Chasing Forever: Jacob's Story

Punishment.

 I sit upright in my bed, soaked with sweat. My hearts beating so hard in my chest that it hurts. I drop my head into my hands and Chyenne sits up touching my shoulder. "J?" She whispers. "Are you alright?"

 I nod, my head still in my hands. "Yeah," I say. "Bad dream."

 She doesn't move, obviously not buying it. "The Legion?"

 I sigh, picking up my head and pushing my hair out of my head and looking at her. "How'd you know?"

 She touches my cheek. "You said 'Ezekiel'." She says, gently pushing stray pieces of hair out of my face.

 "I'm sorry I woke you.." I say quietly. "You can go back to sleep if you want."

 She ignores that. "Why are they back..?" She asks. "You haven't dreamt about that in forty years."

 I shrug. "I have no idea."

 "Well we'll figure it out together." She smiles. "But right now you need to sleep. You ran three patrols yesterday plus a training group. And you have midday patrol tomorrow. Come on, lay on me."

 I nod and she lays back so I can lie on her chest and listen to her heartbeat. "I've got you, J." She whispers, her hands softly running through my hair. "I promise I'll be here when you wake up."

 The gentle rhythm of her heartbeat and the feeling of her fingers in my hair soon relaxes me and I close my eyes, the feeling lulling me into a dreamless sleep.

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 The door to the room is thrown open and I jump up. My father walks in, a livid look on his face and he gestures for me to follow him. I glance at Chyenne before I throw off the covers, running after him down the stairs.

 When I turn into the living room I see Julius and Marcus, two of my fathers strongest fighters, standing over a very badly wounded Saemus who lays on the couch. Without a pause I run over, dropping next to him and taking his head in my hands, turning it slowly to me. "Sae? What happened to you?" I say quietly.

 He coughs and his eyes, bright with pain, roll around in his head as he looks at me. "Rogues.." He coughs.

 "Rogues?" I look at my father for confirmation, anger flowing through me. "There were rogues on our territory? How?"

 He shakes his head, his face impassive though I can still see the dark glint of hatred in his eyes. He's just as angry as I am, maybe even more so. "I don't know."

 "What do you mean you don't know?" I stand, my anger making me reckless. "You're the Alpha! Its your job to know when they're on our territory."

 "I wasn't here until morning." He says calmly, though his fists clench. I know I should stop myself before he punishes me, but my friend is laying half dead on my couch. I want answers. I want revenge.

 "Why not?" I explode. "Since when was Barbara more important to you than your own pack Father? When did we start to mean so little to you?"

 "It's none of your business where I was-"

 "The hell it isn't!" I scream, shoving him backwards. He slams into the fireplace and falls to his knees. Marcus and Julius grab me, it's against pack rules to attack the Alpha and I know I'm going to be punished but in my anger I don't even care. "You're supposed to protect us. That's your job. But you can't even do that. I suppose I can't blame you. I mean, you couldn't even be bothered to be here when Alison was born."

 His punch catches me right in my jaw and the blow snaps my head forward. My eyes water with pain but he isn't finished. He slams his fist into my chest, with enough force it breaks Marcus' and Julius's hold on me, knocking my breath out of me. I fall to my knees and immediately his knee slams into my face.

 I land on my back, my head spinning and agony ripping through me as he kicks my side. Once, twice, three times before Julius slams into him holding him against the wall. "Francis that's enough, you're killing him!"

 Seconds later the door to the living room is thrown open and Chyenne and my mother run in. As soon as they see me Chyenne runs over, dropping next to me. "J," She whispers. "Oh my god.."

 My mother whirls on my father. "What is wrong with you?"

 "He hit me." My father says, calmly wiping sweat off his brow. "You know the rules. I had to punish him."

 "He is our son, Francis!" Mum screams, slamming her hands into his chest and shoving him backward several feet. "He's not some random beta, he's our son!"

 "He broke the law!" He stares at my mother in shock, as if he can't fathom why she would be so angry. "He had to be punished."

 "You weren't punishing him, Francis. You were killing him." Julius whispers under his breath. "You went too far."

 Father turns to look at him, his eyes wide, before looking back at my mother. "Bella you know the rules.."

 Suddenly mum lunges, punching my father right in his face. "Punish me Francis!" She yells, hitting him again. "I'm breaking the law, punish me!"

 He catches her hands, horror on his face. "No.."

 "You're a coward." Mum spits, ripping away from him. "You're a coward."

 Without another glance she turns and walks over to where Chyenne is struggling to help me stand and slips her arm around my waist, supporting me. Julius takes my other side and Chyenne walks slowly backwards, keeping her eyes on me.

 "Bella.." Father whispers as we pass slowly by him but my mother pretends she doesn't hear anything.

 "Leave them Francis," Marcus whispers and I hear him pull my father away as he tries to follow us. "She needs space. Come, we must tend to the boy.."

 I sigh softly just before blackness falls over me. What's happening to my family..