Who Are You?
1611 Words
Jonathan POV
‘Guys! Stay in the tree!’ Alpha Terrance yelled to us in mind link. ‘You did great last time, but there’s a lot more of them this time. You may be Lycans, but you can’t shift! I can’t order you, but I’m asking you, please, stay in the tree!’
‘But we can help,’ I tried to protest.
Jameson shook his head at me. ‘He’s right,’ he told me through the mind link. ‘I’m not sure why, but I have this feeling we need to do what he said.’ His eyes had returned to normal, indicating he had retaken control. Damien, after telling me that we should listen to him, stepped back and let me do the same.
‘We can and should help,’ I replied stubbornly.
‘I know,’ Jameson told me. ‘But I have this strong feeling we should stay right here.’
‘Whatever,’ I grumbled. But I decided it wasn’t worth arguing with my brother over and stayed in the darn tree.
We climbed a little further up into the tree to try to get a better perspective. It was a big, thick tree of some sort, so thankfully it could easily support our weight even though we were big guys.
The rogues must’ve decided to meet the warriors head-on, because they rushed forward and met the warriors at the foot of the hill. A gray wolf, who was scrawny even though he had a big frame, came to the front of the group. He was obviously their leader, as the rogues parted slightly to make way for him.
Alpha Terrance stopped when he was nose to nose with the gray wolf. ‘What do you want?’ he snarled at him. ‘Why are you here?’
Most werewolves, I’d been told, could only mind link their own pack members. They could only mind link members of other packs if they were related to them. But, as Damien had told me, we could mind link anyone since we were Lycans.
‘It’s simple,’ the gray wolf snarled back. ‘My sources tell me you have the Lycan princes here, and I’m taking them.’
I drew in a sharp breath, and heard Jameson do the same beside me.
Thankfully, Alpha Terrance was good at thinking on his feet – or, in this case, paws. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he snapped at the gray. ‘The Lycan princes were kidnapped years ago. Nobody knows where they are, you fool!’
The gray growled a low, warning growl. ‘I have eyes everywhere. I know they’re here. Hand them over!’
I didn’t know a wolf could scoff, but Alpha Terrance managed it when he replied, ‘Buddy, you’re delusional. Besides, if they’re even still alive, wouldn’t the princes be eighteen by now? I can’t just hand over a fully grown Lycan, let alone two of them, even if they were here. Which they’re not.’
‘If you don’t hand over the princes, I will kill you and every werewolf standing in my way. So unless you’re prepared to die, take me to the princes!’ the gray ordered.
‘They’re not here, and I don’t take kindly to orders,’ Alpha Terrance said coldly.
The gray and his rogues tried to surge forward, but Alpha Terrance and his warriors surged forward as well, and the fight was on. From our vantage point, Jameson and I watched in fascinated horror as the area in front of us became a battlefield. Wolves were snarling, snapping, rolling on the ground, all of them locked into a desperate battle for survival. There were screams of pain and terror, some of which were cut short as the screamer’s life was cut short. There were howls of victory from the wolves that had killed their opponents. And blood. So much blood. It didn’t take long for it to look like they were fighting in a sea of blood rather than a field of grass. It was absolutely horrifying. And the knowledge that it had something to do with us made it so much worse. I was glad that I had listened to Jameson and Alpha Terrance and stayed in the tree. I had a feeling that if the rogues – or whoever they were – spotted us, the fighting would’ve been that much more intense and likely resulted in even more loss of life.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was probably only about twenty minutes or less, the battle was over. All of the rogues lay dead, with the exception of the gray leader.
Alpha Terrance was trying to force him shift back to human, but he was refusing. Finally, Alpha Terrance – who had already shifted back and put a pair of shorts on – reached into his pocket and pulled out a small spray bottle. I caught a quick glimpse of the label, and saw that it was a mixture of silver and wolfsbane.
“Shift,” Alpha Terrance demanded, “or get a face full of this. Your choice.”
The gray wolf glared at him, but slowly began shifting to human. Jameson and I both averted our eyes for a minute, knowing that as soon as he’d shifted, somebody would hand him a pair of shorts, and we had no desire to see him until he at least had that on. (Werewolves almost always carried an extra set of clothes on them, and here on the territory there were clothes hidden in various spots, in case they were needed.)
When we turned back, there was a tall, skinny young man with curly blonde hair standing in front of Alpha Terrance, already handcuffed by the two warriors standing beside him. If looks could kill, the hatred burning in his green eyes would’ve put Alpha Terrance six feet under.
“What’s your name?” Alpha Terrance growled at him. “Why are you here?”
At first the guy just glared at him in silence, but finally answered when Alpha Terrance again waved the bottle in his face.
“Lyle Jenkins,” he snapped. “I’m here to take Jameson and Jonathan with me.”
“Even if they were here, I wouldn’t hand them over,” Alpha Terrance replied with a scowl. “What do you want with them anyway?”
“That’s none of your business,” Lyle snarled in return. “Besides, if they’re not here, why would you even care?”
“Because if they’re found, they’ll one day be ruling over all of us,” Alpha Terrance told him. “That makes it my business.”
“If I find them, I’ll be the one ruling,” Lyle growled. “And you better believe I’ll remember you killing my soldiers, a**hole! We would’ve left you in peace if you’d just handed them over!”
Alpha Terrance wasn’t much taller than him, but he was just enough taller than he had to tilt his head down a little when he went nose to nose with him, pinning him with a hard glare of his own. “You came into our territory, jack**s, not the other way around. If anyone got your men killed, it’s you. Only you. And you’re lucky we haven’t killed you too. Which we will do if you don’t start talking.”
“I ain’t telling you s**t,” Lyle spat.
Alpha Terrance gave him warriors standing by Lyle a quick warning glance, and they both stepped back a little.
Lyle, noticing them stepping back, gave Alpha Terrance a wary look. “What are you - ?”
He didn’t get to finish his question before Alpha Terrance sprayed the silver and wolfsbane mixture on his abdomen, turning his own head away to avoid breathing it in. Lyle screamed, doubling over as the pain hit him, and the two warriors jumped forward to grab him before he hit the ground.
“Talk!” Alpha Terrance shouted. “Or it’ll be your eyes next!”
Lyle was struggling to breathe through the pain, but his eyes were still shooting daggers at Alpha Terrance. “I ain’t - “
Alpha Terrance cut him off by waving the bottle threateningly in his face, and Lyle quickly turned his face away.
“Ok, ok!” he managed to say, finally relenting. “I came here to convince the twins to help us take the castle! I figured King Sebastien would let his sons in, and once they got in, they’d let us in and we’d storm the castle. I want that throne, and I’ll take it by force if I have to!”
Alpha Terrance stared at him. “And you thought an army of rogue werewolves would be able to take on an army of Lycan warriors? You’re a special kind of stupid, aren’t you?”
I had to fight back a snort of laughter at that one. Beside me, I sensed Jameson doing the same.
“I figured once we were in, I could sweet talk Queen Havannah into helping me,” Lyle replied with a shrug. “She’s always had a soft spot for me, but that jack**s she’s mated to won’t let her speak to me anymore. Says he doesn’t trust me anymore.”
Alpha Terrance snorted. “And for good reason, it sounds like. King Sebastien isn’t dumb. Who is Queen Havannah to you anyway?”
“I’m guessing you know she was a werewolf before she became a Lycan, don’t you?” Lyle replied. When Alpha Terrance nodded, he continued. “She was originally from the Jade Moon Pack, same as me. I’m Queen Havannah’s distant cousin.”
- Writer
