Renegade

4

Jared kept his head down and flipped the collar of his trench coat up as he tried to keep a low profile. It was ridiculous and vulgar at how most of the people in the cemetery were more interested in him than the burying of one of the four mighty Alphas. 

He stood stiffly beside his mother who was on her wheelchair, quiet, and with a somber expression on her face. He could feel the hot stares of the two distinguished gentlemen in black coats but he did not even glance at them. He sighed and his wolf is itching to spring out and just run away, get lost in the woods.

Jared barely listened to what the pseudo-priest that was leading the ceremony. They were all of the supernatural, none of them actually adhered to any religion. They followed their wolf code and traditions but, appearances have to be kept. 

He felt his mother's hand reach for his and he didn't have time to move it away. Instead, he allowed her to grip it. Jared let out a sigh and recalled the reunion with his mother earlier before they went to the cemetery. 

Jared hesitated from going into his parent's room but he could no longer delay the inevitable. He had to admit that he did miss her a little bit. He had always known that she restrained herself from being to warm and loving to him because it had been mandated by his father who believed that being a powerful Alpha meant being in control of everything, even everybody's emotions and feelings. 

He stepped into the semi-darkened room and walked slowly towards his mother who was sitting by the window, a blanket covering her legs. Jared knew his mother is a powerful half-witch but perhaps the loss of her father and the estrangement of her son had weakened her heart.

"Mother." He had whispered as he stopped just behind her.

She turned the chair slowly and smiled a sweet, soft smile at her son. She did not say anything but her eyes were shining with unshed tears as she reached up with both arms, reaching forward. 

Jared awkwardly bent forward and with surprising strength, he was pulled into his mother's warm embrace. He stiffened, afraid that his weight might hurt her but she only pulled him closer, hugging him tighter. He did not know what to say or do except surrender to the familiar warmth of her embrace. He buried his face against the crook of her neck.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered after a few seconds and she kissed him on top of the head. 

Jared and his mother did not say anything else to each other but just kept hugging until Randolph came knocking, telling them that it was time to bury the Alpha. 

Now, they were looking at the coffin being lowered towards the freshly dug grave. Jared did not know what he was feeling since it had been years since he had seen his father. The last time they spoke face to face was when his father tried to convince him to come home. He had arrived in New York to personally take Jared home but with all his Alpha powers, he could not make his son submit. 

That was when Jared knew his father was weakening. He had witnessed fear creep into his father's eyes for the first time as the Alpha seemed helpless in making Jared's wolf submit to him completely. Finally, Jared managed to break free from the weighing power of his father and he bolted out of his apartment, escaping out of the city.

It was also the first time Jared became aware of his other ability aside from turning into a wolf. He could say that he was thankful for his father's stubborn streak as it awakened Jared's own power; his birthright whether he wanted to own up to it or not.

"It is done." 

Jack's voice broke through Jared's thoughts. He blinked and looked up, noticing that everyone is now looking at him, awaiting his move. Were they all waiting for him to say something? He swallowed as he felt suddenly claustrophobic. He felt his mother squeeze his hand and he turned to look at her but she only gave him a small smile.

"Our deepest sympathies to Hunter's family and his pack."

Jared and the rest of the guests turned towards one of the men in the black coat. The one with long gray hair had spoken and raised his hands to address everyone. He met Jared's eyes and he felt suddenly exposed, his wolf whining at the sheer weight of power directed at them. 

"That's one of the Royal Alphas." Jack whispered at Jared. 

"I see. Their appearance changed from the pictures I saw in the books." Jared replied, frowning at Mr. Gray Hair before looking down at his mother. "Shall we go home?"

"You have to say something." Jack told him. "You are your father's heir."

Jared glared at Jack. "You do it, you're better at it than I am."

"Jared." Jack growled low. "It is time you take over your responsibility-"

Jared growled back, a little louder that sent a surprise gasp from the people near them. He let go of his mother's hand and without a word, turned around to stalk off towards the woods. He did not care where he was headed at the moment but he would rather be anywhere but with his people.

His people.

His pack.

Jared suddenly wanted to vomit. He knew very well what rested on his shoulders. Years of training and education have drilled it into his brain hard enough that he could never forget it even if he wanted to. He only managed to bury it deep into his subconscious, effectively putting it aside. But, now that he had stepped into their old house, the land and the woods, seemed to have reached out and clamped their hands inside him. They were slowly peeling away the walls he had erected.

He could hear voices calling him to come back but he tuned them out. As of the moment, none of his family or pack members were powerful enough to make him heel. He had become the strongest and most dominant wolf in their kingdom and he used it to his advantage.

As soon as he stepped into the thicket of threes, he unleashed the power bubbling inside of him and disappeared off the ground. He wondered if he could will himself all the way back to New York.

Jared knew he was soaring above the trees. It was an unusual feeling and his wolf is growling at him, complaining at the situation they were in. He heard it snap at him and he chuckled, refusing to get back to the ground. He grinned to himself and decided to go higher but something caught him by the leg and began tugging him down.

He looked down and saw a huge, upright creature hanging on one of his leg. He yelped and lost his concentration as the creature dragged him towards the ground. He struggled out of its grip but it was too late as he crashed through foliage, tree branches and then thudded heavily to the ground.

"What the hell-?" He growled out and noticed that he was back to his human form. 

"I see you have mastered your abilities quite nicely." 

Jared scrambled up to his feet and began dusting off the dirt and snow that now clung to his coat. He stood straight and found himself looking at Mr. Gray Hair, his differently colored eyes glinting with humor. 

"Sergei." He introduced himself, extending his hand towards Jared.

He gawked at the hand before choosing to ignore it. Instead, he turned towards the opposite direction to leave the older man behind. But before he could take a couple of steps, a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder. 

Jared reacted to the pain and within seconds, he had shifted into his wolf, growling towards the Sergei. He knew his wolf form is larger than most of the ones he had encountered. He bared his teeth as his eyes were almost at the level of Sergei's neck. 

"Not even shredding a piece of your clothing." Sergei mused, grinning like he had witnessed a fake magic show. "I have to admit, I'm a little impressed."

Jared snapped at him, his dark indigo fur bristling. He just wanted to get away from this man and if it means having to snap his neck off, then so be it.

Sergei let out a loud laugh. "Oh, you young ones have so much to learn."

Can he hear my thoughts? Jared wondered to himself.

"If you paid any attention to your training long enough, you would remember how Alphas can hear each other's thoughts when they are in wolf form." The older wolf answered, leaning back against the tree nearest him. He crossed his arms and looked at Jared, amusement decorating his face.

What do you want? 

Sergei grinned even wider. "It's not about what I want, Hunter. It's what YOU need."

Don't call me that. My father is Hunter, not me. 

"Was. Your father WAS hunter." Sergei replied, straightening up. "Not unless we just buried some bogus corpse in your family cemetery. Frankly, these fake ceremonies are a waste of time. We all know burning the wolf bodies is tradition."

Jared growled and crouched lower as Sergei took a step towards him. This elicited another chuckle from the older Alpha. He is poised to fight, his anger and frustrations bubbling quickly towards the surface. He wanted to fight and maybe teach this old man a lesson for being all up his business.

"Are you sure you want to try that?" Sergei asked, his eyes glinting with delight. "Fine. Might as well see what you're made of."

Jared let out a loud growl before he lunged forward, his jaw opening up to grab the old man's neck. He heard himself chuckle as Mr. Gray Hair did not even have time to move away from his line of attack. The man is as good as dead.

He was about to grab Sergei by the neck but as soon as his mouth closed, he found himself munching on air before he landed on his front paws, almost crashing towards the tree. He managed to stop himself and quickly turned around to look for the man.

Jared found the old man grinning as if to mock his feeble attempt at an attack. How did he get away so fast? He was barely a couple of inches from him when Jared lunged.

"Confused?" Sergei called out at him. He was now examining his nails as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. "If you could stop being so aggressive and hear me out, we won't be wasting any of my time, boy." 

Jared let out another loud growl, this time he was seeing red. He once again launched himself towards the old man and again, this time, Sergei did not move. He just kept looking at his nails and as soon as Jared thought with confidence that he was going to connect with his prey, Sergei looked away from his hand and grinned at the leaping wolf in front of him.

Jared felt it as he saw Sergei swing his hand at him. Pain radiated from his ear to the side of his face as he fell hard on the ground. He groaned and rolled to his side, feeling blood trickle down the side of his face. 

"Impulsive and stupid." Sergei's voice echoed above where Jared was lying sideways on the ground. He tried to get up but he felt the old man's booted foot step on his neck. Jared managed to look up sideways and see in time as his long, large claws retracted back into his hand, now looking like normal human nails. 

Jared struggled as he was back in his human form, pain almost taking his breath away. He knew he would heal but it was still very painful and inconvenient.

"Stay down, Hunter. You have to know how to recognize defeat." Sergei declared as he pressed his foot on his neck. "You might have inherited your father's abilities and yes, you will eventually become formidable, but you are weak at the moment. Heaven help us if the safety of our people rests on your puny shoulders."

Jared could feel his airways being blocked as the boot dug deeper. He struggled but could not move. There was another force keeping him down, not just the old man's leg. For someone who looked a bit old and lithe, Sergei radiated such huge power.

"Enough."

Jared had to blink a couple of times to try and believe what had transpired in front of him. Another man in a long dark coat, his silver hair tied neatly into a long ponytail but had the same eyes as Stefan materialized out of thin air. His voice radiated the same power as Stefan.

"I'm only having fun, Stefan." Sergei turned to his brother, his foot still lodged on Jared's neck. 

"You're suffocating him, Sergei. Leave the boy be at the moment. We need to convene with those who are present." Stefan replied while looking down at Jared. He pursed his lips and scoffed at the boy, disappointment ringing in the air. 

"Do we have to?" Sergei asked, finally easing up on Jared's neck. "Oh wait, shouldn't he be in this meeting?" 

Jared managed to roll over and lie flat on his back. He coughed as both of the men looked down on him. He wanted to shout and curse at them but he and his wolf have been silenced. He could not open his mouth even if he wanted to.

"He can be excused for now. We will talk to his mother first." Stefan replied. 

"He is clearly trying to run away, brother." Sergei mused, winking down at Jared. "Frankly, I was highly amused."

Jared watched as the one named Stefan crouch lower and lean towards him. "You can try to leave Redwater, Hunter but you will not be able to get away from this responsibility. If you value your life and those of your friends, you will stay in town as long as we require you to."

"Fu-f**k you!" Jared managed to rasp out.

Another bout of pain exploded this time in Jared's midsection as Sergei gave him a solid kick in the gut. He yowled in pain, clutching at his stomach. He coughed, spitting blood.

"Children nowadays have no manners at all, don't you think so, brother?" Sergei chuckled at Stefan who only shook his head, looking pitifully at Jared.

"Don't try to run away and hide, Hunter. We have ways of finding you." Stefan declared, his eyes glinting with hidden power bored into Jared's eyes. And just like a couple of minutes ago, Jared blinked in disbelief as Stefan and Sergei vanished before him, leaving a flurry of snowflakes in their wake.