Greykin Valley

| 17 | Silver Traps

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Jackson |

Things felt tense right now. There could be wolves watching from the trees, and Lalo's hunting party hadn't come back yet. Jackson didn't feel like something bad happened, and although he'd been told to trust his instincts, a part of him still worried that Lalo and the others were in trouble.

He sighed quietly and glanced across the camp at Damon. The Alpha was talking to his son, who seemed to be recovering quickly. He was relieved by that, of course, but he knew that Damon's sons didn't think highly of him, and once the kid was on his feet, Jackson was sure he was going to get more than dirty looks and snarky comments.

"What's going on around here?" Wilson asked, nudging Jackson's side with his paw.

Jackson turned his head to look at him. "What?"

"Sending wolves into the woods, making Sebastien go looking for those other wolves. I don't know, man. Something's up."

He might as well start from the beginning. "Well, there's this other wolf walker pack out there—"

"My old pack," Julian interjected.

Jackson nodded. "Kane's pack. We were staying in a ruin in their territory—we had no idea. He sent one of his Betas, Ellis, to warn us to give Julian back and leave, but Damon didn't want to hand Julian over since the pack were awful to them and the other Omegas."

"They still follow the old ways," Julian said.

Wilson nodded slowly.

"So, we snuck out using a tunnel under the ruin," Jackson continued. "Kane's wolves followed, though, and we ended up getting into a fight. We...killed them all, and then we got taken by the Venaticus shortly after."

"Wait, I remember now. You were that pack Riker's hunters were trying to capture when the Venaticus showed up and made him point his own gun at his head," Wilson said with a frown. "So, you were there...and I didn't even realize."

Jackson shrugged. "You couldn't have known. You didn't know I was a wolf walker."

"Still, I feel like shit."

"Well, you shouldn't. I don't blame you."

Wilson didn't look convinced. "Yeah," he mumbled. "So, these Kane wolves are still on your trail?"

"They might be," Julian said before Jackson could answer. "Like I told Alpha Damon, I've seen Kane track people for weeks. He's relentless."

"If that's the case, then...why hasn't he just sent a bunch of wolves into the glade to slaughter us?" Wilson asked.

He had a point. "Yeah. Aren't there like...seventy of them?" Jackson asked Julian.

They shook their head. "Even if he had a thousand wolves, Kane's always done things the same way. He takes his time; he watches and works out someone's weaknesses. One time, he sat in the same tree for four days watching another pack. That's four whole days without food or water—four whole days in his wolf form."

Wilson scoffed at them. "You almost sound envious of the guy."

Julian pouted. "I might hate him, but I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't impressed by the shit I saw him do."

"I heard you tell Damon he was strong," Jackson said curiously. "Like...how strong?"

An uncomfortable frown appeared on Julian's face. "He's not like any of us. He...gets in your head and makes you think and do things. He convinced an Omega to fight her own sister to death. He convinced three Etas to walk into a ditch of cadejo and try to lead them out, but...that didn't end well."