Pack Mentality

by Idella Breen

  “They’ll find me! You’ll pay when they do!”

  A dark chuckle. “Oh omega, by the time they realize you’re even here, the battle will have already begun and your clansmen will be slaughtered by mine.”

  “My mates—”

  “Your mate is an ally of mine.”

  “What—”

  “The Vega’s will be on my side of the battlefield. You mate will be among them.”

  Gwen felt a sinking feeling in her gut. “No—”

  “I believe another fifteen seconds will change your mind.”

  “No—” then she was drowning in more than just water.

  “We have to get them back, Jazz!” Mary ranted and raved as she paced back in forth in the living room nearly running a hole in the carpet. Her tail swished back and forth, as she paced, in a lazy yet agitated movement. Jezebel was seated on the couch, the same couch she had occupied happily with both of her mates only a day before, with a hand roughly running through her hair. She sighed and rested a hand against her forehead. She hated that she always had to be the calm one but knew it was her responsibility.

  Mary was the second born and not the future alpha female of their pride. Jezebel had been coached and molded to handle such things from a young age while Mary was left to play with the other children. Sometimes, Jezebel envied her sister's freedom while other times she valued her own need to control everything. It let her feel powerful and useful. Mary always seemed to be a victim of her circumstances and reacted instead of being proactive. If something went wrong it was always, “It happened to me!” Where as Jezebel was more of a, “It happened because I made it happen,” kind of person. Jezebel sighed. It was a grass-is-much-greener-on-the-other-side moment and it passed like it always does.

  Jezebel wouldn’t give up her birthright for anything. It gave her the power to protect the ones she loves. Yet, she thought bitterly, there was still her mother, and therefore someone with greater power in their pride. Senna would be a thorn in her side until Jezebel took her place and there was only one way to do such a thing. Jezebel feared she would never be able to do what needed to be done.

  “Calm down, Mary—” Jezebel was cut off by her phone. She answered it quickly, not sparing the name a look, in hopes it was one of her siblings. Maybe Aaron and Sheik were having second thoughts. Her feeble hopes were dashed quickly. Suffice to say, she was surprised to hear a man’s voice.

  “Jezebel?”

  “Who is this?”

  “This is Remus Lander. Gwen gave me your phone number in case I needed to reach you. I didn’t know I’d need to use it so soon.” She heard him sigh. “Could you send her home now, please. I have a tiny problem that I need help with.”

  Jezebel felt her gut clench. “What are you talking about, she left hours ago. Early this morning actually. She should have been back by now.”

  The line was silent for a moment then another sigh. “It’s okay. She probably went somewhere else. I’ll make some calls. She’s probably avoiding coming home because of earlier.”

  “Earlier?”

  He was silent for another moment and Jezebel heard another voice on his end before he answered her. “We had a disagreement.”

  “That wouldn’t have anything to do with why she came over late, would it?”

  “It was pack business.”

  Jezebel smirked. “The sooner you accept that Silvia and I are now pack the better it will be for all of us.”

  He waited for a beat as if considering her stance. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll let you know when I find her.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” she said and hung up.

  “Was that Remus?” Mary asked, unable to hide the hope in her voice.

  “It was,” Jezebel said as she placed her phone back on the couch within arms reach, just in case. Her mind was already working through the problems laid out before her. She would let Remus call around for Gwen. Her blood bond was still weak and developing. Gwen had explained later that there were some perks to it but since they had done it so early in their relationship it might take some time before it was fully formed.

  “You should go a little easier on him,” Mary’s voice pulled her from her thoughts and she smirked.

  “I haven’t the faintest what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure,” Mary frowned. Jezebel knew the way she treated Remus wasn’t personal. She was just being a good older sister, or so she had convinced herself. There was a moment where they considered each other then Jezebel smiled softly and Mary winced.

  “You know then?” Mary asked.

  Jezebel nodded. “I’ve known for a while.”

  Mary let out a heavy sigh. “I was going to tell you—”

  “Mary?”

  Mary looked back and couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. “Right! Time and place!”

  Jezebel ran another hand through her hair and her eyes hardened. “I won’t forgive her but I do believe she played her hand well.”

  “Yeah, whatever, now how do we get our siblings back from the clutches of our evil mother?” Mary said and plopped down next to her sister on the couch.

  Jezebel patted her thigh and stood. “Patience, sister. For now, I need to lay Elijah down for bed.” Jezebel stood and walked over to her youngest sibling who was happily chewing on a toy and laying on his soon to be favorite baby blanket. Jezebel had bought it for him the day she brought him home after retrieving him from her mother. Senna had handed him off to a “peasant” the minute she’d given birth and told the man to make sure he didn’t cry or she’d deal with him personally. Elijah had been a mistake, or so her mother would say, but you couldn’t spill Vega blood for no reason. She smiled down at him and he gurgled when she reached down to pick him up.

  “Ready for bed?” He smiled and rested his head against her shoulder letting out a yawn.

  “I thought so,” Jezebel smiled.

  “Cup of tea?” Mary asked as she made her way towards the kitchen.

  Jezebel nodded. “I’ll meet you back here. Then we can come up with a plan.”

  Mary waved a hand and Jezebel walked towards the stairs. She adjusted her brother as she walked and held him closer. “We’ll get your brother and sister back, okay baby? I won’t let you grow up without them. They’re annoying but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

  Elijah made a small happy sound and Jezebel kissed the crown of his head.

  “Your friend was the one that had you kidnapped,” the calm voice was what woke her back to her hell. She was beginning to hate the owner of that voice with a vengeance.

  “Who?” She rasped out. Her throat was raw and ached.

  “Your friend,” he chuckled.

  “Which one?” She moved and held back a moan of pain when the cuff over her wrists bit into her chapped skin. She was tied to a board that they could move into a seating position or force her to lay down. They had bound her in metal and kept her drugged with something that made her unable to call upon her wolf. For all intents and purposes, she was human while she was under their tortures. She healed slower, her mind was hazy, she was cold all the time, and she was so hungry. It was like there was an animal in her stomach that was eating her from the inside out.

  She’d tried to get her chains off last night and all she’d succeeded in doing was having them break the skin and rub her wrists raw. The slow healing scared her. It made all of this real. She’d never felt more mortal than she did now.

  They could kill her and they didn’t even have to use silver. They could use a kitchen knife and she wouldn’t heal fast enough to prevent death. How did humans live like this? How did they live knowing they could die at any moment from anything?

  Gwen wondered, for the first time, if it was humans that were more the monsters as they seemed to hold an untouchable faith in the strength of their mortality and their will to keep themselves alive. Then her captor spoke and she knew that it wasn’t the species that dictated the morality of someone but rath
er their actions. Monsters were those who chose to be cruel and the man holding her captive was monstrous without a cause.

  The McCloud’s knew the answers to all the questions he’d been asking her. Their alpha, Art, would have all of these answers. She was here as their captive simply because the McCloud’s wanted to make a statement to her clan. Without her, Remus would struggle. He could still command their people but they would lack valor and moral. She was here simply because the McCloud’s wished it. Nothing more and nothing less.

  “You have more than one?” He said bringing her back to the moment. She’d been drifting like that since yesterday. It was probably the drug that made it hard to focus. He laughed at his own joke.

  “Funny,” she said, because she knew even through her scattered thoughts that if she could keep him talking then that meant less time drowning.

  He chuckled deeply. The bright light was exhausting her or maybe it was the vomit she was still covered in.

  “Silvia.”

  Gwen felt sick all over again. Her mate? Her Silvia had organized this. “You lie!”

  “Hit a sore spot, did I?” She heard him move, the sound of his boots crunching the concrete of the room they were in. Before she’d been made weak by the drug, she had smelt the room. She could smell the mold in the walls, the glue of the wallpaper, she could hear the concrete crunch under their feet, and she had smelt the scents of others above them. Gwen believed she was in the McCloud mansion, probably in an unfinished basement.

  “She would never—”

  “Oh, but she did,” he interrupted.

  “Why would she—”

  “Her brother,” he cut her off again as if simply by doing so he gained more satisfaction.

  “Nathan?”

  “Good girl, yes Nathan. He is the center of her world, you know? And I just happen to hold the center of her world in the palm of my hand. To crush, if I so will it. She turned you over to me without a second thought. Your friendship is nothing compared to her love for her brother. Family is always the most important. You should understand that much.”

  She did. What she didn’t understand was that mates were supposed to be family.

  “You’re quiet today. Another fifteen seconds will wake you up, I’m sure.”

  She didn’t fight them when they tipped her back, nor did she try to scream, but she couldn’t tell if the salty taste that mixed with the water was sweat or tears.

  Remus said Gwen never came home. Jezebel could still remember the shy smile and soft touch of her lips to Jezebel’s cheek, she could still remember Silvia’s irritated growl and possessive arms as they wrapped around Gwen and how she held back from kissing her mouth and instead kissed her forehead. Gwen had giggled, Silvia had smiled softly, and Jezebel had felt things she didn’t know she could feel.

  Remus said Gwen had been kidnapped. Jezebel was cooking. She has been cooking since she got the call. Remus had asked if he could come over with some friends. He’d said Gwen was gone and he needed her help to get her back. Jezebel was good at helping. She was the kind of person that liked to help and to be in control. Jezebel was cooking and cleaning. Sometimes, it took her a minute to find the focus to exercise that control.

  There was a knock at the front door. Jezebel found her focus. She also had snacks sitting on the island in her kitchen in which everyone was now standing around. She wondered silently, why all the important things in her life always happened in the kitchen? Mary stood next to her munching on chips and dip.

  Remus had brought the redhead from the gym, she introduced herself again as Cait. She had her arms crossed and a stern look on her face but also looked relaxed and ready for anything. The brunette that was standing next to Cait had reintroduced herself as Snow, who Jezebel found out was Cait’s mate. She had her arms folded behind her back and stood in a casual but elegant way. Jezebel wondered if she came from money, she spoke well if not slightly formal and she was polite. She seemed to be the youngest in the group that Remus brought.

  A tall man with narrow and sharp eyes, he was obviously a tengu, had introduced himself as Beck. He was overly polite and when Jezebel had offered refreshments he’d asked for tea while everyone else asked for coffee.

  “It helps me think,” he’d offered and she’d accepted it without question, tea it was.

  Snow had mentioned that he was in her mother’s guard and had volunteered to help. He now stood in his dark clothes and his stiff military posture with his hands around a warm mug of tea and was sipping it quietly. There was Sam, a muscular man with boyish features and coffee brown hair, Jezebel didn’t mind him so much but he seemed particularly unsettled by this whole situation if not agitated.

  Remus stood next to Sam with his hand on Sam’s shoulder as if physically restraining him. Jezebel wondered if he felt the same desire, that she now felt, to run out the front door and search for Gwen. Gwen had never mentioned Sam, but from the way Sam was humming with barely restrained rage, they must have been close.

  Remus cleared his throat. “I’ve made some calls and personally did some leg work.”

  He had everyone's undivided attention.

  “Gwen was last seen with Integra.”

  Snow frowned. “My mother?”

  “It’s not that strange, babe. Your mother and Gwen seem to have bonded lately. She often visits Integra for advice.”

  Snow nodded and turned back to Remus. “Integra said that she and Gwen spoke until late afternoon, most likely early evening, but she wasn’t sure as once Gwen had left she’d lost track of time doing work. After that, Gwen hasn’t been seen of or heard of. Sam and I went over to Integra’s estate and sniffed around. We found—”

  “The McCloud’s!” Sam all but yelled. Remus gripped his should harder.

  “We don’t know that for sure but it is highly likely.”

  Jezebel shook her head and held up her hand. “Wait,” everyone looked at her. “You’re saying that the McCloud Clan kidnapped Gwen?”

  Remus nodded.

  “How— they can’t—they wouldn’t—” she stopped and took a deep breath. “I don’t believe you,” Jezebel finally settled on saying.

  Sam growled at her but Remus held him still. Mary snarled back. “Remus, if your friend can’t keep his teeth to himself then he should leave. This is a discussion for adults. Children who can’t behave themselves should be excused from the table. We are all here because we care about Gwen and we want to come up with a plan. He’s not helping!”

  Sam looked even more pissed off but held still and closed his eyes. He took a few deep breaths. He didn’t open his eyes but his shoulders seemed to sag and he nodded once. Remus hesitated a moment, then released his hold.

  “Sorry,” Sam said softly.

  Mary nodded. “As long as you understand.”

  “I do,” he still had his eyes closed and seemed to be taking measured breaths but he seemed much more relaxed and that was enough.

  Remus turned back to Jezebel. “As I said, we don’t have the proof but we are currently having a land dispute with the McCloud Clan. Their alpha, Art, isn’t someone to be taken lightly. He wants my land and he wants to take all of it from the Lander Clan. Gwen is our omega, and as of now, there doesn’t seem to be any other suspicious people that have the balls to kidnap Gwen from Integra Bennett’s estate.

  “They had to sneak past her guards which I will tell you from experience is no easy feat. There was also the faint scent of werewolf in the area that neither belonged to Sam nor I. Integra confirmed that she hadn’t had any werewolf guests as of late besides Gwen. What do you think this looks like?”

  Jezebel held his gaze. His gaze was hard and serious while her’s was thoughtful and relaxed. Finally, she nodded. “That may all be true, but Silvia is a McCloud, isn’t she? She wouldn’t let her mate come to harm and my mother, the whole Vega pride, are allies in your land dispute. Why would this Art person make an enemy of an ally before the battle?”

  Remus shrugged. “Art is crazy.
”

  Jezebel scoffed but no one else joined her nor laughed. She turned back to Remus. “You’re serious.”

  He nodded. “I am. Art is crazy. He’s ambitious to the extent that he would sacrifice anyone and everyone even his own people to get what he wants. As for Silvia, well, I know her and I know the types of sacrifices she’s made in the past for her brother. I don’t know why she’s with the McCloud’s right now,” Jezebel frowned and Remus paused to consider her. He continued, “Oh, Silvia is from another pack. You do know that she’s not a werewolf?”

  Jezebel nodded. “She’s a Cain. She never went into the details, just mentioned that she had lost her birthright.”

  Remus nodded. “Yes, I imagine she did. It would explain why she left her pack. Inuyoukai rarely leave their packs unless they are disowned. I imagine she was forced out but Silvia loves her brother to the point that it’s debilitating. Jezebel, well, I believe she’d do anything to keep him safe.”

  “But surely—”

  “Anything, Jezebel. Once when we were children, a group of older kids approached us with the intention of hurting Nathan. Nathan was always softer than Silvia, it’s why Silvia is the heir to the Cain pack even though she is female. The males are meant to lead it even if a female is their first born but exceptions are made in severe cases. Nathan was weak. Silvia was strong. They made an exception due to her mother fighting for it.

  “These older kids were sent to kidnap Nathan for a rival pack. The moment they touched him it was like they released a monster. Silvia killed them all, in cold blood. They broke her arm, all her fingers, fractured her jaw, and broke her ankle and she killed them all without a second thought. No one messes with Nathan so long as Silvia is alive.