Meat

Chapter Fourteen

The house was quiet as Kaleb wandered along the corridor. He was sure that most of the pack had already slept and were now enjoying the sun and fresh air. He knew that he should attempt to get at least an hour's sleep before the sun set but Jemima's words pulled at him. Once again, a full moon had come and gone and Vince had not turned. It was time to accept the inevitable: His son, his only son, was not a wolf.

Kaleb knocked twice on the open door as he came to stand in the doorway to his son's room. Vince was hunched over a chest of drawers, digging through a mess of jeans and t-shirts. Unlike his mother, his organisation was lacking and Kaleb took a glance around the messy room as Vince glanced over his shoulder.

"Alright?" Vince asked.

"Fine. How're you?"

"Nothing new. How did things go with the drainer?"

Vince turned away from him again, pulling out a handful of shirts and searching through them. He sniffed two tentatively and tossed them onto the bed. Kaleb glanced at the pile his son was making. There were three shirts, a pair of jeans, and a couple of pairs of socks so far.

"It was alright," he said slowly. "Are you okay?"

Shoving the drawer as far closed as it would go with a trouser leg still draped haphazardly over the front, Vince frowned as he went back to the bed.

"Me? Why?"

Kaleb nodded towards the clothes. Vince waved dismissively. Moving further into the room, Kaleb took a seat on the old rocking chair that had once been a centerpiece of Vince's nursery. Though his son was grown now, the chair had always remained. Leaning forwards, he pulled a dirty shirt from where it had wedged behind the cushion, and tossed it into the growing pile of laundry that was his son's bedroom floor.

"I know how difficult this has to be for you," he said, resting his elbows on his knees.

Vince barely looked up. His jaw clenched and he snorted a deep breath through his nose. He dropped down onto his knees and began searching under his bed for something.

"Vin, we don't know that this is it. And even if it is, you're my son..."

"Dad, I think we both know I won't be turning," Vince said. He was distracted as he reached further under the bed.

"If you don't, it doesn't change anything."

Vince snorted.

"Yeah, okay."

Kaleb sighed and rested his chin on his palm, watching as his son pulled a small duffel bag from under his bed and dropped it on the end of the mattress.

"You going somewhere?"

"Just into the city," Vince said. "I'll wait until you've all changed and then drive in."

Shifting to the edge of his seat, Kaleb scratched behind his ear and shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Vin. There's too much going on here and—"

"Too much that has nothing to do with me," he replied. He grabbed the shirts from where he'd left them and shoved them into the bag. "It's too hard being here right now. I just want some time to myself."

"You should be around your—"

"Matt will be there. He's already said I can crash on the couch."

Vince shoved the last of his clothes into the bag and zipped it closed. He threw the bag over to land beside the door and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at him.

"I was thinking that I should drive the vampire back with me," he said. "It's clear no one likes having him here."

Rubbing his hands together, Kaleb looked up at his son, his adult son. Vince was more than capable of making his own decisions and if being around the pack when he couldn't turn himself was too difficult, then surely it was cruel to demand that he stayed. Plus, he was right. Jemima had made perfectly clear how little she liked having Spencer around. She'd probably like him being around their son alone even less, but he would convince her.

Kaleb got to his feet and went to Vince's side. He rested his hand against his son's neck, the way he would when he was just a young boy, and touched his own forehead to his temple. Vince nudged back at him, just the way he used to, and smiled.

"I'll tell Spencer you leave just after sunset," he said, releasing him.

Vince smiled and nodded, though his eyes were distracted.

"Thanks."

"I trust you, Vin. Just stay safe, alright?"

"I will."

Kaleb nodded and went back to the doorway. He didn't like the look of the bag sitting innocently by the doorway. He didn't like it one bit, but his son was a man now, even if he wasn't a wolf too.

***

Screams echoed across the field. Jemima was hunched over beside him as he arms broke and morphed. Russet fur spread along her smooth skin and claws grew from her nails as her thumbs snapped and shifted.

The smell caught him first, that scent of something not quite human, but not quite dead. He twisted in pain as he saw him, Spencer, striding across the courtyard towards them. His smirk was back and his hazel eyes were as bright as they had been the night before. He stayed behind the fence and Kaleb's restraint cracked along with his ribs. Letting out a howl of pain, he crumpled to the ground.

Howls replaced screams and when Kaleb straightened up onto four paws, Spencer was leaning on the fence, looking eager to jump over and join them. Kaleb rounded in a circle and went to his son, nudging his side with his nose. Jemima was on the other side of him, Vince's fingers buried in the fur at her neck. Her wide eyes were as forlorn as her son's and they shared a look before he hit the release on the cages.

Snapping at the back of the cages to urge them out, Kaleb prowled behind them, waiting until the first had emerged, standing straight. It was the stupid one, the one who thought hitting on Jemima would secure his freedom. He turned to Vince, his gaze flickering around the wolves and back onto the only human he could see.

"Please!" he begged. "Please, help me!"

"No," Vince said.

The man turned again, this time stopping at Spencer.

"HELP US!" he screamed, clambering up onto the top of the cages.

The other two had already started running, it was just this idiot left. Kaleb glanced at Spencer and saw that the vampire was grinning so broadly that his fangs showed.

"I'd start running if I were you," Spencer said. "Because if they don't kill you, I will."

He snapped his teeth together and the human almost toppled backwards off the cage. Maybe he thought he was safe up there, that they couldn't reach him. Kaleb leapt at the cages and snapped his jaws, snarling. He leapt off the other side of the cage, scrambling to find his feet and set off running across the field after the other two.

Giving a single bark, the pack waited, prowling as they watched their prey run. The moment the idiot's foot left the ground, clambering over the fence, they set off. Kaleb watched them, circling his son. Vince patted him on top of the head and turned away, going back to the fence.

Vince had packed up the car before the sun set. He vaulted the fence and waved for Spencer to join him. A whine slipped past Kaleb's throat when the only one who looked back was the vampire.

They clambered into the car and started the engine. Turning away, Kaleb scanned the pack as they raced across the field. He could see Jemima, running alongside the smaller Zeke. He could see Priya and the twins... but no Carson.

He'd not seen Carson since he was in the kitchen.

The engine roared and tyres skidded on the gravel. Kaleb turned and leapt at the fence but it was too late. The car was speeding away down the driveway. They were gone.