Forsaken (17 page)

"Okay,
I'm in, and I'll see what I can do to get at least a couple of the
others to come with us."

"Perfect,
have Donovan get your jet warmed up. We've got the ideal prey
already identified."

**

Just
over an hour later, Isaac, Jasmin, Jess, Tasha and I were landing in
a tiny airport just outside of Clifton, which was on the extreme east
edge of Arizona. Isaac wasn't happy about Jess accompanying us, but I
wanted at least one of our submissives along for the ride so I could
see how the Tucson pack reacted to more than just our dominants.
James had stayed home to mind the store, but honestly, if another
challenger showed up he was going to just have to stall for an hour
or so until we could make it back there.

Jasmin
had agreed to come along with a minimum of coaxing, but it was
obvious that her heart wasn't in the hunt. She was coming along
because she figured something was up between Tasha and me, and she
wanted to get as much firsthand data as she could so that she didn't
get blindsided by whatever we had in the works.

Jaclyn
met us at the airport with a trio of bulky guys who almost had to be
hybrids, and a guy and a girl I was pretty sure were normal
wolves that she'd brought along for the same reason I'd brought Jess.
She inclined her head slightly in my direction when I walked into the
tiny terminal.

"I'm
glad to see Tasha was able to convince you to join us. This is
Arnold, Brutus and Alexei; they are three of my dominants. Peter and
Jane will be acting as scouts; I'd like to keep them out of the main
fight if we can manage it."

She'd
presumably followed the normal convention of introducing her pack in
order of dominance, but that just confirmed what I'd expected. At
sixteen, Alexei was too young to have unseated either of the other
two yet. Arnold was a massively-muscled man who had to be midway
through his second century. Brutus was only slightly smaller and
younger. They both looked like they'd be a handful in a fight.

Peter
and Jane had an alert, cautious air that backed up the idea that they
were towards the bottom of the pack's power structure, but they
weren't overly jumpy, which meant Jaclyn probably kept her hybrids
from doing anything overtly cruel to the rest of her people.

"We've
never hunted vacuums before, but we thought maybe it was time to do
something more constructive than just lock horns with more of the
dispossessed. This is Isaac, Jasmin and Jess. I'd like to keep Jasmin
and Jess on the fringes of things as well if at all possible."

Jaclyn
smiled and waved us all over to a table that already had a map laid
out on it.

"We
occasionally run extended patrols in an effort to make sure we don't
have any vampires moving into the area. We keyed into the trail of a
werewolf six weeks ago and have been slowly tracking it down since
then. We probably would have gotten to it before now, but Natasha's
already told you about the run-in we had with that cat."

I
nodded as I stepped forward and found our position on the map. Jaclyn
pointed to a cluster of buildings off on the east side of the town.

"They
are probably in this area, so we'll take a foot patrol through here
and see if we can find them. Do you guys have any questions before we
head out?"

It
was a test. She knew as well as I did that the Sanctuary pack knew
next to nothing about hunting werewolves, but an insecure alpha would
try to pretend they knew what they were doing. She would probably
keep our ignorance from getting any of her people killed, but I
wasn't that stupid.

"What
tips can you give us about fighting werewolves? We don't know much
more than that they have some kind of absorptive aura."

Jaclyn
nodded to Brutus, who stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"They're
bigger, stronger and faster than nearly any hybrid, so the best bet
is to attack with greater numbers and try to keep them off balance.
They have a shoulder and elbow construction that limits their ability
to get at anything behind them. Similar to a hybrid, but you have to
be mindful of just how fast they are when you're trying to exploit
it."

I
stepped back from the map so Isaac and Jasmin could get a good look
at it, and Tasha picked up the thread of the explanation.

"It's
hard to predict how any given werewolf will behave when they run into
a shape shifter. We've seen anything from berserker attacks against a
superior force to cunning ambushes and guerilla tactics. The newer
wolves tend to be less dangerous though. They are smaller and act
more...confused in battle."

Isaac
looked up from the map and then looked around at the Tucson pack.
"Any distinctive smell to them? Do we need to worry about their
absorption ability?"

Peter
shook his head. "Nothing unusual about the scents of the younger
ones, which these all seem to be. We usually find them by watching
the news for unexplained power outages on the night of a full moon.
Once you've got a scent trail, it's like following anyone else, but
they tend not to jump in cars or the like to obscure where they've
been. They don't function very well, even in human form, so you
generally find them on the fringes of society."

Jane
tentatively cleared her throat. "Their scent seems to transition really
slowly though. The older they get, the more they seem to have a
common note to their scent, but it's really, really hard to pick
out."

Jaclyn
smiled at Jane and then turned back to Isaac. "To your question
regarding their absorptive abilities, they don't seem to be offensive
weapons, but they can be a strong defensive measure. They completely
absorb any kind of electrical shock without evidencing any kind of
ill effects. Some of the pack histories have accounts of werewolves
attacking vampires, and as nearly as the observers could tell, the
vampires weren't able to manifest any of their unusual abilities. No
fire, no telekinesis."

She'd
just essentially told us that her arcing ability was off the table
for this fight. None of the Sanctuary pack had any kind of extra
power, so it sounded like this was going to be a purely physical
fight.

Seeing
no more questions from any of us, Jaclyn got everyone moving out to a
pair of SUVs and a limo. A group this size didn't need so many
vehicles, but it meant we'd be able to keep the two packs out of
close quarters, which was a really good idea until after any
dominance questions had been shaken out. I climbed into the
limo with Tasha and Jaclyn, despite a little trepidation on the part
of my beast at the idea of being outnumbered inside of such a small
space.

Peter
slid into the driver's seat and raised the privacy partition. Jaclyn
waited until we started moving and then offered me a bottle of water.

"You
look a lot like him, you know. Your dad, I mean. He was always
remarkably self-possessed. I know your beast is acting up at the idea
of being in the car with both Tasha and me. I expect it knows that
you're clearly dominant to Tasha, but the question of dominance
between you and me hasn't been settled."

I
allowed myself a guarded nod, not sure where she was going.

"Tasha
told me that your pack is remarkably tight-lipped about your power,
but I know you don't have control of it. If you did, you'd have
already wiped the floor with one of the challengers. Given that,
there isn't any way you can stand against me."

"I
thought we were here as allies."

"We
are, and I intend for things to remain that way, but I find it's best
just to get the dominance questions out in the open right away. I'll
treat you with all of the respect due the alpha of another pack. As
long as you can keep from digging your heels in over something
stupid, I can pretty much guarantee that we won't have any problems."

It
was a bold statement, but everything I'd seen so far backed her up on
it. Packs functioned best when there was a clear line of command, and
her ability to instantly drop any of her wolves had
obviously allowed her to craft exactly the power structure she wanted
inside her pack.

"Assuming
you continue to be as reasonable as you've been so far, you won't
have any problems from me, and I'll keep Isaac and the rest of my
people in line."

I
kept the mental wince that the promise caused off of my face, but I
wasn't excited at the thought of having to keep Isaac on a leash. He
was less and less the calm pillar he'd been in years past and he was
especially unhappy today.

Jaclyn
gave me a long look that seemed to indicate that she knew what that
promise had cost me.

"I
could always step in and ensure things go smoothly on both sides if
you want."

It
was the kind of offer that only a few hybrids living could have made.
It was the ultimate symbol of just how powerful she was, and if I
accepted it there wouldn't be any going back.

"I'll
police my own pack."

"Alec,
I hope you don't feel like I overstepped my bounds by offering. I
know what kind of position that would put you in. It's not the kind
of thing you could agree to unless you'd already decided that you
want to accept our offer of alliance, but I thought I'd still offer.
If you've decided to join us then there is no reason for you and your
people to continue to tear into each other between now and when the
agreement is formalized. If Isaac became combative I could drop him
with a charge of power. It would take only seconds, it would expose
me to almost no risk, and he'd be back up and able to help in little
more than an hour."

Their
proposal had been tempting to start out with, but it was growing more
appealing by the minute. There was a part of me that was tired of it
all, that wanted to just hand all of the responsibility over to
someone else, but I knew that would be the coward's way out. If I
agreed to a merger of our packs it had to be because I was confident
it was the best thing for my friends and family. My exhaustion
couldn't enter into the equation.

"I
appreciate the offer, but I haven't made up my mind yet with regards
to Tasha's proposal. Until then, I can't abdicate my responsibilities
like that."

Tasha
chuckled and shot her mother a satisfied look. "I told you he
wouldn't go for it. He's too much like you said his father used to be
for something like that to be acceptable."

Jaclyn
nodded with a sad smile, obviously remembering better times.

"I
respect your desire to keep faith with your people, Alec. If I didn't
think you were capable of great things then we wouldn't be having
this conversation. I've spent my entire life on two pursuits. I've
fought and bled to make sure the lands to the north of us weren't
washed away in a flood of corruption and violence, and I've tried to
build a pack that was strong enough to protect those I love. I love
Tasha, but my death will leave her ill-equipped to preserve our
family's legacy."

Yet
again I was astonished at her openness. Every word she'd said since
we'd arrived had been the truth. She was operating from a position of
such incredible superiority that she didn't need to lie or manipulate
to accomplish her ends.

It made me think of some of the legends about
Jaldul. He'd established the monarchy for two reasons. He'd been
strong enough to enforce his will in his pack, but more than that,
he'd been a man of such character that he'd won the allegiance of
some of the most powerful hybrids of his day. With their backing,
he'd ruled from a position of strength, but it had been a strength
that had been tempered by goodness and justice.

Jaclyn
continued on, ignorant of the compliment I was paying her inside the
privacy of my own thoughts.

"You
represent a chance for me to sidestep that outcome. I can buy you the
time you need for your power to fully manifest, and then the two of
you can rule and preserve the legacy I'm trying so hard to leave
her."

"What
if my power never manifests in the way you're describing? What if it
always remains an undependable wild card?"

It
wasn't an admission I'd have made to very many other people. The rest
of my pack had a pretty good idea that I couldn't
call my power at will, but even with them, I'd mostly made sure that
the conversation was framed as one of 'when', rather than 'if'.

Jaclyn's
smile was sad once again. "I have my own theories when it comes
to the abilities we manifest. I remember when I first manifested
mine. Tasha is the only other living person who knows this, but I
manifested mine because I'd found something that was too important to
allow me to roll over and die. I don't know why Tasha became a wolf
and her sister remained a human. I don't know why some of us become
hybrids and others don't, but I'm convinced that once a certain level
of power is reached that it becomes more a matter of will
than anything else. I have every confidence that you'll eventually
master your power, Alec. It's just a matter of you needing more time
and an even greater reason to do so than anything you've found yet."

The
car pulled to a stop as Jaclyn finished talking. She gave me another
wistful smile and exited the car before I could respond to her almost
metaphysical discourse. I shook myself slightly and filed her words
away for later examination. I had a pack to keep in check and a fight
pending with some of the most dangerous creatures to walk the night.
Neither of those tasks were something I could undertake while
distracted with other concerns.

The
second SUV pulled up only seconds after I got out of the limo. I
walked over and opened the door for Jasmin, who'd been driving. She
looked even worse than normal. Her skin had taken on a gray cast, and
she almost looked like she was struggling not to shake. I leaned
forward and pitched my voice low enough that nobody else should be
able to overhear.