Chapter 22 - Renz
The next day was utter chaos. We were woken up at the crack of dawn by panicked voices outside, only to learn that Jace’s fall to the darkness had somehow managed to spread all through town.
Owen and I spent the whole day trying to calm people.
We had a pack gathering at the temporary shrine, but even with the priestess’s support, we didn’t get very far in calming things down.
From there, Owen and I handled everything outside of the office, with Jasmine having to pick up the slack from behind the scenes. The priestess and the nuns were continuing their research. Half of our seconds were already in prison, and with half of the alphas there now, too, things looked grim.
A week passed. I came back to the office after a long day of trying to resolve conflicts. Tempers were flaring, and I’d had to step in to stop several attacks on omegas.
Owen had had to go to other territories to pick up pack members who’d attempted to flee. The original plan was to let them go to the city under observation, but two of them were taken by the darkness, and so all of them were brought back.
The pack was under quarantine, and our neighbors were going to enforce it.
“You look exhausted,” I told Jasmine. She was at the computer, but she was hunched over and held her head on the desk.
She looked up, the dark circles seeming deeper beneath her eyes. “I spent the day at the infirmary. A bunch of the medics are sick, too, so I was helping with administering medications and all that.”
Anxiety slithered into my stomach hearing that. “I thought we agreed you were going to stay away from public places when you were alone.”
“I had to do something. I can’t concentrate on anything written or on screens.
My eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of my head.
” She leaned back and covered said lovely eyes with her fingertips.
“They all kept looking at me as though they thought I was the only one who could fix this, but they know I can’t. ”
“We will fix it,” I said automatically.
Jasmine lowered her hands again. “I mean, they don’t have any faith in me.”
Renz stepped into the room, shaking his head. He had a fresh bruise on his jaw, and Jasmine shoved back from the deck and rushed to him.
“It’s nothing,” he assured her. He kissed her lightly. “Are you ready to go to the prison?”
Jasmine nodded. We went to the prison every day to talk to Killian and Jace. They were always agitated and tried to attack Jasmine through the bars, but if she talked long enough, they calmed down again. We hoped it meant that they were still aware and able to fight the dark energy.
Today was especially bad. Despite being bound and restrained, both Killian and Jace tried to shift, and they kept making terrible howling noises. It took hours for them to calm down again. By the time Jasmine finally admitted she needed to go home, she was too tired to walk.
We took her home, carried her upstairs, and showered together. The hot water released some of the tension in my muscles, but did nothing to stop the tight feeling in my chest. We needed to get up early again tomorrow.
When we all dried off and dressed in our pajamas, we curled up together in Jasmine’s bed. The three of us fit better than when there were five, but there was an emptiness in the room. Killian and Jace’s absences were stark, making it feel hollow and incomplete.
Jasmine pressed herself tightly between Owen and me. Her skin was cool despite the hot shower.
“We forgot to turn off the light,” Owen said, hiding his face in Jasmine’s hair. “We’re not going to get much sleep unless you turn it off, Renz.”
“Me?”
“You’re closer.”
I grunted. If tonight was anything like every night from the past week, we weren’t going to sleep much, anyway, just lie here in silence, thinking about everything that we didn’t understand.
I couldn’t stand that. “Did you know that I wasn’t born in this territory?”
Jasmine opened her eyes. “You weren’t?”
“My parents were both from here, but they were living in the city before they got together. From what I understand, it was rather tumultuous. We lived in the city for a couple of years after I was born before they returned. I think they were trying to get a new start.” I stroked down Jasmine’s back absently. “They didn’t like each other.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “In fact, sometimes I thought they hated each other. I know they resented me for binding them. That’s not to say they hated me. I know they both loved me. But I knew both of them longed for the life they could have had if I hadn’t been born.”
Jasmine kissed me lightly. “I’m so sorry that you were made to feel that.”
“It wasn’t so bad. Not like Owen’s home life,” I muttered. Even though I had resentments of my own, it felt like a betrayal of the awful stuff he’d gone through to complain.
Owen lifted himself up slightly. “Just because my father was overtly abusive doesn’t mean you can’t talk about your family. I don’t want you to feel like you don’t belong, and not being able to talk about your experiences…I know I have a way of overshadowing people.”
“A meth-addict father will do that.” I let out a soft breath. “Right. Well, I suppose there’s not much to tell. They never had any drag-out fights, but small, constant arguments. Bickering over stupid things. And always so many rules.”
“Rules? I bet that was difficult,” Jasmine teased.
I chuckled, but there was no humor in it. That could very well be why I was so rebellious. “As a small child, I didn’t feel like I had a choice in anything. And I was obedient, at least as much as kids can be. Everyone talked about how well-behaved I was.”
“You?” Jasmine asked doubtfully.
“Me. But my parents always wanted something more. I wasn’t performing quite right.
It wasn’t enough that I ate my broccoli; I had to cut it into smaller pieces.
It wasn’t enough to cut it into smaller pieces; I needed to eat it before my potatoes.
Not only did I need to eat it before my potatoes, I shouldn’t put salt or pepper on it.
I should smile more when I thanked them for it.
I realized that the goalposts were always changing, so I stopped trying to be a good kid and just did what I wanted. ”
Jasmine’s arms wrapped around me. “You deserved better than that.”
This time, I smiled. “I do have better, now. I have you.”
***
An alarm jerked me awake. I twisted in the blankets, trying to detangle myself from Jasmine. Beyond the window, the world was still dark, but that alarm kept ringing. I stumbled out of bed, my mind working to interpret the alarms. That wasn’t an invasion siren.
Fire alarms.
“Fuck,” I breathed as I scrambled for my clothing. My boxers bunched up when I yanked on my jeans. Owen scrambled to change from his pajamas, and Jasmine pulled her nightgown off as she made her way to her dresser.
My phone started to ring, and I grabbed it, answering. My second was on the other end.
“We need you and Alpha Owen right away,” he growled, sounding stressed. “The grasslands are on fire.”
***
The smell of smoke lingered in the air, even though the last flames had been smothered hours ago.
It had taken us a whole day of constant work to put out the fires.
The grassfire had spread to the forest, and it had quickly become a danger not only to our territory, but also to our neighbors as well.
Now, we still had a handful of people at the site, making sure that everything stayed put. Fires were tricky that way. The rest of the pack was gathered at the old college, nervous and waiting for us to reassure them.
Several of the warriors were starting to blame other packs and wanted to take revenge on them without any proof of who they were.
“We have to tell them something to stop this,” Owen said.
Jasmine, the priestess, Owen and I all stood just inside the college. I couldn’t help but feel like we’d have better luck with all of this if we had the shrine back in proper condition.
“Tell them what? About what the omegas did?” Jasmine asked.
“The truth of everything we haven’t told them yet. About the warning system. About the darkness and everything we’ve tried. It’s time we open up and try to get some additional insights. Maybe other omegas in the pack will have ideas,” Owen said.
I drew my hands through my hair. “I don’t like it, but I don’t see any other choice, either.”
The crowd outside was getting restless, with a few of the warriors starting to jostle each other. We didn’t have time to stand and debate, so I nodded at Owen. He took a deep breath and stepped outside. Jasmine and I started to follow, but the priestess held us back.
“I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I found a new tome in our archives. It seems to have something to do with omegas, and it might be useful.”
“After this meeting is done, maybe we can copy a few pages for me to take home and study tonight,” Jasmine said.
The priestess gave her a tight-lipped smile. “I have my nuns photocopying it as we speak.”
The door opened. Owen gestured for us to join him, his face grim. “They say they have questions for Jasmine.”
My wolf growled in my chest when I saw the looks on the warriors’ faces. I wrapped one arm around Jasmine as we went out together.
“What did you do to us?” one of the warriors shouted, instantly destroying any hope we had of this being a calm discussion.
I drew Jasmine back.
“The fucking omegas did this,” another of the warriors said, pointing at Jasmine. “And she’s their leader. She’s their queen!”
“That is not—” Owen started.
Four warriors shifted to wolf form and dashed at us, eyes turning black as they locked on Jasmine.
I quickly moved to defend her, shifting to my wolf form.
We clashed, fur flying as I tore into the attackers.
Owen joined me. One of the warriors snapped his jaws around my face, and I shoved him off, then grabbed hold of his shoulder.
My teeth tore through, and blood filled my mouth.
Other warriors in the pack rushed forward to help us. The fight was over quickly, and I shifted back to human form, glancing over the scene. Most of the omegas had run away. Jasmine had gone back into the college, standing with the priestess as she stared, wide-eyed.
As I gazed at her, I couldn’t help but feel betrayed. She’d run back to safety rather than helping us.
“Renz?”
A hand dropped onto my shoulder. I whirled, my fist slamming into Owen’s face. Beyond him, Jasmine pressed both hands to her mouth, eyes wide. The need to protect her still thrummed in my veins, but I felt something else, something darker. The desire for bloodshed. It was going to take me.
I ripped off my belt, looped it around my body, and shoved my arms beneath the band. “Tighten it,” I ordered.
Owen didn’t hesitate. He tightened and buckled the belt, then took off his own to add it. Red washed over my vision, and I snarled, my teeth lengthening into fangs.
My gaze snapped to Jasmine. “I love you,” I blurted, holding on to that love as everything rapidly dissolved inside of me. “You keep fighting this. You can save us, Jasmine. It’s not over yet.”