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| Jackson |
Ellis started laughing as Damon backed away and tried to run to Jackson, but the swarm of wolves hit the glade like a tsunami. Jackson and Wilson were surrounded by twenty hostiles before they could attempt to move, and when a wave of at least fifty enemies hit Damon, the Alpha tried to fight them off, but they quickly overpowered him.
They overpowered everyone. There were at least thirty wolves to one, and Damon's pack didn't stand a chance.
"Damon!" Jackson called as panic gripped him in a tight, cold fist. "Da—"
The wolves clamped their jaws around Jackson's arms, legs, and wings, pinning him down on his back the same way they pinned Damon. Several wolves latched onto Wilson, stopping him from swiping and kicking.
Jackson had to use the inimă—it was the only way he could get out of this.
But then he saw him, and the fear that struck him made him freeze.
A wolf as black as an abyss. His eyes were as white as the snow, and the steel, jewel-encrusted bracers on both of his upper front legs shimmered brightly in the white of the snow. He prowled through the ocean of wolves, his eyes fixed on Damon, who growled and snapped his jaws, trying to escape from under the wolves keeping him down.
Something of an amused cackle came from the black wolf, and the closer he got, the louder his voice became in Jackson's head. And this time, he heard more than pieces of sentences.
"So, you're the piece of shit who's been killing my wolves?" the black wolf questioned, stopping in front of Damon.
His wolves? Was that...Kane?
The black wolf's face possessed ghastly scars; three slash marks which were clearly inflicted by claws cut down from the top of his head and around to the right side of his face, barely missing his eye. It went down to his neck and ended on his right shoulder.
Damon snarled in response. He was still trying to get free, but it was no use, was it?
Jackson began struggling to take full breaths. What the hell were they going to do?
The inimă—
"And that must be your half-breed mate, correct?" Kane asked with a grunt, looking over at Jackson.
"J-Jackson," Wilson grunted.
Jackson struggled to break eye contact with Kane, but once he did, he looked at Wilson.
"D-do something!" the tiger growled.
But then Kane started moving towards Jackson. "I see you," he said, a challenging tone in his voice. "And I see that look in your eyes, boy. If you so much as try anything, your entire pack dies."
Fear flooded through Jackson as his blood ran cold.
When Kane reached him, he moved his very human-looking front leg towards him and revealed a paw which looked almost like Damon's Prime form. He gripped Jackson's chin and lifted his head so that he'd look up at him, and a smirk crept across the black wolf's scarred face.
"Aren't you a pretty little thing?" he drawled.
Jackson wanted to pull his head away, but he was terrified that if he did anything at all, Kane would hurt his friends.
However, Kane quickly lost interest in him and prowled away. "You little fuckers really thought you'd get away with all of this, didn't you?!" he called angrily as he moved around the bloody battlefield. "You filthy mix-pack scum!" he yelled furiously, stomping his front paws down into the snow. Then, he hurried over to Damon and glared into his eyes, his face just inches from his. "I'm going to make you regret every single drop of blood you've spilt from my pack. I'm going to make you suffer for every life you took."
Damon snarled in response and tried to snap his jaws at him, but Kane backed off and laughed loudly.
That was when Ellis limped towards his Alpha. "Alpha Kane, sir," he said meekly.
Kane set his eyes on him and scowled. "After years of training, you couldn't even fight this sorry excuse for a fucking wolf?!" he yelled, his voice getting louder with each word.
Ellis bowed his head in shame. "I—"
The black wolf didn't give him a chance to reply. Kane harshly slammed his front paw against the side of Ellis' face, and the Beta stumbled and almost fell.
Then, Kane swung around. His white eyes shot from each of Damon's pack members, and when he locked sights with Jackson's again, a cold chill ran through his body.
What was going to happen now?
Kane snarled and glanced around the glade. "Knock 'em out. Let's move," he called.
Jackson watched in horror as Kane's wolves started harshly swiping over and over at his packmates' faces until they blacked out, and their wolf bodies morphed back into their human ones.
And then they started hitting him and Wilson. Each smash of their paws sent pain gushing through Jackson's body; he tried to fight when he saw Wilson struggling, but it was no use. The moment he saw the tiger weaken beside him, he could feel himself slipping away. He tried to hold on, watching as Kane's wolves began dragging his packmates away, following Kane into the woods. But there was nothing he could do.
The world started fading away from him, swirling and blurring. And the last thing he saw before his eyes rolled to the back of his head was the greying sky above him.
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| Damon |
The moment he jolted awake, Damon shot to his feet and tried to shift into his Prime form, but his ethos didn't respond, and as the adrenaline which abruptly hit him started fading like a flame without oxygen, dread filled his racing heart.
He stood in the centre of a small cavern, and at his feet lay his unconscious pack. Dead ahead, silver bars shimmered in the moonlight, and hundreds of voices, scents, and heartbeats enthralled his senses.
And something burned around his neck.
Damon moved his hands up to his neck, and when he gripped the cold, metal collar wrapped around it, his palms burned. He grunted in response, and when he stared down at his singed hands, he noticed a flicker of silver to his right. The Alpha turned his head, setting his eyes on Wesley; a silver collar hung around his neck, and the neck of every single one of his packmates—even Jackson, Sebastien, and Wilson had one.
As panic ensnared him, he rushed over to Jackson, who like everyone else was in his human form. Damon kneeled beside him and gently shook him. "Jackson?" he asked desperately. He eyed the dried blood on the side of his face, and an unhealed cut on his left temple. The silver collar around his neck had burned his skin, which was red and sore—parts were even bleeding.
When Damon gently moved Jackson's hair away from his wound, his mate murmured and started to come around.
"Chief?" came Tokala's strained voice.
Someone else grunted.
"What...where the hell?" Wesley growled.
"Dad?" Remus called in confusion.
Damon looked over at his son, who was waking and sitting up with the rest of the pack. He wanted to go over to him, but he didn't want to leave Jackson.
"What...Damon?" Jackson groaned. "Where...where are we?" he asked as panic smothered his face, and he frantically looked around.
Before Damon could give Jackson his best guess, Julian shrieked from the other side of the cavern. Everyone sharply turned their heads to look at them; they looked pale and terrified, shaking their head as they backed up against the wall.
"No," they uttered and started hyperventilating. "No, no, no!"
Despite their own confusion, everyone tried to ask Julian what was wrong, but they didn't reply. They looked around in horror, shaking their head as tears trickled down their face.
Someone appeared on the other side of the bars.
Damon set his eyes on the tall, scruffy man who wore only a pair of torn trousers. The guy peered into the cavern and then hurried off before Damon had a chance to question him.
"Julian?!" Wilson insisted, his voice bellowing over everyone else's. "What the fuck is it?!"
Julian stammered and stuttered. "T-t-the pit—the pit!" they cried.
"The pit?" Lalo questioned. "What's the pit?"
"You're in it," came a deep, smug voice.
As Damon helped Jackson sit up, he turned his attention to the bars again, and that was where Kane was standing. Now in his human form, he waited on the other side of the silver bars with a grin on his scarred face, and three other men behind him.
Damon snarled defensively as he moved his arms around Jackson and pulled him as close to himself as he could. He glared at Kane, and when they locked sights, the black-haired man laughed amusedly.
"It's still so fucking funny how you sixteen imbeciles thought you could win," Kane said, shaking his head as the three men behind him snickered. "You should've stayed behind those city walls."
Although he wanted to yell, Damon knew that there was no use—and it was probably exactly what Kane was hoping for. He knew that there was no way out of this cage. Silver bars, silver collars, and hundreds of wolves on the other side; his pack wouldn't stand a chance. No, what he needed to do was wait, observe, and plan. He had to stay calm—he had to fight the angst building up inside him. And he had to keep himself from slipping over the edge into hopelessness.
His pack weren't going to die here.
"Where are the rest of you?" Kane then demanded with a much sterner tone.
Damon wordlessly scowled at him.
Kane snarled and moved closer to the bars. "This can go either of two ways, asshole. Tell me where they are...or I start killing your mutts," he warned.
"I don't know where the fuck they are," Damon snapped as he felt Jackson tense up in his grip.
"Wrong answer," Kane growled.
The three men behind him pulled shotguns from behind them, and as they cocked them, they moved towards the bars.
Damon's heart started being a little faster as he yelled, "I don't know where they are!"
"Shoot the little one," Kane muttered.
The three men aimed at Remus—
Everyone quickly moved in front of his son, and as Damon moved closer, he protectively pulled Jackson with him.
But then Kane started laughing. "Look at these guys!" he cheered as if he was having the time of his life.
Damon scowled harder, his heart racing, his hands shaking. He wanted to lunge at him and grab him through the bars—he wanted to tear what was left of his face off—but he had to control himself. The men at his sides had guns, and he along with his pack were powerless with the silver collars around their necks. Now wasn't the time to attack.
Kane's laughter died down, and as he scowled at the defensive pack, he uttered, "Let them stew for a bit. I need to go fuck my wife." Then, he turned around and left, and his three men slowly followed after shooting hostile glares at Damon.
Everyone's panicked questions slammed against Damon's eardrums. But all he could do was stare and try to work out what he was going to do. No one had their bags, so there was no telling where the inimă was; the fact that they'd left Jackson in the same cage as everyone else was evidence enough that Kane had no idea what he or the inimă was, and Damon could use that to his advantage.
Sebastien was sitting in the far back corner with a haunted look on his face, and he was bound by a silver collar, too. The guy looked like he'd cracked, so he might not be much use.
"Chief?" Tokala asked desperately, crouching in front of him. "What do we do?"
Julian's wails got louder and louder, and it was starting to piss Damon off. He couldn't think with all the noise.
"Damon?" Jackson then asked as he pulled free from his protective grip and stared into his eyes. "W-what the hell do we do?"
Damon took a deep breath and glanced around the cavern again. Then, he climbed to his feet and moved closer to the bars. He was expecting to find a camp outside, but instead, his eyes were met with what looked like an arena. Tall, clawed-up walls stood twenty feet from the ground, and as far up as he could see were rows and rows of platforms and ledges carved into the sides of the huge crater they were locked up in the bottom of. What the hell was this place?
He scowled and turned to face Julian. While his pack moved closer to the bars to peer outside, Damon stormed over to Julian and pulled them to their feet. "What the hell is this place?!" he demanded.
With tears streaming down their terrified face, Julian stuttered, "T-the arena—"
"You've already said that. What's the arena?"
"T-the...where...Kane executes people," they cried. "E-everyone watches—t-they place bets!" they screeched. "W-we're all gonna die down here!"
Damon let go of them and turned to face his pack, who were all gawping at him.
"It's some sort of pit," Bly said.
"It doesn't look like there's a way up," Dustu said shakily.
"What do we do, Dad?" Remus asked, moving closer to him.
Damon moved his hand over Remus' shoulder and pulled him nearer. Then, his eyes shifted between each of his packmates before he turned to face Julian again. "Tell me everything you know about this place," he demanded.
Julian looked up at him, sniffling and crying. "T-there's no—"
"What do you know?!"
As Julian flinched and whimpered, Jackson moved past Damon and crouched in front of them.
"Julian?" Jackson asked softly. "We're not gonna die, okay? Just tell us what you know so we can work out how to get out of here."
"You can't!" Julian insisted. "We're all gonna die!"
But that was when Sebastien shoved Jackson aside, snatched Julian's collar, and pulled him to his feet. "Tell us what the fuck you know about this place or I'm gonna kill you right fucking here!" he yelled.
"Sebastien, what the hell?!" Jackson complained, but before he could try to pull the white-haired demon away from Julian, Damon gently grabbed his arm and pulled him away.
They needed answers, and if Sebastien could get them, then Damon would let him.
"Talk!" Sebastien shouted.
Julian whimpered and closed their eyes. "T-this is where Kane takes everyone he captures! He takes them out one by one, and he slaughters them!"
"You said people place bets: why? Against who?"
With a terrified gulp, Julian glanced at the silver bars. "The creature."
"Creature?" Jackson questioned before anyone else could.
Julian nodded frantically. "H-he'll make us face it o-one at a time until there's no one left."
"What is it?" Sebastien questioned impatiently.
"I-I don't know," Julian insisted. "A big...wolf."
Damon snarled angrily and turned to face the bars again. "How did Kane walk out of here?"
"There's...there's a pathway," Julian answered. "A tunnel. But there's bars on that, too."
Sebastien let go of Julian and stood beside Damon. "So, what do we do?"
Damon looked at Jackson. "Can you call the inimă and break the bars like you broke out of that hunter cage?"
Jackson looked anxious but nodded. "I-I think. I can try. But I don't know where it is."
"But you can sense it, right?" the Alpha asked.
"You can; it's a part of you now," Sebastien said.
His mate's anxious look thickened. "I-I can try," he repeated.
"You got this," Wilson then said to Jackson. "You did it before, and you can do it again."
"Okay, but what happens once the bars are down?" Sebastien then asked. "There were easily over a hundred wolves in that glade. There could be a whole lot more waiting for us out there, too," he said, waving his arm towards the bars.
He was right. Once they were out of the cage, they had to deal with Kane's pack. But they'd only managed to get the better of Damon and his wolves before because they weren't expecting them. This time, Damon knew what to expect. "We've got you, Jackson, and my Prime form. The three of us can do most of the crowd clearing, and we make a break for the trees."
"It's not gonna work!" Julian insisted, shouting.
They all turned to face them.
"We're not leaving this cage unless it's to go out there and fight the creature! He has too many wolves and a lot of resources—where do you think he got these collars from?!" they exclaimed, gripping the collar around their neck as they shot to their feet. "He's got snipers, traps, guards who've been trained since they were little kids. Even if we had ten Jacksons, there's no way out!"
Damon huffed irritably and took his eyes off everyone. There was a way out, he just needed time to think. If Jackson could break silver bars, then he had to be able to break the collars around everyone's necks. And if he couldn't—if the strength it took to break the bars was too dangerous to use too close to someone—then they'd fight their way to wherever the key to the collars was.
He needed time to think. But how long did they have before Kane came back? He looked at Julian and asked, "How long until Kane comes back down here?"
Julian shook their head and sunk back down onto the ground. "I don't know," they mumbled. "Usually, he lets the creature out for after-dinner entertainment."
"And when's dinner?"
"I don't know," Julian answered. "It depends how long it takes them to catch something."
"Well...if they were out there capturing us all day, then maybe they haven't had time to go hunting yet," Wesley suggested.
So, he had time to think.
"What are you thinking?" Sebastien asked.
"I need time to come up with a plan. While I do that, I need you to see if you can help Jackson locate the inimă."
The white-haired demon nodded. "All right. Jackson, let's get to work," he said.
As Sebastien headed over to the wall with Jackson, Damon looked at everyone else. "Get ready for a fight. It's likely we'll be in our human forms once we're out of here, so we'll wait until they send guards; if Jackson can't pull the inimă down here, we'll overpower the guards and take their weapons."
Everyone nodded and said, "Yes, Alpha."
Then, Damon headed over to the back wall and sat down. He rested his arms on his knees, glared at the arena outside the bars, and started thinking. This wasn't going to be the place he died—it wouldn't be the place where any of his pack died. He was done losing his people, and he was going to do whatever it took to get them all out alive.
But there were over a hundred wolves to get through. If Jackson couldn't pull the inimă down into the cavern, then their escape was going to be much more dangerous. But Jackson was still resistant enough to silver to use his ethos despite the collar, right? He had to be; he'd broken free from a silver cage, after all, and Damon trusted his mate to do what he had to.
He took a deep breath and glanced at everyone. Kane might have numbers and some apparent creature, but Damon was built for war, and he'd trained his pack to be ready for anything. With Wesley now as the pack's new Gamma, they were much stronger, and they had two demons on their side, too. All they had to do was get their collars off.
It was going to be risky, but Damon was confident. His pack would make it out. They had to.
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