19. Sam
Chapter 19
Sam
S am woke to the sound of snow-packed gravel crunching under tires.
The vehicle came to an abrupt stop, throwing him forward against the seatbelt. His head pounded in protest.
Had he fallen asleep on the way home? Reaching up to cradle the ache in his temple, he turned to ask Silas what’d happened, only to find a considerably smaller person sitting in the driver’s seat instead.
Riley.
Sam was startled, his memories rushing back.
He’d stepped into Riley’s room to ask him a question. His explanation of the wreck had never sat right with Sam, and after his conversation with Jaime, he’d remembered something else that’d bothered him, too.
Riley had been awake, standing next to the window, thrown open in the cold. “What are you doing?” Sam had asked after closing the door behind him. “Aren’t you meant to be resting? Shut the window. Standing in the cold can’t be good for your scratches.”
Riley had turned to regard Sam, before looking down at the wounds on his arms. He’d looked harder than Sam remembered; still small, yes, but not slight and trembling. His eyes were clearer than they’d ever been.
The reserved, doe-eyed man had disappeared; for the first time since Riley had arrived, Sam realized he was looking at a wolf.
“Your brother cares about you very much. He was ready to fight me over nearly killing you at your apartment,” Riley had said.
Sam had stepped back, caught off-guard. “Jaime has always been all-in for the people he loves.” Trying to take control of the conversation, he’d asked, “Who’s ‘us’, Riley? Back at Silas’ house, you said Cain would let ‘us’ go. Who were you talking about?”
Riley’s eyes had sharpened. “The doctor said I’m not healing because of the pain and stress of being separated from my pack—from my family. I think you can relate to that. I think you and your brother would do anything to protect each other.”
Alarm bells had begun to ring in Sam’s mind. His eyebrows had narrowed, confused. “I know you’re not the one who wrecked the car. I know you’re taking the fall for someone. Why?”
The alarm bells rang louder at the apology in Riley’s eyes. “I really am sorry about this,” he’d said.
All Sam remembered after that was a hard thud and pressure in his head.
Then, nothing.
Focusing back on where Riley sat in the unfamiliar vehicle, Sam asked, “What’s happening? Why are you doing this?”
He peered around the dark outside and patted his pockets for his phone, hoping to find an identifiable landmark so he could call Silas.
His pockets were empty, and the sun had already set. There was nothing but dark, snowy taiga all around, wind-blown snow drifts dancing in the headlight beams. The pounding in his head intensified.
Riley turned in the driver’s seat to face him. “Your phone is in the yard, back at the safe house. And please don’t try to run. I don’t want you to be hurt.”
Fuck that.
Sam fumbled with the seatbelt release and threw open the door. He jumped down into the snow, stumbling a few steps while his head spun.
Riley was out and around the vehicle before Sam could take more than a few strides. He caught him by the wrist, pulling him upright so he wouldn’t tip over into the snow. “I said don’t run. We’re in the middle of nowhere. You’d freeze in minutes.”
He draped a heavy coat over the one Sam already had on. It was huge—fitting almost like a poncho, and tailored for a man much bigger than him as it fell nearly to his knees.
Where had Riley found the coat? Whose vehicle was that? Sam accepted it though, automatically slipping his arms in to shield against the bitter wind.
A boost of energy shot through him. Not his own, but borrowed.
The bond.
The message that came with the energy bolstered him even more.
I’m coming.
I’m coming.
“Where are we?” Sam asked aloud, voice cracking in desperation.
If he could figure out where he was, maybe he could communicate his location back to Silas, and then Silas would come, and Sam wouldn’t be lost anymore.
“Don’t you recognize it?” a cold, familiar voice spoke from behind him.
Sam whipped around, cursing as the quick movement throbbed along his temple. The surge of energy he’d felt moments ago drained out of him, replaced by crippling dread.
Cain stood before him, partially shifted, with several others hovering close behind.
Next to him though, was a boy.
He looked like Riley; similarly slight, except he had a shock of bright blonde hair on his head, and he couldn’t have been older than thirteen or fourteen.
A couple of your neighbors saw someone run off into the trees immediately after the wreck. They all described him as a young, thin male. Possibly a teenager, with light blonde hair.
Oh.
“Jack, are you alright?” Riley called out from beside Sam. He sounded exactly the way Sam had moments ago—desperate.
I think you and your brother would do anything to protect each other.
Oh, no.
He didn’t fight Riley’s iron grip on his wrist as he pulled them closer to the group.
“Riley, I’m sorry,” the boy said shakily, stepping forward.
Cain put a hand on his shoulder. “ Wait .”
The grating sound of the alpha command stopped the boy in his tracks, a shudder passing through him, but he spoke over it. “It was an accident, Riley. I was just trying to help, so we could leave, like you said. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I didn’t know you’d get kicked out. I’m sorry,” he finished, voice trembling.
The fear in the boy’s eyes broke Sam’s heart.
“I was right,” Sam said softly, voice filled with sadness. “You weren’t driving the car. He was.”
Sam had wondered why Riley would’ve been so careless as to leave behind a cell phone, and how he’d even managed to wreck in the first place.
But someone as young as Jack?
Sam pictured the boy, scared and indecisive, hovering on Sam’s porch—shuffling around, trying to work up the courage to come inside, or maybe trying to fight Cain’s order and leave, before he returned to his vehicle, only to become overwhelmed and lose control.
Had he also been ordered to kidnap Sam and take him back to Cain? Had that part of Riley’s story been real?
It didn’t matter. In the end, Jack was just another one of Cain’s pawns.
Riley’s gaze was wild, feral. Sam had felt that way once—backed into a corner with no one to lash out at except the one person reaching his hand out to help.
“It’s ok, Jack. It’s alright,” Riley said before he turned to Cain. “It’s done,” he snarled. “I brought you someone who can show you where they live. Our debt is paid. Let us leave.”
Again, Sam was shocked to see another layer of the wolf pulled back. How had they all fallen so easily for the sickly, weak, bland facade?
“It’s not done until I can see the house,” Cain replied coldly.
Realization shuddered through Sam when he finally noticed the storage shed just over Cain’s shoulder—the same one they’d left their vehicles in when they’d snowmobiled to Cal and Meera’s.
“No,” Sam said, shaking his head back and forth, fighting Riley’s grip again. “No, I won’t do it.”
Cain gripped the boy’s shoulder tighter. “Yes, you will. I’m calling in my favor, Sam. Bring me to where they live, and you, Riley, and Jack here can leave unharmed.”
Riley yanked Sam’s wrist so he spun to look at him, much harder and stronger than Sam would have guessed him capable of on looks alone. “Show them,” he snarled.
“But—I have money,” Sam choked out, looking at Cain. “I told you, It’s all yours. Let us leave, and it’s yours.”
“I don’t care about your money. Show me where my brother lives,” Cain growled, enunciating every word.
Sam was frozen.
He couldn’t do it—not this. Not them. Not now that he had everything he’d ever wanted.
Silas.
Jaime.
Finn and Sheppard and peace and joy every time he heard them laugh. It was real—it was his.
Cal’s quiet office flashed through his mind; all those books and photographs and memories. The way Silas’ mom had smiled at him when they’d arrived. Curling up on the sofa with Silas while Jaime and Finn dozed nearby; Cal and Meera puttering around in the kitchen behind them.
It was a home. A family. A pack.
His pack.
He’d never deserved them, but they’d welcomed him anyway. Cal had stopped him from spiraling—from running. He’d shown Sam that choosing Silas meant trusting he’d be chosen in return.
Sam had kissed Silas for the first time in that house. He’d lain with him and dared to dream of a future where they could be together in that house.
If he told Cain where Silas’ parents lived, if he was responsible for ruining the safety and happiness they’d built, he would never forgive himself.
No.
No, I won’t.
Home!
Silas, please hear me, I’m at your parents’ home!
Find me!
Sam flung the thoughts out, hoping Silas would hear and understand. He looked at the boy, and then back at Riley, the pleading fear in his eyes shattering Sam’s heart.
“I can’t… ” he said, his own plea.
Two brothers who would do anything to protect the ones they loved.
Two brothers Cain had manipulated and maneuvered until they were at odds; unwilling antagonists in each other’s lives.
Two brothers at an impasse, neither willing to help the other because the stakes were too high , the cost too steep.
Cain passed the boy behind him to be guarded by one of the other shifters and strode forward, grabbing Sam by his nape. “You will show me where they live,” he growled. “ Walk .”
The command shoved Sam into the trees lining the valley.
“Take me to Cal and Meera’s house.”
Sam’s feet marched forward—completely out of his control—headed directly for the storybook cabin.
He blindly stumbled down the snow-covered terrain, desperately trying to angle his steps away, to turn them so he wouldn’t lead Cain right to their front door, but it was useless.
Sam walked, bringing them closer, and closer, and closer to the house that was hidden unless you knew where to look.
“I can’t see anything,” he said once the light of the moon was completely shadowed by the trees all around. Tripping over a low-lying shrub, he stumbled and caught himself. “I can’t see where I’m going.”
“Fucking useless humans,” Cain growled, tilting his chin at one of the men behind him, who produced a flashlight. Shoving it into Sam’s hand, Cain barked, “Now, take me to Cal and Meera’s.”
Even with the torch, Sam understood why Silas had made him wear a helmet while they’d snowmobiled this path the first time. The foliage and trees studding the plain meant he couldn’t move in a straight line, and the fresh snow covering the ground made it so he couldn’t tell where to step to avoid twisting an ankle on a rock or fallen tree limb.
Home.
I’m at your parents’ home.
Please find me!
Sam screamed the words down the bond, trying and failing to fight the alpha order.
“I—I still don’t know where I’m going,” he said a few minutes later, stopping to catch his breath after trudging up a slight incline. The coats were keeping him plenty warm, but snow caked his boots and his feet had become heavy. “I’m lost. I didn’t pay attention when we came the first time. I won’t be able to find it in the dark.”
That wasn’t true. Sam knew exactly where he should go.
He felt the call of the house just up ahead like it was a part of him. Almost as though he was a lonely, wandering planet that had entered the sun’s orbit, that shimmery ripple of magic drew him in, beckoning him home.
The house wanted to be found.
“Liar,” Cain snarled. “I know we’re close, I can smell the magic.”
He shoved Sam to the ground, his knees cushioned slightly by the snow. Cain’s voice took on the timbre of the alpha again, and kneeling there, Sam wondered how Silas could ever think they were the same.
Silas’ alpha command was a shot of adrenaline up Sam’s spine—lightning bright, it was a call to stand tall together, to show his strength.
Cain’s demand was dominance; it ripped submission from him, a hand on the back of his head forcing him to grovel.
The only person Sam would ever grovel for would die before he asked him to.
“ Tell me where !” Cain ordered.
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Sam thought, trying and failing to fight the words bubbling up his throat, to push down the directions on the tip of his tongue.
He opened his mouth, voice hoarse. “I—won’t?—”
“ Show me!” Cain roared down at him, raising a hand as if to hit him.
“You’re nearly there,” a calm, female voice answered. “It’s just ahead of you, through those trees.”
Shocked, Sam was released from the heavy weight of the order all at once.
Coughing and choking, he looked over his shoulder to see Meera, appearing almost regal as she stepped out of the shadows alongside Cal, both of them partially shifted and poised to fight.
Cain sneered at her in acknowledgment, scanning the forest over Sam’s head, eyes darting back and forth until they settled, focused.
He’d found the house.
“ Do it ,” Cain said over his shoulder.
Two of the shifters standing behind him broke away from the group, headed for the structure just visible through the trees.
Riley had lingered behind everyone else during their trek, following warily, eyes always on Jack. With their bargain complete, he shot forward and grabbed his brother’s hand. “Come on.”
Cain watched with disinterest as they shifted and ran, disappearing together into the night in the opposite direction of the house.
Sam tried to scramble to his feet, but Cain shoved him back down into the snow.
Cal snarled, shaking the ground beneath Sam’s feet. “Let him go,” he commanded.
Cain sneered again. “Hello, Brother.”
“ Let. Him. Go,” he repeated.
A howl cut through the night. Another joined it, and another. Sam whipped his head in the direction of the song. Were there two of them? Three? More?
Even though the howls sounded distant, the remaining two shifters behind Cain began to pace restlessly, peering around.
Silas.
Silas is coming.
Sam would recognize his voice anywhere, in any form.
Cain released Sam, and he scurried backward, tripping as he stood and ran toward Meera. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Are you alright?”
Sam nodded rapidly. “You didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to tell him. I didn’t want to, I tried not to?—”
“Shh,” she said, pulling him close. “You’re more important, Sammy. It’s alright. Everything will be alright.”
Cal stepped forward, blocking them both from Cain. “Why are you here? Why do all of this?”
Cain bared his teeth. “I let you leave. You broke our bargain, sneaked away in the night like a coward, and hid from me for years. And I still let you go. ”
His yellow eyes flashed. “I would have continued to let you all live out your weak, pathetic lives in peace if your alpha son hadn’t stepped out of line. If he hadn’t made his own pack—his own territory. It’s a fucking insult!”
“You’re the coward. No one would follow you if you didn’t force them into it. Do you want to see pathetic? Look in the fucking mirror,” Meera shot back, her arm tightening around Sam. “Leaving was the best choice we could’ve made.”
Cain’s face twisted into a feral snarl. “And you tore apart everything when you did! Do you have any idea of the damage you caused when you ran? The instability you created? Everyone left . The old den is gone. There’s barely anything remaining of Salt Creek, all because you were selfish and put yourself above the pack.”
“Not once in your life have you ever put someone above your own interests,” Cal roared. Again, Sam felt it shake the ground he stood on. “People left because you’re a power-hungry, controlling monster. Giving my family peace and safety was the only decision I could have made and still lived with myself.”
A wild gleam appeared in Cain’s eyes; they looked almost orange, now. He gestured behind the three of them. “I hope it was worth it. I told you, brother. I always collect what’s owed to me.”
They all turned together.
The glow in Cain’s gaze had merely been a reflection—the source lighting up the night around them. It didn’t make sense to Sam at first; he blinked, not understanding what could be so bright all the way out here. When the smell of smoke hit his nose, he realized what he was seeing.
Meera let out a broken sob.
“No!” Sam cried, stumbling toward the house. “No!”
But it was too late.
Cal and Meera’s house, Silas’ childhood home where Sam had spent a handful of his happiest days, was a blazing inferno.