Steel: The Transformation

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Jackson

Tim, Adrian and the others had eventually found me. They had pulled my stiff body into the van.
"Why did you stay there? Didn't you think it could be dangerous to stick around?" Tim asked me.
I sat at the back of the van, staring at Adrian who was driving. A small thought about whether he had borrowed the van from his dad with or without permission floated through my head.
"Jackson?" Tim snapped at me.
"I don't know, I didn't really think about it. I just thought I'd I stayed..." I broke off into silence. I didn't really know what I had been doing there, staring in to the woods where Wyhatt had disappeared. My body involuntary started shaking when I thought back at what had happened.
"They were so fast, I haven't seen anything like it before..." I fell back into silence.

Adrian pulled the car into the garage of his father's car mechanic company. The smell of petrol filled my nostrils, as I stumbled out of the van and into the darkness of the building. I locked eyes on a huge tool box, staggered over to it and sat down. A small voice in the back of my head was telling me I should be the alpha, that I should be in charge. I tried to muster up some energy.
"Here," Adrian handed me a sandwich from an old yellowed fridge in the corner. I stared at the stale bread for a moment before digging in to it. I chewed furiously through the dryness and as I continued to eat I felt some of my strength return back to me.
"Cleo's just texted me," Tim announced.
I looked up at him, still furiously chewing down on the dry bread.
"Yeah?" I said with a mouth full of crumbs.
"She says that they have called for back up, that they should know more in the morning."
I felt a lacklustre growl slowly bloom in my throat, "In the morning?"
Tim didn't respond but continued texting, his face lit up slightly by the glow of his phone screen.
"I think she's right," he announced.
I growled again.
"It will light in a few hours and it would be too risky for us to go out searching now." He shot me a quick glance, hesitating slightly before adding, "You should probably rest up, you don't look that well."

~*~

The sharp shrill of a mobile phone pushed me out of my shallow sleep, I turned my head. The cold concrete floor pushed against the side of my face. I looked up at Tim, who was on the phone. His face was set and serious. He had really stepped up when I had been out of it last night. I pulled myself up I could feel my limbs stretch, stiff from the few hours of sleep.

"We have to go," Tim said loudly.

"So we're going to Cleo's?" I asked some of the authority had come back into my voice.

"Yes. They know more about the Hunters than what we do. We need to see how they can help," his statement came out very matter of fact but his eyes was pleading for me to be reasonable. I knew what he was thinking, he was worried that I would let my own personal feelings colour the situation. I clenched my teeth, "Fine, let's get going then." My voice echoed through the garage and the rest of my pack turned their head to me. I waved towards the van and Adrian got in to the drivers seat before the rest of them piled in.

~*~

We walked up in a quiet procession to her front door. The restless sleep on the floor of Adrian's fathers garage had been uncomfortable but the food and the sleep had made me feel more like myself. I was still unnerved by the situation, feeling like I was constantly on edge. But my alpha had woken up within me again, chanting in my head that I needed to get back my pack member at all costs. Tim knocked on the door, I stared at the half washed away mark on the door. I felt anger swell within me at my own helplessness, that I had to go to Cleo and ask her for help. I was the alpha why did I need the help of Cleo and Alec to solve this situation?
"Come in," Alec said shortly and walked back in to the kitchen, leaving the front door open. Did he stay here last night? The bitter thought popped into my head.

Cleo was standing in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea. I looked at her and saw the dark circles underneath her eyes and the slight trimmer of her fingers. I felt a stab of pain, I had to use all my self-control to not run over to her and hug her. My protective impulses swelled within me and gave me a surge of strength. I looked over at Alec who had moved over to her, standing next to her. My pack gathered around the breakfast bar and followed Tim, standing next to him. My eyes were locked in on Cleo, trying to tell her through my look that I say that her worry. I wanted so badly to be able to wrap her in my arms and promise her that everything would be okay.
"We know that we have help coming," Alec spoke in a straightforward tone. "But we also known it will take more than 24 hours for help to get here." I heard a few of my pack members gasp at these news.
"We know that is too long to wait," her voice was fragile as she spoke.
"We need to do something now, we can't wait any longer," she looked over at me, her eyes filled with guilt and sadness.
"So what do we do then?" I heard myself say, my voice came out strong, my alpha tone was back in it.
"We go for out on a search mission," Alec stated. "We search the woods where they dragged him in." Cleo flinched slightly at his last sentence.
She asked the question that I was thinking, "What do we do if we find them?"
"We pull back and make a plan," Alec explained.
"And just leave him there?" I bellowed out, anger rising within me.
"Look," Alec's voice was sharp and his eyes flashed with gold for a moment, "The Hunters won't kill him yet. They are not satisfied with just one wolf. Their objective with taking Wyhatt is to draw us in, especially Basati."
I felt rage surge within me.
"So we would only be playing into their plan if we jumped straight in to rescue him?" Cleo said quietly.
He looked at her, his fierce expression instantly melted away. "Precisely," he said softly.
Another swell of anger rose up within me. Who had put him in charge? My eyes narrowed as I studied him. How come he knew so much about how the Hunters operated?
I looked over at Cleo, she was looking up at Alec. Her face was soft and she seemed calmer than she had done a moment before. I pushed down my anger, working hard to control my emotions. I wasn't going to cause a scene to make her feel worse about everything that had happened.
"Fine," I said and glared at Alec. I felt suspicion and anger bubble up within me again. It was very convenient how much he knew about the Hunters? How could he be certain that they wouldn't harm Wyhatt before they had drawn us in?