Greykin Valley

| 75 | Moving Out

"Yeah, maybe."

He moved his face closer and nuzzled Jackson's head. "If you can't get it out of him, we'll find another way to get it."

"Get what?" came Sebastien's voice.

Damon rolled his eyes as he turned his head to look at the hound. "None of your business."

Sebastien frowned but didn't snap back. "We're getting ready to head out. Heir Zephyr said you had another dream thing; you okay?"

Jackson nodded, and before Sebastien could turn around, he said, "Can I...well...I wanted to ask you something about Lord Caedis."

"Okay...like what?" the hound asked with a wary expression.

"Can he...well...if I were to ask for it...could he undo whatever made me a hybrid?"

Sebastien looked a little bewildered. "Uh...I mean...maybe. He can unmake vampires, so...." He shook his head. "But it's a wolf walker thing, so I really don't know. Sorry." The hound then looked behind him at Cyrus' wolves, who were lining up ready to move out. "Look, there ain't time for any of this right now; we gotta get moving. Maybe I can help more on the way back or something."

Damon couldn't help but feel suspicious, but he wasn't going to attack Sebastien—not yet at least. He'd question him later.

"Okay," Jackson said with a deep exhale. "I'm ready."

"Are you?" Sebastien asked Damon. "Cyrus is relying on you to back him up."

The Alpha nodded.

"All right, let's go," the hound said as he turned around.

Damon walked beside Jackson as they followed Sebastien towards Cyrus' wolves. Tokala and the rest of the pack joined them, and Amos and Elias started telling them where they'd be walking. Damon knew that he was going to be separated from Jackson; he wanted to argue, but not only did he know that it was useless, but he also had to focus on the mission. He had to be with Cyrus to help him keep Kane from running off like the pathetic little coward he was.

He stopped in front of Amos, who directed Jackson to one of the groups who'd be dealing with cadejo.

Jackson turned to face Damon. "So...I'll see you when it's over."

Damon nodded and nuzzled Jackson's muzzle. "Stay close to your packmates, okay?"

"I will," he murmured.

The Alpha nuzzled his head a little and then stared into his mate's shimmering blue eyes. "I love you."

Jackson smiled and said, "I love you, too."

The Alpha watched him turn around and make his way towards his group. Seeing that he'd be with Wesley and his Epsilons made Damon feel a little better but knew that he'd be worrying the entire time that something was going to happen to him.

"Greyblood," came Cyrus' voice.

Damon looked over at him.

"Come on. Time to move out," Cyrus said.

With a breathy sigh, Damon glanced at Jackson, who got in line behind Julian, and then he made his way to the front of the pack to join Cyrus.

Cyrus looked him up and down. "Look, man...I don't wanna be that guy, but I need to make sure you're ready. I can't have you up here with me fighting this guy if you're distracted."

Damon snarled irritably. "I'm not distracted. I just want to get this shit over with so we can get to that lab."

With a nod, Cyrus stared ahead into the trees.

"Are we ready to go?" Maleki asked as he appeared beside Cyrus with Sebastien. "Time is money."

"Yeah, yeah, calm down. I'm sure Alucard'll compensate you very well for this," Cyrus sneered. "That's all that matters to you, right?"

The vampire-elf scoffed and crossed his arms. "At least I've got my priorities straight, dog."

Cyrus rose to his hind legs with a furious snarl—

"Okay, okay," Sebastien drawled as he used his wings to keep Maleki and Cyrus apart. "We're all colleagues here. Let's just get done what we're out here to get done and then we can all go home, yeah?"

Cyrus snarled and backed off.

Maleki, on the other hand, scoffed and adorned a revolted stare.

"Come on," Raphael then growled as he shoved past them all.

Damon watched Maleki and Cyrus exchange hostile glares. He hadn't seen them at each other's throats before now; their past exchanges seemed to be all banter and chortles, but they evidently had some sort of grievance between them. He didn't care to ask for details, though.

Cyrus huffed irritably but looked back at everyone. "Let's move out," he called and started leading the way.

As he followed Cyrus' lead, Damon glanced over his shoulder at Jackson. His worry was already increasing, but he couldn't let it consume him. He had to focus. The sooner Kane was dealt with, the sooner he and his pack could get to that lab.

And the sooner they got there, the sooner they could finally find someplace to call home.

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