by Lisa Oliver
“Can you still hear me alright, Simon?” Damien asked.
“Of course I can hear you, Alpha. Now what’s the bloody problem? If you wanted to talk to me all you had to do was ask. I didn’t need these brutes dragging me through the compound like I was a piece of shit.”
Ignoring the obvious response, that Simon was a piece of shit in any language, Damien queried instead, “What do you know about the kids that were rescued from Jacob’s house yesterday?”
“Me? Nothing, Alpha. I was as shocked as anyone to find out there were even kids in the house. I checked the house out when it first caught fire, and I could have sworn there was no one in there.”
Interesting, Damien thought. Simon thought he was being summoned because he hadn’t checked the house out properly. Didn’t he realize that the children were capable of speaking and were probably more intelligent than the brute himself?
The blue stasis field holding Simon captive glowed a bright purple before going blue again.
“What was that?” Damien asked Shawn.
“A new modification of mine,” Shawn said quietly. “I can now rig a stasis field to change color if the person inside of it is telling lies. The stasis field blocks scents, so this is a way of making sure whoever is being held is telling the truth. Simon is lying.”
Turning back to Simon, Damien said, “You heard the Shifter Guardian. You’re lying. Now do you want to answer the question truthfully this time? What do you know about the children held captive in the basement of Jacob’s house?”
Simon opened his mouth to answer and then glaring at the stasis field around him, he closed it again. The man’s eyes narrowed as he was clearly thinking about how he could get out of his currently dire situation.
“I may have known that the children were there. But Jacob told me that they weren’t any use to him anymore now that the Alpha had mated. So they weren’t of any consequence, and as they were due to be killed anyway, leaving them in the fire just would have made that happen sooner, rather than later.”
Probably the most shocking thing about Simon’s words, to Damien at least, was that the stasis field didn’t change color. Simon obviously believed the truth of his words - the children didn’t mean anything to him.
Just then Damien heard a small gasp behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see Dean standing in the hallway entrance to the living room, with Argon at his side. Argon’s face was ghostly pale and the look of sheer terror on this face was heartbreaking to see. But then Argon caught sight of Damien and he quickly blanked his face and dropped his eyes. Damien felt that if Dean hadn’t been holding the young man up, the boy would have dropped to his knees.
Chapter Twenty Four
“Dean, can you bring Argon over here please,” Damien said softly.
When the boy was standing in front of him, head down and body shaking, Damien continued in an even softer voice. “Argon, can you look at me please.”
The young boy looked up.
“Do you know who I am?”
Argon shook his head.
“My name is Damien, and I am the Alpha of this pack. You met my mate, Scott, yesterday when he got you out of your cage.”
“You’re gay?” The young man’s voice was thin, but the incredulity in his voice was clearly evident.
Now it was Damien’s turn to be surprised. Of all the questions Argon could have asked this one was the least expected. “Yes Argon. All of the men in this room are gay and so are most of the men in my pack. Why, does that surprise you?”
Argon looked down at the floor and blushed a bright red. “I’m sorry Alpha. It’s just my parents left our home pack because my brother was gay and although I guess I knew that this Jacob fella was trying to groom me to be your mate, I kinda thought you would be a bit more…” he waved his wrist around, “flamboyant,” he finished.
Damien smiled at the boy, wondering where on earth he got his ideas from. Maybe his brother was the more flamboyant type of gay man.
“There is nothing flamboyant about me, Argon. Surely you knew it was possible for men like me to be gay. Jacob is not a small man, nor were the other men who abused you.”
“I didn’t think they were gay, Alpha. They never said they were, and they kept calling us all these names and stuff. I thought they were just using the sex to humiliate and break us, so we would do as we were told.”
Determined not to let the horror Damien felt at what had been done to these boys, show on his face, he settled for smiling again.
“Look around you Argon. The couple over there,” he pointed to Kane and Shawn, “that’s the Alpha of the Cloverleah pack and his mate Shawn, who is a Shifter Guardian. Then over there,” he pointed to Griff and Diablo, “these two men are wolf and cat shifter, and they’re both from Cloverleah as well. Scott and I are a mated pair, Scott’s twin over there has found his male mate, and Malacai here keeps looking for his mate, as do the other men here. Male mates that is, not female.”
Argon looked around the room and then glared when his eyes rested on Simon.
“You told me you were mated to a female and that you couldn’t stand gay men. Faggots, you called us, all of us. Fucking faggots you said. Even when your cock was so far up my ass I bled.”
Although the boy’s words painted a graphic picture of what must have been sheer horror, Damien was pleased to hear the pure anger in the boy’s tone. It would help Argon to heal if he had a chance to face at least one of his abusers without fear.
“Simon doesn’t have a mate,” Malacai said from his position next to the man in question. “But he’s had more cocks in him than I’ve had hot dinners and he seemed to love every minute of it.”
Behind the stasis field Simon’s eyes glared but he kept his mouth shut.
Damien explained. “Argon, Simon is a submissive wolf. And if he’s not gay, he has been doing a damn good job of pretending he is, for as long as I have known him. You can’t believe anything that any of your abusers told you. They would say anything to get you to do what they wanted you to do. What they are is filthy fucking perverts. Not because they’re gay, but because they preyed on young boys like you. The men who used you are nothing more than child abusers, Argon. Abusers in the worst possible way. They are cowards and have no moral compass. You have no idea how sorry I am that this happened in my pack.”
“You didn’t do it,” Argon said with a maturity that belied his tender age. Then he threw a filthy look at Simon. “But he definitely did and so did those big guys Levi, Jacob and Drake. Where are they?”
“Levi and Drake were killed by Scott, the Alpha Mate, in Cloverleah a few weeks ago. They tried to rape him. Jacob is still missing but as soon as he’s found, he will be killed as well.” Damien didn’t see the point in going over the whole story about what happened in Cloverleah, but hopefully the boy would feel better knowing at least two of his abusers were already dead. Levi and Drake’s attempt to rape Scott didn’t seem so out of character now.
“I couldn’t kill them,” Argon said with tears in his eyes. “I wanted to and I tried so many times, but they were so big and…they would beat us, and not give us food unless we did what they wanted. We didn’t have any choice.” His voice rose on a wail and Damien didn’t know if he could handle the pain that was in that sound. The emotion behind it was so raw and so powerful that it robbed Damien of any words he could try and say to comfort the young man.
“Argon, you did nothing wrong,” Scott said gently as Dean wrapped his arm around the crying boy. “I am a lot bigger than you, and older. I know you would have kept fighting them and eventually you would’ve won. You have to believe me when I tell you that it took a lot of strength for you to go through what you did and survive. I am really proud of you, and when we get you home, I know your parents will be proud of you too.”
Argon was crying openly now and Dean’s face was fighting to hide his emotions as he stroked the boy’s hair and back, trying to soothe the shattered boy.
“Why don’t you
take Argon back to the others Dean,” Damien suggested. “Unless you have anything else you want to say to Simon while you have the chance, Argon?”
His eyes flashing, Argon spoke, revealing a tiny slice of playful adolescence that would probably cause his parent’s problems until he got older. “I’ve got nothing to say to a pencil dick. Just promise me he won’t get to do this to any other kid.”
“You have my word and the word of every man in this room, that Simon will not get to see the sunset; today or ever again.” Strong words to say to a boy, but the boy was a shifter, and even without a pack, he seemed to understand pack justice.
Seemingly satisfied, Argon let Dean lead him back down the hallway to the rooms beyond. Waiting until the boy was out of hearing range Damien turned his focus back to Simon.
“You said something before about Jacob’s plans for these kids. What did my being mated have to do with deciding to kill children - stolen children at that? Why weren’t they just returned to the area they came from?” Yes, Damien could do the whole casual calm thing - right before he ripped this fucker’s throat out. He was known for it and from the nervous look that flickered across Simon’s face, Simon had to know his minutes were numbered too.
“That was Jacob’s plan, see.” Simon seemed keen to put the blame on someone who wasn’t around. “He was training these boys to be proper submissives. Boys you would want on your roster. He figured, given that you had been without a mate for so long, that sooner or later he would find the one boy that you would take to be your mate, even if it wasn’t your true mate. He’s been doing it for years. In fact,” it seemed once Simon did start talking he didn’t shut up, “three of the boys on your last roster were Jacob’s boys. He had high hopes for that Cody, until you bought home the Alpha Mate.”
“How long has this been going on?” Damien growled. He was horrified to think that someone he had fucked had actually been abducted from their home and then trained by some malicious child molester into being the perfect sub. He remembered the young, blond sub, vaguely and yes the boy had been a perfect sub. Quiet, responsive and with expert oral skills. But now Damien was aware how the boy had acquired those skills, he just felt physically sick and deeply ashamed.
Sure the boy had been twenty when he first went on Damien’s roster. Damien wouldn’t touch anybody under that age, regardless of how pretty or seductive the boy might be. But then Damien would have never taken a mate for the sake of it. He had always been waiting for his true mate. He ran his hand up Scott’s neck to remind himself of how lucky he was and was pleased when Scott leaned into the touch.
“How long has this been going on?” Damien repeated the question.
Simon shrugged. “About eight years I think, possibly more. Jacob knew that you don’t take subs under the age of twenty, but he preferred to collect the boys before they went through their first shift. He always said that if the boys had some training before they went through their first shift, then they were a lot easier to handle afterwards. The first boys he took were a bit older, and I think a couple of them gave him a few problems.”
“What happened to the so-called problem children? Did they make it to the club?” Scott said quietly. So far no-one else in the room had spoken, but all of the men present were listening intently as Damien questioned Simon. The scent of anger was so high in the room, Damien figured the only reason Simon wasn’t cowering on his knees was because the stasis field he was in had blocked any scents coming to him.
“Jacob killed them and left them out in the forest where no one would find them.”
The stasis field went purple again. Simon was lying and this time Damien didn’t even try to hide the anger he was feeling.
“You can’t lie in this room, Simon. Now tell me the fucking truth,” he roared.
Unbelievably Simon shrugged. “Well, I don’t have anything to lose do I?” He said in a sneering tone. “You’re gonna lock me up until you find the shifter families concerned and then, given how many of them there are, it will be months before any resolution is given to my fate. So what does it matter. I’ll escape, just like Bruce did, and then you had better watch your back. All of you.” He glared around the room causing more than a few hackles to rise. Simon had absolutely no idea how much danger he was in.
“I killed the boys. I took them out into the forest, got them to shift and then I hunted them down and killed them. But not before I made them shift back to human, so I could fuck their tight little ass’ one more time. I was meant to be a top, not a pansy bottom. A top I tell you, and damn I was good at it. Those boys screamed for me.”
Damien was losing it. He could feel the anger roar through his veins and he just wanted this man dead. But he had to stop himself. There was pack law to be followed and he needed to know if Simon knew where Jacob was.
“Where’s Jacob?”
Simon looked for a moment like he wouldn’t answer, but then, stupid that he was, he must have figured he was safe enough. “He’s in the city. You won’t find him. He’s got some apartment in there - no-one knows where it is. Sniveling coward ran for it straight after he helped me light the fire.”
The stasis field stayed blue and Damien realized that Simon didn’t know any more than he was telling. In which case, the man was dead. It really was that simple.
“So you’re partially responsible for the fire as well?” The delight in Damien’s voice surprised Scott and he looked up at his lover to see a wicked feral smile grace the man’s face. Not knowing what was going to happen next, Scott was equally surprised when Damien stood and stripped off his shirt. But Damien was looking at Shawn, who as Shifter Guardian was the ranking authority in the room.
“I Damien,” the man said as he moved closer to Simon, popping the top button of his jeans, “Alpha of the San Antonio Pack, do hereby sentence you to death for crimes against wolf children, and for endangering the lives of every person in this pack, with the fire you helped light yesterday. I claim this right under pack law.”
“No,” Simon screamed, finally understanding what was going to happen to him. His fear increased as Damien slid down the zipper of his jeans. No one else in the room moved. “You can’t do this,” Simon tried again. “You have to allow restitution for the families of the boys we harmed. You can’t kill me now.”
“Under pack law Damien has every right to kill you on the spot,” Shawn spoke up from his spot on the couch. “Your crimes against the boys are beyond horrific, but when you aided in lighting the fires on pack grounds, you endangered the lives of everyone who lives here. Damien, as Alpha, has every right to end your life now. I, Shawn Matthews, Shifter Guardian, decree this is a fair kill under pack law. Sentence to be carried out immediately.” And so Shawn completed his part of the ritual, which would mean that no one would be able to come back and claim that the killing of Simon wasn’t just and right under pack law. An archaic but necessary ritual, that stopped Alpha’s from killing just anybody on a whimsy.
Damien leaned forward until his face was just inches from Simon’s, still encased in the blue stasis field.
“Run,” he growled. Shawn lifted his hands and the stasis field vanished and Simon quickly found his feet. He took off running for the door, which Malacai helpfully opened, trying to shrug his clothes off as he went. Damien slipped off his jeans and Scott had one chance to look at that tempting body before Damien shifted into the huge wolf he was famous for and took off out the door.
/~/~/~/~/
By the time Scott and the others had made it out onto the porch of Damien’s house the fight, if it could be called that, was damn near over. Simon was already dead but Damien, still in the thrall of his wolf, didn’t stop there. His strong claws and huge sharp teeth ripped and tore the wolf’s body literally to bloody pieces. The biggest insult a wolf could offer another - the desecration of his body after death.
Scott stood stunned for a minute. Damien’s wolf looked almost feral in its rage. But as Scott continued to watch, he could see the beauty of th
e moment. This was how justice was dispensed, wolf style. Yes it was cold, hard, bloody, and totally ugly in its execution, but it was necessary. By his actions, Damien was showing that he would use the power of his wolf to protect his pack, against all who tried to hurt them. And it was clear, from the faces of the people of the pack who had gathered to see the fight, that they reveled in having an Alpha with such strength and single minded purpose. Damien wasn’t just taking out a rogue shifter - he was cementing his place as Alpha in the pack.
So Scott forced himself to watch as Damien’s powerful wolf tore Simon into bite sized pieces. It wasn’t an easy thing to see, even for a beta wolf like Scott. Sure, he had been in his own fair share of fights through the years and yes he had killed Levi, Drake and helped Damien kill the bear shifter that attacked them in Cloverleah. But in all of his years he had never seen anything like the annihilation of Simon. But Scott knew it was important, both as Damien’s mate and Alpha Mate of this pack, that he stand witness to the gore in front of him. He had to show support for Damien in every way. If he was grateful for Troy’s comforting presence beside him, he didn’t let on, although he knew Troy understood how he felt.
When there was absolutely nothing left of Simon to shred Damien lifted his head, howling his victory long and loud across pack grounds. The roar of the answering howls from his pack showed Damien the appreciation and respect he deserved from the wolves he protected.
Damien started to shimmer, indicating he was about to shift, and Scott ran forward with the jeans that Damien had left on the floor of the pack house. Smiling his thanks, Damien pulled them on and Scott took a moment to appreciate that even covered in blood and gore the man still looked amazing. Looping his arm around Scott’s waist, Damien turned and faced the crowd that had gathered.
“The man I killed today, you know as Simon. Simon was heavily involved in the systematic abuse of wolf shifter boys. Young boys who had been stolen from their families. He was also responsible in part for the fires that decimated three homes on our pack lands. His death is just one small part of the efforts I intend to make to put this pack back on solid ground.”