Fearless

My Own Devices

Chapter Twenty-Two: My Own Devices

"You know, I could think of a million better options than bringing complete strangers into our top secret safe house." Sam said, a little too much sarcasm.

"One of those 'complete strangers' is your sister, Sam." Rebekah pointed out. "Besides, this isn't about us. This is about Charlie and her baby. This is about keeping our own safe."

"And we're doing that by letting possibly hostile wolves sleep where we sleep? Come on, Rebekah. I cannot be the only one with a problem here." Sam put his hands on his hips.

"If other wolves are staying here, I cannot stay here as well. They don't trust me as you do. They could turn against me, because of what our family has done in the past." Actaeon said.

"See! The very wise hunter agrees with me!" Sam exclaimed.

"No, I do not. This is the best move, but it cannot involve me for the most part. It would just bring all of you more danger for me to stay here. I will be close by, not too far away. If you need my assistance, just call." Actaeon got up from his seat and headed out.

"He doesn't agree with you." Rebekah said blankly. "Please, Sam? Just go with it. Everyone has to be on board for this to work."

"Fine, but if one of the other wolves goes on a killing spree, don't come crying to me." he mumbled. Aaron sat down next to him and put his arm around Sam's shoulders.

"What my amazing boyfriend is trying to say is that he is weary of this plan, but he will help nonetheless. Right, Sam?" Aaron asked him. Sam buried his head into Aaron's neck, but nodded.

"Alright, I'll let the ones considering to leave come inside." Charlie said. I watched as she wobbled down the stairs and into the front room. Rebekah hurried up from her seat and stopped Charlie once she got to the bottom of the black staircase.

"Why don't I open the door for them," she said. Charlie flushed and nodded, moving away from the stairs. She stood in the front room, holding her stomach. Rebekah paused at the door. "Let me know if this is too much for you, okay?" Charlie nodded.

Rebekah opened the door and stepped outside. I heard her call to the wolves to come inside. She held the door open as they filed through the door. Alex came first, his dark hair messed up. Then Alice, who bounded down the stairs when she saw her brother. Sam grudgingly got up from his seat next to Aaron to hug her. Alice rammed into him with her arms around his neck. I ignored their reunion, as a very strange feeling had washed over me. I felt like I was burning up, like I didn't have control of myself. If someone came too close, I feared I would try to bite their head off. I stood from my seat and migrated away from the wolves. Alex sat down at the table next to Rebekah. Alice chatted with Sam and Aaron. Some younger wolves took to standing by the bookshelves. In all, about five had joined us inside. "I am sorry more of us could not come. They had obligations elsewhere." Alex said to Charlie, who had made her way into a seat.

"That's alright, I didn't expect this many to come." she cleared her throat. "We are here to discuss Jared, your pack leader." she said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"He's not our leader, he's a dictator." one of the younger wolves said. He looked like he was about twelve. "He forced us to activate the gene. If we didn't take the life he assigned us to kill, he would kill us."

"Don't worry, I know of his cruelty." Charlie assured the pup. "I was married to Jared, once. Technically I still am. He was horrible to me, he liked to use me as his personal punching bag." Charlie said dryly. "Once I found out I was pregnant with his child, I left. I found refuge among my friends and family here. The child is due any day now, and Jared wants to take the baby from me. I know that if I do not fight for my child, if I let Jared raise my baby, he will do no better with her than he did with me. I do not want this to come to a fight, but it might. I don't think it would be right of me to ask you to help me kill your alpha, so I'm not going to. I only ask that you stand with my family against him, show him that he's outnumbered. My pack can take him and his mate down in the final fight, if we need to. None of you will have to fight him." Charlie told the wolves. I noticed that Rebekah seemed visibly tensed, as if she was holding her breath. She was looking down at her lap.

"If this plan doesn't work, do you have another one we can fall to?" Alice asked her.

"Yes we do." I said. I waited for the wolves to turn to face me. "If this one does not work, I will challenge Jared for his position as alpha."

"Like you could kill Jared on your own," Alex mumbled.

"Do you want to find out?" I asked him, my arms crossed over my chest and my eyebrows raised.

"That's enough," Rebekah snapped at us. "Quit acting like you're five." Alex turned and stared at Rebekah for a second. She lowered her gaze from his and scooted a little bit farther away from him.

"Anyways," Charlie said. "Either plan can work. But I do not want to make Michael fight him if he does not have to."

"So, will you stand with us?" Charlie asked.

"I will," Alex said as he stood from seat. Rebekah, Sam, Alice and Aaron stood up.

"Of course I will," Alice told her with a smile. The younger wolves pushed themselves away from the bookshelves. A girl who I hadn't noticed at first hopped up the steps. When she noticed everyone standing she froze.

"Did I miss something?" she asked. Alice rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah I'll fight." she said as she straightened herself out. She had her hair dyed like fire. She was wearing a torn up tank top over some black skinny jeans and combat boots. Her makeup was heavy and dark around her eyes. She went over to stand by Alice.

"You fuckin' idiot," Alice whispered. She whispered back an apology. "Whatever, just pay attention."

"Alright, Jared said he would come once the baby was born. So now we have to wait." Charlie told them wolves. "Aaron, Sam, would you show them to the rooms to pick from?" Charlie asked them. They both nodded and pulled groups to go off down the two staircases.
"If anyone doesn't care which room they get, I can show you to the training room. It's awesome." Rebekah said. The younger wolf that spoke out at the beginning of the meeting and Alex followed Rebekah down to the training room. I narrowed my eyes slightly. Charlie moved over to me.

"Maybe you should follow them..." she trailed off. I pushed myself off of the bookshelf I was leaning against and went down to the training room. The door was cracked open slightly. I pulled it open and stepped inside. The younger wolf, Luke, was sprinting around the track happily. I glanced around. Alex and Rebekah were nowhere to be seen. I looked into the fake forest. Alex had Rebekah pushed up against one of the fake trees, his hands under her shirt. I watched in horror as Rebekah kissed Alex, a hungry, desperate kiss that she had never shared with me. I vaguely heard a trapped, strangled noise come out of my throat. Rebekah and Alex broke apart quickly. Rebekah tried calling after me as I ran, but I didn't listen.

***

I stared at the ceiling, completely clothed. My door pushed open. Rebekah poked her head through, and walked inside the doorway when she saw me laying down. "You look really tired." she commented. I pushed myself into a sitting position.

"You did it again." I said as I stared into the mirror on the dresser. My eyes were red from tears had I wiped away, bags hung underneath my shitty blue eyes. Rebekah sighed and came to sit next to me. "Don't you dare sit next to me like we used to." I said through clenched teeth. Rebekah sat down anyway.

"I loved you, you know that right?" I didn't say anything. "He's my mate, Michael." I turned away from the mirror to look at her. Her makeup was smeared down her cheeks from crying, her hair was messed up from pulling at it, her lips were swollen from chewing on them. "I can't choose who my mate is." Rebekah said. I sighed deeply.

"I know, Rebekah. I don't blame you, or Alex. It's not either of your faults. But it still hurts. I loved you a lot, I still love you." I stared straight into her eyes. "But, I really wish you would have told me before I caught you two making out in the training room." I snapped. Rebekah stared down at her shoes.

"One day, when you find your mate you'll understand. When you first see them, you can't control your emotions, or yourself really. Your self control and common sense completely shatter. You just want to be with them, and nothing you think about gets in the way in that moment." Rebekah said. She left the room with her bag slung over her shoulder, leaving me to my own devices.