Mckayla
~
I stretched my body out on all fours, letting my claws dig into the hard soil. I left Nina and the rest of the pack home, not wanting them to trail me and alert Sal of our plans. It took a lot of calming techniques to get the pack to back off and let me do what was needed. I told them they would know when I needed them. I would use the abilities I had to reach them.
Nina had lingered by my side until I was at a close enough distance for Sal to smell my pack coming. As a wolf, my scent was hard to distinct from a mundane wolf so my scent would be ignored.
I yawned, letting my canines expose themselves to the air. I ambled on all fours, making my way through the back of the house where the underground shed was. Hiding behind a few trees, I waited for my moment to move into the rogues den. The shed door seemed to always stay open, which made since, being that the rogues could no longer shift back human skin.
I watched a rogue head stick out, cautiously as it ran towards the front. That was my opportunity and I broke into a run, heading inside their den. The moment I stepped through the threshold I could hear snarls and whines of fights and combative behavior. It was pathetic. They had no humane part in them. I snarled absently, realizing that was what I was doing to myself not too long ago, willingly.
When I approached the rogues, they didn't take much notice to me, thinking I was one of them. I was right. I was now inside and now it was time to put action into part two of our plan. No matter how far gone a Were was, there was always a leader...an Alpha, no matter what Sal thought.
My goal was to challenge this Alpha and have the rogues follow me. I moved around the layered spaces finding a few rogues posted along a thick dirt wall. He seemed to be watching all of the rogues, bullying and fighting each other. Rogues...they enjoyed the chaos and the fight. I should know. That was one of the reasons I became an enforcer. I knew at any moment I was about to set this pack of rogues into a mist of insanity.
I ambled cautiously, watching all my corners and blind spots as I approached the Alpha rogue.
He stood on all fours taking in my approach. The rogue must have wondered by why I was coming his way, threatened by my tall posture. I kept my level of power at a normal base not alerting them of my Alpha status just yet.
I stood only a few leaps from this Alpha rogue as my front paw stomped against the ground signaling a challenge with a snarl as an added bonus to that. I was sticking claim to this territory and announced to everyone of how serious I was to getting it. Whoever this rogue was in the past, did not matter to me. I had a bigger stake to lose and they were too far gone to save.
The Alpha rogue snarled and I paced in small patterns, making all the rogues antsy. I knew my erratic movement would throw them all.
The Alpha stepped out, canines exposed, accepting my challenge. I knew this fight would end with a death. Rogues didn't fight until incapacitated but lying in their own blood. I would not die tonight. I promised Nina I would not leave her.
The Alpha tried circling around me, but I was not naive to giving my back. I snarled letting more power heave out of me as I dug her claws deep beneath the hard rocky surface.
In a reeling sneak attack the Alpha tried to rake its claws over my jaw. I leaped backwards, dodging the swipe as the rogue came again at me. I dodged every attack letting the rogue drain himself out. The rogue was not fighting with anyn type of strategy. Wrong mistake.
I let the Alpha rogue move in close enough watching in slow motion as the rogue tried to snap its canines at the forefront of my legs and I pivoted pouncing on top, as my canines bit around the rogues neck, feeling and ravishing in the blood spilling into my mouth. I growled, shaking the rogue like a bull-shark as the Alpha rogue tried to extract itself away. Biting into the rogue harder, he whined, buckling to the ground, pushing as much effort to stand back up. I had always spilled blood in any challenge, and tonight this rogue would die. With force that could break every bone in this rogues neck, I constrained it, squeezing my jaw in tighter as I felt his neck crackle signaling I was breaking his neck.
The Alpha rogue went slack and I let go, dropping him to the floor.
I hadn't killed as a wolf in such a long time and the feeling lubricated my mind. I missed and I felt my wolf telling me to kill again. I could not lose focus of why I was here.
I heard hands clapping and I turned around abruptly, as Sal exposed himself from a hidden corner. He had a widen grin on his face as he continued his overly obsessive clapping. "Beautiful...just, that was..." he seemed so impressed and I almost fell into his praising of me. "Wow. See," he shouted with enthusiasm as rogues moved in around him. I noticed his still human skin rogues coming from other hidden corners as some rogues in wolf, shifted. My eyes narrowed around me as I realized I was trapped. More than that, he had been waiting for me.
Best option was to stay wolf. I could call my pack to me, but...I knew it would be a mistake. I couldn't risk there lives, not when our plan had failed. This was always meant to be a trap.
How could he have known?
"This is beautiful...Kayla," his grin made me want to rip through him. He felt so smug and powerful. "I have such great plans for you."
I snarled as if telling him I wouldn't be compliant and he chuckled, I'm sure not surprised.
"In case your wondering how I knew you were coming," he waved in a direction that was a blind spot to me as someone moved into view. For a second, I feared it was Rogue, but who stepped out was Jessica, Jerome's sister.
Naturally, I snarled, filled with confusion and exasperation of her betrayal, until I realized Jessica was getting injected with what I was injected with. It was a strong need that I almost craved but luckily my wolf was too strong to want more. I couldn't hate or blame her no matter what. She would only have herself to blame for the rest of her life. That was torture enough.
"Now Kayla. Don't blame her." Sal was to blame for everything so I wouldn't, though my wolf wouldn't care at the moment. She wanted to kill everyone in this shed. "You should come willingly."
I snarled giving him my no, as I scanned around repetitively. No exit except through them. No matter what, I needed to send my pack a message, but if I did it here right now, it might prompt Jessica to telling him further what I'm capable of. This is why I hated opening up around others. You never knew who could use it against you and again, my fears were proven right.
"Maurice...now." A tall bulky man came with a gun in hand, giving it too Sal. "We have all seen how you can fight. No point in killing some of my rogues. You have to lead them one day. You are their Alpha now. But they won't listen to you, until you have the mindset they can only respond to. So..." he positioned himself in my front direction as I snarled, lowering for an attack. "I'm gonna," as he was getting ready to point the gun, I tried dodging to the side, making break in zigzag patterns.
Sal laughed as he shot a few rounds, trying to hit me. I knew without a doubt they were silver bullets, and the memory of the last time I was shot with silver in the middle of a fight with General, I moved with such agility, that normal pair of eyes wouldn't catch. But Sal wasn't wearing a normal pair of eyes and he had lived over three-hundred years, making him deadly fast, like me.
As I leaped through a pair of rogues, I felt my body jerk, reeling me to the side as the velocity of the silver bullet slammed me into a wall. I withe on the ground, howling out in pain. The bullet hit me over my thigh, and I tried, regardless of the pain to stand. The silver was burning, acid scorching to my internal flesh. I felt another silver bullet infiltrate in between my ribs and croaked, hurling, snout first into the ground. The silver ate at my insides as the shift back to human flesh was forced on me.
It took a few minutes of one of my most agonizing shifts, as Sal walked over, standing over me. "You are like a daughter to me. I'm only punishing you because that's what fathers do."
My breathing seemed to only blow in and out through my mouth as saliva mixed in with the dirt. My expression was contorted with agony. Sal bent low to me, running his hands over my cheek. Standing abruptly, he called a few of his rogues over. "Take her..." I felt unwanted hands pick me up by my shoulders, on both ends, dragging me off, as I fell in and out of consciousness. I tried to jerk away but the silver seemed to paralyze me.
The last thing I remembered was Nina; my daughter; sister. The pack, and my promise to stay alive. I would fight and continue, until i escaped.
~~~
Nina
~
Its been a few hours and no one heard anything back from Mckayla. I sat on the hem of the couch, biting at my fingernails, fearing the worse. Something was wrong. "Jerome...where is your sister? I need to ask her more questions."
Jerome shrugged. "I'll go find her."
"You could just ask me," Rogue pointed out.
I didn't need her reminding me that part of this was her fault. Despite what I felt, Mckayla cared and trusted Rogue enough to let her come here. I would respect that, but I had my limitations to how I dealt with her.
"Prima..." Jace walked up to me, sitting across with a face of content I didn't know how he had with the dread of something going wrong with Mckayla. I assumed years of mastering with an Alpha status that forced him to be the calm one. If the Alpha was riled up, so was the pack. "Maybe we should scout out the place."
Jace was bringing me suggestions not demands. This was my territory but I was no Alpha and I knew nothing of war tactics. His advice was needed.
"If one of your pack goes...my father--"
"I wasn't talking about her pack. I or Marie would go." Jace clarification had me and Rogue silent to more of what he thought. Marie walked in, sidling her Alpha in a agreeable manner to his words. "Our scent is a lot different from yours...so, even if he smells us, he will think we're two lone rogues passing."
"What if he sends someone after you?" I shook my head not wanting to put them at risk. "Mckayla does not need to come back with worry that you or Marie were hurt."
"Kayla would be proud to have friends who would do this for her, despite what she may want," Rogue added nonchalantly.
"I know what Mckayla would want." I stood, raising my voice higher. "I have let you stay in my home because Mckayla and you have history. But that's all you have, so stop acting like you know her more than me. Last I checked...you hadn't seen her in the last five or so years."
Rogue snarled, lifting off the wall.
"Don't..." Cormic came in. "Kayla will come after you, if she even found out you challenged her mate like this."
Rogue stood quiet, turning her eyes on me for a long time before sucking in a few snarls and leaning back into the wall.
"Jace...have you seen my sister?" Jerome came back in the house with an worried expression.
Jace turned around, where Jerome stood behind him. "No."
Rachel and Sara ran inside, shifting human skin when they came through the door.
Rachel, in a speed that was faster than I ever seen her, rushed Jerome, shoving him over the couch, forcing Jace to reel up. "You better fucking tell me the damn truth." Rachel stormed around the couch, making her way back to him as Sara yelled out to her mate. No one would try and stop Rachel. When she was in this hot mood, she could be just as stubborn as Mckayla.
As Prima, only my voice second to Mckayla could end this. "Rachel," I shot out as she protruded her claws, ready to attack.
Rachel snarled. "This is my pack. My father built this pack and I refuse to let anyone come into it and tear it down from the inside."
"I have NO idea of what you are mad about." Jerome stood, brushing his clothes off as if he picked up a collection of debris.
"You're sister..." Sara asked calmly. "Do you know where she is?"
"He was just looking for her," I answered for him. "Jerome is not the enemy."
"Well...apparently, the sister might be," Rogue said blatantly.
"My sister..."
"We just followed your sister all the way back to Sal's hangout," Rachel interrupted. "We were hunting and noticed her sneaking off."
I watched the expression on Jerome's, as well as Jace's face go white.
Rogue snorted. "I should have known," she said. "She had been geting the injections. She craves it again, like an addict. She's been with my father so long...she can't help going back to him."
"Well we have to get her," Jerome stated. "It's not her fault."
I couldn't help notice the quiet expression from Jace. I knew there was affection in his eyes for Jerome's sister and it was hard deciding what to do and how to handle this now.
"The hell we do," Rachel snarled. "I won't be saving no traitor. We've had enough of those."
"You won't touch my sister," Jerome snarled.
Rachel snorted sadistic. "Don't mistake me for a cub...or some normal Were," she snarled. "I will slam your ass around like my bitch, like Mckayla has. I don't give a fuck about your sob stories."
Jerome roared, making the other Weres in the pack alert, as he stepped in the direction of Rachel.
Sara stepped in front. "You're innocent of all this...but you better place your feet where they originally were."
"Everyone...just stop." I had enough. Why did we need to turn on each other? "It's obvious that Jessica told Sal of our plans and Mckayla..." my voice cracked but I continued, forcing strength into me..."Mckayla has been found out and taken." I shuddered trying to calm the thoughts in my head. "Jace...Marie." They both looked up. "Can you scout for us?"
They both nodded instantly.
"Okay. The last thing we need to do is go off blindly toward his pack. I believe...when Mckayla can, she will reach us." That's all I could do was have faith Mckayla would reach us. She promised to not leave me and i had to trust that. Besides, I knew Sal didn't want her dead. I had to lean on that knowledge as well.
"Nina..." Kaylee called out. She came up to me, with tears in her eyes. "Moms not coming back?"
Tears flooded my eyes as I knelt to her height, embracing her. "Yes...she will." I kissed her cheek as I let her cry on my shoulder. "I'm sorry you heard all that. But...your mother is the strongest wolf out of us all. She'll be back."
Kaylee sighed, nodding and I stood, letting her wrap her arms around my waist. Rogue eyes stayed on me and Kaylee. I'm sure she was still processing the idea of Mckayla having a daughter. Kaylee looked more like Mckayla every day. It was amazing that, despite the fact that Kaylee and McKayla never met until a month and a half ago, Kaylee had so much of Mckayla in her.
"Let's eat," I ordered. "I can hear your stomach."
I looked over to Jace and Marie as the stood, knowing that was their moment to go.
Before they left out too far, I spoke. "Thank you."
Jace nodded, along with Marie. His expression was blank and I knew he was battling his own emotions, but he was an Alpha and would not lose sight of his current task.
I turned to the rest of my pack. "Everyone else. Do what you all know Mckayla would ask of you. Because...when that time comes, we will fight. And we won't lose anyone else."
The pack roared their agreements with a new found purpose in their days to come as they began moving around, preparing for the day we faced Sal and his Rogues again.
I turned to Cormic and Rogue. My eyes glued to Rogue after a long thought. "If you plan to stay...I suppose you plan to fight on our side."
In a way, I was asking for confirmation and Rogue knew that. "I will fight on your side."
Rachel and Sara, stood still nude and I could see Rachel still riled up. Before I could speak she did. "My mate and I will dress and go patrol." With that, she turned off sharply, heading to the back.
Jerome only stood quiet, his face sunk low with embarrassment and shame.
"Don't blame yourself. We will help your sister when the time comes. For now...focus on protecting the rest of your family. And not forget...you spoke of joining this pack. If you meant that...then stick with us and protect this pack."
Jerome looked up and nodded. "Yes Prima."
I wasn't going to break down. Not right now. If the pack couldn't afford to, neither could I. I would see Mckayla soon, and I would believe know matter what...we would make it, stronger than before. The whole, what doesn't kill you...makes you stronger.
~~~
Mckayla
~
I cried out as silver chains laced around my wrist, ankles and neck. Each chain felt like tourniquets. The blade that the Were was holding, penatrated through, digging the silver bullets out of my abdomen and thigh. I croaked and snarled from the agony as Sal walked over to the cold table I was laying chained on.
He patted my arm as if he was no cause to my pain. "You're my strong wolf."
Why did others think I belonged to them? General thought the same thing and I killed him with pleasure. I promised myself I would do the same for Sal.
I could here the bullets being tossed into a glass container as the Were finished. "Alpha."
Sal nodded for him to leave, as two other rogue Weres came into the room with thick gloves on. Didn't want to scorch their own flesh from the silver.
They pulled me up, lacing the silver, tighter around my throat, as I gasped. They dragged me off the cold table shoving me into a room and closed the door, locking it. "Put on those clothes."
I was on my hand and knees to the concrete ground as I crawled to the bed that had a pair of shorts and sports bra for me to put on. Because I didn't want to be naked, I did as was told, struggling to sit upright for more than a few seconds. My wolf was weak, I barely felt her. I slouched over in the bed, trying to look through the glass window that was centered in the door. I guess they always wanted their eyes on me at all times.
I snarled, ready to fight the moment they open the door.
"No, no." I saw Sal, moving his index finger side to side. "I wouldn't think like that."
Shaking weakly, I lifted my hand up, sticking my middle finger out to him and I heard him sigh with the shaking of his head.
"Do it," he ordered to one of his rogues.
I looked around, wondering what he was talking about, when I noticed the vents in the ceiling turning on. I tried to stand rushing to the door, but caved over, my body not at the strength level to fight like my mind was. A misty fog began to form in the room as I went to the floor trying to not breathe it in. But it didn't matter. The mist began to burn at my flesh and I screamed with horrid pain as my skin felt engulfed in steaming acid. My skin began to form second degree burns as my lungs breathed in this mist. It was like a silver cloud raining onto me. I withe on the floor, trying to grab the blanket from the bed to cover myself up, but it did not matter.
In another minute, the vents turned off and a few minutes later I could hear the door open, but I was too incapacitated to fight.
I was dragged off, as both my hands were cuffed to silver. My arms were forced to stretch up, above my head, as I barely stood from the pain and the fact that the chains that were anchoring me high forced me to stand on the balls of my bare feet.
It was hard to breathe and the struggling only made me feel close to faint.
"Before I can train you...you have to receive the proper discipline." Sal walked around me, grabbing a pair of gloves. "And when Rogue gets back, she will have to receive the same."
I watched as he put on the gloves and the grabbed silver thin chains that I assumed he would use as a switch. I didn't react with any emotion and I wouldn't beg. He knew I wouldn't. "You keep telling yourself that the choices you make are right," I said breathlessly.
"No." He walked around behind me, and I prepared myself for the blows. "The choices I make are right...because I do...know what's best for our kind." Without warning, I felt the silver switch slice across my exposed back as I winced, stifling my cry. When he hit me again, I could feel it tear through my flesh and he snorted. "I won't stop until I hear you cry."
I snarled defiantly, as I believed exactly what he said. He would not finish until I let out the screams he wanted. And me being me...he would have to work a lot harder to hear me scream for him.