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~*Darwin*~

Through all the shock, the pain and the last remnants of fear Darwin’s mind had huddled into a tight ball around one simple problem: why the hell wasn’t Jared touching him anymore? The glorious jock usually never hesitated to use any and every chance to paw him whenever he felt like it, but now he seemed actually frightened to do so.

Had Darwin been too snappy in that gas station bathroom? Or maybe his wolf had driven Jared away, just as promised. Whatever the reason, Darwin could sense Jared throw glances at him here and there, but he never did anything more than that.

Jared even had volunteered to walk across town and buy a new car, although that probably had something to do with his credit card. There was a sad possibility that Rayne of the dark skin might get arrested if he tried to buy a brand-new Dodge Nitro with a credit card in someone else’s name.

But still, that didn’t rule out the possibility that Jared had volunteered just to get away from Darwin. Nibbling on his lower lip he looked through the back window of the Beetle. Harry and Rayne were standing at the trunk deeply immersed in their conversation, and even that made Darwin wince. He had had no chance to reconcile with Harry yet, but Harry seemed to be doing well enough. Without Darwin. With that rogue wolf.

It was petty of him to be jealous, but he felt justified. All of them had lost something, that was true, but Darwin had been the only one to get hurt repeatedly. Nobody seemed to care.

Well, except for Darla, he had bitten her, that counted as hurt. And Jared was out buying a brand new car with money he’d had to borrow from his estranged brother because he had nothing but the clothes on his body. And Rayne had given up his only safe haven to help them. Harry had even been kidnapped because of him, for god’s sake!

All of a sudden his egoism made Darwin want to crawl out of his own skin with disgust. When had he started to think like that? No wonder Jared kept his distance, he probably had noticed Darwin’s feelings before he himself had.

And adding to all of this was Darwin’s acceptance of Jared’s superiority. After all, Jared had fallen in love with him when he had still tried to pass as a dominant, and now he was stuck with a whiny, groveling–

The deep honk of a shiny new car ripped him from his self-pity, and not a second too soon. With a shudder he crawled out of the Beetle, threw an instinctual smile at Jared and did his best not to limp too transparently as he walked across the small parking space.

He wanted to help them load whatever goods they had left into the new car but his shoulder still hurt and bled when he tried to lift something heavy, so Jared simply shoved him into the car and told him to wait there as they finished.

Darla was draped onto the back seat this time, and Harry and Rayne took on the job of holding her steady. It left Darwin with the passenger seat next to Jared, and another good chance of getting the Alpha’s attention. He’d just have to try harder.

“What are you going to do with your old car?” Darwin asked as they pulled out of the parking lot. The little Beetle looked very forlorn in all that empty space. He wouldn’t miss the cramped space, but the car had enough character to look like a lost puppy.

Jared sighed, then threw a short glance into the back mirror. “I don’t know. It depends on how long we’re going to stay away. I’d hate to lose it to be honest, it’s my first car.”

Rayne hummed sympathetically. “First one’s always the hardest. I still remember when I-“

“When are you going to tell us about that pack in Canada?” Jared interrupted gruffly, taking a moment to look at Rayne’s dark face in the rear view mirror. Darwin could see those hard lines reappear on the jock’s face. They were new, having started to appear only since Carl’s pack had gone on the offensive and started to attack them. They were strong lines, very male, but also very sad to see. Jared looked positively cold, like a winter sun.

Rayne was silent for a moment, long enough to make Darwin put up with the pain in his shoulder and look back. The dark one looked down at Darla’s face, obviously trying to come up with the best way to start. It was unusual to see him at a lack of words, and Darwin would have liked it on any other given day. This day he wanted to crawl back and shake him.

“I think it’s best I tell you how I myself met them, maybe that will be enough to make you understand why Carl’s plan will never work,” he finally said, sorting through Darla’s hair.

“It was six years ago, and I was very new to this whole pack thing. At eighteen you don’t really think about the future the same way you do at twenty-one, or any time after that, and I had nobody to talk sense into me. My first pack didn’t want me anymore, so I decided to find out about a legend, the same one Carl heard. A story about some pack up north that was somehow different, more powerful than any other pack.”

He çorum escort hesitated for a moment, smiling tightly. “I wanted to be strong, I wanted power more than anything. If my parents had been stronger, they wouldn’t have been killed by hunters, I told myself. And since I didn’t want to die, this was the way I chose.”

Darwin huddled into his seat. George had always told him that there was such a thing as hunters, especially when he told the story of how he had found him as a kid. His adoptive father was quite sure that the wolf who had bitten him had been hunted and killed by the men who called themselves hunters because they never found him. It had kept their pack in hiding for weeks before they dared to show themselves in their wolf shapes again.

“It took weeks to get to the Canadian border. I didn’t have a passport or visa, but you know, such things don’t stop a wolf. The hunger was a bigger problem, especially because it was salmon season and there were bears everywhere.” Again Rayne hesitated, then he took a deep breath and added, “and you can probably guess where this is going. I was near death and ripped to shreds when one of the mythical werewolves found me. I have no idea how he carried me to that hunting cabin, he was slightly smaller than Harry and sinewy like a teenager, but he did. And he patched me up too.”

Jared huffed and slowed the car to enter the highway. “Very magical, but so far I can’t find anything unusual in that,” he grumbled.

White teeth flashed as Rayne grinned. “When I asked him if I could join his pack, he said no. I asked why,” he threw a glance at Jared’s profile and finished, “he said, because they’re all Alphas.”

The words didn’t register at first because the sentence made little sense. There was no dumbfounded silence or gasps of shock, just the slightly embarrassed rustle of clothing as they all changed position. After a short while Harry piped in.

“What do you mean? They had more than one Alpha?” He sounded as nonplussed as Darwin felt.

“No, I mean they are all Alphas. Every single one of them.”

Flitting his gaze from Harry to Rayne and finally to Jared, Darwin saw the deep frown lines form above his brows. “That wouldn’t work. I’m from a family with three Alphas, my dad, my brother and myself, and we nearly killed each other for years. I had to leave because it got so bad. Alphas don’t mix.” The words sounded angry, and Jared shook his head animatedly. “No way.”

Rayne went back to stroking Darla’s hair, again looking down at her with hazed eyes. “I couldn’t believe it myself. Hector, my savior, tried to explain it to me but it just sounded too ludicrous. I wanted to come to his pack house and see it myself, but he wouldn’t let me. He even threatened me with death if I tried to go near them. You wanna guess why?”

All three of them waited for a few seconds for him to go on, but he only answered his question when Darwin sucked in air to ask the obvious.

“He said, because they’re all Alphas, no dominant or submissive is allowed anywhere near them. As soon as that happens, they would start fighting over them, sooner or later, but most likely sooner. Hector said the only reason their pack works is because there simply is nothing to fight over. Then he gave me three-hundred bucks and stuffed me into the next bus home.”

Another silence swallowed the car when Rayne ended his little tale. Jared still frowned and his hands kneaded the steering wheel with a vengeance, Harry was too nervous to pitch in and Darwin was too busy watching them all shy away from the next logical question.

Finally he relented because someone had to. “Fine. Let’s say your tale is true. Are we still going there? I mean, they would take Jared, but we’re still fucked.” And he really didn’t want to give up Jared, although he didn’t say that out loud.

Surprisingly it was Rayne who answered, not Jared. “Yes. We have to go there. They know things about Alpha powers. Things we’ll need if we want to defeat Carl. That’s still what we’re trying to achieve, right?”

Darwin nodded, chewing on his lower lip as he looked over to Jared. His expression hadn’t changed a bit, and it worried him. In the end it was Jared who would decide what they would do or not do, he was their Alpha.

“Fine. Sounds good to me. Just tell me where to go.”

~*~

~*Jared*~

There was a special place in hell reserved for car seat designers, Jared was sure. Ten hours of constant driving in an unfamiliar car had set his back on fire in a way he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemies, and they still had a ways to go. At least Carl’s men wouldn’t follow them this far, and at the moment they were as safe as they could ever hope to be.

The climate was fresher, colder and somewhat wetter here, and the constant scent of ice, pine resin and wet sand hung in the air. It smelled clean and healthy, and like a very bad place to be in winter. They parked beneath denizli escort some trees next to another gas station with all heaters on a low, steady blow, and everyone was asleep except for Jared and Rayne.

Jared didn’t want to take his eyes off Rayne, who still huddled into the phone booth on his hunt for a phone number on his ‘friend’ Hector, but a soft, constant snoring right next to his elbow beckoned him to turn his head.

He had been so good until now, keeping his hands to himself, giving Darwin all the space he needed to collect himself off the metaphoric floor, but the need to get closer was increasingly hard to ignore. It just didn’t seem natural not to touch Darwin, his mate, his partner, especially when he was so distressed. But Jared had promised to behave. Behaving himself included not groping a wounded man, even if he was snoring cutely.

He smiled down at the black haired boy curled up in the passenger seat. A strand of hair hung into his face and Jared unthinkingly brushed it away. Darwin felt hot, nearly feverish, but nothing close to the fever he’d had in the cabin two days ago. He didn’t need to worry about his body, but Jared knew the emotions Darwin seemed to go through.

A distance was growing between them, and Jared didn’t know how to stop it. Maybe it was natural to feel alienated after so much violence and stress, but that didn’t make it any easier on their relationship. Brushing his thumb over Darwin’s cheek Jared sighed. Why couldn’t things just go back to being easy and light like before?

The back door opened and Rayne piled into the car, waking everyone but Darla with the sound of the door slamming shut. Jared quickly pulled away his hand and tried to look inconspicuous, but Rayne had probably seen him pet Darwin like a love-sick fool before he even got into the car. Damn it.

“I got it. I even talked to Hector directly, although he didn’t remember me. He’s meeting us at some place about 120 miles north, right near the border. Since you’re the only one with a passport, we’ll have to stay on US-soil, but Hector says he knows just the place for us,” Rayne babbled excitedly and shoved a piece of paper through the gap between the front seats. “Here’s the address for the meet. And now I’m gonna take a nap too.”

*

Another three hours later the car stopped once more. Rayne explained that Hector wanted to meet Jared on his own and without his pack, seeing as how he didn’t have one of his own and wanted to avoid confrontation, so everyone but Jared got to stay in the car.

Walking around after such a long drive was an experience in itself. Jared’s back still hurt, but adding to that his feet had fallen asleep sometime in the night. Now he needed to pay close attention where he went to avoid falling onto his face.

The address they had gotten led to a small bar, or diner, depending of the time of day. It looked derelict and dirty, but it also had this kind of homey vibe to it that you only found in the oldest and most worn-out of places, the ones that kept their customers coming back for years and years and showed it.

Jared would not have chosen a place like that to meet a new Alpha. Too many people, too much noise.

Thankfully the diner was nearly empty when he walked in, only filled with stale cigarette smoke and the distinct smell of spilled beer. Some scents stuck to a surface like glue, and no amount of cleaning could do anything about it. There were only five people inside, and one of them was a grumpy looking bartender with a beer gut. Two men were sitting at the counter and brooding over their glasses, which left Jared with a biker-type guy at one table to the left, and another thin, lithe and kind of geeky looking guy on the other. But which one was Hector?

Only one way to find out.

Jared let go of the control over his powers just a little, just enough to tickle where it met with another werewolf’s powers. At the same time he kept a careful eye on both contestants, waiting for a reaction.

One heart beat later four guys stared at him with open curiosity. It wasn’t friendly interest, more like the way a sated wolf watched a bunny hop by. The single person not looking at him seemed to be the skinny guy, but it still meant he was standing in a room chock-full of werewolves, who now knew what he was. Shit.

Jared swallowed. “Ahm,” he stuttered, “I’m looking for Hector.” Best say something before they decided to treat him like the intruder he was. He carefully turned to the four men, keeping the door and the last man at his back. If they decided to attack, he would be able to flee, or so he hoped.

“You must be Jared,” a nice, firm voice said from behind. It was like magic. The voice spoke, and the next moment all four werewolves lost interest in him, turning back to their drinks and respective tasks.

Jared turned around to face the one man he hadn’t thought about as a real danger, feeling foolish. The slim, lithe diyarbakır escort man at the table waved him over, but Jared had to do a double-take before he believed his eyes. The one Alpha actually in the room with him looked small and harmless, young like a high school graduate, and probably fit beneath Jared’s chin, but the way the others reacted to him indicated power. It was hard to connect the way Hector looked with any kind of influence, but there it was, for everyone to see.

Hector grinned boyishly at the expression on Jared’s face. “Yes, I often get reactions like that,” he mused, and pointed invitingly at the seat across from him. “Please, have a seat. Let us be civilized monsters.”

It took Jared a good few seconds to shake off the astonishment and get moving. He slipped into the seat with careful movements, slower than he would have moved with friends, making every gesture deliberate and easy to follow. Hector observed him intently as he got seated, raising an eyebrow at his behavior.

“You seem to have experience with Alphas,” he finally stated, and gave an approving nod. “That’s a rare feat. Most of us die before we can learn from our mistakes.”

This time Jared had to smile. “I have years of experience with Alphas. There were two in my family,” he explained and leaned back with what he hoped looked like casual amusement. Two Alphas meeting could go bad so easily, it was best to start with the most phlegmatic, good-natured mood possible. It made the way down to violence that much longer.

“There ‘were’?” Hector cocked his head.

“Well, I had to leave my family because of the tension between us, and my father died in a car crash two years ago, but my brother is still alive. I can’t go back. And I don’t have a reason to anymore.”

The bartender arrived with pencil and paper at the ready and grumbled something unintelligible. Jared interpreted it as an invitation to order. “I’d like coffee with milk and one sugar, and baked beans with crispy bacon and scrambled eggs please,” he said, and the burly man shuffled away.

Jared fixed his eyes on Hector’s face, but not on his eyes. “Are those people from your pack?” he asked, sounding curious. They didn’t feel like Alphas, but one could never be sure.

“No. They are from the local pack. Their Alpha stays with us for a few days every month, so he owes me. He’s allowed you to stay as a guest if you agree to come to Crystal Peak every day. And if I agree to you staying here, of course.” Hector smiled at that, and there was something in it, something like humor and spite mixed together. He looked wary, like someone whose optimism had been worn down to sarcasm with a smile.

Jared’s coffee arrived and he took a deep sip, reminded of how tired he was by the flavor. The coffee was heavenly, with real cream and real sugar, something to enjoy instead of gulping it down for the boost.

Hector’s eyes never left his face as he tasted the coffee. He watched like a student learning the secrets of drinking a hot beverage, and he watched like a vulture waiting for the last twitch from a wounded animal. It was a challenge to Jared, and an obvious one at that. Fights had broken out between pack members for less, but Hector surely knew that, or wouldn’t he?

It took nearly a minute before he’d had enough. Then Jared set down the cup with an audible click, returning the stare directly now. “Why are you trying to provoke me?” he asked, still trying to sound reasonable and pleasant. He’d had too much fighting in the last few days to want another conflict, but that didn’t mean he would back down or cower.

Hector held his stare for a few more moments, then he stretched languidly and turned his gaze to the bartender, who was carrying two plates towards them. It looked accidental, but it wasn’t. He also didn’t answer instantly, but waited for the food to arrive and the waiter to go. His plate held French fries drizzled with some kind of blackish-brown sauce. Little crumbles of cheese floated in the liquid and melted over the fries. It looked like a horrible, tragic kitchen accident and smelled like greasy heaven.

Hector started his meal without hesitation, and he seemed to like the dreadful stuff. “I wanted to see how well you control your instincts, and if you know how to act when someone challenges you,” he mumbled around a fork-full of dripping fries. He swallowed and added, “and I wanted to find out if you want to join so bad you would debase yourself to get in.”

Jared frowned, but Hector just grinned and shrugged.

“What would you have done if I had attacked you?” Jared finally grumbled and started to eat himself. The eggs were heavenly, as were the baked beans and the bacon, but the food also made him remember how tired he was again, just like the coffee before.

“I would have hurt you, maybe killed you,” Hector replied calmly. His brown eyes held only warmth, but it was the warmth of a forge, ready to melt and burn if you got too close.

Jared wanted to protest or joke about those ominous words, but sitting there and staring at that geeky face, the brown unkempt hair, the small shoulders and thin arms, he still believed it. The possibility for violence was there, right next to that slow, simmering heat and the calm, confident voice.