Greykin Valley

| 52 | Patrol

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Jackson |

How long had it been since he'd escaped? There was no way for Jackson to tell. He wandered through the dark woods in search of something that looked familiar, but he had no idea where he was.

He tried to focus on his mission, but how could he? He didn't know if anyone was still alive back there. Kane could have killed Damon, Wilson, and the entire pack for helping him escape. The man he loved could be dead...and so could his best friend.

Everything Wilson said to him before he ran started repeating inside his head. He told Jackson that he loved him, and Jackson didn't know how to feel about it. However, it helped him make sense of why Wilson hated Damon so much; if Wilson really did love him, then of course he'd despise the man who had his heart. That was why he had such a short fuse around the Alpha, wasn't it?

Was...that why Wilson had tried convincing him that he might have a demon mate as well as a wolf walker one? Did he think that he was his demon mate? Or was he hoping for it? Jackson wasn't sure, but he was sure that Damon was his demon mate. He had to be. He was the one who Jackson loved, and he didn't have room for anyone else. He didn't want anyone else. Wilson was his best friend—he was like his brother—and that was all it would ever be.

Right?

He scowled as he dragged his shins through the snow. If Wilson was still alive, Jackson worried about their friendship. Now that he knew how Wilson felt, he was concerned that it might ruin their relationship. That was how these things always went, right? Two close friends, one confessed their love, and because the other didn't feel the same, they grew further and further apart until they were strangers. Jackson didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to lose Wilson.

But what if he'd already lost him? What if he'd already lost Damon?

Jackson's scowl thickened as dismay ensnared his aching heart. But he couldn't let it slow him down. He had to keep going. Everyone could still be alive, and they were depending on him. He wasn't going to let them down.

A twig snapped behind him.

As panic shot through his entire body, Jackson darted for cover behind a tree and held his hand over his mouth to silence his breathing.

The snow crunched as it would when someone walked on it, and several quiet whispers came from Jackson's left.

Jackson peered around from behind the tree and set his eyes on a group of four wolves. They were staring down at the snow as they moved closer, their eyes reflecting the moonlight in the darkness, and when Jackson saw his own footprints, dread struck him like a bullet. How could he have been so careless?

He looked around, but there was nowhere for him to run. Wherever he went, he'd leave footprints, and he was no match for four wolves, especially not while he had silver around his neck restricting him from using any ethos.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't get caught; if those wolves found him, it would all be over.

"This way...I think," came a distorted voice.

Jackson frowned strangely.

"There's tracks all over the place, man," came another swirling voice.

He frowned harder. It was like before when he caught pieces of conversation among Kane's wolves; True Speech was letting him hear what those wolves were saying, wasn't it?

"Why are we even out here looking for one stupid Omega?"

"I dunno, man."

"What's an Omega gonna do?" the wolf laughed.