Better Than Blood

Part 12

Nathaniel Church had been very lucky that his father and the rest of his pack had staked out the warehouse in order to rescue him. Things didn't go exactly as planned but no one could have known how many of the spectators had weapons of their own and certainly no one expected the Law Guardian Jack Nolan to be there. Nathaniel's emotions had gotten the better of him. Being taken against his will and held with very little food or drink in the basement of the warehouse had taken it's toll on the wolf. It was no surprise he reacted the way he had when he saw Jack in the crowd. Had Jack come to the fight to witness what everyone had always said about the wolf packs? That they were nothing more than dangerous animals? Seeing the fight that preceded his, Nathaniel was thinking that maybe wolves were more dangerous than he assumed; at least those who were not in his own pack. Still, he had killed another of his own kind whether it was against his will or not, it would weigh heavily on his mind for a long time. Maybe he would have to pay for his own crimes in due time.

Josiah had been beyond grateful when he finally found his son but there was no time to celebrate or even feel the urge. The Alpha had been pacing, trying to figure out how he was going to deal with the vampire who had abducted his son. Killing him was frowned upon but he wanted to deal with him in the same manner Nathaniel had been dealt with. Josiah asked his son for details leading up to the capture and when Nathaniel had grown tired his father threw a glass against a wall out of frustration. Josiah was never a patient wolf.

"I can't honestly tell you if I knew I was being followed, it all happened so quickly," Nathaniel was telling his father, "one minute I was dropping Alex off at school, heading back to my truck and then I was in the back of a van with a bag over my head." Josiah stopped pacing the floor of his living room and was staring out the window. "Of course," he said, his deep voice kept low, "please don't mistake my frustration as anger toward you, Nathaniel, it's anger toward the Law Guardian who was there as a spectator and those of his kind. Surely he had to know what was going on. How could he not?" Nathaniel had been attending to his wounds but stopped when the Law Guardian was mentioned. "I'm not so sure he did know what happened," Nathaniel said. He felt guilty over attacking the human. He knew it was a crime to attack a Law Guardian no matter the circumstances but wasn't the man dead now anyhow? There was no way he could have survived being bitten like he had and still be able to escape the burning warehouse.

"What do you mean?" Josiah turned to look at his son, his brow knit together in confusion. Even though Nathaniel was just as big as his father, he was still sometime a little afraid of him. With all the strength the Alpha had, Nathaniel knew his father could easily snap him in two. Growing up, there had been a few occasions where Nathaniel had gotten a smart mouth with Josiah and the two ended up in a fist fight that resulted in bloody noses and destroyed drywall. The younger wolf could never manage to get the upper hand on the older one. Nathaniel wondered if this would be another such time. "When I confronted him after I managed to get out of the pit, he was going on and on about not knowing I was there and saying that he had been trying to find me since you went to see him," Nathaniel swallowed, his eyes darting to look at his father and then away. "That's right, I did go to the precinct the moment I knew you had been taken. He was the one I spoke to, he said he'd find you," Josiah told him and then took a seat, hoping his son would keep talking.

"He seemed genuine in the fact that he didn't know I would be at the warehouse but I was so enraged and in pain, frustrated by that time and with it being a full moon, I just couldn't listen well enough... I attacked him and I bit him..." Nathaniel went quiet, his breath catching in his throat as he waiting for his father's response. A lifetime seemed to have passed as Josiah processed this information and then stood from the chair. His heavy boots thudded softly on the wood floor of his living room as he made his way to the window again. "You bit him?" was all the older wolf could say. Nathaniel nodded, "yes." "Did you kill him?" Josiah asked. More than anything Nathaniel wanted to say yes. He wanted to reassure his father that he had not accidentally turned the Law Guardian into one of their own. He could have lied and said that the man died in the fire but never was a good liar when it came to his father. "I-I'm not sure," Nathaniel uttered. His hands rested in his lap as he waited for Josiah to say something, maybe even punish him. The air seemed to grow colder the longer the silence grew.

Finally Josiah turned from the window and went to the kitchen and retrieved a cold beer from the refrigerator, opened it and took a long swallow before he said anything. "He could very well be dead. With how badly the warehouse was on fire by the time we'd gotten out, there's no possible way he could have survived," Nathaniel finally said. "There is always a chance," Josiah replied, "it's best to not leave these things to chance. We need to know if Nolan is dead." "What do we do if he's not?" Nathaniel was at least grateful his father wasn't upset with him. "We will figure that out after we know what happened to him. I need you to go to the warehouse and try to find any evidence that Nolan is no more. Can you do that, Nathaniel?" Josiah looked at his son, his dark eyes held a threat that only his son would recognize.

"Yes, I can."

"Good. Go tomorrow and report back to me."

"Yes, father."