by Casey Morgan
I’m not surprised he thinks that. I have never questioned Anson before. All I’ve done is follow orders.
This is new territory for both of us.
“No!” I shout back and then rush towards him. If I want to win this fight, then I have to get the upper hand as soon as possible. I’m able to reach him before he shifts, tackling Anson to the ground. The element of surprise helps me, and we start to tussle.
The pack gathers around, but no one intervenes. While they are all shocked by this, what I am doing is in line with shifter law.
The two of us wrestle. My injury on my arm is pulsing, but I power through the pain. If I can keep Anson down, then he won’t be able to shift. It requires focus, which means distracting him is my best course of action.
I do my best to keep him on the ground, but he does manage to wrestle out of my grasp and gets a ways away from me. He starts to shift.
Fuck.
He gets into his huge wolf form and takes me down almost immediately. I grab on to his neck, pushing his snapping jaws away from me. But I’m not strong enough, and Anson’s fangs get closer and closer to my neck. There is no way for me to get out of this. My pack members won’t step in, and Anson is far beyond my reach. I’m the one who challenged him, and I knew the risks.
I continue to push back, but I come to terms with the fact that I might not make it.
All of a sudden, I hear someone yell, “stop.” Anson is distracted enough to look up. I look in the same direction and see my brother Pax trying to push his way through. Other members grab him because he isn’t supposed to be here. Two people physically restrain him while others crowd around to make sure he doesn’t escape.
Anson gets off of me and shifts back.
“Stop. Don’t crowd around him too much. I want to hear what he has to say.”
I get up from off the ground as the pack members who surrounded Pax move away from him. The two who are holding his arms stay put until Anson signals for them to let go. They drop his arms and move away.
“What do you have to say, traitor?”
“I came here because I have video proof of Flint meeting with Beau.”
Once again, everything kind of freezes. Everyone turns to Anson, waiting to hear what he has to say. With this proof, we should be able to convince him once and for all.
But he doesn’t seem to be taking any of this seriously. He has this amused look on his face. “Sure, Pax. I’m sure you have proof,” Anson responds sarcastically. “We don’t have time for your silly games. You’re always going around, making trouble.”
“Wait a second,” Ershin starts. He’s one of the elders. Many of them have gathered, getting closer to listen to Pax. “I would like to see this video, if that’s not a problem.”
“I agree with Ershin,” Konrad adds. “We can’t dismiss these allegations. Especially if they can be proven.”
Seeing the tides turning, I take advantage of the situation. “Someone get the laptop, so we can watch the video. It’s in my room, in my closet.”
Someone runs off to fetch the computer. It’s a tense few moments. It’s clear Anson is not happy, but he hasn’t said anything about it yet. I’m not sure what he’s going to do once he’s faced with actual proof.
It doesn’t take too long before we have the laptop. I watch as Pax boots it up and inserts a disc. He holds up the screen so the rest of us can see it. The video is an aerial one, the camera following Flint quite closely. It’s not hard to see the obvious, which is Flint meeting up with Beau Mathis. Pax did a really good job making this video. It’s all the proof needed.
“Well?” Pax looks around the circle after the video ends. He’s looking for the next steps, and, frankly, so am I.
“We’ll have to talk with Flint. I doubt he’ll be able to explain this away, but we have to give him a chance since he’s technically a member,” Konrad announces.
Of course, they’re going to do this all by the book. I’m not sure if there is anything that could get elders to break from tradition. Maybe one thing, a direct order from their alpha, but it doesn’t look like Anson is happy about this. In fact, he looks madder than ever.
“We will not do that!” Anson yells.
“What do you mean?” Ershin asks.
“This is ridiculous. All of this is ridiculous,” Anson is shaking his head, acting like this is all so crazy. We have the video proof. What more does he need?
“Anson, it’s all right here,” I point to the video. “Why can’t you see that Flint can’t be trusted?”
His face is so red at this point. It’s almost like he’s going to burst.
“Anson!” Pax yells.
“Get out!” The alpha explodes with rage, his voice booming. “I want you boys off of this land, and don’t you dare come back!”
I look at the pack to see if any of them will say anything. They’ve all just seen the tape, but none of them can even look me in the eye. I can’t blame them for not wanting to stand up to Anson. I hadn’t found the courage to do it until now. Maybe the rest of them need sometime themselves.
“Come on, Pax. We’re not going to get anywhere tonight.”
The two of us break away from the group, leaving them to do whatever it is they are going to do. I can provide them with Flint on a fucking gold platter, but if they don’t want to accept the truth, then there’s no way I can force them to.
“Did you see Kenzie on your way here?” I ask my brother. She’s my biggest concern. She still hasn’t popped up after all this time.
“No, I haven’t,” Pax responds a little absentmindedly. He’s on his phone, trying to call someone. “Mini isn’t answering her phone. She always answers. I mean, I just left her at the hotel.”
“Maybe she’s in the bathroom or showering?”
“No, I also called her before coming on to the compound. I wanted her to know what was going on. She hasn’t called back or texted me. Something isn’t right.”
“Kenzie has been missing for a few hours as well. She was mad at me earlier because I was being stupid. I’m worried she may have gone and done something stupid because of that.”
Pax makes an expression like what I said is not hard for him to believe in the slightest. Normally, I’d be kind of annoyed, but I’m starting to realize that I am the cause of some of the problems. Plus, I really need to find out where Kenzie went.
“Did she say anything to you? You know before you made her mad or even after you made her mad.”
“Something about taking care of things herself.” And I’m sure those weren’t just pretty words from her. And then it comes to me. “She must have gone to the silver mine.” Of course, that’s exactly what she would do. If I couldn’t get it done then, Kenzie would make sure she did.
“Fuck! Mini probably went there as well. I was telling her about you guys potentially checking it out. She probably thought it’d be helpful.”
I’m not surprised that either of them thought of the same idea. Even though personality-wise the two of them are rather different, they both just want to help out however they can. And I’m sure Pax was trying to keep Mini from getting too close to any of this. Especially on her own. I was doing the same thing, holding Kenzie back.
“Looks like we’re going to have to go and find these women.”
Here’s hoping that they aren’t in too much trouble. Kenzie’s been missing for a while. Hopefully, if they both are out by the mine, they’ve found one another. I think it would be better for both of them if they’re together.
Just like my brother and me.
Chapter Thirteen
Kenzie
I’m not sure how long Mini and I have been down here. I know it’s been a couple of hours, but my head’s gone all fuzzy from the fog. There’s also so much silver in this mine. Maybe the fog is taking away our immunity, and the silver is what’s zapping my energy. Either way, I can’t break these ropes around my wrist. If only I had my full strength, then I could get Mini and myself out of this cave,
but I can’t, and we are fucking stuck.
“Mini, are you okay?” I know it’s a useless question. I poor human girl is freaking out. I’m freaking out, but I’m better at hiding it and remaining calm. She’s never experienced anything remotely close to this.
“I don’t know, Kenzie,” she whispers back. “Are we going to die here?”
“No, no. I’m sure Tamir or Pax will come and save us.”
I’m not so sure about Tamir. We had that stupid argument that has convinced me that he doesn’t care about me. Our night in the woods was just a fluke. There was adrenaline, and I just had a near-death experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if some similar aphrodisiacs were running through Tamir’s body.
But Pax? He really does care about Mini. He’s already risked so much for her, like going into exile so that they could be together. He wouldn’t abandon her. All I can hope is that he is able to save me as well.
“I don’t, Kenzie. I didn’t tell Pax I was coming here. How is he going to find us? There’s no way for him to find us.”
“Mini, he’ll find us. He loves you and would never let anything bad happen to you.”
She nods, trying to take in everything I’ve told her. I wish I could shift and save us myself. All of this silver is fucking with me, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Flint hasn’t stopped working on whatever spell he’s doing. I’ve never read about this one anywhere, but some of the words sound familiar. It’s definitely some kind of alchemical spell. If I could focus a little better, I might even be able to break it down, but my head is hurting so much, and I am feeling so tired.
Or, if we still had Mini’s camera, we might be able to watch the spell back, but Flint took that and destroyed it. So, at the end of all of this, we won’t even have the evidence we need if we do escape.
But, at this very moment, I just want to get out of here before I pass out.
“What was that?” Mini whispers to me.
I have no idea what she’s talking about. My senses are very much dulled. In human form, I have attuned senses, but the silver has affected those as well. But, then again, maybe Mini is hearing things because she’s super scared. The situation we’re in is pretty scary.
“I heard it again,” she breathes. Her head has turned to the left, and I follow her gaze. Two seconds later, I see Pax and Tamir run in. My heart starts beating faster, my body jolting awake a little bit. I can’t believe that Tamir’s here. He came!
I watch as the two brothers go for Flint. They all start tussling, Flint doing what he can to hold them off. He’s in his demon form, this black mass attacking Pax and Tamir. Flint starts to waver, his version of blood seeping out of cuts that Tamir and Pax have made on his body. It’s so fascinating watching the two of them fight together, especially because Pax has gone into his wolf form, and Tamir hasn’t.
The two of them manage to chase off Flint. He runs out of the cave, hurt but not dead, unfortunately. Once he’s gone, the two brothers rush over to us. Pax shifts back to human, and the two of them untie us.
Mini jumps right into Pax’s arms, the two of them embracing.
I have to catch myself before I collapse on to the ground. Everything in my body comes crashing down. It’s like, with Flint gone, I’m losing the barely-there energy that was keeping me up.
Tamir’s arms come around my body, picking me up.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’ve just been here for way too long. It’s the fog.”
I point back, just in the general direction of the bowl. I manage to wiggle myself out of Tamir’s hold and make my way over to the bowl. The closer I get, the sicker I start to feel, but I keep crawling. I need to knock it over.
“Kenzie! Kenzie!” Tamir keeps calling my name, asking me what I’m doing, but I’m singularly focused on knocking this bowl over.
I’m about twenty-five feet away, and that’s when I realize I can’t get any closer. Honestly, I can’t move another inch in either direction. I used all of my energy crawling over to this bowl. I relax my body into the dirt of the ground.
I feel strong hands come around my body. I assume it’s Tamir, but I’m so out of it that I can’t even tell. I let whoever it is carry me out of the cave and into the night air.
I start taking deep breaths, inhaling the fresh, cold air. The fog in my brain starts to lift, and I’m able to think straight. I realize that Tamir has me cradled in his arms. I bring my arms over his shoulder and around his neck, resting my cheek on his chest.
I know we haven’t been apart from one another for that long, but it truly feels like I haven’t seen him in ages. Especially considering what I just went through.
“Are you okay? Are you really okay?” Tamir whispers into my ear.
I nod. It may have been a slight lie while we were in the mine, but seeing him really did make everything that much better. And now that I’m clearheaded, I can appreciate him that much more.
“I’m fine, I promise. I’ll be fine.”
Tamir rests his forehead on mine. We stay like that for a few moments. We probably shouldn’t wait around here for way too long just in case Flint decides to come back. The demon might be hurt right now, but I don’t know how long that will last.
“You can put me down. I can walk.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Tamir whispers, a small smirk forming on his face.
I bite my bottom lip, trying to suppress the large smile tugging at my lips. “Why Tamir, I think you may have just flirted with me.”
“Maybe. Maybe. It is something I am not used to, so forgive me if I am an utter knob at it.”
“And humility? Who would have thought you’d be such a changed man?”
“Come on,” he smiles. “Let’s get out of these woods.”
He does finally put me down, though I’m not totally thrilled. I just knew his arm must have been hurting having to carry me. He’d never admit it, but I’m aware enough to realize that fact.
“I have some bad news,” I admit, remembering that Flint destroyed our footage. “We don’t have any video of Flint doing all of that demon stuff. He crushed the camera when he saw us. I came out here to help you prove to Anson that Flint is as shady as we know he is, but all I did was probably cause more trouble.”
I hear Pax stifle laughter behind me and turn around to see him with his arm around Mini. He’s looking at Tamir and me, an amused look on his face.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I don’t think you ruined anything as much as Tamir and I. All I can say is you guys won’t be able to go back to the compound for some time.”
“I don’t understand.” I look between the two brothers, trying to find some sort of answer.
“We’ve technically been exiled,” Tamir explains. “I may or may not have challenged Anson for the alpha position, and I very clearly lost.”
I place my palm on his chest, shaking my head.
“I’m so sorry that I messed things up like this for us. You actually might be able to get back on if you tell Anson that this was all my fault, that I dragged you into this whole thing. Appealing to his ego always does the trick as well.”
I continue shaking my head, but not because I am angry. I’m not even mildly upset. I’m shaking my head because I almost can’t believe that Tamir actually did it. I thought he’d never be able to stand up to Anson, but he challenged him even though he knew he was probably going to lose.
I throw my arms over his shoulder and wrap them around his neck. “I could never abandon you. I’m here for the long run. I promise.” I hold onto him tight.
Tamir doesn’t immediately hug me back, but it doesn’t take to long for his strong arms to wrap around my back and bring me in. The warmth of his body seeps into mine, and I know that we are truly in this together. I may have been doubtful before, but he’s proven to me, and I’ve proven to myself that what we have is actually real.
After a few
moments, we break apart. I look up into his light-amber eyes.
“What do we do now?” Neither one of us has ever been outside of the compound like this. We don’t know anyone to go to, we don’t have any money, we’re literally at square one in our lives. “Where do we go?”
“You can come with us,” Pax offers.
“Yeah,” Mini adds. “We’re staying at this really nice motel. Pax has some extra money, so we can pay for a room for each of you,” she smiles. “Or one for you to share,” she tacks on, a little unsure.
I laugh lightly and then look back up at Tamir. I guess our relationship has moved rather fast. We were yelling at one another less than twenty-four hours ago, and now, we’re all wrapped in one another’s arms.
“Yeah, we can share,” Tamir answers for the both of us.
I smile and nod, agreeing totally.
Epilogue
Tamir
Pax and Mini were able to get Kenzie and me a room at their motel. I never realized how prepared my brother actually was for something like this. I always looked at myself as the only responsible one, but Pax just had his own way of taking care of business.
After Pax gets us our room, we all go into it to talk about what to do next. There is a lot we have to figure out.
“Can you tell me what happened between you and Anson?” Kenzie looks at me, her eyes wide.
We took a long walk over, and the whole way there we didn’t really talk about anything that happened. Pax and Mini walked quite a bit ahead of us to give Kenzie and me privacy, but we didn’t take that much advantage of it. It was all just so fresh, and the calm night air gave us some time to process.
But here we are now. There’s no way to avoid everything that just happened. And it’s not like we really want to.
“I was trying to tell him about what Pax had seen, but he wasn’t listening. I knew he was never going to come around to our side of thinking. He’s a stubborn guy, and I didn’t want the pack to suffer because of whatever is going with him, so I challenged him. It was stupid and dumb.” Kenzie grabs on to my forearm, gripping it tightly. “He actually almost killed me. I knew that type of thing was possible, but I never thought Anson would go for it. The only reason he didn’t is because of Pax. My brother stormed in with his tape. I really thought that might be enough. Maybe Anson, even if he still wasn’t on our side, he’d have to back down, but he just got more and more erratic. He ordered that Pax and I leave, so we did. Just like that.”