Will
Blackthorne led them through the camp in handcuffs. Though the place was relatively abandoned--Blackthorne had sent most of their guys after the other half of Will's group--they'd decided to keep a pretense in case they ran into someone.
He maneuvered them through yellow tents and past forgotten smoking campfires back to Selene's tent.
"You sure about this?" Blackthorne asked. "She's not one to give up."
"I'm sure," Will insisted.
Blackthorne led them both by the elbow into Selene's tent.
Selene was bent over her work station in the corner, fiddling with the focus on her microscope. She didn't look up at their entrance. "Whatever it is, figure it out."
"I brought you a gift," Blackthorne said and, playing the part, shoved Will and Cam further into the tent.
She glanced over, quirked her mouth up, and returned to her microscope. "Ah, you found them. Perfect timing too."
Dominic jerked on his restraints when he saw them come in. He shot them an apologetic look.
Will gave the smallest of nods, trying to tell him to follow his lead. Then he flicked his eyes to Cam's handcuffs.
Dominic grimaced, his eyebrows coming together. What? He mouthed at Will.
Blackthorne unlocked Will's restraints quietly. Silently. When they loosened, he gave no outward sign that his hands had been freed.
Then he freed Dominic. His metal chains jingled as they hit the ground.
Selene whirled at the sound. "Blackthorne, what are you--"
Cam stepped forward, a silent threat.
"Harley's free," Will told Dominic. "And Ben."
"Blackthorne!" Selene barked.
Blackthorne snorted and crossed his arms. He moved himself off to the side. "Don't look at me, this is between you and them. I'm done standing in between."
Her gaze darted at them and as she took in the situation wariness entered her expression. She was vastly outnumbered.
"We're here to get you out," Will told Dominic. "If you want it. The other test subjects too, if they'd like. Our pack can teach you all things. Methods that will help you control the beast. Help you adapt."
"He doesn't need to learn to be more of an abomination," Selene hissed.
Dominic flinched.
"Ben taught you some," Will continued as if she hadn't spoken, "but there's still more to learn."
"There's nothing to learn!" Selene said, "Baby, listen. I'll fix this. I'll fix you--"
"Shut up!" Dominic's fists clenched at his side. "Just shut up, mom."
"Son--"
Dominic's face reddened. "I haven't been a son to you. Ever. If I was, you wouldn't talk as if I'm an animal," he gestured to the tent's exit, "you wouldn't've locked me in a trailer for most of my life."
"I didn't lock you in a trailer!"
"You did," he said with a cold calm. "You're supposed to love me. No matter who or what I am. Instead, you can barely stand to be around me--"
"That's not true--"
"--I can't live like this anymore. You turned me into this mom. You. And instead of facing the consequences, you've spent my whole life trying to fix it."
"Give me some time, Dominic."
"I don't need time. Or anything else. I'm not the one unhappy with this. You are."
"Dominic," Will called out softly. He tossed the data chip at him.
Dominic caught it easily.
"It's up to you," Will said.
Selene straightened at the sight of the chip. Her breath caught. "Is that--?"
Dominic held the chip by the corners, carefully.
"Oh my God, Dominic," Selene breathed. "Baby that's it! Now we can--"
Surprisingly, Dominic began to laugh. He drew a hand over his face. "It's funny how something so small can start something so big." He frowned down at the chip. "All the people affected...
"It's probably best it ends here," he said.
Then he snapped the chip in half.
Selene backed up so hard, her hip hit the table. The microscope fell off and thudded against the ground. "No, no, no, no! What have you done?" She yelled, "What have you done!"
Her nostrils flared. She stepped forward, intent in her gaze. She scooped up the gun on the edge of the table.
Only Blackthorne was there. He wrestled it smoothly out of her hands and threw it aside. Selene kicked and struggled, a few well-placed hits at Blackthorne's stomach.
Blackthorne held on, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Get out of here!"
"No! No!" Selene was screaming. Until the screams turned to tears that flooded down her face. "No!"
Will put a hand on Dominic's arm. "Dom? Let's go."
Dominic gave his sobbing mother one last, long look.
And they left.
~
Harley
By the time they left the camp, Ben had to carry Harley. Selene had taken so many blood samples that she was left tired, weak, and starving. Ben had her arm over his shoulder, his hand at her waist to keep her steady. Mathias leaned his body into her thigh to help.
They made their way through the brush and the seemingly endless trees. The sun began setting, turning the sky a darker blue. In an hour or so, the lightning bugs would flicker their lights as the moon crawled up the horizon.
The incessant buzz of cicadas drowned their footsteps. Every time she moved her foot her steps crunched. She knew it was too loud. "We're so loud. They're going to find us," she whispered.
Mathias leaned closer into her leg. Assuring her.
"No they won't," Ben said. He kept them moving at a steady, determined pace. "Don't you hear that?"
She frowned, listening harder. All she could hear were the chittering birds and those damn cicadas. "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly."
Their walk took a lot longer than she wanted. She knew she slowed them down too, though aside from asking them to leave her behind, there wasn't much she could do.
Feeling guilty, yet also knowing Ben would never leave her, she began to apologize any time she made too much noise. "Sorry...sorry...sorry..."
After the seventh time, Ben told her to cut it out. "It's fine, Har."
A twig snapped under her foot and dug painfully into her arch. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, "sorry."
Mathias growled low, aggravated.
Ben stopped abruptly. "Mathias, do you--"
Mathias stepped in front of Harley, his upper body dropping low.
A brown and tan wolf broke through the tree line and skidded to a stop at the sight of them. Its tail flickered and carefully lowered.
"Jamie?" Ben's shoulders relaxed. "Thank Luna you're okay."
Jamie? Why would Jamie be this far out from the pack house? And why was Ben so relieved to see her?
"Where is everyone else?"
She led them to a small rock outcropping where more pack members rested. Oliver. Warren. Charlotte. Why were they all the way out here?
Some of them had leaking cuts and others were in various states of Change.
Oliver--fully human and naked as the day he was born--smiled when he saw them. "You got her out."
Ben nodded. "And you guys? Is everyone okay?"
Oliver scanned his fellow pack. "We all survived. After we set up the distraction, Selene's crew came stomping through the forest," he explained, "We took out a few, but their numbers were much greater than ours. Instead of fighting a useless fight and getting our people killed, we retreated. The plan was to come back and regroup. And bring the whole pack this time." His eyebrows came together, "Where's Will and Cam?"
"Right behind us," Ben said.
Harley frowned at him, not sure if he'd lied because Will wouldn't want the pack worrying about him or because he had that much confidence that Will would make it out alright.
Please make it out okay, Will.
"He said he'd meet us back at the pack house," Ben said.
Oliver seemed a little suspicious, especially after ten minutes when the rest of the crew gathered together to get home, he still hadn't shown up.
Though he didn't question it, even as the pack made their slow, tedious trek home.
"Harley," Jamie--now in human form--walked alongside her. "I'm sorry about...well, about before. And for what Bailey and my father did.
"I don't like you," she continued, though her lips twitched when Harley snorted. "You know that. But I'd never actually wish for," she gestured at Harley's slow limp, "this."
Harley reached over and squeezed Jamie's arm in response.
"Are we...cool?"
Were they cool? Harley laughed inwardly. Of course they were. Because when it came down to it, when Harley needed to be rescued, Jamie had joined up the team to come save her. And that spoke volumes.
She smiled as best she could, "As ice."
Jamie blew out a breath. "Good."
She never thought she'd be so excited to see the sprawling colonial style house. As they arrived, she sagged in relief, surprisingly feeling safer than she had since she and Bailey went to the mall.
Oliver and the rest of them piled in before them and Harley and Ben, the slower ones, pulled up the rear. Ben pulled Harley in through the front door.
Mathias had guarded their back the entire way. She scratched him on the head as they entered. "Thanks, 'thias."
At the threshold, her brother stalled.
Oliver noticed. "Come in, Mathias. You belong here just as much as the rest of us."
"Let's get you seated," Ben guided her to the living room. "You need food. And orange juice."
As she entered the living room, someone gasped. Then Bailey was there, her eyes shiny.
"You said they wouldn't hurt her," she accused over her shoulder.
Alpha Mark stood in the doorway, a blank face on.
Oliver strode up to him. "What you've done," his gaze sliced through Bailey and back, "what you both have done is despicable. If this is the way you treat your pack--by selling them out--I refuse to be a part of it."
Natalie, who'd gone to get the medical kit once they'd arrived, stepped behind her mate, her chin high.
That was the kind of love Harley wanted. Natalie had no clue what was going on. She'd come down the stairs to a bunch of wounded pack members and left to get the medical supplies, only to come back to find her mate confronting the Alpha. She didn't know why, or what for, but she trusted Oliver. And she'd stood at his back, despite not knowing the details.
Harley only trusted two people enough that she'd do the same. Mathias...
...and Will.
Alpha Mark narrowed his gaze. "Then leave."
Instead of cowering at the dominance of the Alpha like Harley would've, Oliver straightened. "No. I will not abandon these people to someone willing to forfeit them for their own gain." His jaw tightened.
The air grew heavy, the tension thick, and the whole room felt charged.
"Shit," Ben breathed, "he's gonna--"
"I Challenge," Oliver declared.
The entire house, the entire territory, held their breath. Challenging was a fight between the Alpha and a lower position for the Alpha title. But it was so rare that hardly anyone saw a Challenge in their lifetime.
The Alpha role was often passed through families because packs that were established long enough had dominance lines already rightfully arranged.
The Alpha title was the only position able to be Challenged. Since Alphas picked their supportive under roles--Beta, Gamma, etc--it was not in another wolf's place to Challenge the lesser positions. After all, the Alpha would only trust certain wolves at their backs.
Only newer packs and packs with great issues went through Challenges. If the Challenger won, the pack had to do a lot of rearranging of roles, which led to confusion and awkwardness. Once Challenged, the losing wolf often lost their title completely.
By Oliver Challenging Alpha Mark, he'd be risking his role as Beta, and possibly his life.
"Tonight. Right before dawn," Oliver said.
Alpha Mark only nodded and stalked away. Bailey trailed, scared and lost, behind him.
~
"Harley."
"Harls?"
After getting food and some orange juice, Harley's body completely shut down. She'd gone into a deep recovery sleep right there on the couch.
But she'd have to be dead not to recognize that voice. "Will?"
Her heavy eyelids opened. Will sat beside her, gazing at her with a warmth and tenderness that lit her up from the inside.
Despite the exhaustion yanking her down, she sat up and pulled him tight to her. "Thank Luna you're alright."
He tucked her hair behind her ear. "Ditto."
Everything flooded back. "Oh Goddess, Will. Oliver Challenged Alpha Mark and--"
"I heard," he said. "They're readying everything outside now. I came to see if you wanted to be there."
She did. She wanted to make sure Oliver beat Alpha Mark and that she wouldn't have to move packs. There was no way she'd stay here if the man partly responsible for her capture and current state was the leader.
Yet her whole body was heavier than cement and already she leaned on Will for support, her eyes closing. "I want to, but..."
He kissed her hair. "But you need to recover."
"Yeah."
"I would much rather you stay here and sleep," He said, "Besides, I don't think Mathias is going to let you leave right now anyway."
She peeked through blurry, heavy lidded eyes at the wolf curled at the other end of the couch. He licked the bottom of her bare foot.
The fact that it didn't tickle was a testament to her level of exhaustion.
She cuddled Will for a bit, caught between awake and asleep. Just soaking in the conversation around her.
"Not sure about Oliver's chances," Ben said, "with him already fighting once today."
"Oliver is scrappy," Will responded. Harley liked the way his chest rumbled under her ear as he spoke. "He's Beta for a reason."
"True. He's also got the people behind him. Knowing what they do now, I don't think any pack member is willing to stay with him after they learned what he did to Harley."
"Yeah." Will absently played with her hair. Harley sighed and sank further into him.
"Dude," an odd tone entered Ben's voice, "is she--?"
Silence. She'd thought for a second the quiet meant she'd drifted fully into dream land, but then Will shifted her to a better, more comfortable position. "She is."
"Holy shit...Wait 'til I tell Cam."
"He knows. I told him on the way back."
"And Mathias?"
"He sent me a warm feeling. Guess that means I've got his blessing."
"Wow. I'm...I'm happy for you, Will."
Will's chest shook as he chuckled. "I just have to pray to Luna that she accepts it."
"You're stupid if you think she won't," Ben said, "and blind if you can't see she feels the same."
"I guess so." A beat passed, then Will asked, "Will you go watch the fight for me? Oliver will need all the support he can get."
"You're not coming?"
"I think I just need to hold her for a while."
Then Harley drifted off--for real this time.