Chapter 40
Jackson POV
The laughter from downstairs cut through my body as small shards of glass. Why can't she just keep it down? I rolled over on the bed as my father's girlfriend let out another cackle. Her laughter was amplified by her two girlfriends. Why did she have to have a girls night tonight? I pulled myself up from the bed, I needed to get out of this house before I snapped at her. I pulled through the crumbled pile of clothes on my floor trying to find something that didn't smell musty. I picked the least offending smelling t-shirt and pulled it over my head. I buttoned up my jeans when I heard another ruckus from downstairs, I sighed to myself before opening my bedroom window and jumping out. The second floor jump created a sharp impact in my legs as I landed, letting my eyes scan across the road before getting up and walking down the street.
It was still early on in the evening and I knew that the annoying women would stay for at least a few more hours at least in our kitchen. So I had to find do something to do, to keep me occupied until then. Normally I would have gone to Tim's house. The thought of Tim made a small pang of anger pass through me. What was he playing at? Why did he think it was okay for him to stay friends with Cleo now that we had broken up? A sharp pain shot up in my chest, even admitting it to myself was still difficult. Broken up, the words bounced around in my mind. I grabbed hold of a picket fence, lining the foot path as the memories flashed before my eyes. All the moments when I had lost her, little by little, swirled around in me. I shook my head quickly as trying to chase those thoughts away. Whyatt. I will go and see Wyhatt instead I said to myself.
I opened the cold can of soda, took a gulp and looked around the dingy basement that Wyhatt kept insisting to call his 'guy cave'.
"Want to play video games?" Wyhatt asked hopefully.
"Maybe later," I wasn't convinced that another round of Mario cars would solve anything.
"So what's up?" he asked tentatively.
"I'm just trying to figure it out...," I started the sentence. I wanted to tell him about Tim and Cleo, I wanted to tell him how helpless I felt. That he could talk to her but I couldn't. I felt like the only one in the world who couldn't talk to her anymore. My wolf bristled up inside me, it was pumping out through my veins. My wolf growled in my head saying that I shouldn't show weakness, I am the alpha.
I continued my sentence, "I'm just trying to figure out why Tim thinks it's okay to maintain a friendship with Cleo?" I felt my wolf growl on my inside as I tried to remain a calm exterior.
The corners of Wyhatt's mouth twitched, he hesitated before saying, "I heard that they hung out the other day."
"Did they?" I almost roared. How could he do that to me? What had he talked about with her? Had they spoke about me or about the pack?
I dropped the can on the floor, with a fizz it created a growing puddle around my feet.
"Come on Jackson, try to calm down," Wyhatt tried.
"No!" I growled before getting out of the couch and pushing my way past him and out through the door.
"Jackson!" I heard his distant shout as I started running down the foot path, towards Tim's house.
I couldn't believe they were actually hanging out. I knew that he had challenged my authority at the Manson's party but I didn't think that he would follow through on it. My legs pounded against the concrete as I increased my speed.
I turned on to Tim's street, the blonde ruffled hair of the back of his head was the first thing that I saw.
"Hey!" I shouted angrily.
He turned away from his bike, which he had been tinkering with on the driveway. A confused look played across his face as he gave me a weak wave of the hand.
I approached him and stopped, taking a deep breath before starting in on him.
"So I hear that you have been hanging out with Cleo?" I pushed out as much of my alpha authority as I could in my voice.
Tim flinched but answered unwillingly, "Yes, we have hung out a little bit."
"What made you think that was okay?" I bellowed.
I could see Tim straining to challenge my authority again, "We're just friends." He added quickly, "We might need her help if the Hunters come back."
I closed my fists as a storm of emotions swirled around inside me. Logically I could understand what he was saying, but my wolf would not let me admit it. It shouted at me, you are the alpha and he is your beta. He's your best friend and he's going against you. How could he do that to you? The words echoed through my head.
"You need to stop. We don't want any pack business to be known to the Basati," my words were final and I stomped off. As walked away my heart stung. The Basati... it felt so strange to minimise her to that word. I knew that I was being unreasonable but my pride and my wolf would not let me admit that out loud.
I turned the corner of the street and slowed my pace down. What had I just done? I was pushing everyone away from me. I was letting my wolf control my actions because I couldn't control my impulses. Did I really want to argue with Tim? I had already broken my relationship with Cleo beyond repair. Was I really willing to throw away the friendship with my best friend? As my breathing calmed, could feel my wolf quieting down inside me. As my impulses settled down, the realisation dawned on me that I should really go back and try to talking to him. Now that I felt more like myself again I didn't like one bit how things had gotten so bad, so quickly between us.
I approached his house again, this time I was considerably calmer. As I was about to knock on the front door I heard voices coming from the garden. So I turned the corner, approaching the wooden doorway in the high fence that sectioned of the back of their garden from the view of the street. As I was about to push open the door I heard Tim say, "Cleo is Basati."
I stood frozen, hidden from view behind the tall wooden planks. I heard the rickety small squeezes of their outdoor furniture. Tim most be speaking to his father as I heard the humming sound he made when he was thinking.
"She's changed quite recently and now there is another threat too. There's Hunters, they attacked Cleo and Jackson in her house," Tim continued.
I felt my jaw tense but my body was still frozen, I felt completely unable to act. I felt something small twist inside of me, a betrayal.
"The other day when I went to her house, there was this mark that was half washed away on the door," Tim hesitated.
"And you didn't like the feeling it gave you," his father added. I heard a slapping noise confirming that his father must have given him a slap on the back.
"Thank you for telling me about this son. I know it's not easy to share information like that."
I heard Tim's father get up from the wooden chair and walk back into the house. I stayed motionless in place, starting to feel a small trickle of warmth drop from my palms over the tips of my fingers which I had been jabbing into my hand.
"Hey," Tim's voice had changed in an instant, now happy and cheerful.
Faintly I could hear through the crackle of the mobile phone how Cleo replied "Hey you!"
"Want to hang out tonight?" He asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Sure," she agreed.
I backed away from the fence and snuck my way back out to the footpath and started running again.
I ran blindly down the street, not knowing where I was going or what I would do. My beta had disobeyed me, I had told Tim not to go to the elders and he had anyway. I had told him I didn't want him to hang around with Cleo and he was shoving that in my face. What would he do next? Try to take over my pack? The wolf in me growled deeply, I wouldn't rather die than give up my pack.
I ran until the taste of iron and acid was so far up my throat that I felt sick. My hands gipped on to a tree stem and I tried to breathe calmly. What should I do know? I pulled out my phone and called the person who I was the closets to, who would still speak to me.
"Wyhatt?"
"Yes?" He replied through the light crackle of static in the phone.
"Some stuff has happened. Can we meet up?"
"Sure," he replied. I could tell from his tone that he was not too thrilled about it but he would not say no his friend and he would not say no to his alpha.
"Text me where to meet," he finished before hanging up.
I was standing by the small playground, one of our many meeting spots for the pack. I was sitting on a rickety swing set and stared out into the darkness. Night ha truly set in and I had no idea of what time it was, right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was that i had someone to talk to, to try to sort out all of the mess in my head.
My eyes swept down the street and I spotted the muscular silhouette of Wyhatt as he was approaching. Before I could even push myself off the swing set and wave at him something dark shoot out from the right hand side, tackling Wyhatt over and holding him down. Three hooded silhouettes wrapped him up in a metal chain, as it flashed as quickly as lighting. I felt my legs moving towards them. One of the hooded creates stood up, from the shape it must be a human. The hood was slightly out of place and a bright flash of deeply red hair was illuminated by the street light. I glimpsed a split second of what looked like a woman's features. Before they dragged him in between two houses. I sprinted down looking between the houses - it was deadly calm and no movements were detected by my ears or eyes.
My hand grabbed a hold of my phone and I unlocked it and called his number without taking my eyes off the woods that wrapped themselves around the back of those two houses.
"Hello," Tim's voice was suspicious.
"I think Hunters just took Wyhatt," my voice shook uncontrollably. "All I could see where cloaked beings, one of them looked like a woman with red hair."
"I'll ask Cleo, she'll help us," he said. Even though he was my beta I knew that in this case his words not mine where the final ones.
Author's Note: Oh the drama! Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. And what do you think will happen to Wyhatt?
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Have a wonderful week and I'll see you next Thursday for Magic's Mark and next Sunday for Steel: The Transformation.