Adam's Pulse

Part 19

Chapter 19

A sigh escaped Adam’s mouth as he watched the headlights disappear down the road.  This was for the best.  The sigh was replaced by a snort.  He didn’t think that this half thought out plan was the best way to go about it, but he had to think on his feet, had to prove to them that he could be a leader, that he could put their safety at the top of his priorities.  He hoped that he had done that just now.

The porch step creaked beside him, but Adam knew that Zeke was there even before the noise.  “You did the right thing,” Zeke said in a low voice.

Nodding, Adam kept his eyes on the road, but she was gone.  “I didn’t like it.”

“Mind pushing a human isn’t something that you should like, Adam.”  He hesitated a moment.  “She wouldn’t have told them.  If I didn’t keep throwing images of her brother being bloodied up, she wouldn’t have told them anything.”

He glanced towards Zeke, wanting to believe the man, but he had seen it in Sloan’s eyes before they had even started their little plan.  She would do anything to protect her brother, and as much as Adam wanted to hate her for it, he couldn’t.  He would do the same for his family, for his misfit, thrown-together group.  There were no doubts in his mind that he would destroy whoever stood in the way of him protecting his family, and that was the only reason why he let Sloan go.

She deserved the chance to be saved, deserved to at least be given a chance to prove herself.  The only problem was that they were on borrowed time.  They didn’t have minutes to spare, waiting for her to come to these conclusions on her own.  So, Adam had suggested one thing that he hated.  Zeke got into her head.

“Since when does Tony walk through walls?” Adam said with a small smile on his face.  It looked as if his brothers liked to keep at least some of their abilities secret, not that Adam was surprised. 

Zeke chuckled.  “I don’t think he wanted anyone to know, but when you asked how to get someone to give her a key without opening the door, the man had to fess up.  I’ve gone through his mind before that, regular screening.  To him, walking through walls isn’t that much different from turning invisible.  His body just kind of fades away.  I don’t know how to explain it, and I doubt he would be able to either.”

“You sure you didn’t do any damage?”

“Yeah,” Zeke replied with a confident nod, knowing that Adam’s thoughts had quickly turned from Tony to Sloan.  “I just showed her things she had already seen, not things that were made up.  It doesn’t make it such a shock to her mind.  I did push her a little when she started to think good things about us.  I couldn’t let her think too much about the people she would be hurting.  If she did, she wouldn’t have called them up.”

“I’m doing the right thing,” Adam mumbled, half a question, and half a statement just to himself.

A hand smacked him in the shoulder, and even as Adam stumbled slightly, he knew that was Zeke’s way of showing affection.  “Of course you did.  Drew’s following behind the car; Tony is inside of it.  Nobody is going to get hurt.”

Frustration clawed up his throat as his hand slammed down on the bannister rail.  “I hate this.  I hate feeling so helpless.  There isn’t shit I can do, but sit here and wait for someone to come here.  What kind of life is that, Zeke?”

“It isn’t one,” he whispered.  “Do you regret it, Adam?  Do you regret everything that happened?”

“Regret it? No.  I just wish that I understood it.  Why did Ally save me like that?  I know it was the only way to keep me alive, but she could have let me die.”

“She’s not that type of leader,” Zeke began, but Adam ignored his words and kept speaking.

“Why did Blake save me like that?” he whispered, but his voice still cracked slightly.  “He should have let me die.  It was supposed to be me, Zeke.  One of us had to die, and it was supposed to be me.”

Zeke sighed, but Adam refused to look at the man.  He didn’t want Zeke to see the emotion in his eyes, didn’t want him to know that Adam was teetering on the edge.  “Everything happens for a reason, Adam.  You know that.  If Blake honestly thought that him living was the right way to go, he would have let that bullet fly straight into your heart.  He knew something that we don’t, because he risked it for you.  He gave his life away for something that he saw.  Don’t forget that, but don’t feel guilt about it either.  He wouldn’t have wanted you to feel guilty.”

Adam felt a laugh spill from his lips, and knew the sound was harsher than it should have been.  “That’s the problem.  I feel guilty for feeling guilty.”  This time, the laugh that escaped his mouth was genuine.  “I sound like an idiot, but I try.  For a while, I just let myself be bogged down by that guilt, but I knew he wouldn’t have wanted that.  He was a brother, and I had to respect his memory.  It’s hard though.”

“I know,” Zeke said, and for some odd reason, Adam thought he truly did.  “Enough of this.  I’m starting to believe it wasn’t only Ally’s ruthlessness that has rubbed off on you.”

Turning towards Zeke, Adam laughed.  “Yeah, I am starting to get emotional like her, aren’t I?  Another good reason to get this bond disconnected as soon as we can.”

Zeke looked out towards the road, and Adam knew the man’s thoughts were now on the one thing that they all hoped could help break that bond.  “She’s a good woman, but some are going to take a while to get used to her.  She’s a human, but she throws challenges out as if she’s a shifter.  It’s something that will get her killed if you don’t learn to work on it.”

“Where is she?”

The light blue eyes clouded over as Zeke tilted his head to the side.  “Tony said they’re near some abandoned house.”  Zeke frowned before mumbling a curse.  “He doesn’t know exactly where though, says he has a bad sense of direction.”

“Maybe we should have picked someone else,” Adam said while shaking his head in amusement.

“You got another shifter that can turn invisible and camp out in a girl’s backseat while she heads off to meet some kidnappers we know nothing about?”

“Now that I think of it, I may have a few on speed dial.”

A low growl escaped Zeke’s mouth, but the smile on his face let Adam know he wasn’t mad.  “Then call them up, boy.  We could use a few more of them around here.”

“Right on it,” Adam joked just as Zeke’s eyes clouded over again.

“She’s getting close.  Tony wants to know if they really can’t do anything but watch?  He says it’s not fair that they have them so close, but can’t do a damn thing about it.”

Adam rolled his eyes.  “Tell Tony to keep his excitement at bay, and while you’re at it, make sure Drew keeps his brother in check.  I just want them to get a look at the kidnappers.  We don’t know who or what they could be, and with Tony not being able to be seen or smelt, this is the perfect time to find out without letting them know were onto them.”

Zeke began nodding back slowly before he froze.  “You may want to wake Ally,” he hissed.

“Why?” Adam asked, even as he began walking towards the door.

“Looks like Luna wasn’t the only wolf in town.”