The Horseman's Betrayal part 4 of the horseman verse
Fic title: The Horseman's Betrayal
Author name:cillab42
Genre: J2
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
Word count: 4754
Disclaimer: As far as I know this didn't happen, it's pure fiction.
Warnings: m/m, violence, mpreg
beta: masja_17
Summary: After a spell has been cast on his mate, Jared has to fight Jensen in order to breed him.
A/N: This was originally an entry for smpc, and intended to be a one shot, but with the encouragement from readers I wrote a second part, but I was not sure where I wanted to go with the story. Then one night the rest came to me and I have finished this in five parts. I hope that there is someone still waning to read.
previous
Jensen watched as Amell’s body was removed from the pack gathering ground. Everything of importance for them took place here. He guessed that it made sense that Jared defended his leadership here. This was the first death in the five solstices since they found this place, or rather Jared earned these lands.
While they had never been particularly close, Jensen couldn’t believe that the man had hated him enough to want him dead.
Jensen had been in Stephen’s den, looked after his pups and helped nurse his mate, Danneel back to health after she had somehow managed to accidentally ingest belladonna. It wasn’t enough to kill her, but it had been enough to make her wish that she was dead. Had she been human, she probably would have been.
In the end, it did kill her ability to bear life, and they had bonded over that. Perhaps that was why Amell did not like him because Jensen reminded his mate that she was barren.
She did not need Jensen for that. Danneel was an Omega, unlike betas they were born to nurture and give life, and if that ability was taken away, it was like a little death each day. No, she was aware of her infertility with every breath she took.
Jensen wanted to go the pyre with her as she burned her mate’s body. It was part of his duty as pack Omega, but Amell had challenged Jared and had been very publicly killed, so even if Jared had okayed Chad to escort him to the releasing of Amell’s soul back to Luna, it would have been an awkward situation.
Not only would the situation be awkward, but the pyre oft brought back bad memories.
His father. His brother.
Both souls had been cleansed through the funeral pyre and returned to Luna, but well before their time. Each time he viewed a shrouded body and smelled the acrid burning flesh, he thought of them and hoped that they didn’t blame him for their deaths.
There was nothing special about him, so Jensen’s not sure why Jeff singled him out, but he did. Had he known all of the hurt that would be caused for not wanting to mate with the older man, it would have been painful, but would he have turned Jared away?
He had resigned himself to his fate, but Jared challenged Jeff and even if Jensen had spurned Jared, the fight would have taken place. Jeff had to take on all challengers or he would have been seen as weak and that was not a trusted trait for a pack leader.
Jared emerged as the victor and he won both Jensen and the pack but he refused to kill the former pack leader, instead he chose to let him go.
Looking at the smoke rising from Amell’s body, that was a poor decision on Jared’s part.
Jensen never understood the reason for letting the Alpha go, but then he had never understood the reasoning for the death of his parent and sibling. He had always believed that had his little sister Mackenzie had been an Alpha, he would have killed her too.
Everyone assured him that this was the way of the Alpha, but how could he be expected to lay with the man who had destroyed his family and had expressed this to Jared.
Had that been what spurred Jared, a green young Alpha, to challenge such an experienced one?
Whatever his reasoning, it had been a thing of beauty to watch as Jared defeated Jeff. No one, including Jensen, had expected Jared to win, but he did.
He won all of the ones after as well.
For the first six months during his reign as pack Alpha, he was challenged for that right. He became an even better fighter and a more ruthless one, because Jeff was the only one he let go free. The rest were offered to Luna.
It took the defeat of a vicious neighboring pack for the challenges to end. With only a small group of friends fighting alongside him, Jared earned his right as Alpha, when he defeated the pack now harboring Jeff. It didn’t hurt that one of the spoils of war was the pack lands they now called home.
Jared and Jensen quickly assembled a council they trusted and included some of the defeated pack’s members. Those that were loyal to the dead Alpha, left and the rest assimilated with the Padalecki Pack.
It’s funny how that this pyre was the one to bring all of those bad memories back.
Jensen had almost convinced himself that it was just hormones, until he heard Chris’ howl.
When the howl turned from a call for help to one of pain before he went silent, Jensen knew that his world was about to be turned upside down once again.
Chris was his Chad, his second, his friend and he wanted to get to his friend, but the stance of the huge Alpha at the entrance of their den told him that was not going to happen.
“You are not leaving here Jensen,” Jared advised from the door of the den.
Jensen kept his back to Jared; his thoughts still centered on the fact that he needed to go, to do something instead of being held stagnant inside their den. It had only been a day and he was already going stir crazy.
Perhaps he didn’t need to go if he allowed a man as big as Jared to sneak up on him. He hadn’t even heard so much as a whisper. How did a man so big walk so quietly?
“Is that my Alpha or the pack Alpha’s orders?” Jensen asked sarcastically.
“Whose ever orders will keep you safe,” Jared responded matter of factly.
As much as he wanted to Jensen could not fight those words because he knew that no argument he put forth would change Jared’s mind, but he at least had to put up a fight.
“It’s Chris, Jared,” he pleaded. “The man would walk over hot coals or me and this pack; he should know that we would do the same for him.”
“If you were not with child, it would never cross my mind to stop you. Hell, you would have shifted and been on your way before his warning turned into a call for help. You are pregnant, Jensen and your subconscious knows it as well, that you need to keep our pup safe, otherwise you would not make me the bad guy for wanting to protect you and our future.”
“Jared…” Jensen started. His words failed him, as he didn’t know what he wanted to say or plead for. He wanted his friend back safe, so his frustrations were voiced when he said his Alphas’ name.
“You must realize that you are not the only one concerned for his safety. Our trusted allies and more importantly, his mate are on their way to find him; you have to learn to be patient.”
There was something in Jared’s voice and a feeling over their bond that told him that there was something amiss. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, so Jensen turned around and faced his mate.
“What are you not telling me Alpha?” he cocked his head and asked.
“Idris… Idris and A.J. did not return from patrol this morning and I do not know what fate has befallen them. Nor am I sure that Chris has not met the same fate.”
The wait for the return of the others was interminable, but the relief of seeing them come over the horizon was short lived when he saw the bodies.
Aldis, Megalyn, and Chad had taken the horses, while Steve, Chris’ mate and Tom and Mike had shifted and raced ahead.
There was a body on the back of a riderless horse and another person sharing a horse with Aldis. The problem was that Jensen could not identify who was dead and who was hurt.
As they approached the den, it was easy to tell that the body was that of A.J. and he gave thanks to Luna that it was not Chris’ body on the lone horse and immediately felt guilty.
How could he be happy that one friend’s life had been spared at the cost of another?
“Oh, god, Jared, Travis. Do you think he knows?” Jensen worried.
The words had had barely been uttered when a mournful howl could be heard.
“Yeah, Jensen I think he knows.”
Another day another offering to Luna, as Jensen stood with the rest of the pack as Travis lit the pyre; all he could think was what the hell was going on? Yesterday they could have celebrated his announcement and today the arrival of new pups to the pack. However, as the sun rose the next day it was greeted with sadness.
As he stood mesmerized by the fire that Jared had lit this time because Travis was too shaken to do so, he wondered how he factored in all of this. He touched his stomach in a protective gesture and felt that his pup was the key to all of this madness. But how, he wasn’t sure.
Everything was a mess. In addition, Amell both dead and Chris damned near. He had been shot with a silver bullet that had penetrated his arm and missed anything vital. Jensen gave thanks to Luna, as well as Zeus and Hera that the bullet did not hit an artery and entered his blood stream resulting in silver sepsis, for which there was no cure.
Even though he was suffering right now, he still was faring better than their fallen friend, who had been shot through the heart with a silver bullet, giving him no chance of survival.
Jensen glanced over at Sam, and wondered if she was really helping them, or just pretending to help knowing that Chris would die.
It had taken her over an hour to arrive at the den once Chris had been brought in. Her excuse was that she was with Travis delivering the new pups. Jensen didn’t buy that excuse because there were more than enough capable midwives to help him.
“You couldn’t save my daughter but you expect me to come running to save your friend,” she spat at Jensen once Jared was out of her sight.
“Your daughter wanted me dead, Sam, so you’ll forgive me if I have no sympathy for her plight,” Jensen reminded her, and besides she didn’t die, she was just banished.”
“She might as well be, Jensen she’s alone out in the elements while you’re here safely ensconced on your throne,”
“So I’m supposed to proceed as though she didn’t want me dead while she took my mate? If you are so angry and don’t want to help this pack, why did you stay? “
“Jared needs me,” she simply stated.
“I am a part of Jared and this baby even more so. If you can’t deal with that, then perhaps you need to leave and give your apprentice a chance to practice what he’s learned from you.”
“I have every right to be angry,” She said.
“That you do,” Jensen agreed, “but it’s misplaced. You should be angry with Sandy for placing you in this position of having to choose, and angry with yourself. You are supposed to be this powerful shaman, yet you did not see this coming and put a stop to it. You claim to love Jared, and had you cared as much as you say that you do, and then you should have warned him.”
“Where is Jared’s friend?” she asked placing an emphasis on Jared’s name and ignoring Jensen’s question.
Jensen, Steve and Megalyn all stood guard as Sam treated Chris. Jensen was not so sure if he or Steve would have known if she was helping or in fact hurting him, but the way Megalyn took note of everything she used and visibly relaxed as the were mixed and measured, he felt that one of them had some idea.
During the lighting of the pyre, Jensen watched Sam for a hint of a clue that she knew what was going on but she gave him nothing.
He did not mingle with the pack, or eulogize A.J., but in all fairness, she did stay close to Travis. Normally he wouldn’t have left his den until the pups were six weeks old, but he needed to say goodbye to his mate.
When the first pack member left the gathering, Samantha convinced Travis to do the same, citing exhaustion and the need to get back to his pups.
“How could he have just disappeared?” Jensen heard Jared ask, the frustration making him growl and place the others even further on edge.
As Jared’s Omega, Jensen should have been included in any pack meetings, but since the end of his heat, Jared has been treating him like glass. He understood the reasoning behind the treatment, but not to the point where he was being excluded from council meetings.
“Perhaps he’s still in his den somewhere,” Aldis suggested. “I mean we’ve hardly ever been inside how do we know that we aren’t missing a door or an entrance, something. There’s no way he just vanished.”
“Something weird is going on and that’s for sure,” Tom suggested. “There were no prints paw, or foot around his den and that included both Chris and A.J. Theirs should have least been there.”
“What about scents?” Jensen asked from where he stood in the entrance of the room used to hold the meeting. “There had to be scents.”
“No,” Chad shook his head. The only thing we smelled was blood and silver.”
After Chris had been brought back to the den, the council members went back to Idris’ place, did a thorough search, and found nothing. There were no track, no scents, and no Idris.
For the past week, it seemed as though they had been chasing their tails and coming up with naught. Their working theory was that whoever killed A.J. and hurt Chris had kidnapped Idris to gain what knowledge of their pack.
“What if...” Megalyn started. “What if he wasn’t taken, but went of his own accord?”
“What are you suggesting,” Jared roared at her.
Jensen could tell that Jared was angry with her for questioning his friend’s loyalty, but he was not so ready to dismiss the idea.
Megalyn was younger that everyone in the room and was Sandy’s littermate. Even though they knew her, the bond was not the same.
Over the years, what Jensen had noticed was the fact that she seemed to have a sixth sense about things and the majority of the time she was accurate. The only person more accurate was Sam.
There had been times in the past that he thought that she should be apprenticing with the older woman, but she seemed to be happier guarding the back instead of healing it.
She had been orphaned as a child and placed on Aldis’ parent’s doorstep, so there was the possibility she could possess the magic that would make her a great shaman.
Before she could explain, the others in the room began berating her for questioning one of their own.
“Why would you think that?” Their newest member, Ty Olsson asked.
“We thought that Misha was loyal, and where is he now? Let her speak, if there’s no validity to what she is saying then we find another course of action,” Jensen interjected and nodded for her to continue.
The brown-skinned girl took a deep breath and spoke, “Look, we all know that while A.J. was not as capable as either Chris or Idris, he would have been able to take care of himself. And then there’s Chris.”
“What about Chris?” Steve asked from behind Jensen.
“There is no way that Chris is going to let someone sneak up on him, he’s just too good for that. Chad you may be Jared’s second, but Chris is a better warrior, he’s not going to leave himself open like that.”
When no one else spoke she continued, “What are the chances that some unknown wolf is going to have the ability to sneak up on two of our elite council and take them both out?”
Jensen glanced over at Jared and he could see that his mate was deep in thought. He might not like it, but he hoped that Jared did not dismiss the idea.
“She has a point,” Steve broke the silence that had fallen over the normally boisterous group. “I didn’t see A.J.’s wound, but Chris was shot up close and there is no way a stranger could get that close to him.”
“What if she’s wrong?” Mike asked, “I mean we have to consider that possibility as well.”
Jared rubbed his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of one of his large hands and grunted. Jensen knew that meant that the Alpha was waging an internal war to come up with a solution, and the Omega hoped that it was one the big man could live with.
“It is possible that both of you could be right, but right now we just don’t know,” Jared sighed. “Steve how is Chris? Does Sam have any idea when he will wake up?”
Jensen is sure that he’s not the only one who heard the unspoken question of will he wake up.
Ty Olsson had filled in before whenever they needed an extra man that they could trust, and Chris had done the same. Now that A.J. was gone Ty would permanently take his place, but as much as Jensen liked Ty, he didn’t want him to take his Chris’ place.
“If I am forced to make a decision right here, right now, then I have to err on the side of loyalty. Idris has given me no reason to question his loyalty to me or to the pack. Until I’m given proof or have reason to doubt it, I will continue to believe that he is held somewhere against his will.”
Jensen stared at Jared. In his heart, the Omega knew that this had not been an easy decision for Jared to make, but Jensen believed that Megalyn was right. He believed that just as he believed that Idris was one of his attackers last week.
As time passed, bits and pieces of that night continued to haunt his dreams and Idris was one of those pieces. Some of the occurrences Jared had been able to fill in for him, but with Idris gone under questionable circumstances, Jensen needed answers and he was not going to find them in his den.
“Jared,” Jensen spoke, “as the pack Omega, your pack’s co-leader, I understand that you trust our friend, but what happens while you’re operating under the supposition that Idris is still pack, and you find out that he’s not? What if that knowledge comes too late?”
“Are you suggesting that the Alpha is wrong?” Chad demanded, his stance showing that he was ready to defend his Alpha even against the pack Omega.
Jensen knew that everyone here trusted him as well as Jared, but it was moments like this that told him that their allegiance was to Jared.
“Steve, Megalyn and I see things a little different,” Jensen explained. “I’m not suggesting that we convict Idris in his absence, what I am suggesting is to do a two part hunt. We, the three of us will look for evidence proving him innocent, while the rest of you do the opposite.”
“Have you forgotten your condition Jensen, you’ll be limited as to how much you can participate either way,” Jared reminded him.
As if Jensen could forget.
“No, Jared I have not; even in the event that I had, I have you there to remind me.” He stopped and looked around the room before asking, “Is there anyone here that I can convince to help us?”
“I have faith in my sister’s intuition,“ Aldis said as he walked over and gave Megalyn a hug.
“We are all agreed then?” Jared asked the group.
The murmurs of yeas and the nodding of heads gave him his answer.
“Jensen, I have to tell you, I hope that you are wrong.”
“I hope so too Jared, I hope so too,” but Jensen felt in his bones that he wasn’t.
The following week bought no answers for either side, it was as though the earth opened and swallowed Idris. There was no trace of him anywhere. Both groups were relying on Chris regaining consciousness, but so far, he hadn’t.
Sam has created an herbal potion to keep him sedated until the silver worked its way out of his system. According to her, once the silver was gone, Chris would wake up on his own accord.
Jensen was growing more and more frustrated by because there was no evidence supporting either theory, and to make matters worse, he had to spend half of his day in wolf form because his human body was experiencing nausea until midday.
This morning Jensen had wanted to get an early start, but before he could shift back into his wolf form to ward it off, the nausea hit him as soon as he opened his eyes. He had tried many times to falling asleep in his wolf’s body, but he always woke up as the little spoon to Jared’s big one.
Once the worse of it was over, Jensen made his way from their sleeping quarters to the main room of the den. He still felt queasy, but regardless, he had to help find the underlying cause of the problem about Idris.
Megalyn, Aldis and Steve were waiting for him and Ty was waiting for Jared. Of course, by the way Ty was staring at Megalyn, Jensen was sure that the older wolf would happily stay to help them with their cause.
He noticed that Steve was looking towards the room that Chris was recuperating in, and that told him that Sam was with the sick man. Perhaps today was the day that the blonde-haired man woke, but from the look on the Alpha’s face, Jensen didn’t think so.
“Omega,” Megalyn greeted as soon as she saw Jensen. She stepped forward, extending her hands to offer a gourd filled with an amber colored liquid. “The Alpha mentioned that you were having trouble with pup sickness, so I brought you something to help ease it.”
Jensen smiled as he watched Megalyn bow her head shyly as he took the gourd from her. He realized that she thought that he was going to reject her offer.
Not wanting to offend her, Jensen took the gourd and brought it to his nose to take a sniff before drinking it. Jensen was used to Sam’s potions and elixirs smelling like the business end of a horse and tasting just as foul, but not this. The smell was spicy and enticing and had a sweet taste that had Jensen quickly drinking it down.
After drinking this, the Omega now wondered if Sam’s offerings tasted and smelled foul intentionally, especially now that he knew that she didn’t like him.
Once he had downed the drink, the results were almost instantaneous. After a week of revisiting his meals each morning, Jensen couldn’t believe that a novice had prepared something this effective.
Sam chose that moment to exit Chris’ room and Jensen looked at her differently. What was she doing? And more importantly, was she really helping his friend heal or slowly and painfully drawing out his death.
In the past, Jensen had watched her heal people who were in far worse shape than Chris was in less time. It has been weeks and Chris is still comatose.
Jensen didn’t want to discourage his friend, so he kept his suppositions to himself.
He needed to share his beliefs with someone, but Jared was still reeling from the fact that Jensen questioned Idris’ loyalty. If he suddenly questioned Sam’s as well, the Alpha might agree with Amell’s remaining allies and break his mating bond himself.
Jensen let the others talk amongst themselves and presumed that they were giving their Omega time to get over the pup sickness that he’d been experiencing as he thought about the best way to approach his growing distrust of Sam.
As the Shaman approached Steve, Jensen took that time to visit his friend alone before they went about their business of finding the truth.
“We’ll get revenge for this,” he promised his friend before joining the others.
Once he left the room, Megalyn broke away from the others and met him.
“I-I think that I might be able to come up with something to help him,” she softly offered.
A few weeks ago, Jensen would have taken her up on her offer with no questions asked, but now he had to be careful. He had taken the drink from her because he did not think that she would be brave enough to poison him in front of others but now things were different.
“How do you know suddenly know so much about herbs ad healing, Megalyn?” Jensen asked.
She shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Sandy and I were friends as long as I can remember, I was always at her den or she was at mine. We even presented at the same time. During those visits I picked up things from Sam.”
“You picked up how to heal Chris from silver sickness from watching Sam?”
“Some of what I know comes from watching her, it seems as though I had a natural ability, but lately, since the night of your attack, it seems as though everything is just…there. I don’t know how I know it but I do know it. I promise as an oath to Luna, that I am not trying to hurt him, I just want to help.”
“Why didn’t you come forward sooner?”
“It just felt wrong that I could do this,” she whispered. “I know that all gifts are from Luna, but why did she wait so late to reveal this to me? Also, I didn’t want Sam to think that I was trying to take over her position. She is after all the Alphas’ mother and if what I’m doing is misconstrued, that it will end badly for me.”
”If you hurt my friend intentionally, I’d kill you myself,” Jensen confirmed her fears. He then cocked his head and said. “You don’t think she’s helping him do you?”
“No, but she’s not hurting him either. I came to you because I can’t get what he needs without suspicion from her. No one will dare question the Alpha’s Omega.”
She was right. Even if Sam somehow knew what he was getting the herbs for, as much as she seemed to dislike him, she wouldn’t dare speak out against him because of his position in the pack.
“I’ll get you what you need.”
Megalyn had been correct; it had been tricky getting the herbs that she needed. Even though he wasn’t afraid of Sam, he was clandestine in getting the aromatic plants. It took him 4 days, but he finally had all of the ingredients that she had requested.
As she mixed her potion, Jensen stood guard at the far end of their den. He and Jared rarely used this section, so they were hidden from anyone who happened to enter the den. The den went further back and had another exit that only he, Jared, Chad and Chris knew about.
He watched her as she concocted the potion but noticed her nervousness. Nerves were good, that meant she was scared. Jensen was scared as well, because he was taking a chance with his friend’s life without letting his mate weigh in.
Once the concoction was ready, Jensen administered it to Chris. At first, it ran from the unconscious man’s mouth. Soon he was swallowing small amounts until half of the small bowl was gone.
Once he swallowed the last drop, Steve entered the room. Jensen was not sure if it was the potion or his mate’s closeness, but once Steve entered, Chris opened his eyes.
“Chris!’ Steve exclaimed.
“Let’s give them a moment,” Megalyn suggested to the Omega only to be stopped by Chris’ weak and rusty voice.
“Jensen, tell the Alpha Idris…Idris and Jeff did this,” he confirmed before he fell unconscious again.
next
Author name:cillab42
Genre: J2
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
Word count: 4754
Disclaimer: As far as I know this didn't happen, it's pure fiction.
Warnings: m/m, violence, mpreg
beta: masja_17
Summary: After a spell has been cast on his mate, Jared has to fight Jensen in order to breed him.
A/N: This was originally an entry for smpc, and intended to be a one shot, but with the encouragement from readers I wrote a second part, but I was not sure where I wanted to go with the story. Then one night the rest came to me and I have finished this in five parts. I hope that there is someone still waning to read.
previous
Jensen watched as Amell’s body was removed from the pack gathering ground. Everything of importance for them took place here. He guessed that it made sense that Jared defended his leadership here. This was the first death in the five solstices since they found this place, or rather Jared earned these lands.
While they had never been particularly close, Jensen couldn’t believe that the man had hated him enough to want him dead.
Jensen had been in Stephen’s den, looked after his pups and helped nurse his mate, Danneel back to health after she had somehow managed to accidentally ingest belladonna. It wasn’t enough to kill her, but it had been enough to make her wish that she was dead. Had she been human, she probably would have been.
In the end, it did kill her ability to bear life, and they had bonded over that. Perhaps that was why Amell did not like him because Jensen reminded his mate that she was barren.
She did not need Jensen for that. Danneel was an Omega, unlike betas they were born to nurture and give life, and if that ability was taken away, it was like a little death each day. No, she was aware of her infertility with every breath she took.
Jensen wanted to go the pyre with her as she burned her mate’s body. It was part of his duty as pack Omega, but Amell had challenged Jared and had been very publicly killed, so even if Jared had okayed Chad to escort him to the releasing of Amell’s soul back to Luna, it would have been an awkward situation.
Not only would the situation be awkward, but the pyre oft brought back bad memories.
His father. His brother.
Both souls had been cleansed through the funeral pyre and returned to Luna, but well before their time. Each time he viewed a shrouded body and smelled the acrid burning flesh, he thought of them and hoped that they didn’t blame him for their deaths.
There was nothing special about him, so Jensen’s not sure why Jeff singled him out, but he did. Had he known all of the hurt that would be caused for not wanting to mate with the older man, it would have been painful, but would he have turned Jared away?
He had resigned himself to his fate, but Jared challenged Jeff and even if Jensen had spurned Jared, the fight would have taken place. Jeff had to take on all challengers or he would have been seen as weak and that was not a trusted trait for a pack leader.
Jared emerged as the victor and he won both Jensen and the pack but he refused to kill the former pack leader, instead he chose to let him go.
Looking at the smoke rising from Amell’s body, that was a poor decision on Jared’s part.
Jensen never understood the reason for letting the Alpha go, but then he had never understood the reasoning for the death of his parent and sibling. He had always believed that had his little sister Mackenzie had been an Alpha, he would have killed her too.
Everyone assured him that this was the way of the Alpha, but how could he be expected to lay with the man who had destroyed his family and had expressed this to Jared.
Had that been what spurred Jared, a green young Alpha, to challenge such an experienced one?
Whatever his reasoning, it had been a thing of beauty to watch as Jared defeated Jeff. No one, including Jensen, had expected Jared to win, but he did.
He won all of the ones after as well.
For the first six months during his reign as pack Alpha, he was challenged for that right. He became an even better fighter and a more ruthless one, because Jeff was the only one he let go free. The rest were offered to Luna.
It took the defeat of a vicious neighboring pack for the challenges to end. With only a small group of friends fighting alongside him, Jared earned his right as Alpha, when he defeated the pack now harboring Jeff. It didn’t hurt that one of the spoils of war was the pack lands they now called home.
Jared and Jensen quickly assembled a council they trusted and included some of the defeated pack’s members. Those that were loyal to the dead Alpha, left and the rest assimilated with the Padalecki Pack.
It’s funny how that this pyre was the one to bring all of those bad memories back.
Jensen had almost convinced himself that it was just hormones, until he heard Chris’ howl.
When the howl turned from a call for help to one of pain before he went silent, Jensen knew that his world was about to be turned upside down once again.
Chris was his Chad, his second, his friend and he wanted to get to his friend, but the stance of the huge Alpha at the entrance of their den told him that was not going to happen.
“You are not leaving here Jensen,” Jared advised from the door of the den.
Jensen kept his back to Jared; his thoughts still centered on the fact that he needed to go, to do something instead of being held stagnant inside their den. It had only been a day and he was already going stir crazy.
Perhaps he didn’t need to go if he allowed a man as big as Jared to sneak up on him. He hadn’t even heard so much as a whisper. How did a man so big walk so quietly?
“Is that my Alpha or the pack Alpha’s orders?” Jensen asked sarcastically.
“Whose ever orders will keep you safe,” Jared responded matter of factly.
As much as he wanted to Jensen could not fight those words because he knew that no argument he put forth would change Jared’s mind, but he at least had to put up a fight.
“It’s Chris, Jared,” he pleaded. “The man would walk over hot coals or me and this pack; he should know that we would do the same for him.”
“If you were not with child, it would never cross my mind to stop you. Hell, you would have shifted and been on your way before his warning turned into a call for help. You are pregnant, Jensen and your subconscious knows it as well, that you need to keep our pup safe, otherwise you would not make me the bad guy for wanting to protect you and our future.”
“Jared…” Jensen started. His words failed him, as he didn’t know what he wanted to say or plead for. He wanted his friend back safe, so his frustrations were voiced when he said his Alphas’ name.
“You must realize that you are not the only one concerned for his safety. Our trusted allies and more importantly, his mate are on their way to find him; you have to learn to be patient.”
There was something in Jared’s voice and a feeling over their bond that told him that there was something amiss. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, so Jensen turned around and faced his mate.
“What are you not telling me Alpha?” he cocked his head and asked.
“Idris… Idris and A.J. did not return from patrol this morning and I do not know what fate has befallen them. Nor am I sure that Chris has not met the same fate.”
The wait for the return of the others was interminable, but the relief of seeing them come over the horizon was short lived when he saw the bodies.
Aldis, Megalyn, and Chad had taken the horses, while Steve, Chris’ mate and Tom and Mike had shifted and raced ahead.
There was a body on the back of a riderless horse and another person sharing a horse with Aldis. The problem was that Jensen could not identify who was dead and who was hurt.
As they approached the den, it was easy to tell that the body was that of A.J. and he gave thanks to Luna that it was not Chris’ body on the lone horse and immediately felt guilty.
How could he be happy that one friend’s life had been spared at the cost of another?
“Oh, god, Jared, Travis. Do you think he knows?” Jensen worried.
The words had had barely been uttered when a mournful howl could be heard.
“Yeah, Jensen I think he knows.”
Another day another offering to Luna, as Jensen stood with the rest of the pack as Travis lit the pyre; all he could think was what the hell was going on? Yesterday they could have celebrated his announcement and today the arrival of new pups to the pack. However, as the sun rose the next day it was greeted with sadness.
As he stood mesmerized by the fire that Jared had lit this time because Travis was too shaken to do so, he wondered how he factored in all of this. He touched his stomach in a protective gesture and felt that his pup was the key to all of this madness. But how, he wasn’t sure.
Everything was a mess. In addition, Amell both dead and Chris damned near. He had been shot with a silver bullet that had penetrated his arm and missed anything vital. Jensen gave thanks to Luna, as well as Zeus and Hera that the bullet did not hit an artery and entered his blood stream resulting in silver sepsis, for which there was no cure.
Even though he was suffering right now, he still was faring better than their fallen friend, who had been shot through the heart with a silver bullet, giving him no chance of survival.
Jensen glanced over at Sam, and wondered if she was really helping them, or just pretending to help knowing that Chris would die.
It had taken her over an hour to arrive at the den once Chris had been brought in. Her excuse was that she was with Travis delivering the new pups. Jensen didn’t buy that excuse because there were more than enough capable midwives to help him.
“You couldn’t save my daughter but you expect me to come running to save your friend,” she spat at Jensen once Jared was out of her sight.
“Your daughter wanted me dead, Sam, so you’ll forgive me if I have no sympathy for her plight,” Jensen reminded her, and besides she didn’t die, she was just banished.”
“She might as well be, Jensen she’s alone out in the elements while you’re here safely ensconced on your throne,”
“So I’m supposed to proceed as though she didn’t want me dead while she took my mate? If you are so angry and don’t want to help this pack, why did you stay? “
“Jared needs me,” she simply stated.
“I am a part of Jared and this baby even more so. If you can’t deal with that, then perhaps you need to leave and give your apprentice a chance to practice what he’s learned from you.”
“I have every right to be angry,” She said.
“That you do,” Jensen agreed, “but it’s misplaced. You should be angry with Sandy for placing you in this position of having to choose, and angry with yourself. You are supposed to be this powerful shaman, yet you did not see this coming and put a stop to it. You claim to love Jared, and had you cared as much as you say that you do, and then you should have warned him.”
“Where is Jared’s friend?” she asked placing an emphasis on Jared’s name and ignoring Jensen’s question.
Jensen, Steve and Megalyn all stood guard as Sam treated Chris. Jensen was not so sure if he or Steve would have known if she was helping or in fact hurting him, but the way Megalyn took note of everything she used and visibly relaxed as the were mixed and measured, he felt that one of them had some idea.
During the lighting of the pyre, Jensen watched Sam for a hint of a clue that she knew what was going on but she gave him nothing.
He did not mingle with the pack, or eulogize A.J., but in all fairness, she did stay close to Travis. Normally he wouldn’t have left his den until the pups were six weeks old, but he needed to say goodbye to his mate.
When the first pack member left the gathering, Samantha convinced Travis to do the same, citing exhaustion and the need to get back to his pups.
“How could he have just disappeared?” Jensen heard Jared ask, the frustration making him growl and place the others even further on edge.
As Jared’s Omega, Jensen should have been included in any pack meetings, but since the end of his heat, Jared has been treating him like glass. He understood the reasoning behind the treatment, but not to the point where he was being excluded from council meetings.
“Perhaps he’s still in his den somewhere,” Aldis suggested. “I mean we’ve hardly ever been inside how do we know that we aren’t missing a door or an entrance, something. There’s no way he just vanished.”
“Something weird is going on and that’s for sure,” Tom suggested. “There were no prints paw, or foot around his den and that included both Chris and A.J. Theirs should have least been there.”
“What about scents?” Jensen asked from where he stood in the entrance of the room used to hold the meeting. “There had to be scents.”
“No,” Chad shook his head. The only thing we smelled was blood and silver.”
After Chris had been brought back to the den, the council members went back to Idris’ place, did a thorough search, and found nothing. There were no track, no scents, and no Idris.
For the past week, it seemed as though they had been chasing their tails and coming up with naught. Their working theory was that whoever killed A.J. and hurt Chris had kidnapped Idris to gain what knowledge of their pack.
“What if...” Megalyn started. “What if he wasn’t taken, but went of his own accord?”
“What are you suggesting,” Jared roared at her.
Jensen could tell that Jared was angry with her for questioning his friend’s loyalty, but he was not so ready to dismiss the idea.
Megalyn was younger that everyone in the room and was Sandy’s littermate. Even though they knew her, the bond was not the same.
Over the years, what Jensen had noticed was the fact that she seemed to have a sixth sense about things and the majority of the time she was accurate. The only person more accurate was Sam.
There had been times in the past that he thought that she should be apprenticing with the older woman, but she seemed to be happier guarding the back instead of healing it.
She had been orphaned as a child and placed on Aldis’ parent’s doorstep, so there was the possibility she could possess the magic that would make her a great shaman.
Before she could explain, the others in the room began berating her for questioning one of their own.
“Why would you think that?” Their newest member, Ty Olsson asked.
“We thought that Misha was loyal, and where is he now? Let her speak, if there’s no validity to what she is saying then we find another course of action,” Jensen interjected and nodded for her to continue.
The brown-skinned girl took a deep breath and spoke, “Look, we all know that while A.J. was not as capable as either Chris or Idris, he would have been able to take care of himself. And then there’s Chris.”
“What about Chris?” Steve asked from behind Jensen.
“There is no way that Chris is going to let someone sneak up on him, he’s just too good for that. Chad you may be Jared’s second, but Chris is a better warrior, he’s not going to leave himself open like that.”
When no one else spoke she continued, “What are the chances that some unknown wolf is going to have the ability to sneak up on two of our elite council and take them both out?”
Jensen glanced over at Jared and he could see that his mate was deep in thought. He might not like it, but he hoped that Jared did not dismiss the idea.
“She has a point,” Steve broke the silence that had fallen over the normally boisterous group. “I didn’t see A.J.’s wound, but Chris was shot up close and there is no way a stranger could get that close to him.”
“What if she’s wrong?” Mike asked, “I mean we have to consider that possibility as well.”
Jared rubbed his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of one of his large hands and grunted. Jensen knew that meant that the Alpha was waging an internal war to come up with a solution, and the Omega hoped that it was one the big man could live with.
“It is possible that both of you could be right, but right now we just don’t know,” Jared sighed. “Steve how is Chris? Does Sam have any idea when he will wake up?”
Jensen is sure that he’s not the only one who heard the unspoken question of will he wake up.
Ty Olsson had filled in before whenever they needed an extra man that they could trust, and Chris had done the same. Now that A.J. was gone Ty would permanently take his place, but as much as Jensen liked Ty, he didn’t want him to take his Chris’ place.
“If I am forced to make a decision right here, right now, then I have to err on the side of loyalty. Idris has given me no reason to question his loyalty to me or to the pack. Until I’m given proof or have reason to doubt it, I will continue to believe that he is held somewhere against his will.”
Jensen stared at Jared. In his heart, the Omega knew that this had not been an easy decision for Jared to make, but Jensen believed that Megalyn was right. He believed that just as he believed that Idris was one of his attackers last week.
As time passed, bits and pieces of that night continued to haunt his dreams and Idris was one of those pieces. Some of the occurrences Jared had been able to fill in for him, but with Idris gone under questionable circumstances, Jensen needed answers and he was not going to find them in his den.
“Jared,” Jensen spoke, “as the pack Omega, your pack’s co-leader, I understand that you trust our friend, but what happens while you’re operating under the supposition that Idris is still pack, and you find out that he’s not? What if that knowledge comes too late?”
“Are you suggesting that the Alpha is wrong?” Chad demanded, his stance showing that he was ready to defend his Alpha even against the pack Omega.
Jensen knew that everyone here trusted him as well as Jared, but it was moments like this that told him that their allegiance was to Jared.
“Steve, Megalyn and I see things a little different,” Jensen explained. “I’m not suggesting that we convict Idris in his absence, what I am suggesting is to do a two part hunt. We, the three of us will look for evidence proving him innocent, while the rest of you do the opposite.”
“Have you forgotten your condition Jensen, you’ll be limited as to how much you can participate either way,” Jared reminded him.
As if Jensen could forget.
“No, Jared I have not; even in the event that I had, I have you there to remind me.” He stopped and looked around the room before asking, “Is there anyone here that I can convince to help us?”
“I have faith in my sister’s intuition,“ Aldis said as he walked over and gave Megalyn a hug.
“We are all agreed then?” Jared asked the group.
The murmurs of yeas and the nodding of heads gave him his answer.
“Jensen, I have to tell you, I hope that you are wrong.”
“I hope so too Jared, I hope so too,” but Jensen felt in his bones that he wasn’t.
The following week bought no answers for either side, it was as though the earth opened and swallowed Idris. There was no trace of him anywhere. Both groups were relying on Chris regaining consciousness, but so far, he hadn’t.
Sam has created an herbal potion to keep him sedated until the silver worked its way out of his system. According to her, once the silver was gone, Chris would wake up on his own accord.
Jensen was growing more and more frustrated by because there was no evidence supporting either theory, and to make matters worse, he had to spend half of his day in wolf form because his human body was experiencing nausea until midday.
This morning Jensen had wanted to get an early start, but before he could shift back into his wolf form to ward it off, the nausea hit him as soon as he opened his eyes. He had tried many times to falling asleep in his wolf’s body, but he always woke up as the little spoon to Jared’s big one.
Once the worse of it was over, Jensen made his way from their sleeping quarters to the main room of the den. He still felt queasy, but regardless, he had to help find the underlying cause of the problem about Idris.
Megalyn, Aldis and Steve were waiting for him and Ty was waiting for Jared. Of course, by the way Ty was staring at Megalyn, Jensen was sure that the older wolf would happily stay to help them with their cause.
He noticed that Steve was looking towards the room that Chris was recuperating in, and that told him that Sam was with the sick man. Perhaps today was the day that the blonde-haired man woke, but from the look on the Alpha’s face, Jensen didn’t think so.
“Omega,” Megalyn greeted as soon as she saw Jensen. She stepped forward, extending her hands to offer a gourd filled with an amber colored liquid. “The Alpha mentioned that you were having trouble with pup sickness, so I brought you something to help ease it.”
Jensen smiled as he watched Megalyn bow her head shyly as he took the gourd from her. He realized that she thought that he was going to reject her offer.
Not wanting to offend her, Jensen took the gourd and brought it to his nose to take a sniff before drinking it. Jensen was used to Sam’s potions and elixirs smelling like the business end of a horse and tasting just as foul, but not this. The smell was spicy and enticing and had a sweet taste that had Jensen quickly drinking it down.
After drinking this, the Omega now wondered if Sam’s offerings tasted and smelled foul intentionally, especially now that he knew that she didn’t like him.
Once he had downed the drink, the results were almost instantaneous. After a week of revisiting his meals each morning, Jensen couldn’t believe that a novice had prepared something this effective.
Sam chose that moment to exit Chris’ room and Jensen looked at her differently. What was she doing? And more importantly, was she really helping his friend heal or slowly and painfully drawing out his death.
In the past, Jensen had watched her heal people who were in far worse shape than Chris was in less time. It has been weeks and Chris is still comatose.
Jensen didn’t want to discourage his friend, so he kept his suppositions to himself.
He needed to share his beliefs with someone, but Jared was still reeling from the fact that Jensen questioned Idris’ loyalty. If he suddenly questioned Sam’s as well, the Alpha might agree with Amell’s remaining allies and break his mating bond himself.
Jensen let the others talk amongst themselves and presumed that they were giving their Omega time to get over the pup sickness that he’d been experiencing as he thought about the best way to approach his growing distrust of Sam.
As the Shaman approached Steve, Jensen took that time to visit his friend alone before they went about their business of finding the truth.
“We’ll get revenge for this,” he promised his friend before joining the others.
Once he left the room, Megalyn broke away from the others and met him.
“I-I think that I might be able to come up with something to help him,” she softly offered.
A few weeks ago, Jensen would have taken her up on her offer with no questions asked, but now he had to be careful. He had taken the drink from her because he did not think that she would be brave enough to poison him in front of others but now things were different.
“How do you know suddenly know so much about herbs ad healing, Megalyn?” Jensen asked.
She shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Sandy and I were friends as long as I can remember, I was always at her den or she was at mine. We even presented at the same time. During those visits I picked up things from Sam.”
“You picked up how to heal Chris from silver sickness from watching Sam?”
“Some of what I know comes from watching her, it seems as though I had a natural ability, but lately, since the night of your attack, it seems as though everything is just…there. I don’t know how I know it but I do know it. I promise as an oath to Luna, that I am not trying to hurt him, I just want to help.”
“Why didn’t you come forward sooner?”
“It just felt wrong that I could do this,” she whispered. “I know that all gifts are from Luna, but why did she wait so late to reveal this to me? Also, I didn’t want Sam to think that I was trying to take over her position. She is after all the Alphas’ mother and if what I’m doing is misconstrued, that it will end badly for me.”
”If you hurt my friend intentionally, I’d kill you myself,” Jensen confirmed her fears. He then cocked his head and said. “You don’t think she’s helping him do you?”
“No, but she’s not hurting him either. I came to you because I can’t get what he needs without suspicion from her. No one will dare question the Alpha’s Omega.”
She was right. Even if Sam somehow knew what he was getting the herbs for, as much as she seemed to dislike him, she wouldn’t dare speak out against him because of his position in the pack.
“I’ll get you what you need.”
Megalyn had been correct; it had been tricky getting the herbs that she needed. Even though he wasn’t afraid of Sam, he was clandestine in getting the aromatic plants. It took him 4 days, but he finally had all of the ingredients that she had requested.
As she mixed her potion, Jensen stood guard at the far end of their den. He and Jared rarely used this section, so they were hidden from anyone who happened to enter the den. The den went further back and had another exit that only he, Jared, Chad and Chris knew about.
He watched her as she concocted the potion but noticed her nervousness. Nerves were good, that meant she was scared. Jensen was scared as well, because he was taking a chance with his friend’s life without letting his mate weigh in.
Once the concoction was ready, Jensen administered it to Chris. At first, it ran from the unconscious man’s mouth. Soon he was swallowing small amounts until half of the small bowl was gone.
Once he swallowed the last drop, Steve entered the room. Jensen was not sure if it was the potion or his mate’s closeness, but once Steve entered, Chris opened his eyes.
“Chris!’ Steve exclaimed.
“Let’s give them a moment,” Megalyn suggested to the Omega only to be stopped by Chris’ weak and rusty voice.
“Jensen, tell the Alpha Idris…Idris and Jeff did this,” he confirmed before he fell unconscious again.
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