Something Amiss (2)
1150 Words
Jacob POV
I called Lara’s mate, Jon, but it went straight to voicemail. Then, I started in on the kids that hadn’t showed up for training. I dialed their phones, then called their parents. Sometimes, the parents answered. Sometimes, they didn’t.
None of the kids that missed training answered. Their phones went to voicemail – like Lara’s.
The parents that did answer were just as confused as I was. They were under the impression their kids had gone to training – or that they might be off doing goddess knows what for their summer break. The ages ranged from fourteen to seventeen; the parents were loosening their reign on them, knowing that in a pack, they were safe.
Were being the operative word.
When I got through my list, notating which parents had answered and which hadn’t, it was time to call my father.
I took a deep breath before pressing dial and putting it on speaker.
It rang and rang and rang but didn’t answer. At least it hadn’t gone to voicemail.
I gathered the notated lists and clipped them onto a clipboard before going off to dad’s office.
It looked like the center of a kicked beehive. Omegas, gammas, and deltas were scrambling about the floor in a near-panic. At the center of it all, dad’s beta called directions in a firm voice. “Check the families – check the homes. Contact anyone you might know that knows where these people are.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Denial was washing away, and I could no longer deny that something was really, really wrong. “Rough day, Oliver?” I asked, trying to force an edge of cheeriness into my voice as I raised the clipboard for him to see.
“What’s this?” he asked, taking it before I could explain.
“A list of everyone that was missing from the morning training. Some of their parents might be missing as well.” I reported.
He nodded slowly, his eyes perusing the list. “Thank you. This helps a great deal, actually. There are quite a few people missing, and it’s absolute chaos. We can’t get organized at all.”
I looked towards dad’s office. The door was shut tight; it was only like that during video meetings and other confidential matters. Otherwise, if the alpha was in, the door was open. “What’s dad up to?”
Oliver’s eyes widened for just a second. “Oh. You don’t know.”
“Know what?” I asked, becoming wary.
“Alpha Jared has gone missing. Derick and Jada are off in the West Pack trying to establish order,” Oliver glanced both ways, then lowered his voice. “They’re saying that it might be a mutiny. That Jared’s been gathering followers and taken them off.”
“Wouldn’t we have felt if they revoked their loyalties to the pack?” I asked. Usually, if a wolf were to leave us, we would feel the thin, ethereal cord that connected all pack members snap, whipping back at us like a piano string drawn too tight. To have lost so many, I should’ve been in bed, unable to move from the agony.
“Yes,” Oliver replied. “Well. Maybe. Come in here.” He grasped my arm and dragged me into his office, checking that the room was clear before shutting us inside. He settled into the chair that sat in front of his desk, his legs parted for the chair back. “You would think, right? But our pack structure is so damn different. It’s possible he formed another pack and just broke off.”
I massaged my temples. He was right.
In order for an alpha to take over a pack, they needed to perform an eclipsing ceremony, in which each member of the pack offered blood to the alpha, and the alpha returned the favor. It was a show of strength from the alpha, and the blood created the web of mind-link that bound us all to the pack. Since no alpha alive would be able to form a mind link between all the Wild Fangs pack, the four alphas performed their eclipsing, and the four alphas offered their blood to the high alpha, connecting us all.
It worked, but it was the first recorded instance of such a pack structure. Usually, a pack would just split into a new one – but LA was so densely populated with supernaturals, that we preferred it this way.
Jared had always been a loose cannon. Perhaps he didn’t like it – maybe he gathered like-minded individuals and left.
“We’ll be interviewing the friends and families of those that are missing. Can I count you among my interviewers?” Oliver asked.
It was a supervisory position, sure, but it was shoving me amongst the high-ranked gammas and deltas that usually did this kind of work. “I have a better idea,” I said, puffing out my chest a little. “Let me organize this.”
Oliver’s brows shot up. “Organize what?”
I motioned around me, at the buzzing omegas, then to my list. “Let me do what I do best. I can make you a comprehensive list of missing pack members, and I can make sure no one slips through the cracks in all this chaos.”
Oliver stared at me thoughtfully, then looked down at my list. The silence and anticipation seemed to last forever, until he shook his head. “No. You’re of better use to me as an interviewer.”
His continued instruction was drowned out by my growing frustration.
Ever the fifth-born, useless son of the alpha. I just knew – I knew – I could be of use to them, but they wouldn’t let me rise above my station. There was no place for me here, other than clerical positions, under my father’s tight scrutiny, under his watchful eyes.
And Oliver, his second in command, ensured that in father’s absence, I stayed where I belonged.
I was snapped from my thoughts by a hand on my shoulder. “I know,” he said. “I understand how frustrating it can be, not being out in the field, but you’re more useful to me using that big brain of yours to find out if these people left intentionally.”
I flinched.
They thought I was upset because I wasn’t in the field? I was in the field plenty! I just wasn’t in charge.
I took a deep, steadying breath and forced a smile. “Yeah. I understand – this is important.” I turned on my heel and went off to the interrogation teams, knowing that gammas would escort them in, and I wouldn’t be informed of any changes throughout the day.
I was the useless spare-tire of a son. Why would they bother telling me anything?
- Writer
