Declan was a new Alpha, after all, and young.  Clarissa, in fact, had left their original pack with him to guide him, she is experienced and capable of giving him advice as he put together a pack of his own.  

As Declan’s self-doubts began to multiply, he suddenly recalled, like a flash, the sound of Marcus’s voice going tight and defiant as he’d shouted for Clarissa to stop toying with his emotions.  

“Stop what you’re doing right now, Aunt Clarissa, or I swear on all the Alphas before me that I’ll never let you manipulate anyone’s emotions ever again,” Declan turned on her to snarl with emphatic warning, watching as she jumped and simultaneously learning that he was right to suspect her because the emotions piling up beneath his skin dissipated like water from a dropped balloon. “Don’t think I won’t. You may be my aunt, but I’m beginning to realize that you’re sticking your powers where they don’t belong,” Declan added in a tone that was less sharp but no less threatening.

“Declan, I don’t know what you’re-!” she started to defend, eyes wide and horrified, as if by his behavior.  

But Declan merely spoke over her again, this time shaking off the apologetic feeling that he could feel coming over him for no good reason. “I can tell that you’re lying already, so stop.  Influencing. My.  Emotions,” Declan finished, and this time he acted like the Alpha that he was, pushing commands into each word.  

It looked like Clarissa choked on her own tongue for a second, so shocked was she at this show of force.  “You won’t command that Omega brat but you’ll command me!?” she finally stuttered in outrage, even as Declan’s words made her unable to use her Omega abilities on him anymore. 

Feeling jaded suddenly, but in no way regretful for what he’d just done, Declan just nodded, and then turned to Rob, “Yes, and I will again. Both of you – to your rooms. Stay there until I fetch you.”

Perhaps Declan was young and new, but he was no weakling His powers crackled through the words like heat-lightning, making both Rob and Clarissa jump noticeably as if they’d just felt ghostly hands grip their feet.  Then their feet began moving and turning, bending their bodies towards their personal quarters within the house.  Clarissa fought silently, her body jerking and twitching as her own brain and Declan’s commands fought for control of her motor functions, but Declan was winning.  Rob was struggling, too, which had the effect of making him look like he was suffering from an epileptic fit of some kind.  It could have been hilarious, but Declan’s head was still too full of worries and stress and heart-deep pain to smile or laugh.  Rob took the time to glare over his shoulder at Declan, snarling furiously, “So that’s it?!  You’re going to treat us like children and send us to our rooms?!”

“Go, Rob, before I decide that locking you in the trunk of Liz’s car is better,” Declan replied tiredly but infused a bit more command into the first word to keep his Beta going.  Taking away someone’s free will like that had never come easily to Declan, but right now, he wanted to take more than their free will – but then he’d be as bad as they were.  “I need some time to think about what to do with you two.  I’ll come back when I’ve reached a verdict.”  Since Clarissa’s door had already been slammed shut and Rob was nearly gone also, Declan didn’t know whether he was talking to them or himself, and he didn’t care. 

He needed to think.  Alone.

Before being alone, however, he had to check in with Liz, Kobi, and Marcus – assuming that they’d caught up with him.  A spark of very real worry and fear sizzled up Declan’s spine at the thought of the brown-haired young man running away again, and before he realized it, the Alpha was almost sprinting to the door.  He caught Marcus’s scent immediately (vanilla and smoke, sweetness and fear, so tangled and so distinctive), and was relieved to find it overlaid with the familiar scents of Liz and Kobi, as well as their paw-prints in the occasional stretch of damp earth.  Slightly less concerned that he’d have to chase a hand-shy Omega through the woods again, Declan followed the trio of tracks around the house that eventually, unexpectedly, went right to his vehicle.  For a moment, Declan frowned at the truck, which appeared to be empty, until he saw ahead of the light, wavy, brown hair lift from the truck-box: Kobi.  The staid Beta saw him instantly and flashed a calming smile, but didn’t otherwise move, so Declan trotted forward curiously. 

He felt the telepathic link click on in his head, a stronger, more seamless connection than what he had with Marcus.  Kobi’s voice was saying before Declan got close enough to see into the back of the truck, ‘Everything’s all right here.  We found Marcus. He hadn’t gone far, and Liz was able to talk him into just sitting with us while you handled things inside.’

Kobi’s easy belief in him flowed through the link as easily as the words did, and Declan felt the tension leave his shoulders.  At least one person trusted him to be able to handle things like the Alpha he was – with any luck, Kobi wasn’t alone in that faith.

‘It took a bit, but we got Marcus to talk to us, too. I think that Liz bribing him with food helped,’ Kobi kept talking telepathically, eyes steady on Declan as he approached, mouth closed.  That mouth turned down in a frown very quickly, however, and Declan saw as much as sensed the wave of sorrow, anger, and sympathetic agony that washed through Kobi. ‘God, Declan – how do things like this happen to people like him?’

‘So he told you about his family then?’ Declan guessed, surprised and a bit childishly jealous that someone else had gotten the story out of Marcus so quickly.  Perhaps telling it once to Declan had made it easier, however. By now, the Alpha was standing next to the truck, and when he peered into the box he was greeted by a sight that warmed his heart from corner to corner.  Kobi was propped up against the front right corner, blankets making the position comfortable; Kobi in turn was providing a pillow for the others, who appeared to have fallen asleep.  They looked like a tangle of puppies, with Marcus’s head on one broad pectoral and Liz draped behind the Omega a bit, her own cheek on Kobi’s shoulder. She appeared to be drooling a bit, but that just made Declan smirk, his eyes crinkling. 

Kobi was nodding, the movement careful so he didn’t dislodge or wake anyone. Liz wouldn’t probably do much if roused, besides grumble about missing sleep, but Marcus was fragile like this. Declan and Kobi were probably both thinking the same thing – that the Omega would startle and bolt if he woke suddenly to realize what position he was in.  ‘He told us how he came home to his whole pack dead, just in time to be told that it was all his fault. Liz felt so bad she dragged him into a hug on the spot, and I’m not sure whether that made him mad or incredibly relieved,’ Kobi explained, sounding fondly exasperated, ‘But Liz is always telling me that guys should just let go and cry more often.  All I know is that eventually Marcus let her hug him, and after a while, he was just too tired to say or do anything else.’

‘And you became a human pillow?’ Declan couldn’t help but tease grin broadening.

Instead of bristling, Kobi let loose one of his rare smiles – a surprisingly leering thing, at the moment, as he curled one hand around Liz’s far shoulder and nodded down at the two people leaned against him. ‘And I became the lucky guy who has two good-looking young people lying on him. Admit it, you wish you were me, Fen.’

It took all of Declan’s self-control not to burst out laughing aloud and wake everyone.  After the debacle inside, this was a balm on burning skin, and his whole body shook with happy – but silent – chuckles until he thought his heart would burst through his chest. By the time he’d controlled himself, Kobi was back to smiling his soft, small, gentle smile again, no more innuendo laced across his honest face.  ‘I need to check on some things, Kobi, but I’ve ordered Clarissa and Rob to stay in their rooms until further notice. Still, I’d like someone watching them, just in case.’

Kobi was immediately serious.  ‘Sure thing.  Want me to wake Liz?’

‘Bless you, Kobi, for not even asking me what the hell I plan to do about all of this,’ Declan thought, but didn’t project that sentence down the telepathic link. ‘I’ll get in and pick up Marcus first.  If we can keep him asleep, I think everyone will be happier.’

‘Yeah, the kid seemed to beat. And starving.  You’re going to have to renew your stash of granola bars.’

As Declan climbed stealthily into the back of the truck and knelt on the nest of blankets, he found that he couldn’t have been upset about the loss of that stash if he’d tried.  In fact, the thought that they’d gone to feeding Marcus – slim, tough-life, too-skinny Marcus – made him quite pleased.  ‘See if you can get him to eat more,’ was Declan’s reply, and before he felt too much like his own grandmother (constantly pushing food at people), he bent over and ever-so-slowly slid his arms between Kobi and Marcus, and Marcus and Liz.  Liz barely stirred, and Kobi’s frame was solid and warm against the back of Declan’s arm, even as he gently eased the sleeping Omega forward.  By some miracle, Marcus didn’t wake up, too emotionally exhausted to come back to the waking world just yet.  ‘I’ll put Marcus in my room. Even if Clarissa or Rob manage to circumvent my orders somehow, they won’t dare go in there.  If Liz wants to nap more, she can stay there, too,’ Declan said, even as Kobi nodded and solved the problem of how Declan was going to get out of the back of the truck with an arm-load of sleeping, Marcus.

“Shhh, sorry, Lizzie,” Kobi murmured against his girlfriend’s temple as he slid out from under her.  As she woke, Kobi was jumping with barely a thud onto the grass next to the truck, circling until he could lower the end-gate with careful precision. It barely made any noise, and Declan was able to then pass off Marcus to where Kobi was standing on ground-level. The Omega twitched and a line formed between his eyebrows as if he’d noticed how he’d changed hands even if he hadn’t awoken. 

“Did he tell you about the problems with his senses?” Declan asked, risking speaking out loud because now Liz was awake – but probably not awake enough to be coherent telepathically. 

Looking sad and troubled again, Kobi just nodded.  “He talks about it like someone with a progressive, terminal disease,” he whispered.  

Declan wished that he could deny that this was true, but he honestly didn’t know. So far, all he knew about Omegas came from Clarissa – who no doubt believed what she said, but also wanted Marcus gone – and Marcus – who was in new territory with all of this, much like Declan was.

Sensing movement behind him, Declan barely turned his head as one of Liz’s hands touched his shoulder.  “We’ll do whatever we can for him, won’t we, Declan?” she asked, sounding sleepy still, but so earnest that Declan’s heart cracked a little. 

That, at least, he could answer truthfully.  Looking back at Marcus (at his tousled head of dark-brown hair, lips parted slightly and cheek turned into the hollow of Kobi’s shoulder, the stitches on his skin like wicked memories), Declan replied, “I will. We will.  I promise.”

~^~

Liz did end up continuing her nap, or at least that’s what she claimed. In reality, Declan was pretty sure that her eyes were too alive and canny to be compatible with sleep after he told her about Clarissa and Rob, still not dealt with besides the Alpha orders keeping them confined.  Still, Declan did see her transform into her lupine form and traipse back into his room, padding on light paws and just as lightly hopping up onto the bed where Marcus was. Clarissa, by dint of being his aunt, had barely even been in Declan’s room since the move-in, and Rob had always been standoffish about anything that resembled cuddling, but Liz and Kobi both knew their way around Declan’s bed.  Liz claimed it was more comfortable.  Kobi claimed that he did what Liz told him to do and lived most happily that way.  On a more pragmatic note, Declan’s bedroom had an adjoining bathroom, and neither Kobi nor Liz’s did, so when someone was sick, it was often easier to just trade rooms temporarily rather than have an ill Liz or Kobi wandering back and forth down the hallway from bedroom to bath. 

Now, Declan had someone else learning about his room. He spared a moment, leaning in the doorway, to watch as Liz folded her elegant, four-legged self at the end of the bed before turning her long snout to watch Marcus.  Kobi and Liz, but not Declan, had been surprised by how swiftly Marcus had tumbled into an even deeper sleep the moment they’d eased him down and covered him with one of Declan’s comforters.  Declan already knew about Marcus’s association to his scent, but felt that it wasn’t his place to tell anyone that if Marcus hadn’t revealed it. 

Even if Marcus was too ashamed to ever tell anyone that he drew comfort from the smell of an Alpha that wasn’t his, Declan would still let him press his nose to Declan’s blankets. It was worth it to see the little frown line between the young man’s brows ease and to hear his breathing deepen.

“Declan?” Kobi’s voice, though soft and unassuming as always, startled Declan out of his thoughts.  The male Beta was standing behind him, alert but steady. “You looked far away for a second there. Anything I should know?”

Drawing himself up and stubbornly saying to himself that, no, there wasn’t anything else – at least nothing else to do with the young man now curled up on his bed, watched over by just about the fiercest she-wolf either of them knew – Declan replied, “I’m fine.  Just keep an eye on Rob and my aunt.  They’re going to pay for what they’ve done, but… I have to check on some things first.” In reality, he really just needed time to walk and think, away from his responsibilities.  It made him feel a bit horrible, leaving his pack right now, but he didn’t know what else to do with his thoughts so tangled and his heart so torn.

Kobi, however, seemed to understand.  If nothing else, he nodded without any further questions and transformed with a practiced crackle of bones and sinews into his big, brawny wolf shape. He didn’t go into the bedroom, although he cast an eye towards his girlfriend, but instead began prowling around the house like a guard-dog.  He walked with an easy, unhurried stride, but Declan knew better than most that if Kobi was in his furred shape, he was ready for trouble.  Liz wouldn’t be far behind him if something happened.

Declan left the house feeling a little bit better. 

~^~

Running had always helped to clear Declan’s head.  On four paws or two feet, he was fast and tireless, and the burn of taxed muscles was both exhilarating and distracting when his head was too cluttered and full.  He also loved to run with no direction in mind, so there was nothing to worry about besides each stride following the next, and dodging or leaping over obstacles as they came up before him.

Somehow, though, Declan’s so-called aimless running ended with him standing on Marcus’s apartment steps, where he’d met the Omega what felt like forever ago.

There was a new lock on the door, but it was flimsy, and obviously a roughshod replacement.  Since Declan couldn’t smell any recent scents about the place, he easily forced the lock and made his way inside, morbidly desiring to see proof of what Marcus had said about Rob. Perhaps there was some part of him that was hoping that Marcus was lying because life wouldn’t have to change if Rob and Clarissa were in the right.

But even before he opened the door, Declan knew that what they’d done could never be anything but wrong. 

The landlord had cleaned up the place – the job was just as flimsy as the lock, however, and the place reminded Declan of nothing so much as a swiftly-cleaned murder-scene.  There was no blood, true, but the bare walls had the gouges of Werewolf claws, and what furniture remained showed signs of damage or hasty repairs. If Declan focused hard enough and breathed deeply, he could actually still smell Rob here, damning the man. Declan could also smell Marcus, soaked into the walls from living here for a time – not long, but long enough – the most recent scents being so sharp and spiked with horror and fear that Declan had to stop and breathe through his mouth for a moment. God, it must have been like walking into a nightmare, coming home to this.  Instead of growing calmer and more levelheaded, Declan wanted to murder Rob more than ever, and the thought sickened him. 

Declan put the lock back in order as best he could as he left, touching nothing without his jacket sleeves pulled over his hands. He was increasingly sure that he didn’t want the authorities involved in this, and he definitely didn’t want the law coming down on him, too, because of some ill-placed fingerprints. Walking briskly away before transforming slowly into his big, black, wolf form, Declan started running again, and this time he didn’t lie to himself about where he was going.

The scents arrayed around the area where Marcus and Clarissa had fought were far more faded and gone than the scents at the house: nature was cleaning her domain, overlaying everything with new movement and life. Still, Declan knew the spot without having to follow his nose, and he simply circled the area for a long time, ears back but feeling a growl always threatening in his throat. Here he’d seen Clarissa bent over Marcus, the latter’s pelt like a splash of snow even as it was smeared ruby-red in places – more of that ruby-red staining the jaws of Declan’s aunt, who’d helped raise him.  Here he’d seen Marcus, a bloodied wreck as a wolf that would later be a bloodied wreck as a person, barely able to stand.  Perhaps exhaustion explained why Marcus hadn’t bitten him or at least bared his teeth, but Declan doubted it. 

Leaving the spot where Marcus had almost died, the black wolf began circling, his nose eventually picking up washed-out scents and following them. Marcus hadn’t said much before he’d finally cracked and told Declan all he knew about his pack’s death, but Declan had gotten the idea pretty strongly that Marcus had been essentially skipping town before Clarissa had found him.  When Declan had found the kid, however, he’d had absolutely nothing with him – not even clothes. 

Declan found Marcus’s clothes a few moments later, his nose leading him to various strewn articles of clothing, now dirtied by rain and weather. Tangled in a nearby bush was probably the bag that they’d been carried in, and Declan found himself whining, a high-pitched and gutted sound. That had been all Marcus had salvaged from his apartment? The contents of that bag were what Marcus had planned to start his life over with?  To make matters worse, Declan clearly remembered Marcus quite obviously wanting to leave the second he’d woken up after his stitches – at the time, Declan had expected Marcus to eventually go home, not realizing that the sweatpants he’d borrowed were the closest thing he had to possession at the time.

Feeling like his chest was imploding, Declan transformed back into a human, feeling tears silently break free from his eyes the second he was crouched down on two legs again.  Tracks forming down his cheeks, Declan reached forward, fishing the plastic bag loosely. It was badly torn, but Declan noticed a tattered wallet still wrapped in the plastic.  It didn’t look too waterlogged, and had some IDs in it – and cash, but not a lot.  If the clothes had been Declan’s, he would have left them for the wild animals, but since this was literally all Marcus had left, Declan picked up the various strewn items as well, bunching them up and ending up wrapping them all together inside his own jacket.  Everything would go in the wash, except the wallet, which Declan had no idea how he’d dry, but he’d try his best – as he’d promised. 

Reminded of what he’d seen, and what had been done, and who had suffered, Declan knew what he had to do.  Carrying Marcus’s things under one arm meant that Declan couldn’t run back as a wolf, but walking more slowly on two legs gave him more time to think and to come to terms with his decision.  With every step, his resolve hardened, and so did his heart.  When he got home, there would be no place for softness or regret or last-minute forgiveness.  These crimes were heinous and unforgivable, crimes that the laws of human-kind would have punished severely – in Clarissa’s case, maybe even lethally.

Declan couldn’t pass off responsibility to the law, however, without Marcus being caught in the crossfire.  It was all up to him to decide how to handle this, and the pressure was crushing him. For the first time, he truly realized that he held lives in his hands, as the Alpha of a pack.  One of those lives technically wasn’t his to protect, but Declan was human, too, and right now his morals were screaming just as loudly as his reflexive desire to run away from all of this. 

In the end, the young Alpha walked all the way back to the house, never slowing or stopping.  His gold-brown eyes were as hard as chunks of fossilized amber, and before he’d even entered the house, everyone within it went a little bit still, as a hush had fallen over everything.

All animals could sense when a storm was about to hit.