Page 19 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I woke up on the ground, dirt on my cheek, tired from whatever the night before had brought me. There was a crunch as I planted my hands and pushed up, groaning in sore pain. I was in my territory, that much was clear, but how I got there was a mystery.

“Good morning,” a voice rumbled.

I was able to get to my knees, rubbing my temples as a headache was already pounding before I could even properly wake up and come to terms with my situation. Those were the worst of headaches.

“I said good morning,” the deep voice rumbled again.

“Good morning,” I hissed, rubbing harder, hoping I wasn’t in the situation I was beginning to think it was. “What do you want, Fenris?”

“To find out how you got so trashed that you passed out in the woods,” he answered, barely hiding the laughter in his voice as he explained where I was.

“Well…” I tried to remember, but it was blank. “Fuck. Maybe I got hit in the head a bit too hard. I was told that could be a problem if I kept letting that happen.”

That was when I remembered one important thing.

Fenris was dead. He died months ago.

I turned to look at him, seeing him as healthy as he had been the entire time I’d known him. He was perfectly fine, with a shit-eating, half-mad grin on his face and a challenge in his eye as he crouched beside me.

“The Rebel finally partied too hard, huh?” Fenris laughed.

Fenris is dead. What is happening right now?

“What is going on?” I asked, fear beginning to rush through me.

“I found you lying here. You tell me what the fuck is going on right now, Rebel.” Fenris straightened up, and I scrambled to my feet. “Not sure why you’re so scared of me. Something else in these woods I need to know about? Ah, fuck it. We both know I am the scariest thing out here.” He pointed at me. “But you know you don’t need to be scared of me. What’s wrong with you, Rebel?”

I wanted to cry. Was it all a terrible dream? Was this really Fenris?

No, it can’t be. I wasn’t the only person who saw him die.

“Where’s Landon?”

“Oh, you’re asking about him over your man? I don’t know where either one of them is. We should go look for them. They might want to know how I found you out here.” Fenris started walking, and it was a trail I knew well that led right back to my house.

I moved quickly to keep up, hoping to understand what was going on.

“Fenris, what day is it?” I asked, brushing off bits of leaves from my jeans.

“Fuck if I know. I forgot my phone, and I generally don’t care what day of the week it is. If I’m needed, Teagan comes to get me to force me to show up at whatever Everson wants me to be at.”

“You’re really not helpful right now,” I said, sighing heavily.

“When am I ever helpful?”

“The witches and stuff in Dallas. Helping Arlo.” Fenris had been invaluable in both of those situations.

“Yeah, but both of those required violence. A good time to be had by all. Well, there was a potential for violence when trying to help the kid.” Fenris chuckled darkly. “I guess there’s always a potential for violence.”

“Yeah, you would think that.” I shook my head, knowing he was just throwing up walls to keep people scared of him. To keep me scared of him. He was the mad wolf to everyone for a reason. I saw through most of his bullshit now. He had a heart and a sense of loyalty under his rough surface.

We walked in silence for a while, trudging along toward my home. It felt longer than it should have, as though the trail stretched out endlessly. Eventually, I didn’t recognize the trees around me, and we never reached my house.

“Fenris, aren’t we heading to my place?”

“Yeah, where else are we going?” he asked, scoffing at me. “Think I’m leading you to some trap or something? I don’t particularly want to spend the rest of my life on the run from Everson. Plus, I like you. We’ve fought together.”

“It’s just we should have been back already…” I said, slowing down to a stop.

He looked over his shoulder at me but didn’t stop moving.

“Maybe you don’t know these trails as well as you thought.”

But I know these trails better than anyone… don’t I?

I caught up to him again.

“You know, while we walk, we should really talk about how you blacked out in the woods. Dangerous business for one of our kind,” Fenris said, shaking his head. “Real bad. Maybe you should tell Everson about it.”

“I was planning on it,” I said softly, knowing I absolutely had to tell Heath. He would help me find answers if he didn’t know them himself.

“Or maybe you shouldn’t. He might kill you for potentially losing control over yourself. It’s what a smart Alpha would do.” Fenris pointed back at her.

“He wouldn’t,” I said to myself more than Fenris, a lie that both of us would be able to smell.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe he wouldn’t because he loves you. You don’t know that, though.” Fenris barked out a laugh, his head going back in that mocking laugh. He stopped walking and pointed up, staring at the sky. “The sun is going down fast, huh?”

I followed his gaze to the sky, and it was, with sunset already over us.

“He’s coming,” Fenris whispered, and I could smell his fear.

“Who?”

“ Him .” Fenris didn’t look at me, only staring as the sunset turned to night faster than it should have. “You should run,” Fenris said sadly.

I didn’t need a name for some reason. I had no idea who he was talking about, but I didn’t need a name. I knew this was bad, and we had to get moving. Instinct was kicking in, and I was going to listen to it.

“You should come with me,” I growled, grabbing his elbow. “Fenris, come with me. We’ll get to my place. We’ll be safe.”

Fenris finally looked away from the sky, his eyes searching my face.

“You think you can keep us out of his reach?”

“I’m damn well going to try,” I snarled, pulling him hard. A howl began, and it echoed endlessly in the forest around us as we started running.

I wasn’t sure how much time or distance we had on our pursuer, but I didn’t let the fear of that unknown make me look back. I kept hold of Fenris’s elbow, forcing him to keep pace with me.

Together, we’ll get out of this. We have to. We’ve gotten through worse shit.

I kept up on the trail, hoping to see my house. I couldn’t feel where we were being chased from, though, even though we were certainly in my territory. I should have been able to feel the other werewolf, but I couldn’t.

I heard it running behind us after some time, though. Fenris and I were panting, but we didn’t relent. It was catching up, anyway. It didn’t matter how fast we were going, it was catching up to us.

“We might have to fight it,” I said through labored breathing.

“We can’t, Rebel. If it catches us, we die.” He didn’t sound much better.

“You don’t know that!”

“I do! I’ve been running from it for a long time!” Fenris picked up speed, and my legs burned to keep up with him, but the lightning-fast footfalls of the werewolf pursuing us kept coming, and they were getting louder.

We never reached my house. It made no sense. I didn’t understand. My lungs and legs were burning, and my head felt like it was going to split open as I skidded to a stop at a cliff, Fenris right beside me.

As I panted, desperately looking for another option, he only sighed.

“It’s been a fun ride,” he said.

“What? Fenris, no?—”

He pushed me to the side as the werewolf, one I could finally see was in its Last Change, jumped out of the darkness. It sent them both over the cliff.

“FENRIS!” I screamed as I scrambled to the edge. I leaned over, trying to find them, but they were gone.

He was gone, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it.

I sobbed and screamed hopelessly, knowing he wasn’t going to call back, but I kept screaming until my voice was gone. He never came back.

We could have escaped together, damn it!

We could have done it…

With a growl of anger and grief, I made a decision. I couldn’t see or hear them, but I knew they had fallen.

I was going to climb down. I looked at my hands, seeing how they had gotten torn up from being shoved down by Fenris. My right elbow was also torn open. I had no climbing gear, but I was a tough fucking werecat and my friend was down there. If he was dead, then I could at least take him home. He was an annoying friend, but he was mine.