Rescued by the Pack (8 page)

“What have I done?” Michael moaned.

Allison finally realized the gravity of their situation, and the faces of Luke and Logan stared at her through the haze of passion from which she was just beginning to emerge.

“Oh, my god,” Allison murmured.

“They’ll never come back, now” Michael lamented, running his hand harshly through his dripping hair.

“We won’t tell them,” Allison suggested.

“They’ll know,” Michael said.

“But, you said the bond was broken,” Allison argued. “Maybe they won’t know.”

“They’ll know,” he repeated. “They’ll know, and they’ll hate me forever.”

As the clouds began to part and golden sunlight peeked through the trees in streams, the two of them sat in silence. What could be done? Was the pack forever broken? There had to be some way to mend it.

“I know!” Allison suddenly gasped, her face lit with excitement.

Michael looked at her with an eyebrow lifted quizzically.

“I’ll let myself get captured by Victor!” she squealed with glee.

“What?” Michael’s voice boomed more loudly than the thunder ever had. “Absolutely not! I forbid it!”

“You can’t forbid me! You don’t own me!” Allison shouted.

“I most certainly can, and I do!” he shouted back. “You cannot do that! What if they… what if…”

“Michael,” she said softly, her hand brushing his cheek. “It’s the only way. They’ll come back if they think I’m in danger. Won’t they?”

“Well, yes, I’m sure they would,” he agreed, clasping her delicate wrist. “But at what cost? And even if they do come back, there’s no guarantee they’ll forgive me… or us.”

“But it’s possible,” she said. “I don’t see any other way. Do you?”

“I don’t,” he admitted.

“Then we must do what we must do,” she said. “I trust you.”

“I can’t help but think of the what if,” he said.

“Well, I can’t help but think what if we don’t,” she said. “There is no other way.”

Michael’s skin turned a sickly shade of green, and he looked as though he might lose his lunch at any moment. Allison could think of nothing else to say, but she snuggled close to him and stroked his arm.

“No,” Michael said suddenly.

“Huh?”

“I said no,” he repeated. “No, I won’t risk you. There has to be another way.”

“But you said…”

“My decision is final,” he said. “I refuse to put you at risk. We will find another way. We must.”

She meant to protest, and her mouth opened to do so, but the stony look on his face told her he would not be swayed. She sighed heavily and sat back resignedly. Retrieving her soggy clothing, she began to wriggle into it.

“Thaddeus,” Michael said suddenly.

“Who?” Allison asked absently as she struggled to yank her shorts over her wet skin.

“Thaddeus was the Alpha of our pack before…” he paused, and she stopped struggling with her clothes to stare at him. “Before he died.”

“What happened to him?” she asked gently.

“Victor.”

“Oh. Well, what about Thaddeus?”

“On his death bed, he beseeched only one thing of us,” Michael said. “And that was to remain a pack and always look out for one another. An oath made to a dying Alpha can never be broken. So you see, they
have
to come back! They’ve simply forgotten about their oath in their distress.”

“Well, how can we remind them?” Allison asked.

“We have to find them, first.”

“You said you could use pack instincts to find them,” Allison reminded him.

“Normally I could but…” he paused.

“What, Michael?”

“My instincts seem to be severely hampered at the moment,” he admitted, hanging his shoulders dejectedly.

“By what?” she asked. Then she saw it in his eyes, and she added, “By me.”

He nodded.

“It’s not supposed to happen this way,” he told her. “We live as a pack, we love as a pack, we often die as a pack, though that’s obviously not always the case. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You really should just forget about me,” Allison said. “I’m nothing but trouble for all of you. You should just throw me to the wol… um… dump me off somewhere and go on with your lives.”

“You know we cannot do that,” he said. And then he added, “
I
cannot do that.”

“So what’s the solution to all of this, then?” Allison asked.

“We bring them back, apologize profusely, and remind them of their oath to Thaddeus,” he said. “Failing that, I don’t know.”

“How will we find them?” she asked.

“We let them find us.”

The grave was on a hill underneath an ancient laurel tree that stretched its arms in a vast canopy that shaded the surrounding area, marked only by a stone wolf statue that sat with its haunches buried slightly in the damp earth and its neck craned high as it howled at an imaginary moon.

Michael approached it with solemn reverence, his head bowed. He stopped beside it and kneeled.

“Hello, old friend,” Michael said.

His hand brushed lightly over the grass-covered mound, plucking away an errant twig, grooming it carefully.

Allison placed her hand on Michael’s shoulder and paid respects to the man who had led this pack before.

“He gave his life to protect us all,” Michael said. “He was like a father to us.”

“I’m sorry,” Allison said meekly.

“That night was like something right out of a horror novel,” he told her. “The wind was howling so loudly it was deafening, and suddenly it just stopped. Dead silence. Made my ears ring. Then a fog rolled in that was so thick you couldn’t see a finger in front of your face. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Allison was silent as she waited for him to continue.

“We’d been having trouble with Victor’s pack for a while. They wanted our territory, but it’s been in our family for over a century. Thaddeus offered to allow Victor’s pack to blend with ours, but Victor… he’s mad for power. It wasn’t good enough for him.

“Thaddeus, ever the diplomat, invited Victor over to discuss it. He showed up, alright, but he brought his pack with him. It was Victor, along with the cronies you’ve met, Phillip and Earl, and two others, Pritchet and Sonny.

“Obviously, Victor had no intention of discussing things diplomatically. His pack attacked, we fought back, and ultimately we were outnumbered. Finally, Thaddeus ordered us to retreat.

“Naturally, we thought Thaddeus would follow us. But he stayed behind. He fought valiantly. He took two of those bastards down with him – Pritchet and Sonny. But as I turned back to look for him, I saw in the distance the evil glint in Victor’s eye as he sank his fangs into Thaddeus’s throat, and even from such a great distance I could hear that sickening sound as his flesh was ripped away from his body. I meant to turn back, to help him, but the Alpha’s command overrode my emotions and I just turned and fled as he’d ordered me too.”

“Oh, Michael,” Allison breathed.

“I’ve carried the guilt ever since,” Michael said, his voice breaking.

Michael bowed his head and resting his forehead on his knee. Allison stroked his hair, but she knew this was something she could do little to comfort.

“You know it isn’t your fault,” Allison said. “You had no choice but to obey your Alpha.”

“I still can’t help but feel that I should have done something,” Michael said, rolling his head back and forth on his knee. “And now I’ve gone and fucked
everything
up! Thaddeus is the rightful Alpha. He should be here, not me!”

“Michael, he gave his life for all of you because he trusted you,” Allison said.

“Well, that makes me feel better!” he groaned facetiously.

“No, no… I mean he trusted you to make the right decisions, because you
will
,” Allison explained, her hand resting on his shoulder. “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. You’re only human… or… well, you know what I mean. I’m sure even Thaddeus made mistakes.”

“Perhaps,” Michael said. “But not as grievous as the one I’ve made. He never betrayed us.”

Allison sighed. This weighed heavily on her heart, because she knew that ultimately the responsibility rested on her shoulders. If she hadn’t come into their lives, the pack would still be together.

“You have to stop blaming yourself,” Allison said. “If I wasn’t here…”

“If you weren’t here,” Michael interrupted her, pulling to his feet and grabbing her shoulders firmly, “then I would still be wandering aimlessly through life with no purpose! You’ve given me purpose! For the first time in my life, I know what I’m alive for! I’m living for you!”

“My, what a pleasant sentiment.”

The voice startled them both, and they whirled in unison to face it. Luke was trudging up the hill toward them, followed closely by Logan, who hid behind him.

Luke kneeled beside the grave and pressed two fingers to his lips, brushing them through the grass over Thaddeus’s grave. Then he rose and approached Michael seething.

Logan cleared his throat uncomfortably and kneeled beside the grave, paying silent respects while also avoiding the confrontation.

Luke’s nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air, and his face reflected what he undoubtedly knew.

“I smell the stink of it,” Luke snarled, his face contorted with disgust.

“Brother, let me explain,” Michael began.

“I owe you nothing,” Luke said. “You betrayed the pack. You are not my Alpha.”

“But what about…” Michael tried to protest.

“The oath we
all
made to Thaddeus?” Luke interjected. “No, I haven’t forgotten it. Perhaps it is you who has forgotten.”

“I have never forgotten it for a second!” Michael shouted.

“Then what happened to remaining a pack?” Luke retorted. “What happened to looking out for one another?”

“I’m not the one who abandoned my pack!” Michael snapped.

“Abandoned?” Luke asked. “No. I didn’t abandon my pack. I reorganized it.”

“Reorganized,” Michael repeated dully.

“In other words,” Luke said coolly. “
I’m
the Alpha, now.”

“You can’t do that!” Michael exploded. “There are protocols in place! There are rules that cannot be…”

“Cannot be
what,
Michael?” Luke challenged. “Rules that cannot be broken? Alas,
you
, Michael, are the one who so nonchalantly breaks pack rules!”

“You don’t understand,” Michael attempted to explain. “It’s not like…”

“There is no explanation you can give,” Luke stopped him. “You broke one of our sacred laws. Because of my oath, I cannot oust you from our pack, but I can rightfully take your place as Alpha, and I am exercising that right effective immediately.”

“But…”

“Like it or leave it, Michael,” Luke said firmly, standing with head held proudly aloft. “Literally, if you don’t like it, you’re free to leave.”

Michael’s eyes shifted toward Logan, who stared solemnly at the grave.

“Logan?” Michael asked, seeking help.

Logan said nothing, which spoke more loudly than any words ever could have. Michael knew he was defeated.

“Fine,” Michael sighed.

“My first act as Alpha is banishment,” Luke stated, and Michael’s eyes grew wide.

“But you just said…”

“Not you, Michael,” Luke interrupted him. Then he nodded at Allison and said, “Her.”

Michael’s face expressed pure disbelief, and he turned to look at Allison who had failed to grasp what had just happened. She stared at him like a deer in headlights.

“You can’t do that!” Michael shouted, stepping into a defensive position beside Allison.

“I can, and I have,” Luke said. “You have two choices. You can take her somewhere safe immediately, or you can turn her over to Victor. The choice is yours. But you have until sundown to make it.”

Normally ever strong, Michael crumbled. In an instant, it was as if his very essence was drained from his body by some lecherous, soul-sucking vampire. He folded to his knees.

“Luke, please… I can’t do this,” Michael’s voice was pleading as he shook his head slowly.

“You’ve made your bed,” Luke said. And then more venomously, “Now lie in it.”

Michael looked to Logan for help once more, but again Logan kowtowed to his older brother, and he continued to stare at the ground over Thaddeus’s grave.

Allison had never seen a human being torn in two, but she was witnessing it now, right before her eyes, and she was helpless to stop it. The only thing she could do was play the martyr.

“I’ll go,” Allison said softly.

Michael opened his mouth to object, but Allison placed a finger on his lips and shook her head.

“It’s the only thing to do,” she said.

“Victor will find you,” Michael argued.

“I’ll go somewhere no one can find me,” she said. “I know where, but I won’t endanger you by telling you.”

“I’m going with you,” Michael said, pulling himself to his feet.

“You can’t break your oath,” Allison pointed out.

“I’ve already done that,” Michael said. “More importantly, I’ve betrayed their trust in a way no wolf ever should. I don’t deserve to be here anymore.”

“It’s your choice,” Luke shrugged.

For the first time, Logan gathered his cojones to speak.

“Brother,” Logan pleaded. “Don’t leave. We’re a family, aren’t we?”

“You two are,” Michael said, nodding toward Luke. “Apparently,
I
am not.”

“Of course you are,” Luke argued. “Don’t go. We can work through this!”

“Not this time,” Michael said. “I disavow this pack. You are no longer my Alpha, and this is no longer my pack!”

Hearing his own words spat back at him, Luke twitched slightly, but made little other indication that he was affected. He leaned against the laurel tree with his arms crossed casually and said nothing.

“Let’s go,” Michael threw at Allison over his shoulder.

Allison shot a helpless look at Logan, but he only bowed his head shamefully and offered no solace. Reluctantly, she followed Michael into the tree line, noticing he didn’t even look over his shoulder as they went.

“The nerve of him,” Michael grumbled as soon as they were well out of earshot. “Taking over my pack and then trying to act like it had been his all along! I’ll show him. I’ll start my own pack, and it’ll be bigger and better than he ever thought of!”

Allison said nothing. This complaining was so out of character for Michael that it was jarring.

“What do you think?” Michael asked her suddenly.

Unable to stop herself, Allison blurted out, “I think you’re acting like a child.”

Michael stopped walking and spun on his heel to face her.

“What are you talking about?” he said, his voice rising far above its natural tone. “How am I acting like a child?”

“All I hear is you whining about what Luke did, but I don’t hear you taking responsibility for what we did,” she said. “From what I gather, Luke had every right to do what he did according to pack law, so…”

“What do you know about pack law?” he interrupted her. “You are nothing but an outsider, and that’s all you’ll ever be,
human!
”

Allison’s jaw dropped, and her heart jumped. A dozen thoughts ran through her mind at once, but rather than shouting, lashing out, or striking him as she was wanting so desperately to do, she simply turned and began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Michael called after her. “Allison!”