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| Jackson |
Everyone filed into the war room. Jackson stood beside Damon, who leaned against the wall, and the pack waited on his right. Raphael was across the room with Sebastien and Lumi, and Cyrus was standing in front of the table with his hands resting on it, staring at the map.
Jackson felt nervous enough already—they were about to head out to face Kane in what was supposed to be a final battle that would end in Kane's surrender and the addition of his pack to Cyrus'—but when Wilson was escorted into the room by one of Cyrus' men, his anxiety and dread skyrocketed. He felt Damon tense up and heard him growl quietly under his breath, and he watched as the Alpha's hostile glare locked with Wilson's frustrated glower.
They eyed each other closely as Wilson was led across the room towards the pack; it didn't take long for Damon's wolves to pick up on their Alpha's anger, and they all watched Wilson closely and glared cautiously when he stopped and stood a few feet away from them.
Jackson shuffled around uncomfortably. After what happened between him and Wilson, he didn't feel ready to face him. But he could feel Wilson's eyes on him, and the longer he stood there trying to fight the urge to glance over there to see if he'd looked away yet, the more unsettled he felt. And he could also feel the anger seething from Damon's body; he knew that his mate wanted to beat the shit out of Wilson for kissing him—he knew that Damon wanted to kill him—and he sorely hoped that the Alpha would stick to his word and refrain from doing so.
"Listen up," Cyrus bellowed through the packed room. There must be at least a hundred people inside. "Alucard's sentries located Kane and his pack fifteen klicks from here. They're set up in an abandoned mining town—"
"The tunnels," Lumi said worriedly.
"You know this place?" Raphael asked her.
The shy, icy-haired girl nodded as she glanced at him. "Hear rumours," he said quietly. "Kane...clear out the village years ago."
"That's right," Julian said with a nod. "I heard about it. Kane wiped out that entire town after one game hunter's trap broke the paw of one of his wolves."
Irritated, disgusted murmurs travelled around the room.
"Lots of narrow paths underground...dangerous," Lumi said.
"Here's what we do," Cyrus said loudly, silencing everyone. "If Kane plans to lure us into the mines, he's likely already got wolves setting up down there. So, we smoke them out. We fill those tunnels with wolfsbane smoke—a low dose so the worse they'll get is a cough for a day or two—and then I challenge Kane."
Jackson frowned and asked Damon, "Why do we need to smoke the other wolves out?"
"Because every wolf has to be present when a challenge for power commences," Cyrus called.
With a startled flinch, Jackson sharply turned his head and set his eyes on him. "R-right," he mumbled.
"Sebastien and Maleki, you'll be handling the wolfsbane," Cyrus said as he glanced at the elf-vampire and the white-haired demon. Then, he looked at Raphael, Elias, and Amos. "You three will take your teams and work on rounding up all the stragglers." He set his sights on Damon. "And Damon, you're with me. We'll need to contain Kane until I'm ready to challenge him."
Damon nodded.
"Everyone else is on cadejo duty. You watch the perimeter and make sure that no cadejo get past. That's the last thing we need," Cyrus ordered. "We're going with formation A. All of you who aren't mine, find one of my guys and stick with them."
Jackson could feel Wilson's eyes on him, and he glanced up at Damon to see a conflicted look on his mate's face. He was pretty sure that Damon didn't want to leave him alone because Wilson was likely going to use that time to try and apologize for what he did, but Jackson didn't want to hear it. He wasn't ready to talk about it.
Cyrus loudly clapped his hands together. "All right, everyone group up and get ready. We're leaving in ten."
Everyone started leaving the room.
"Who should we stick with, chief?" Tokala asked Damon.
"Anyone," the Alpha replied. "But stay in pairs. And Remus, you're staying here."
Remus sighed but nodded. "Okay."
"Let's go," Damon mumbled and started heading for the door.
Jackson was relieved that Damon didn't ask him to stay behind, but he was sure that was because he knew by now that he'd persuade him to change his mind. He followed beside his mate—
"Jack, wait," Wilson called and reached out to grab his arm.
Damon immediately pulled Jackson back and shoved Wilson away from him. "Keep your filthy little hands off him," he snarled as the pack stopped behind him.
"Don't you fucking touch me!" Wilson growled angrily as he lunged at Damon—
The Alpha lunged at Wilson, too; Tokala and Jackson tried to stop him, but Damon broke through their grip and grabbed Wilson's throat. Damon was stronger, and he forced Wilson back until he hit the wall; Wilson tried to pull Damon's hands away and even kicked his legs, but Damon kept his grip and started choking him.
"Damon, stop!" Jackson insisted as he barged past the still, silent pack. He grasped Damon's wrist and tried to pull him off, but he wouldn't let go, and Wilson's face was turning blue.
"I fucking warned you," Damon growled, glaring into Wilson's eyes. "But you just couldn't help yourself, could you?"
"Get off!" Wilson choked.
"Damon!" Jackson exclaimed, but no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get the Alpha to let go.
Julian went to speak up, but Tokala silenced them. No one did anything, and Jackson knew that it was because they weren't supposed to mess with their Alpha's business or something like that, but if someone didn't do something, Damon was going to suffocate Wilson.
But when he opened his mouth to speak, Wilson grunted something through his struggled breaths, and then he abruptly shifted into his tiger form. He roared and threw Damon off him, and the Alpha collided with his pack.
Damon didn't waste a moment. He morphed into his Prime form just in time to grab Wilson when he leapt at him; he threw the tiger across the room, and the pack quickly dispersed to get out of the way.
Jackson didn't want them to fight again—they were going to kill each other! "Stop!" he shouted. "You—"
Tokala grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way as Wilson and Damon collided. "There's nothing any of us can do," he said.
"They're gonna kill each other!" Jackson insisted worriedly. "I have to do—"
Wilson landed on the floor in front of him with a thump and a growl. He tried to scurry to his feet, but Damon grabbed his back legs, and with a vicious growl, he swung the tiger around and launched him across the room once again. The tiger hit a glass display cabinet filled with antique blades; glass and metal flew everywhere, and one knife impaled his leg. But Wilson didn't care. He snarled angrily and yanked the blade from his leg with his mouth, and then he threw it towards Damon.
The Alpha dodged the blade as he charged at the tiger, and Wesley pulled Dustu out of the way before the blade could hit him; the knife impaled the wall behind the pack.
Damon and Wilson collided again, and this time, they remained locked in a bloody, horrifying battle. Jackson watched as they snapped and swiped at each other; Damon yelped when Wilson sunk his huge teeth into his thigh, and Wilson shrieked when Damon's claws impaled his waist. Their blood and fur splattered onto the floor, and neither looked as if they were going to back down any time soon.
Jackson's heart raced in his chest. He had to do something—
But all the commotion finally lured help into the room—someone who was capable of doing more than Jackson ever could.
Raphael snarled irritably as he barged past the pack with Sebastien and Cyrus following. The orange-haired man stormed towards the brawling lycans and snatched Wilson's scruff without a hint of fear or struggle on his face. He pulled him away from Damon, and Cyrus grabbed Damon's huge arms and kept him from trying to lunge at the struggling tiger. Wilson attempted to escape from Raphael's grip, but when Raphael slammed him down on the floor and held him there with his foot, the tiger soon gave up, his wounds bleeding.
"Enough!" Cyrus yelled and pinned Damon against the wall. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"What the hell is going on in here?!" Raphael then shouted, glaring over at the pack and then at Damon.
"Get the fuck off me!" Damon yelled at Cyrus.
"How about you calm down fir—"
"I have every right to kill that piece of shit!" the Alpha growled.
"You can fucking try all you want!" Wilson shouted back.
"Shut it!" Raphael warned, pressing his foot against Wilson's neck a little harder.
"Will somebody please tell us what the hell this is about?" Sebastien questioned, looking around at everyone.
No one answered. The pack shot unsure, confused looks at each other, and eventually, their eyes landed on Jackson.
But then Wilson snarled, "He's a fucking psycho, that's wh—"
"I said, shut it!" Raphael snapped.
Damon growled angrily in response and tried to pull free from Cyrus, but like Wilson, his strength didn't match up.
"Jackson?" Sebastien then asked, staring at him.
Jackson shuffled around uncomfortably. It was hard enough telling Damon what happened...but to tell everyone? His heart raced, and his legs started to feel numb.
"Well?" Raphael demanded impatiently.
"Jackson?" Tokala asked.
He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. He looked at Damon, who kept his hostile glower on Wilson; Jackson then shifted his sights to the tiger, who was starting to look worried. Jackson didn't want to tell everyone what happened...but he had to...didn't he? He couldn't think of a lie—he couldn't put together some story to make Damon and Wilson's fight make sense, and he didn't want to risk getting punished for trying to hide the truth.
With another deep breath, he looked down at the floor to try and hide his nervous expression. "Wilson kissed me," he revealed. "And I didn't want him to."
The mixture of stares and murmurs that floated around Jackson made him feel even worse. Some of his packmates snarled, others mumbled their support for Damon's attack—a few even said that they'd help Damon kill Wilson if they had to. Of course, these people had been wolf walkers all their lives; they had laws and rules which Jackson was only just starting to barely understand, and it was made even clearer to him that Damon had a right to murder his friend, but despite what happened and despite the malice which quickly filled the room, he didn't want to let it happen. He was angry—furious, in fact—but he'd never wish death on a man who'd been his best friend for as long as Wilson had.
But then Cyrus said, "It's your problem."
And Jackson's heart dropped into his stomach.
"But we ain't got time for it," Cyrus continued.
Jackson's heart raced as his anxiety consumed him.
"Raphael, take him back downstairs and make sure he's got a guard on him constantly. You can deal with this shit when we get back."
"Get the fuck off me!" Wilson then yelled as Raphael grabbed his scruff again.
"I'm not finished with him!" Damon shouted angrily, trying to pull free from Cyrus.
"You are unless you want to spend the next week locked up," Cyrus growled at him.
Damon didn't reply; he just snarled and huffed.
Wilson kept trying to escape, though, but he was no match for Raphael, who dragged him out of the room as if he were a screaming toddler.
Jackson's anxiety was soon accompanied by dismay. He didn't know what to do or say anymore. He asked Damon not to do this, but he went and did it anyway.
"Have you calmed down?" Cyrus mumbled to Damon.
With a roll of his eyes, Damon shifted out of his wolf form and lightly shoved Cyrus away.
"Now I don't wanna see another one of you at anyone's throat until Kane's six feet under. Got it?"
Everyone muttered their reluctant replies.
"Good," Cyrus grumbled. "Now get the fuck outside." He stormed out of the room, and Sebastien followed him.
Jackson waited and watched as each of his packmates filed out of the room, and when Damon came over to him, he lost his despondent stare and glared up at him. "I asked you not to—"
"Was I supposed to just let him attack me?" Damon exclaimed.
His glare turned into a scowl. "No, but you didn't have to almost kill him, Damon. You could have just...just restrained him or something until someone else got here, but you were trying to kill him!"
"Well, I'm sorry," he said with an irritated scoff. "I couldn't just stand around knowing what he did to you, Jackson. He's a narcissistic, manipulative piece of shit, and if someone doesn't put him in his place, he won't stop at forcing a kiss on you."
It felt like a dagger was plunged through his heart as he struggled to respond. He didn't know how to reply. He didn't want to defend Wilson because he did force him to kiss him, but he couldn't let Damon think that it was okay for him to try and kill his friend.
But...what if his mate was right? What if Wilson would go further? For a moment...when Wilson kissed him, it felt like he didn't care what Jackson wanted, and it horrified him to think about what might have happened if he hadn't been strong enough to push him away.
As his heart ached, he lowered his head and looked down at the floor. The thought of losing Wilson hurt enough, but the idea that he might not even know who his best friend really was cut deeper. Wilson had changed so much since he went missing; he'd constantly tried to warn him away from Damon, and he wasn't the nerdy, supportive guy Jackson knew.
"I'm not going to apologize for defending and trying to protect you," Damon then said. "But what I am sorry for is that this is hurting you," he said as he placed his hand on Jackson's shoulder. "If he wasn't trying to convince you away from me, I wouldn't have a problem with him, but he's been trying since day one, Jackson, and all I'm trying to do is protect you."
Jackson didn't want to think about it anymore. It hurt too much—it made his heart ache and his brain throb. They were about to leave to fight Kane and his pack, and he needed to focus on that. But he couldn't ignore it forever. He was going to have to choose between his mate and his best friend, wasn't he? He couldn't have both, and he wasn't going to try and convince himself anymore that he could. Damon would never be comfortable with Wilson, and Wilson would never be comfortable with Damon.
He shrugged Damon's hand off his shoulder. "We should catch up with the others before they leave without us," he mumbled and turned around.
Damon grabbed his arm. "Jackson, I—"
Jackson pulled away from him. "I don't wanna do this right now, Damon. We need to deal with Kane." He then headed for the door and didn't look back at the Alpha. He didn't want to see the look on his face because he knew that it would make him feel guilty. He loved Damon, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt him, but he didn't have the energy to talk about what just happened, and he wasn't ready to make a choice, either—he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he'd already made one. He just wanted to get the Kane business out of the way so that he and the pack could continue their mission to get to the lab. He wasn't sure how either task was going to go, but what he did know was that he had to do something about Wilson before it was time to leave Reiner manor; if he didn't, inflicting a few cuts and scratches were the least his mate and best friend would do to each other.
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