Silver Claws

26. Leave no trace

"No."

Of course. Could I really expect so much honesty at once? Not from Akela. My teeth grind together as I pull away, she was warm enough by now surely.

I don't care, I don't care.

Images ran too fast across her thoughts to make a coherent memory: blood stains on white billowing cloth, a face with no eyes locked in a scream, something long and black sliding across a rocky ground...

"I'm going to check on Reed." She didn't even ask about him. She probably didn't care, as long as the hierarchy was the same. She thought in such primal terms that it was impossible to deal with.

I stood and walked away, hearing something that sounded like goodnight, but it must have been the wind. I needed to stop giving in to the bond, everytime I pulled her close it was nothing but false hope and guilt.

I had an idea of where he was, he was in the fang cabin. It made him feel valued, seeing his string of teeth---proof of his ability to be a defender.

When I got to the cabin, I sighed just before opening the door. There was no break from the rain, I was glad I hadn't bothered to shower. The smoke was so strong it felt like I was knocked backwards when the hinge swung open.

He was sitting in the middle of the floor, taking a long drag from a shortened cigarette.

"I thought you quit."

He blows the air out, filling the air further with the fumes. He must have been through a pack already. "We all have our vices. Don't act like you haven't been hitting the bottle, we can all smell it on you."

"I didn't come here to argue."

"Then don't." He takes another long drag. "Its not like it does any damage. Instant healing and all."

I take a seat next to him on the floor, trying not to gag. It made me uneasy that Akela didn't seem to have that gift, one wrong slip in a fight could kill her. Or cancer... could she get normal illnesses? "It's still a bad habit."

He laughs. "Who gives a shit? Not Cara, not Trevor, not you. Everyone has their own problems."

I don't want to talk about more feelings, there's no way I can handle that. I know he's hurting, angry. "...Are you drunk?"

A half empty bottle is flung into my lap, the sides sloshing with dark liquid.

"No wonder you're going to be Alpha. You're a real super genius."

I growl, "Dick." I open the bottle and take a swig, dark whiskey coating my mouth with burning heat.

"Trust me, I know. But you are too."

"How am I a dick?"

"You have a mate. I'm alone. Automatic dick status. Dick."

"Since when do you care about being alone?" I frown in the dark. He's never been so whiney, he normally doesn't care.

"Akela actually. You were the second one to find your mate, making me the last. Last at everything." He lights another cigarette, the flicker of his lighter revealing a broken expression for just a second before disappearing in the dark.

"Second?"

He makes a puffing sound. "He's been to every pack since he was old enough to take his place. Do you really think he didn't know?"

My hands feel numb, his words like a weighted vest over my body. "He... couldn't have... he would have told us."

"Would he?" Another drag released, not aimed at me this time. "If it meant keeping up relations, would he have ever said anything? Why do you think he never talked about it? How did Waldeck know which Beta you meant?"