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Panic ensnared all of Jackson's senses.
He stood there, legs trembling, his eyes as wide as they'd get. In his chest, his heart beat frantically as the same question raced around inside his head.
Who had been shot?
Damon immediately came to mind, which sent a cold shiver of dread down Jackson's spine. Was he hurt? Or...no, he was fine. Damon was an Alpha. Of course he was fine...right?
Jackson swallowed the saliva which had congealed in his mouth in his moment of fear and took a few steps forward. Standing there was the most useless thing he could be doing right now. He should head back and try to find the others. Or should he head in the direction the gunshot had come from?
He stared ahead and then looked to his right. Which way?
The seconds passed, and not another sound came his way—only the whistling wind and the shuffle of frozen leaves. How was he even supposed to find the others? They could be anywhere by now. What if he tried to find the trail back to where the pack were? He looked around desperately, unsure of where that even was.
What would Damon want him to do? He didn't know the answer to that. If he was an experienced member of the pack, surely the Alpha would expect him to head back, wouldn't he?
He had no idea if he was going the right way, but he headed to his right, staring down at the ground in search of pawprints in the snow.
But then a deep, angered voice bellowed through the woods—
A gunshot, a distorted whine, and the sound of birds fleeing into the sky.
Jackson stopped in his tracks. Bitter mist spread through the woods, obscuring most of what lay ahead. Angst ensnared him, his legs numbing, his thoughts stumped—he felt like a deer in headlights. And when his eyes located the silhouette of a man through the murk, he knew he should probably turn and bolt, but a horrific stare smacked his face when he saw the guy was dragging something along the snow.
Something white.
Something big.
His racing heart started aching. It couldn't be—he didn't want it to be...it wasn't....
"Jackson," came a hushed voice.
He didn't take his eyes off the man, who lugged the white blur further away.
"Kid!"
With a breathy, anxious huff, he turned his head.
Tokala was standing behind the cover of a tree, half his face peering out at Jackson.
"Come on," the orange wolf said.
For a moment, Jackson just gawped at Tokala, trying to remember how to use words. And when his jaw started chattering, he managed to utter, "Th-the...who...gunshot."
"Wesley's been shot," Tokala revealed.
"B-but—"
"Come on!" he insisted, backing away from the tree.
Jackson looked back to where he'd seen the man, but there was no sign of him.
"Let's go! What the hell are you waiting for?!"
With a dismayed scowl, Jackson turned around and followed Tokala. That white blur...could it have been...Damon? He didn't want to think about it—but how could he not? His heart hurt like a blade had been plunged through it; his legs started to feel numb, and the thought that Damon was gone enthralled him with grief similar to what he'd felt when his mother had died. But why? He barely knew anything about Damon—why did he feel so despaired when he thought he might be dead?
He gritted his teeth, his tightening throat stifling his breaths. But he had to find his voice—he had to know. "What...what happened? Where's Damon?"
"He's helping Wesley back. Come on," he called, starting to run.
Relief gushed through him like a dose of morphine. His heart stopped aching, his throat loosened, and he could feel his limbs again. Damon was fine. It was fine.
"Did you get the stuff?" Tokala asked as Jackson rushed to catch up and then ran to his side.
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I had to punch some guy, though. I kinda...sent him flying."
"Mm. Your new strength will take some getting used to. You get out okay?"
"Some big dude followed me, but I lost him pretty quickly."
"Good."
"Is...Alpha Damon okay?"
"He's fine. We led the villagers as far away as we could, but one of them pulled a rifle just as we were about to head into the trees."
"I heard two shots and then saw someone dragging something away."
"I led the gunman away from Alpha Damon and Wesley. I saw a few caribou, so lost him in the herd—he must have shot one of them."
"Are you okay?"
Tokala glanced at him. "Yeah. I've gotten out of worse situations. Come on, we need to get that stuff to Kajika."
Jackson nodded, and as he followed the orange wolf in silence, he let himself bask in the relief that Damon was okay.
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The moment Jackson and Tokala arrived back at the riverbed where the pack were resting, Kajika's mother hurried over.
"Do you have it?" she asked Jackson desperately.
"Uh...yeah." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ardelean root and syringe and needle, and then handed it to her.
"Thank you," she breathed, taking them. Then, she rushed to where Kajika was waiting.
Jackson immediately scoured the area with his eyes in search of Damon—and there he was. Back in his human form, the Alpha was watching from a small distance while two women tended to the gunshot wound in Wesley's thigh.
"Chief wants to see you," Tokala said.
He looked at the orange wolf. "What? Why?"
"I don't know. He told me to send you over to him when we get back. He's just over there," he said, nodding over at the Alpha.
Jackson started to feel nervous again. Why did Damon want to see him? Had he done something wrong? He did his best to bury his angst and slowly made his way over.
"Uh...Toka—Zeta Tokala said you wanted to see me."
Damon took his eyes off Wesley and looked down at him. "You did good," he said. "Thank you."
Jackson's tense body was overwhelmed with fluster. He wasn't expecting to hear those words come from Damon's mouth. "Oh...."
"And here I was thinking the fact you were a city boy would get you killed."
There it was. Jackson pouted and crossed his arms. "I just wanna help out where I can."
"Once we find somewhere far out to set up an actual camp, I'll teach you to shift by yourself. There's a full moon coming up; ideally, you'll have learnt by then. If not, you might lose yourself to your wolf on and off throughout the night—much like you did the first time you shifted. It happens to all wolf walkers until they gain complete control over their wolves," he explained.
Jackson nodded slowly. "Does...that only happen on full moons and the first time?"
"Yes."
"So it wouldn't just happen randomly before learning to control it?"
"No."
"Okay," he said as casually as he could, but the fact he'd turned against his will the other night unsettled him now that Damon had told him that something like that wouldn't happen. So...why had it? Should he tell him? What if he was different because he was bitten by a cadejo?
But before he could ask, Damon looked away and set his eyes on Aysel, who was making her way over. Jackson stepped away from Damon and went to leave, but Aysel looked at him, not the Alpha.
"We appreciate what you did," she said, patting his shoulder. "Aiyana is grateful—we all are."
Jackson smiled politely. "I'm glad I could be of help."
"My Damon seems to have taken a shine to you," she said with a smirk, moving her arm around Damon's shoulders.
The Alpha smiled too, but it almost looked forced, and he appeared a little discomforted.
"We've never taken a rogue in before, yet...along comes my capricious mate, returning from his little perimeter patrol with you." She sounded almost condescending.
Jackson frowned. If he didn't know better, he'd say Aysel was grilling him—like she was fishing for something. But what?
"Don't do this again, Aysel," Damon uttered. "You and the rest of the council know full well why he's here."
Again?
"I know, I know. I'm just curious. I mean, do you actually know anything about him?" she asked Damon.
Jackson was beginning to feel as though it was time for him to leave, but when he stepped aside—
"I didn't say you could leave," Aysel snapped, glowering at him as she took her arm off Damon.
He froze and stayed where he was.
"Aysel," Damon uttered, annoyance in his voice.
She kept her skeptical gaze on Jackson. "Cadejo don't just attack humans. You weren't human, were you?" she accused.
Jackson frowned as he looked at her. "I was."
"Liar," she snarled. "You concocted that little lie because you knew it was your best bet at getting into a pack."
"What?"
"Aysel," Damon snapped.
"Why do you believe him?" she questioned, glaring at Damon.
"Do you really need to ask that?"
"Yes, because I don't understand."
Damon sighed and looked at Jackson. "Go—"
"No, I want him here," Aysel growled.
Jackson felt a cold sweat slither down his back. Were they really going to do this in front of him?
"What was your plan? Come out here, wait for someone to find you, and lie your way into a pack?"
"N-no, I—"
"You knew any alpha would snatch up a little miracle wolf who was turned by a cadejo—you knew how desperate things were out here. And what about your friends? Is that bullshit too? Or are they also pathetic little rogues you plan to convince Damon to let into our pack? Let me guess, they were humans bitten and turned by cadejo, too."
Jackson's frown thickened. "No, my—"
"Aysel, leave it," Damon said firmly.
She took her eyes off Jackson and glared at the Alpha. "Why? We don't know anything about him."
"We don't need to. His intentions aren't dangerous."
His intentions?
"I don't trust your or Tokala's analysis, Damon."
"When have I ever been wrong?" he questioned, now with anger in his voice.
For a moment, Aysel glared at Damon like she was trying to come up with an answer. Then, she scowled in frustration. "There's always a first time, Damon, and this could very well be it. I don't trust him."
The Alpha sighed heavily. "So, are both I and Tokala wrong at the same time?"
"You could be."
Jackson wanted to know what they were talking about, but he knew better than to interrupt. So, he stood there and listened.
"Elias doesn't trust him either—"
Damon scoffed. "Of course he doesn't, and of course, you agree with him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, offended.
"You tell me, Aysel."
"Tell you what?"
They glared at one another, but then Damon took his sights off her and looked at Jackson. "Go to Tokala. He has a task for you."
Jackson seized his chance. He took off, hurrying away from the arguing couple.
"Are you trying to say he's a negative influence?" came Aysel's angered voice.
"Not at all. It's just a little strange that the two of you seem to say the exact same thing," Damon replied.
She scoffed. "Do you think we're plotting to kill your precious little rogue?"
Damon growled.
"Hey," Tokala said.
Jackson stopped listening and halted—he didn't even realize he'd reached Tokala, who was sitting next to a boulder. "Uh...Alpha Damon said you had a task for me."
"Mm-hmm. Some of us need to gather grim root for Wesley. It's the only thing that'll heal a silver-inflicted wound. Silver is one of a wolf walker's biggest weaknesses."
"Oh, right. So...you want me to come pick flowers with you?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.
"We need your nimble hands, kid."
Nimble? "Uh...why?"
"You'll see. Guys," he called.
Jackson looked over his shoulder and watched as two grey wolves and a beige-brown one headed over.
"Ready to go?"
They all answered with confirmation.
"Wait," Jackson said, looking at Tokala as the three wolves headed into the trees.
"What?"
"Alpha Damon said something just now about my intentions—"
"Ah, yeah. As a Zeta, I can detect other wolf walkers' intentions."
"Can...he?"
"Did he tell you he can?"
"He made it seem like it."
"Hmm. I'm not really sure how to answer that. Alpha Damon and I may be close, but there are things even I don't know. What was the context?"
"Uh...something about...well, no. Alpha Aysel was saying they don't know enough about me, but then Alpha Damon said he didn't need to and that my intentions aren't dangerous."
Tokala nodded and started leading the way into the woods. "Some of the pack is still a little skeptical of you. Don't worry. If Alpha Damon trusts you, everyone else will come around eventually, even Alpha Aysel."
"And Elias?"
"Beta Elias. And yes, I think so. You just need to give it time."
"Sorry, yeah."
He suspected there was more to it—or maybe he just hoped there was. The kind of more which meant Aysel was acting hostile because she thought something was going on between him and Damon. Was that so terrible of him?
Yes, it was. Hoping that he would come between what he thought were a happy couple. But what he'd seen just now didn't look very happy. And the talk of Elias, too—that had Jackson curious. It wasn't that long ago he'd seen Aysel and Elias together. Was there more to that?
No, he was just grasping at straws because he liked Damon, wasn't he? This lingering attraction he had for a man with a wife was confusing him. All couples fought, and women had male friends. It didn't mean a thing, so he should stop acting like a pining little boy and focus on himself. He should focus on Wilson.
With a quiet sigh, he followed Tokala and the three wolves deeper into the forest. Whatever they were about to have him do was probably going to require all his attention, so he'd do his best to dismiss his unprecedented thoughts before they got to wherever they were going.
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