Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Fragmented Soul	By : StrawberryGirl87 & Bickymonster Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Fenrir Views: 79703 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the fandom. no money/profit is made.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Chapter 19 - Over
Carefully, so as not to dislodge the blade, Fenrir had picked up the young woman and carried her carefully back to the clearing. Lukas had trailed along in his wake, keeping his eyes and ears alert for any sign of a trap or a counter attack but there were none and they reached their clearing without incident.
Upon seeing the Alpha and Lukas return, another injured werewolf in Fenrir’s arms, Jenson just stared. “Not another one,” he said in disbelief as he went to the aid of the others; the Alpha male laying the injured young woman down close to the fire.
Even Harlan had dared to come closer and see what was going on. They had had to lay her on her side seeing as the blade was still sticking out of her back, the nasty wound oozing blood. Harlan recognized that blade easily enough as belonging to Axlar and he knew in that instant that she couldn’t be allowed to wake up. Whoever this girl was, she could potentially ruin everything.
“Who is she?” Jenson asked as he examined the wound.
He knew better than to pull the blade out for fear of making the wound worse or causing her to bleed out. Callie had been teaching her mate some basic medical magic but he wasn’t capable of dealing with anything as serious as this, not yet at least. Until Callie returned there was very little they could do for the injured Werewolf.
“Tessie,” Lukas said, telling them her name as he looked at her with pity.
She was looking rather worse for wear; her curled blonde hair was matted, broken twigs and leaves taught in the tangles; her face was marred with scrapes and the beginnings of some rather nasty bruises already forming on the skin that was exposed for them to see. Whatever had happened, this girl had been through hell and they could all smell the fear that still seeped from her pores.
“She has information,” Fenrir said gruffly, “it’s the only reason I brought her back. Keep her alive until she tells us what she knows," he added as an afterthought, "then we can decide what to do with her.” It seemed harsh but as the Alpha of the pack he had to be ruthless, he had to protect the pack; they already had one wolf in their midst who couldn’t be trusted who had somehow wormed his way in where he wasn’t welcome, they couldn’t have another.
Jenson and Lukas both nodded their understanding. They knew what this meant; they weren’t to get overly attached to this girl because it wasn’t guaranteed that she was going to survive into the night, even if she did survive her injuries. The pack already had Harlan to worry about, they couldn’t afford to have two wolves in their pack that couldn’t be trusted.
It was clear for all to see that the Alpha male was still very much on edge, his mood on the tipping point and it wasn’t likely to improve until Harry and the others had arrived back safely. The best they could do was follow his instruction and wait; with any luck the others would arrive back without any incident and then they could deal with Tessie.
It was a little over half an hour later when Callie appeared clutching Romy and Micha closely to her, Damon following close behind her with Clayton and a shaken looking Harry in his arms. Just to look at the group was to know that something wasn’t right with them. Harry looked as if he were about to pass out at any minute, he was so pale, and Damon seemed about ready to explode, he looked that riled up.
It took less than a half a minute before Fenrir was swooping down on them, demanding to know what had happened as he took in the agitated look of his Beta and his trembling mate. Harry fell into his Alphas arms, cuddling into his large chest and breathing in the familiar, comforting scent; the false bravado that had filled him upon being confronted by Lucius Malfoy and the other Deatheaters was long gone from the teenager.
“What the hell happened?” Fenrir demanded from his Beta wolf as he wrapped large, protective arms around his little mate.
Harry was determined to make the most of this feeling because he knew the Alpha had to be told about everything that had happened, including what he and Clay had done, and that Fenrir was bound to get really mad about it. Harry was content to just be in his mate’s arms, enjoying their cuddle, until the shit hit the fan and he wasn’t able to be there anymore.
Wisely, Callie, Romy and Micha backed off, the latter going to Harlan, kissing him in greeting, snuggling under his arm. Jenson took his mate and daughter in his arms, holding them close, glad that they were back in one piece but eager to know what had happened to make Harry so upset. Damon kept a firm grip on Clayton; the oldest of the three pups was not going anywhere, he was going to be there for the fallout of his actions.
“These two idiots decided it would be a fantastic idea to do a disappearing act for almost two hours,” Damon growled out through gritted teeth and then before the Alpha could speak he added, “and then some fucking Deatheaters cornered us and tried to take Harry to Voldemort; we were lucky to have got back at all.” That was it, in just over a minute Damon had relayed the important details of their shopping trip and Harry knew that cuddles were over.
Fenrir was furious. There was no doubting that. Harry felt his Alpha’s body tense up and instantly dropped his arms from around Fenrir’s waist, taking a step backwards, expecting rage, to be yelled at, but instead meeting the cold gaze that held undiluted fury at what he had just been told.
“Where did you go?” Fenrir asked, his voice was eerily calm. Harry could see that his fists were clenched by his sides and knew that the calm wasn’t actually calm at all, the man was a ticking time bomb and one wrong move would see him explode. Harry took another step backwards towards Damon and Clayton looking terrified; his mate was a kind and attentive man to him most of the time, but when he went into scary Alpha mode it was something to be feared.
“We stayed in Diagon Alley, we just wanted to explore, we stayed together and we were careful,” Harry said, his voice was weak and full of trepidation.
No one had noticed that Jenson had moved his mate and daughter much further away from the building confrontation. He knew what mood Fenrir had been in while they were gone and this was going to do nothing to improve it; he didn’t want his mate or daughter caught in the crossfire. The rest of the pack could see that it was about to get extremely ugly too and had all backed off a little, however, none of them could tear their eyes away.
“We turned that place upside down looking for you,” Damon raged before the Alpha had the chance to say anything, “you weren’t there!”
“Harry, where were you?” Fenrir asked again, his voice dangerously low, taking on board what his Beta had said.
It had been a long while since anyone had seen the Alpha get this angry, to the point where the volume of his voice was lowered and he seemed almost calm about it. It was truly terrifying to behold and Harry was struggling to keep control of his racing heart, his head in a spin. Too much had happened and he needed time to digest it but clearly he wasn’t about to be allowed that any time soon.
“We were just in Diagon Alley,” Harry bravely said again, maintaining the lie that he and Clay had agreed upon. It honestly didn’t matter about the skateboard or even that they had gone into muggle London, though they would no doubt be in trouble for that. It was the second item that Harry had wanted to pick up, an item that he had shrunk down and put in his pocket so to keep it hidden, wanting it to be a surprise.
Clay had shrunk down the skateboard too, though that was more because he knew that in the coming argument there was a risk that violent tempers would render it snapped in half and unusable, making their planning and their efforts in vain. They were both determined to not say anything in regards to where they had disappeared to.
“Don’t lie to me!” Fenrir suddenly roared, having had enough of the obvious lies. He knew that Damon wouldn’t have left anywhere unsearched if the two teenage boys had disappeared. He had no doubt that Harry and Clayton hadn’t been in Diagon Alley like his mate was adamantly stating they were. The shout had startled Harry as he hadn’t been expecting it and he took another tentative step backwards away from the Alpha, fear flooding him.
“We left a note, we said we’d be back,” Harry told him, changing tactics, his voice still soft as his hands trembled. After the confrontation with the Deatheaters he was feeling rather fragile; having his mate yell at him like this, when he just wanted to be held by him, wasn’t helping his delicate mental state at all.
“What was so fucking important that you put yourself in danger AGAIN!?” Fenrir yelled and Harry flinched at the harshness of the words. He hated this side of Fenrir, the calm and tolerant Alpha from this morning was nowhere to be seen, he was gone and had been replaced by the harsh brute that stood before them now. There was no trace of the softness that he reserved just for Harry, this was undiluted Alpha werewolf Fenrir Greyback.
“Stop yelling at him!” Clayton said in defence of his friend, struggling against his father, wanting to get between the infuriated Alpha and his clearly terrified best friend, wanting to protect him. “We both wanted to go, it wasn’t just Harry!”
“Stay out of it, Clayton,” Damon hissed, deciding it was time to drag his son away from the confrontation. This was between Fenrir and Harry now and the Beta could see as plain as day that it was about to get a lot more heated. If there was one thing that the Alpha wouldn’t tolerate was Harry going against the rules put in place to keep him out of harm’s way. He had deliberately put himself in danger today and it was the knowledge that he could have been taken by the deatheaters that were hunting him that had made Fenrir so angry.
The fact that Deatheaters were looking to take his mate to Voldemort at all was doing nothing to improve his mood, escalating his temper to a dangerous point. He dreaded to think what could have happened to his little mate while he wasn’t there to protect him and Harry was so decidedly determined to put himself in danger. It wasn’t the lies or Harry’s actions, it was his own failings too that made him so angry.
“But he did it for me!” Clayton protested as his father dragged him away from the Alpha and his mate. No one was paying any attention to what he was saying, if they had been then they might have got a clue as to what had happened in Diagon Alley, however everyone was too fixated on their Alpha pair to notice anything else.
“Explain, NOW!” Fenrir bellowed, stepping towards Harry, closing the distance between them. “No more lies!” He was furious, livid; rage was boiling in his gut that still his little mate insisted on putting himself in danger. He had never refused Harry anything without good reason and he couldn’t begin to imagine what Harry had been thinking to go running off AGAIN.
Deatheaters had tried to take him today, Aurors had attempted to take him before he had even come to the pack. The boy's own father had been killed by people looking for him and yet Harry still couldn’t get it in into his head that he needed to be more careful. Fenrir wasn’t trying to be harsh with him, he only wanted to keep his mate safe and out of harm. He cared for Harry, the thought that something might happen to him was truly terrifying for the large, domineering man. He had already lost one mate in his life time, one he didn’t care much for at all, he knew that if anything were to happen to Harry that it would be worse for him.
“We were in Diagon Alley,” Harry told him instantly; his voice cracked and wavered, his hands still shaking, and yet he still held a fierce determination in his eyes to maintain the lie no matter how angry Fenrir became.
“STOP LYING!” the Alpha roared.
“Stop treating me like some fragile little child who can’t do anything without an armed guard!” Harry shouted back finally losing his hold on his temper. He had had enough of being shouted at; he had only wanted to do something nice for Clay and for the Alpha too.
“You’re fifteen! You ARE a child!” Fenrir yelled right back, seemingly uncaring that the eyes of the entire pack were on them.
“I’m only a child when it’s convenient for you,” Harry raged, his anger building, “Did you think of me as a child this morning when you were…” Harry paused, hating that he felt like he was proving Fenrir’s point for him, by struggling to say the word sex, “...claiming me?”
“You begged for it,” Fenrir reminded him harshly before he could stop himself, his voice loud enough that Harry was sure that at least some of the others, if not all of them would have heard and that horrified the teenager. “I refused.”
Of all the things that Harry thought his mate might say in response to his accusations, he had never believed for a moment that Fenrir might throw that in his face. It shocked him; it was so out of the blue, that he didn’t stand a chance of hiding the hurt that showed in his expression; a traitorous tear escaping as it finally just all became too much. Fenrir saw and instantly regretted his words but he couldn’t take them back now.
“I won’t give you the chance to refuse me again,” Harry snapped at him as more tears welled in his eyes, threatening to fall. “I don’t want you to touch me ever again!” He was full on trembling, knowing his words were mostly in anger, and because of the humiliation he felt; he was half terrified that the Alpha might take him at his word.
“You’re mine! You won’t have a choice!” the Alpha raged; his anger had taken control of him now, it was almost as if he had no say in the words that were spilling from his mouth. He had never intended to treat Harry in this way but the teenager just seemed to know what buttons to push to bring out the worst in the Alpha wolf.
“Then try! I dare you! Maybe you can break me like Micha,” Harry retorted, trying to glare at the Alpha through his tears. The look didn’t exactly have the same malevolence that he hoped it might do. He felt so hurt and pathetic but he didn’t want to show Fenrir just how much he had been wounded by those words.
“Maybe then you’d fucking do as you’re told!” The Alpha wasn’t even sure why he’d said that, he never wanted to see another submissive wolf act the way that Micha did with Harlan. He thought it disgraceful what the little fuckwit had done to the other submissive male. To think of Harry being like that chilled the blood in his veins and made him want to lash out and hit something.
“Not fucking likely!” Harry yelled.
He had thought the idea of him being so broken would horrify Fenrir, he had practically told him that before, and yet now here he was implying that he would rather Harry was that way. He felt sick and terrified that this, whatever they had had together, might now be beyond repair. He knew that he would leave, even though he really didn’t want to, before he would let Fenrir break him that way.
“I am your Alpha,” Fenrir pointed out, as if that proved everything; as if it made everything he had done, and said, okay, when it never could. Not even the born werewolves who had been pack wolves their entire lives thought that being Alpha could fix everything the way you wanted it.
“And that means absolutely fuck all to me,” Harry yelled. “I was with you because I wanted to be, not because you have some serious ego issues and need a fucking power trip about being in control of every little thing. Well, guess what, you don’t control me and you never will!” Harry raged, allowing his anger to get the better of him as he wiped his tears away.
“We shall see,” Fenrir said, grabbing Harry roughly by the back of the neck, trying to make him see that what he had done was wrong but Harry started lashing out at him, hitting at the arm that held him. The Alpha didn’t want to do his little mate any physical damage but he needed to show that he was the one that was in control, that he was the leader of the pack, he had to make Harry understand that. His decisions and actions were done to keep them all safe, why couldn’t Harry understand that?
It took a moment before Fenrir realised that Harry was digging in his pocket and for a moment the Alpha thought his little mate was going for his wand; however when Harry brought out something else, which magically enlarged before his eyes, it was Fenrir’s turn to be a little startled. He couldn’t bring his brain to catch up with his eyes as he stared at the object in Harry’s hands.
“You really want to know what I was doing?” Harry shouted, furious that his surprise would be ruined, but it hardly mattered anymore if their relationship was broken anyway. He threw the brand new brown leather jacket at the Alpha. “I was getting you a Christmas present, it was meant to be a surprise.” Fenrir released Harry in shock, catching the jacket as it was thrown roughly in his direction, looking at it as if it might burn him. “Last time I do anything nice for you, you fucking bastard!”
“What are you doing?” another voice said over the Alpha pair arguing; it was Micha and he was staring at Harlan, who was stalking toward the still unconscious form of Tessie, a murderous gleam in his eye.
“Shut up and back off, Micha,” Harlan hissed as he reached the unconscious woman, taking hold of the blade that still protruded from her back, awaiting the special skills that only Callie had. He tore it from her body causing Tessie to suddenly regain consciousness with scream of agony. It was this scream that had everyone, including the Alpha turning their attention to what was going on closer to the fire.
“NO!” Micha screamed, “I won’t let you kill her, she hasn’t done anything wrong, she’s barely conscious!”
Clayton was the first one to react, charging at the knife wielding Harlan and, in that moment, Harry saw his opportunity; everyone was distracted, including the Alpha, and so he transformed into his animagus form, taking flight as a beautiful falcon. He didn’t want to have to be anywhere near the Alpha right now. He knew that if he ran then Fenrir would follow. His logic then dictated that instead of running he needed to at least be out of his reach for a little while so that he could organise his thoughts.
This was why Harry flew up one of the large trees, that had all but lost its leaves now that it was early December; he found himself a thick, sturdy branch, as high up as he possibly could and perched himself there. Transforming back into his human form so that he could better watch what was happening in the clearing below, satisfied in the knowledge that Fenrir, and his hurtful words, wouldn’t be able to touch him up here.
“Stop! No, stop,” Micha pleaded as Clayton planted his fist hard against the side of Harlan’s face.
He hadn’t wanted the girl to be hurt or killed, but he didn’t want his pack brothers attacking his mate either. He wrapped his arms around Clay’s neck and tried to pull him off Harlan, but despite their similar sizes he couldn’t budge the younger werewolf. Clayton ignored Micha’s attempts to stop him as he pulled his arm back again the punch the little fuckwit of a werewolf he had pinned down, but his elbow collided with Micha’s jaw making him release his grip on the pup and stumble backwards into the arms of Jenson.
Fenrir and Damon were already next to Harlan and Clay, pulling the pup off the omega wolf; the blade that Harlan had torn from Tessie’s back, had been discarded in the tussle with Clayton and was now thrown out of arm’s reach by the Alpha. He wanted Harlan to be stopped, but he wanted him restrained not dead, and the last thing they needed were more injuries.
“No! Leave him alone,” Micha screamed out, trying to get away from Jenson, who was maintaining a firm grip on the submissive, determined to keep him out of this fight.
“You don’t need to be here for this, Micha,” Jenson said sternly, but the younger wolf was having none of it and continued to fight to get back to Harlan, to help his mate.
“We just want to talk to him, Micha,” Damon said sternly, holding back Clay, who looked like he would very much like to punch Harlan again.
“Speak for yourself,” Clay muttered.
“Just tell them what they want to know, Harlan, please,” Micha pleaded, knowing that Fenrir’s patience was already at breaking point after his fight with Harry and given how much the Alpha didn’t trust Harlan, things could get bad, fast.
Callie, putting Romy into the arms and the care of Lukas, had rushed to the female wolf that she didn’t recognise. Tessie was sobbing; Harlan had ripped the blade out of her back so fiercely that it had done a lot more damage. Blood was practically pouring from the injury and she could hardly move her left arm at all, it hurt too much. Callie knew that she had to stop the bleeding and it was halfway tempting to knock Tessie unconscious again, leaving her awake just seemed cruel considering the agony she was in.
“I need bandages,” Callie shouted, though she didn’t direct this at anyone in particular, she wasn’t sure who to ask. No one was in a position to fetch them for her, not really, and Harry seemed to have vanished again, though she was loathed to point that out until things had settled down a little. The Alpha didn’t need that distraction right now.
“I’ll go, Mum,” Romy said, wanting to get away from the bloodshed and violence that was making her feel a little sick to the stomach.
“Clayton, go with her,” Damon ordered, wanting to get his son away from the clearing so that the pup could have a chance to get his head together, knowing that sending him with Romy was the best way to ensure he did as he was told.
“But, Dad…” Clayton went to protest.
“No, the strays might be lurking around the territory, you go with her and you protect her, NOW!” Damon insisted; if Clay thought that the girl was in danger he would be sure to stay with her and protect her no matter what.
“Please, Clay,” Romy said, her eyes wide and fearful at the mention of the strays, suddenly not wanting to wander off on her own. At her words Clayton caved, there was no way that he could have denied her anything when she pleaded with him like that and gave him that look.
“Okay, come on,” he said, taking her hand in his own, giving her a reassuring smile as they headed off into the woods, to fetch the supplies Callie would need. Clay could see how much Romy needed him to be strong for her at that moment; she really hated the fighting.
“Start talking, fuckwit,” Fenrir growled as Clay and Romy wandered off towards the cave, he bore his teeth in Harlan’s face as he held the wolf by his neck, he wanted to know what Harlan had been thinking. The omega had gone to kill Tessie and he wanted to know why.
“Spy…” Tessie gasped out between her sobs, her eyes focused intently on Harlan as the gathered wolves turned to stare at her in surprise.
“No, she’s lying, she has to be lying,” Micha said in disbelief after a few moments of silence had descended upon them, none of them able to comprehend what Tessie was saying as she spluttered out the word several times over.
“Got nothing to say for yourself?” Damon asked, prowling towards the werewolf being restrained by Fenrir. He had wanted to hurt Harlan for a long time now and it seemed that he was finally going to be given the chance to do just that.
“Stupid bitch,” Harlan snarled out as he attempted to pry the Alpha’s fingers from his throat, “should have slit her throat quicker.”
Fenrir roared angrily, he didn’t particularly trust the new girl but she was obviously telling the truth given Harlan’s reactions combined with the little fuckwit’s attempt to silence Tessie. “Knew I should have killed you,” he snarled, picking Harlan up by the neck and slamming him down hard against the ground.
“Don’t!” Micha cried out, struggling against Jenson still, wanting to reach Harlan, to protect him from the Alpha’s temper. He couldn’t believe that he was a spy, he refused to believe it.
“Fuck off, Micha,” Harlan shouted as Fenrir released his throat to pin him to the ground more firmly, but the words still came out broken and muffled from the pressure the Alpha was putting on him. “You’re so fucking broken now, that I can’t even find you amusing anymore.” If he was going to die, which was looking damn well likely, he wasn’t going to do it with that little whore of a submissive mourning him.
“You don’t… you can’t…” Micha stuttered, his legs feeling weak with shock. It was fortunate that he had Jenson wrapped around him because otherwise he might have fallen to the ground at the shock of Harlan’s words.
“Come on,” Jenson said, trying to pull Micha away from the scene; the fallout from it all was going to be bad enough without Harlan spitting out more hateful things in Micha’s direction. If he could only get him back over to the fire where Callie was trying to stop the bleeding in Tessie’s back and away from whatever the Alpha was going to do with Harlan which wasn’t going to be pleasant.
“You don’t mean that...please…” Micha gasped out, fighting against Jenson to stay close to his mate, not wanting to believe what it was that he was hearing. Harlan cared for him, loved him… he had to. He clung desperately to the arm Jenson had around him, as though scared the rest of the world might start crumbling away too, with the beliefs that Harlan was shattering.
“You don’t speak to him,” Fenrir raged, wanting to protect the last shreds of the person that Micha had been before Harlan had come into their lives. “You won’t hurt him again.”
Romy and Clayton had returned, both of them heading for the fire to hand over the medical supplies they had brought from the cave. Clay was itching to get back to the confrontation; he wanted a piece of Harlan as much as anyone else did. Lukas however, who was stood halfway between the fight with Harlan and the fire where the rest of the pack had gathered, predicted what Clay might do and gave him a warning look. This was no fight for a pup to be involved in. Lukas remained where he stood, ready to stop the eldest pup from joining in if that was what it came to.
“I wouldn’t want to touch him again; fucking pathetic bitch, you know he believed that what I did to him was normal. I let the knot form and then I ripped out of him, just to hear him scream. That was the one thing he was good at, he screams like the little bitch he is.” Harlan laughed as best he could at the memory, “Now no one will want him, he’s damaged goods.”
“You loved me…” Micha cried out, desperately clinging to the belief even as the lie was laid out before him, torn between the conflicting emotions of love and hate that he felt for Harlan and the hateful bile he was spewing in that moment.
“I loved fucking with you,” Harlan laughed harshly. “He had never been with a man before me and virgins are always the most fun!”
“You’re as evil as the rest of them,” Tessie said between gasps of pain, looking at Harlan in horror, crying out in agony as Callie increased the pressure on the still bleeding wound as she tried to apply bandages to stop the bleeding.
“I’m going to make you hurt twice as much as you ever hurt Micha,” Fenrir told him; Micha was as precious to him as every member of his pack and to hear the confessions of what the bastard of a werewolf had done to him boiled his blood. “We take care of our own here.”
“Big words for an Alpha who keeps losing his own submissive bitch,” Harlan said with a sneer, “I applaud you for what you said to him by the way, so vindictive.”
Fenrir wiped around, looking for any sign of Harry and realising that Harlan was right, his mate was gone. In the split second where the Alpha’s attention had been diverted the omega wolf took his opportunity and went in for the attack. He managed to lift his head up enough to clamp his jaws in the forearm of the Alpha.
Damon was on him in an instant, putting pressure on the back of Harlan’s neck until he released the Alpha’s arm, restraining him as Fenrir regained his breath, checking his arm but only for a second.
“FUCK!” The Alpha swore upon realising that Harry really was nowhere to be seen and not at the base of his tree or anywhere else in the clearing. When was that boy going to learn to stay put? Though perhaps Harlan had had a point, maybe he had been too harsh with the teenager. “Where the hell has he gone now?” he asked the rest of the pack but it was the omega that answered him.
“The way he took flight, I doubt you’ll ever see him again,” Harlan said with a cocky smile. No one else caught on to the meaning of these words but something seemed to click in Clay’s mind. While everyone else panicked, looking around for Harry, trying to think where he had gone, Clay looked up into the sky and that was when he saw him.
“Shall I go and look for him, my Alpha?” Jenson asked, he was still restraining Micha but there was no one else to send; he would take Micha with him if he had to.
Harlan let out a cackling laugh which was silenced by the punch Fenrir landed on the side of his head, which rendered him unconscious. He was sure that the bastard traitor would make a break for it, if given a chance, and he knew he needed to focus on finding Harry. By this time Micha was sobbing, the realisation sinking in that Harlan had never felt anything for him. This knowledge was suffocating him as he gasped to take in enough oxygen to keep himself alive.
The Alpha dragged Harlan to the edge of the clearing and pinned him against one of the larger trees. “Bind him,” he ordered and Damon cast ‘incarcerous’, summoning thick ropes that wrapped around Harlan’s unconscious body and the tree and held him in place.
“Umm… My Alpha?” Clay said hesitantly, trying very hard not to be amused at where his best friend had settled. Amusement wasn’t going to get the best reaction from any of the adults right now given the situation.
“WHAT?!” Fenrir yelled, rounding on the eldest pup. He still considered Clayton at least partially responsible for the events which had led to his and Harry’s argument, and therefore part of the reason that his little mate was missing… again.
“I know where he is,” Clayton said before the Alpha could yell at him anymore, he pointed to the top of one of the trees where the entire pack turned to see a very stubborn and upset teenage boy sitting way out of reach of any of them, at least eighty foot up in the air in a tree.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING UP THERE!?” Fenrir raged.
“How the hell did he even get up there?” Romy asked in amazement. She wasn’t one to swear normally but Harry was so far up the tree that it was a wonder he had managed to climb so high.
“He’s an animagus, he turns into some form of bird, he probably flew up there,” Damon explained with a tired sigh.
“Isn’t that impossible for Werewolves?” Tessie asked, unable to hold back her curiosity as Callie bound her shoulder.
“Not for Harry, apparently,” Clayton said, struggling to maintain his amusement as he watched Harry tuck his legs up against his body, leaning against the trunk of the tree, balancing himself rather precariously. Harry was either oblivious that the entire pack’s attention was now on him, or deliberately ignoring them. Clayton was willing to bet that Harry was deliberately ignoring them though.
“HARRY!” Fenrir bellowed up to the teenager. “He’ll fall,” he said, turning to Damon, not even bothering to mask the concern in his voice.
“Not likely, Fenrir,” Damon assured him. He had been watching Harry get into dangerous spots for a decade and the boy was surprisingly good at not getting hurt considering.
“And even if he does, he will just transform and fly,” Clay added.
Fenrir however was not comforted or impressed by his Beta wolf’s reassurances, he was convinced that at any minute Harry could fall to his death. It didn’t exactly look like a very safe spot to sit. He was already feeling guilty about what he had said to Harry to drive him up there, he wouldn’t be able to cope if Harry fell and hurt himself and there was absolutely no way he could get up there himself to protect his little mate. What had he done?
“COME DOWN HERE… CAREFULLY!” Fenrir shouted.
“YOU DON’T CONTROL ME!” Harry shouted back stubbornly.
“Apparently not,” Fenrir grumbled under his breath, though not loud enough for even the others to pick up, he couldn’t exactly admit to the rest of the pack that he couldn’t control his adolescent mate.
“I’ll stay here, my Alpha,” Damon said, “I think you need to deal with our other problem,” he told him, nodding his head towards where Harlan was regaining consciousness.
“Fuck!” Fenrir cursed; he really hated this day. “Fine! Stay here, do NOT move from this spot,” the Alpha ordered his Beta. “If he falls and you don’t catch him, I’ll kill you!”
“Duly noted, my Alpha,” Damon said, having just as difficult a time as his son at keeping the amusement out of his tone; he might have been a little worried if he wasn’t so damned certain that Harry wasn’t going anywhere at the moment, deliberately or by accident. That stubborn teenager was going to stay up there for however long he needed to be there and there was very little that any of them could do about it.
While the Alpha and his Beta had been failing to talk Harry down from his tree Micha had remained sobbing in Jenson’s arms, apparently inconsolable. Callie, with the help of Romy, was still patching up Tessie; while Lukas and Clayton were keeping a close eye on Harry, just in case.
Harlan groaned. He had a headache now, great; this day just got better and better, he thought to himself. He forced his eyes open and was met with the glaring and furious faces of Clayton and Lukas; well it could have been worse, it could have been the Alpha. Almost as if on cue, he noticed that Fenrir was heading his way and that expression definitely didn’t bode well for his life expectancy.
“Let’s see if you’re any use as an omega,” Fenrir growled in his face, before punching him in the gut; he really did need some stress relief after all.
It hurt, a lot, the large Alpha could really throw a punch, and with the tree behind him Harlan was certain he had internal injuries now. Not that that would matter, he knew he was going to be dead in a matter of hours. The more internal injuries the better, in his mind; the sooner it would all be over. He was sure that the Alpha wasn’t going to let him go quickly. He would pay for the fun he had had, but it had been worth it.
“Why’d you come here?” Fenrir demanded to know, he held out little hope of getting answers from Harlan, but hoped he might get him to say something; something that he might be able to use to verify Tessie’s version of things later.
Harlan let out a broken laugh; he didn’t really care about keeping Gideon or Voldemort’s secrets anymore, but he would hold his tongue just to spite Greyback. He had accepted that he was going to die, the only thing that mattered now was if he went fast or slow. It was the former he would prefer, he’d do only what was needed to get a fast, relatively painless death.
Fenrir smiled a large toothy grin of delight when Harlan didn’t answer him. If the omega wasn’t going to talk then the Alpha was going to have his fun. He had been wanting to do this for a very long time. Roughly grabbing hold of one of Harlan’s wrists he toyed with each finger, musing to himself thoughtfully.
He heard the omega’s breath hitch the moment he realised what was going to happen. Fenrir couldn’t withhold his glee at the scream that ripped out of Harlan’s throat as he broke one of his fingers.
“One down, nine to go,” Fenrir said with a sadistic smile. “Now who’s screaming like a little bitch?”
“Don’t forget his toes too,” Damon said, though he wasn’t going to risk moving from beneath Harry. However, he was going to watch each act of torture the Alpha delivered and he was going to listen to each and every scream Harlan made and he was going to enjoy it. The little fuckwit had hurt his Micha and Harlan was going to suffer for what he had done.
“Don’t worry,” Fenrir said without turning to look at his Beta, “I’ll break every single bone in his body before I’m done.”
The moment Harlan’s first scream of pain rang through the clearing the quietly sobbing Micha in Jenson’s arms became completely hysterical. Jerking his body around to try and get free as he cried out. “No, no, no…” Micha sobbed loudly, the words, barely intelligible, breaking Jenson’s heart.
Micha was hyperventilating, his breath coming in little short puffs, and his crying was not making it any easier on him. He knew now that things with Harlan were not how they should have been, in a way he had always known, but he still loved the other werewolf in spite of himself. He understood that Harlan had to be punished, but he desperately wanted to get to his mate so that he could try to stop Fenrir from just killing him outright.
Despite his larger size and greater strength, Jenson was having trouble keeping his grip on the completely distraught werewolf in his arms; though it was becoming easier as Micha’s muscles began to tense and spasm from his hyperventilating. They could still see and hear far too much from where they were and so, summoning all his strength, Jenson lifted Micha up and bodily carried him to the furthest point in the clearing from where Harlan was bound.
“Stop… make… stop… no,” Micha said, his words coming out as gasps as he struggled to breath. His muscles hurt and his heart felt worse, his chest was restricting, stopping him from taking the air he needed and his head was spinning uncontrollably. He was starting to lose the strength to fight and when Jenson sat down, pulling him down with him he just allowed himself to be moved.
Jenson pulled Micha so that he was sitting sideways, leaning against his chest; his strong arms holding Micha in place as the younger werewolf continued to have a panic attack, one of his own legs over Micha’s to prevent him from being able to kick out.
“Hurts…”
The word was little more than a whimper, but Jenson heard it and he hated Harlan more in that single moment than the rest of the time the bastard had been with the pack put together. He loathed him so much he wished that he could take the Alpha’s place and inflict some of his own torture on the bastard that had reduced his pack brother to a shell of his former self.
“I know, take deep breaths,” he instructed, rocking Micha in his arms; it was slightly strange comforting the full grown man that way, but it was what his pack brother clearly needed and as much as Micha drove him crazy, he still loved him.
He made sure his arms held on to the younger wolf securely, not wanting to let him go any time soon. They could still hear Harlan’s screams as each finger was broken individually by the Alpha. Jenson was relishing each scream but he knew that Micha wasn’t faring so well with the sounds ringing in his ears. Jenson could only imagine how he would feel if it was Callie’s screams he was hearing now. That was the thought that kept him holding Micha close to his chest rather than rushing over to help the Alpha torture the traitorous little shit.
As Callie finished binding the wound on Tessie’s shoulder she cast a glance over towards her mate who was over the other side of the clearing, holding on to Micha as if his life depended on it. She was oddly proud of him; the two males didn’t really get on that well but seeing Jenson holding Micha, comforting him, it warmed her heart and made her love him even more.
“How are you feeling, Tessie?” Callie asked as she helped the female werewolf sit up, both of them trying to ignore the screams coming from Harlan.
“Honestly? Like someone put a knife in my shoulder,” she said with a wry smile. “But better than before, I don’t feel like I am about to pass out anymore,” she added seriously.
“Well that is definitely a good sign,” Callie told her, glad that they had been able to stop the bleeding.
“He’s going to have quite a few questions for me when he’s done, isn’t he?” Tessie said with a glance towards Fenrir as Harlan let out a howl of pain and she winced at the sound, fearing that it might be her on the receiving end when the Alpha was done with Harlan.
“I think that’s to be expected,” Callie responded sympathetically.
“He isn’t going to…” Tessie looked nervously over at the Alpha again, as Harlan continued to scream, “...torture me, is he?” she asked, flinching as pain shot through her still almost completely useless left arm.
“We wouldn’t have wasted the supplies healing you if the Alpha was just going to torture you,” Callie reassured her. “But the more you can tell him the safer you’ll be.”
“I’ll tell him whatever he wants to know,” Tessie said, meaning it, Callie gave her a nod of approval. Callie had been about to leave when Tessie asked, “Is that boy safe up there?” gesturing to Harry with her uninjured arm.
Lukas laughed at the question. “That ‘boy’ has been in far worse scraps than that,” he told her, amusement in his tone.
“Is it always like this?” she asked, shaking her head; this pack was really quite something else but she thought it might be in a good way.
“Minus the blood and torturing, yes,” Lukas told her. He would have added minus the arguing too but that would be a lie. Someone was always bickering with someone else and usually it was the Alpha pair but that was what made them so special to each other.
“He’s quite the dominant male,” Tessie said halfway impressed, “to stand up to the Alpha the way he did when he’s still only a teenager.”
“Oh, he isn’t a dominate,” Romy explained, giggling in amusement at Tessie’s misunderstanding, “he’s the Alpha’s mate.”
“He’s a submissive?” she queried with disbelief, as Callie strapped her arm into a makeshift, temporary sling.
“Yep,” Lukas said, actually feeling very proud of his pack brother’s strength and resilience. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
Tessie glanced up once more, at the teenager up the tree, who was stubbornly rebelling against his Alpha, who was also apparently his dominant mate. It seemed that the other werewolf, who had been ordered to stay under the tree in case he fell from the massive height, was not having much success with talking the teenager down.
“Harry, please,” Damon shouting up to the stubborn teenager, his tone pleading. “Come down!”
“NO!” Harry shouted back. “Not until Fenrir apologises.”
“Because that’s likely to happen,” Damon muttered under his breath. “Those two are bloody made for each other, so damn stubborn, the pair of them.”
“Dad, let me try,” Clayton said, rubbing his hands together. “This won’t be the first time I’ve talked him out of a tree.”
Damon raised an amused eyebrow, “Do I want to know?” Honestly he was glad that Harry was proving enough of a distraction to keep Clayton from trying to assist the Alpha; that was not something he wanted his fifteen year old son taking part in, no matter how much he approved of what was happening to the omega.
“Probably not, Dad,” Clayton said before looking up at Harry. “I’M COMING UP!” he called.
“DON’T BOTHER!” Harry yelled back, he was sure he was high enough that even Clay wouldn’t be able to reach him, unlike the last time when they’d both ended up with broken bones.
“You can’t stay up there forever, Harry,” Damon shouted, the whole situation was just so Harry that he couldn’t help but be amused. “Because that’s how long it’ll take for Fenrir to apologise,” he added to himself, careful not to even let Clay hear him.
“Watch me!” Harry insisted stubbornly.
“Dad, he isn’t going to be talked down,” Clay said with a roll of his eyes. Harry was in one of his moods and Clay knew better than most just how impossible his best friend could be to reason with.
“I fear you might be right, Clayton,” Damon said, shaking his head as he let out a sigh. “Alright, do what you can,” he agreed, gesturing to the tree.
“You won’t be able to get up here,” Harry called down. “Not like last time!” He was doing his best to focus on Clay and Damon on the ground beneath him, rather than the sickening sounds of whatever his mate was doing to the traitorous bastard, Harlan.
Brute Alpha version of Fenrir, who didn’t have a kind bone in his body, was in full swing the evening, it seemed and Harry hated it; he hated when the Alpha was like this, unrecognisable from the kind man he had almost had sex with that morning. It felt like an age ago when the two of them had been rutting in the forest before leaving for Diagon Alley. The evening was steadily drawing in and it was going to be getting dark soon but so much had happened that it felt like it had been days rather than hours.
“That sounds like a challenge, Harry,” Clayton responded. “Have you forgotten the last time you tried to stay in a tree?”
“The last tree you got me out of was not half as big as this one, Clayton," Harry pointed out. “And I really don’t fancy having even more broken bones than last time.”
"I'm always up for a challenge," Clay said, rubbing his hands together. “And broken bones won’t bother you, you can’t feel pain, remember?”
“Clayton,” Damon said with a warning tone in his voice, “I don’t want ANY broken bones, on either of you.” He had a funny feeling that he knew which time they were talking about now and he had always wondered how they had managed it because at the time they hadn’t said a word about how or why, now he was positive that he still didn’t want to know.
“Yeah, yeah,” Clayton said dismissively, “you worry too much.”
"If you fall on your arse I'm going to laugh" Romy told him, having come over to watch the display; it was a good distraction from the brutality that was taking a place across the clearing.
Damon was glad that the pups were sufficiently distracted because he was sure that even he didn’t want to see what Fenrir was doing to make Harlan make the noises he was currently making anymore, despite his hatred towards the werewolf. He was always glad to see, when he spared a glance in their direction, that Jenson seemed to be managing to calm Micha somewhat; though, they all knew it was going to be some time before Micha was himself again.
“What are they going to do?” Tessie asked Lukas and Callie, watching the group gathered beneath the tree with interest.
“I think Clay’s going to try and climb up there,” Lukas stated calmly. Tessie gave him a look of surprise, werewolves were not known for their tree climbing ability.
“Are you all this crazy?” she asked with wide eyes as she tried to figure just how high up the boy was, the tree had to be at least… eighty foot tall?
“Pretty much,” Callie told her. “Stick around, you’ll get used to it.”
It was such a contrast to the pack she had run from; they were every bit as much of a ragtag group as Gideon’s pack but the difference was immeasurable. These people around her now clearly loved and protected each other; she didn’t quite understand all the dynamics of the group, or who was what to who, but she really hoped she was allowed to stay long enough to find out.
She knew that it was up to the Alpha in the end and she would do everything she could to make him agreeable to allowing her to stay. Voldemort had slaughtered her family, everyone other than her cousin and little sister. She felt as if she might be able to call this place home if she were permitted to stay, this pack was truly something else.
Clayton had fallen out of the tree several times and received several bumps, cuts and bruises, though no broken bones as of yet, for his trouble; but after his fifth attempt, they still weren’t anywhere nearer to coaxing the stubborn teenager out of the tree. Though, Damon suspected that Harry would be rather amused by Clay’s attempts and an improvement in his mood wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Fenrir was still rather enjoying himself, and seemed completely absorbed with inflicting as much suffering as possible on Harlan, who was whimpering rather than screaming now, his throat raw from his previous cries that had done him no good at all.
Romy and Lukas were both in utter hysterics, as they observed Clay’s attempts, clutching their sides which had stitched up with their manic laughter. Even Damon was close to ending up in a similar state as the other two, at the state of his son. Clayton was so stubbornly determined to reach Harry that he was showing no signs of giving up his battle with the tree, though he was getting slightly irritable about being laughed at.
“Why don’t you try then if you’re so clever,” Clay said to his Dad as Damon snorted in amusement as he fell and landed on his behind with a thump.
“But you’re doing so well,” Damon teased.
Even Harry had a small smile on his face from his position in the tree at Clayton’s many failed attempts to reach him, though none of the others could see it. It wasn’t helping poor Clay that Harry had jinxed the tree with anti-climb spells that were causing him to lose his footing. However, that was going to remain Harry’s little secret.
Micha was still sobbing desperately into Jenson’s chest; they had been joined by Callie, who had fixed up Tessie as best she could and had told her to rest until the Alpha needed her. Tessie had thanked her profusely and finally fallen asleep by the fire after watching Clayton’s first two attempts up the tree before her exhaustion won out.
“DAMON!” Fenrir shouted, taking them all by surprise.
“None of you leave the base of this tree, if Harry falls, for the love of Merlin, catch him,” the Beta said before running over to the Alpha. “Yes, my Alpha,” he asked, wanting to show every ounce of respect to the man who was soaked in blood that was not his own.
“He’s close to death already but I thought you might like the honour of killing him,” Fenrir said offering over a blade, the same one that Harlan had ripped out of Tessie.
“My Alpha?” Damon questioned, startled at the offer, staring at the offered knife in shock.
“I’ve seen how you look at Micha,” he told his Beta bluntly, “the kill should be yours.”
“I…” Damon began but could find no words, he had never admitted it to anyone, he hadn’t even realised he’d looked at Micha differently to everyone else; he supposed Fenrir really did watch them all closely, he had to if he had noticed such minute details about their lives. “Thank you,” he finally said, accepting the knife that was offered and the Alpha gave a curt nod.
Kneeling down Damon studied the once handsome face of Harlan, he was now unrecognisable from the man he had been mere hours ago. His face was swollen and bloodied, both his sage green eyes were lost in a mass of bruises and cuts. His lip was split and his broken nose trickling out blood.
Fenrir had kept his promise, it looked as if every single bone in the omega wolf’s body was broken and several were even jutting out through his skin. His legs stuck out at unnatural angles and his fingers were all misshapen and bent backwards. It was a horrifying and yet oddly satisfying sight to behold but he was glad that Micha would never see it. Damon loathed admitting just how happy it made him to see Harlan in such a state; he was not a violent man by nature but Harlan had earned every second of pain he suffered and more.
The Alpha had even taken the time to remove his shoes and socks, so to break each individual toe. It was a torturing session that had taken time and dedication, something he wouldn’t have had the stomach for himself. However, that was why Fenrir would always be Alpha, Damon just didn’t have the strength to do that.
The Beta wolf handled the blade with care and attention, it was a fine hunting weapon and had clearly belonged to one of the strays, to have found it buried so deeply in Tessie’s shoulder. He dreaded to think what other awful acts had been committed with this knife but there was at least one more that it had to do.
Damon considered drawing it out, but Harlan was already barely breathing, and there wasn’t anything much left to cut or break. He couldn’t tell if Harlan was conscious or not, his eyes were so swollen, but it didn’t matter now. He took a deep breath as he pressed the blade against the werewolf’s neck, just hard enough that fresh droplets of blood gathered around the blade.
It should have been easy, he had thought it would be such a simple thing to do but he felt emotional, tearful almost. And then there was a strong hand on his shoulder, that he knew was Fenrir’s and he pressed forward. A single strong, swift and bloody stroke across Harlan’s throat and it was over, both of them covered in Harlan’s blood as it sprayed from his throat in the wake of the blade. He could see as Harlan's heart beat a couple more times, pumping blood out of the fatal wound before a sombre heaviness seemed to fill the clearing.
The reality of it settling in and bringing an eerie silence with it as even the pups stopped to let the moment wash over them; it was broken only by the soft defeated sobs from Micha that they could all hear, clear as day even from across the clearing. He knew that his mate was now dead. Damon headed silently towards the stream, intending to wash away the blood, looking over at where his son was offering what comfort he could to Romy who had curled into his chest so she didn’t have to see.
Harry felt frightfully alone, as the others clung to each other below him. Hated as he was, Harlan had just died; had his life taken away for his poor choices and actions. Despite his crimes against them all it seemed that they still were able to respect his death in a way. They wouldn’t cry for him, they wouldn’t mourn him, but they wouldn’t dance or celebrate his murder either. They weren’t monsters, not like him and the rest of the strays. They still had their humanity.
Harry looked over at Fenrir from his perch in the tree, he wasn’t sure if he loved or hated the man right now. He had watched as Fenrir had destroyed the body of a man, as evil and as horrible as Harlan had been, he had still been a living breathing person. That version of Fenrir Greyback wasn’t someone that Harry knew; his mate was kind, at least to him and allowed him his cheekiness.
The Alpha that had shouted at him today, that hadn’t been the mate that he had come to know and care for. He found himself torn between flying down from the tree and demanding a cuddle from his overbearing, over protective mate and staying up in the tree, out of their grasps for a while longer.
Looking at Micha now Harry’s mind was made up. He knew that Fenrir would have to leave to get rid of Harlan’s body, as destroyed as it was, and once the Alpha was gone he would go and see to Micha. He felt compassion towards his fellow submissive. Harry had almost lost Fenrir, he knew that pain, Micha would need him tonight.
“I’m going to dispose of the body,” Fenrir informed his Beta, as Damon returned from the stream. “I want Harry down from that tree when I get back.” Damon nodded, having no clue exactly how he was going to manage that but knowing that he would do everything in his power to make it happen.
Fenrir said nothing more as he lugged Harlan’s battered corpse over his shoulder, the pack watching on as he disappeared between the trees as he headed deep into the woods.
Harry watched him go, waiting for a few minutes to pass to ensure that Fenrir wasn’t just dumping him close by to be dealt with later. He shuffled about on his branch, shifting so that he was squatting there, needing to be in the right position so that he didn’t topple off mid transformation. He had done this plenty of times and wasn’t exactly worried.
“Dad, look,” Clay said in almost a whisper, as though drawing attention to what he had spotted might change it. He had glanced up into the tree and saw that Harry had started to transform. They watched as the graceful falcon took flight, Clayton glaring at the beautiful bird. “All that effort and he just comes down,” he grumbled under his breath.
Everyone of them watched as the falcon landed and swiftly, without a care in the world, became Harry again. No one moved, no one said anything, they just watched as the teen, whose face was streaked with tears, strolled up to Micha.
“He didn’t just come down,” Damon said quietly to his son, “he’s come down for Micha.”
Damon’s words couldn’t have been more true as Harry silently offered his hand out to the still sobbing Micha, who was struggling to get his breathing back under control. Without question or hesitation the older of the two submissive wolves took the outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
The entire pack that was present in the clearing, and not asleep, watched as Harry and Micha ventured a little closer to the fire and lay down together. Micha seemed hesitant for a moment, but Harry smiled softly and finally they lay down facing one another; and after a moment Harry reached out, his arms wrapping them around Micha, drawing them a little closer together.
The pack felt like they were holding their breath, waiting for Micha to react badly to someone being so close, as he had done in recent weeks, but instead the embrace was returned, their foreheads resting against each other’s, the tips of their noses touching and everyone knew that they were both crying. The two of them had been through the ringer today and it was clear that they needed each other. They hadn’t even said a single word, it was just silently understood that what they were feeling was mutual and just holding on to one another was enough.
FGHP
Fenrir traipsed through the woodland that surrounded their clearing. It had been a long day and it seemed that Harlan’s death had had a huge impact on the pack; he was keen to get this done with and get back to them. He was still worried about his mate, and the precarious position he was in up the tree, and he was just praying that his stubborn mate didn’t insist on trying to stay up there all night and knowing Harry it was entirely possible that he might try.
The weighty corpse of Harlan hung heavily over the Alpha’s shoulder, but he had a way to go yet. He knew exactly where he was going to leave the body of this little shit and exactly what he was going to do to him as well. Killing him slowly, torturing him to death the muggle way was just too good for the fuckwit. There was more humiliation for him to suffer yet, even in death.
It worried Fenrir just how much information Harlan might have passed to the pack of strays already. He would have to sit down and work out what he could have possibly passed on to them. Everything of importance that had happened, everything he would have seen. Only then would they know exactly what Gideon knew about them.
Once they had worked that out, then Jenson was going to have to start talking whether he liked it or not. He and Gideon were brothers, there was no denying that, their scents had given them away the moment he had met Gideon, even if he had had other priorities at the time. But that meant that Jenson would know Gideon better than anyone else. If they were going to kill them all, which was Fenrir’s intention now, then they would have to know them and that meant everything; strengths and weaknesses. Both could be exploited and even if that meant discussing what Romy had been through in detail, then so be it.
He reached the boundary of his territory and stared out into the woodland beyond. The strays were out there, plotting against him and his pack, he was sure of that; he just really hoped they got the message he was about to leave them. It was perhaps reckless to head directly into the stray’s territory with no one to back him up but he was not going to leave them finding Harlan to chance.
He stepped through the wards and headed forward; it was difficult to identify much by smell given the stench of blood that was all over him and the wretched corpse over his shoulder. He didn’t like that and it made him all the more determined to get this done quickly.
Being out in the territory of the strays with his senses hindered was not the only reason that he wanted to get this done quickly. He had fences to mend with Harry. Something that Harlan had said to him was still eating away at him. The little fuckwit had praised what he had said to Harry, of course the words had been said in the heat of the moment, when they had both been furious with each other, however because Harlan had thought it so wonderful he was beginning to realise that he probably shouldn’t have said it.
As he walked further into dangerous, uncharted territory, he replayed the conversation, the argument, he had had with Harry over in his mind. It was probably not the best use of his limited senses but he needed to figure out exactly how much apologising he was going to have to do to make it up to his little mate.
Fenrir still didn’t agree with how Harry and Clayton had vanished for so long, scaring Damon and the other three pack members who had been with them out of their minds; however, knowing that Harry had done it to do something nice for him... Well, that meant something. In fact it was damn big deal to him.
Having had enough, Fenrir threw down the mangled, disfigured body of Harlan on to the ground. This would have to do. For the final touch he unbuttoned his trousers, lowered his zip and began to urinate over the body. Only when he was done and he had righted himself, preparing to make a run back to his claimed territory did he throw back his head and howl. Now there was no question, the strays would find the body and they would know that their plan had been foiled.
Turning around the Alpha full on sprinted back the way he had come, not fancying the idea of being caught by the strays and outnumbered. Also he was desperate to see Harry and make sure that he had come down from that blasted tree; he would go via the stream however, he doubted that coming back blood soaked would endear him to his little mate at all.
FGHP
Damon had settled most of the pack around the fire; some had drifted off to sleep already, however, he was determined to wait up for the Alpha to return. His eyes never left Harry and Micha who were both fast asleep, still curled up around each other rather intimately.
The new female werewolf, Tessie, was still out for the count but, from what Damon had gathered, everyone was a lot more comfortable around her than they had ever been around Harlan. Lukas, who was also sat up, watching over the pack with him, seemed to like her. They had had a brief conversation with Romy and Callie while the others had been attempting to get Harry down from his tree and they were all in agreement that she seemed nice enough; and definitely a good deal more honest and genuine than Harlan.
Of course it was up to the Alpha, about whether or not she was permitted to stay. After the disaster that had been Harlan it was doubtful if Fenrir would be that lenient again. Damon looked over to where Jenson had finally drifted off to sleep, holding Callie and Romy close to him and sighed, glad that his sister and niece were okay after the traumatic trip to Diagon Alley. It had been one hell of a day and he was glad that it was finally over.
“You want some tea?” Lukas asked quietly. “I need to do something, keep my hands busy.”
“And your answer is tea?” Damon asked with amusement.
“Tea is the answer to all of life’s problems,” Lukas said with slight amusement as he got up to head to the stream to fetch some water. “Will you be okay staying here on your own?”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Damon said, “Just don’t be too long, we’re not supposed to go anywhere alone.”
“I’ll be back in ten minutes, fifteen tops,” Lukas reassured him.
“If you’re not I’ll have to wake one of the others to come looking for you and you know how bad tempered they get about being woken up for no reason.” Damon warned, a hint of teasing in his voice.
“I’ll be quick,” Lukas said smiling. He knew all too well how grumpy they could get, especially Clay who was not a morning person at all. But he could relate; hell, he wouldn’t get out of bed willingly without the promise of a cup of Imperial Ceylon.
Heading towards the stream, Lukas stalled when he heard movement ahead of him. The only one missing from the clearing aside from him was Fenrir who had gone off in the opposite direction with Harlan’s body so the fact that there appeared to be someone or something just ahead of him worried him. Lukas was in two minds about whether or not he should run back and tell Damon but he was no coward and decided he should check it out first before running back to alert the others. After all it could be nothing.
Calming himself he made his way forward, the sounds seemed to be coming from the direction of the stream. He listened carefully and could make out splashing noises, which confirmed what he thought, that who or whatever it was, was in or by the water. Keeping behind trees, and taking care with where he was standing, Lukas kept going.
He was close now, and his heart was hammering in his chest as he peered around the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind. A wave of relief and a fair amount of embarrassment washed over him as he spotted the completely naked form of the Alpha washing.
“Was that an attempt to sneak up on me, Lukas?” the Alpha asked, with a tone of amusement, his attention on cleaning the bite mark on his arm that Harlan had given him; it seemed to have already begun healing well.
“No, my Alpha,” Lukas said turning around so that he had his back to Fenrir, having already seen more than he really wanted to. “Just wasn’t sure who it was and…”
Fenrir chuckled at how obviously flustered Lukas was, it wasn’t like they hadn’t been naked in front of each other before, but that had always been at full moons. Nudity was just par for the course when you were a werewolf and Fenrir saw no point in being modest with it, he certainly had nothing to be ashamed of.
“I’m not going to punish you for looking, Lukas,” Fenrir said with slight amusement, pleased to be teasing his pack members again rather than terrifying them.
“I know, my Alpha, I’m sorry, I only came down to fetch water to make tea, sorry.”
“If you apologise once more then I will punish you; grab the water,” Fenrir stated, as he dunked his clothes to soak the blood from them. “I could do with a coffee.”
“Yes, my Alpha, of course.”
By the time Lukas got back to the clearing he had managed to regain himself somewhat but Damon could still tell that something wasn’t right with him and questioned it.
“Fenrir was at the stream, is all,” Lukas said, trying not to think about everything that he seen. He then swiftly set about boiling the water, knowing that they could all do with a drink.
“Ah,” Damon said understandingly, “not one for modesty is he?”
“You could say that,” Lukas agreed.
“I never see the point in it,” Fenrir said stomping back in the clearing, his eyes sweeping over his slumbering pack, pleased to see that Harry was down from the tree but not so happy that he was getting rather cosy with Micha. The Alpha was surprised at the flare of jealousy it ignited seeing the two of them snuggled together, holding each other rather intimately.
“You wouldn’t, my Alpha,” Damon said with amusement, glad to see that Fenrir was back and in such a good mood, it wasn’t something that Damon had expected considering, though he watched as the Alpha eyed Harry and Micha somewhat suspiciously.
“Please tell me those two… they haven’t…”
Damon looked from the sleeping submissive wolves to the Alpha in amusement, even Lukas was on the verge of laughing. It really was rather endearing to see Fenrir jealous, even after his and Harry’s rather explosive argument and harsh words to one another.
“Harry and Micha?” Damon asked, “No, I think it is more a shared pain than anything… else.”
“I don’t like…” Fenrir started to grumbled.
“With all respect, my Alpha,” Lukas said, “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about from Micha.”
“Lukas is right, Fenrir,” Damon assured him, looking fondly over at the two sleeping werewolves. “They have both had a really bad day, hell we all have. They aren’t doing any harm.”
“I still don’t like it,” Fenrir said turning to glare at where Micha’s arms were wrapped around his little mate. No one’s arms should be around Harry but his. However, seeing as he had just had Micha’s mate killed he could forgive him just this once.
“So who exactly is she?” Damon asked, nodding his head towards Tessie who slept on, willing to attempt to distract the Alpha from Harry for a moment.
“One of the strays,” Fenrir said gruffly, hating the idea that they had another one in their midst after just disposing of the body of one.
“She seems different though, don’t you think?” Lukas asked carefully.
“Yeah,” Damon agreed, “and about as fond of Harlan as we were.”
“We don’t take any more chances,” Fenrir stated firmly, wanting to make his feelings on the matter perfectly clear.
“Perhaps, before we sentence her to death, we should talk to her,” Damon suggested, treading carefully, not wanting to see the foul mood of the Alpha return and have to withstand the worst of it himself.
“We will find out what she knows,” Fenrir agreed. He didn’t really want to have to kill the young woman but he would for his pack’s safety; Tessie’s one real chance was to tell them what they wanted to know, only then would he consider the alternatives with what to do with her.
“She told us that Harlan was a spy,” Damon pointed out. “If she can tell us more about the strays, their numbers and who they have, wouldn’t that warrant offering her some protection from them?”
“It might,” Fenrir conceded, considering that that might be a fair trade. The strays were a worrying threat, even more so with the exposure of Harlan as a traitor, and information that Tessie had would possibly get them a little closer to being rid of them.
“Considering it is all we ask, my Alpha,” Damon said respectfully and Lukas gave him a slight nod, appreciating the effort to save her. Lukas thought that Tessie seemed like she was a good person and she clearly had a story to tell, they needed to listen to that before they killed her for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Wake her,” Fenrir ordered suddenly.
“Now, my Alpha?” Damon queried, startled that the Alpha wanted to do this now after everything they had all been through already this evening.
“Yes, now! I want to actually get some sleep at some point this evening and I won’t with her here if I haven’t spoken to her, now do it Damon,” Fenrir’s voice was tense, and gave no room for argument.
“As you wish,” Damon said, getting to his feet, as Lukas started to make them some tea. He stepped past where Harry and Micha were sleeping and approached Tessie, squatting down next her. It seemed cruel to wake her while she was healing and recovering from a fairly major injury, but Fenrir was right about one thing, they needed answers sooner rather than later.
“Tessie,” Damon said tentatively, gently shaking her. “The Alpha has returned, he wants to talk to you,” the Beta explained as she blinked sleepily up at him. She nodded her head slowly, to show she understood, trying to gather her thoughts as she painfully trying to sit up but her left arm was tightly bound in a sling and couldn’t be used.
He helped her to her feet and guided her over towards the Alpha; she looked nervous, but Damon supposed he might too if he was being led towards Fenrir for questioning after seeing what he had done to Harlan today and hearing those tortured screams. She had never seen another side of him and he could well imagine that she would be absolutely petrified.
The Alpha looked at the young woman with narrowed, suspicious eyes, as she fell to her knees and bowed her head in front of him he was admittedly a little taken aback. No one had ever submitted to him like this before.
“My Alpha,” she said, ensuring that she paid him the proper respect straight away and without being forced. She wanted to stay here, she needed to, she wouldn’t last on her own and at this point they were her only hope of even maybe saving Jilly.
“You said you had information,” Fenrir demanded of her. “How long were you with the strays?”
“Days, my Alpha,” she told him without hesitation.
“Days?” Fenrir snarled; that wasn’t ideal, but at least that meant she had definitely had no part in what had been done to his little mate. “And you think you have worthwhile information for me after only being with them days?”
“Yes, my Alpha,” she said, keeping her head lowered.
“Tell me,” he ordered.
“There are six of them; one is my cousin, coerced into joining them like I was,” Tessie explained. “They’re here because they were ordered to be, by the Dark Lord. They want you, my Alpha; you and your mate. They have orders to capture you both and take you to Him.”
“Coerced how?” Damon questioned, looking apologetic when Fenrir turned to glare at him for interrupting his questioning.
“You-know-who...” she said fearfully, looking up at them with earnest terror in her eyes, and the shadow of the memories that haunted her on her face. “He slaughtered my family, my pack; he left only three of us alive, myself, my cousin and my little sister. He has my sister, Alpha; he threatened to kill her if Aiden and I didn’t cooperate with him.”
“Then why did you not cooperate?” Fenrir asked with a frown, confused about why someone who had joined a pack to save their remaining family would then run away, putting them at risk.
“The Beta wolf of the other pack, he isn’t like other werewolves,” she explained, trying not to tremble at the memories even thinking about Axlar brought up. “We all heard his stories; he was a killer before he became a werewolf, he sought out a werewolf to be bitten. He has a lust for blood like no other. He attacked me, he would have killed me, which is why I ran.”
Fenrir watched her for a moment, so far he believed she spoke the truth, but he was curious what more she had to say. “Anything else?”
“Yes, my Alpha,” she said, respectfully. “The Alpha, Gideon, he has… I’m not sure how, but he has a hand which is made of silver. It was gifted to him by the Dark Lord. It is something he is immensely proud of, though, he won’t talk about how he lost his hand to begin with.”
“You’re looking at how,” Fenrir said with a smug grin.
“Excuse me, my Alpha?” Tessie asked, not understanding.
“I removed his hand,” Fenrir explained. “When he attacked my mate, I cut it off. I take attacks on my pack very seriously. You saw what happened to Harlan after he hurt one of us.”
“Yes, my Alpha, I saw,” Tessie told him, managing not to flinch at the memory of what she had witnessed. It was already clear that this Alpha was not a man to cross, even if she wasn’t interested in staying with the pack; but that gave her hope; hope that maybe his pack might be able to take on Gideon’s after all.
“Do you wish to remain here?” Fenrir asked her, wondering if perhaps she might prefer to leave and go find her sister. It was probably what he would have done but admittedly her chances were likely still better if she stayed with them, provided she didn’t do anything stupid.
“I do, my Alpha,” she said and Fenrir appreciated the respect she gave him; made her presence easier to stomach after the rude little shit that Harlan had been.
“You understand that you will have to prove your worth?” he queried, if she wasn’t smart enough to figure that much out then there really would be no hope for her, but she nodded. “And if you step out of line, or put any one of us in danger, I will kill you.”
“Y...yes, my Alpha,” she stammered out, hating that her voice wavered, but the idea of going through what Harlan had, that terrified her.
“As long as we are clear,” Fenrir said bluntly. “How is your arm?”
“Painful, my Alpha,” Tessie told him, feeling a little baffled by the sudden change to a less aggressive tone, by the question of concern.
“Callie will check for nerve damage in the morning,” he stated. There wouldn’t be much they could do to help her, but they would at least keep themselves informed about the state of her injury and the progress of her recovery.
“Thank you, my Alpha,” she said, genuinely grateful that these people, who were all but strangers to her, were being so generous with their care for her.
“Go. Rest,” he ordered. “You will have your work cut out for you tomorrow.” He had more detailed questions he would want answers to, but he had heard enough to believe she was no immediate threat. “Do I need to tell you to stay away from Harry?”
“No, my Alpha,” she said, bowing her head in respect.
“You won’t like me if he gets hurt, accidentally or not,” Fenrir informed her.
“Of course, my Alpha,” Tessie said. As she got to unsteadily to her feet, her head still bowed, she couldn’t help but think that Harry could probably take care of himself, if what she had witnessed earlier was anything to go by, but she wasn’t about to say that aloud.
As Tessie returned to the spot where she had been sleeping before and lay down, Lukas approached the Alpha and handed him a mug of coffee. “She can stay?” he asked hesitantly.
“For now,” the Alpha agreed, giving Lukas a nod of appreciation for the hot drink. “But we watch her, closely,” he added, turning to Damon. “And no one is to get involved with her. I won’t have another Micha.”
“Yes, my Alpha,” Lukas and Damon both said, noting the deadly seriousness with which Fenrir spoke. The Alpha then looked back at his sleeping mate and let out a frustrated huff of breath, realising that he would have to deal with him in the morning, he wouldn’t wake Harry now, the poor boy had had enough for one day and could probably use the sleep.
“Don’t be too hard on him, My Alpha,” Damon said as he took a sip of his scolding tea. He was beginning to come round to Lukas’ way of thinking about this particular drink.
“He ran off, putting himself in danger again!” Fenrir said feeling too exhausted for his temper to truly return. “And then he sat at the top of an eighty foot tree; I’ve never known anyone to be so prone to life threatening idiocy before him.”
“I will be the first to admit that he scared the shit out of me today, but think of why he did it,” Damon said, thinking of the beautiful, brand new leather coat that still lay on the floor where Fenrir had dropped it upon hearing Micha’s shouts.
“It doesn’t excuse…”
“I know, but look at him, he’s suffered enough for his mistake,” Damon told him, taking pity on the teenager. “And I don’t mean to be disrespectful, my Alpha, I tell you this as your oldest friend, but what you said to him today, it was harsh.”
“I’m just going to go sleep,” Lukas said, ditching his mostly empty mug and going to lie down close to Jenson, Callie and Romy; this was not a conversation he wanted to be caught in the middle of, it wasn’t his place to even be awake to listen to it.
Fenrir waited for Lukas to leave before he spoke. “As your friend, I know that; but as your Alpha, I’m warning you to watch your tongue,” Fenrir snapped, gulping down his scalding coffee and relishing in the burn as it slid down his throat. “I’ll deal with it,” he said a moment later.
“Then I’ll say no more on the matter,” Damon said respectfully.
Without saying a word the two of them finished their drinks before Fenrir finally stood up, debating on whether or not he should sleep with Harry but then deciding that he didn’t care; they were mates and Harry belonged in his arms, no one else’s. Heading over to him, he lay down beside the teenager, curling his large body around the other male’s smaller frame.
Damon helped Fenrir cover them over with warm blankets as he took a position behind Micha, mimicking the Alpha by wrapping himself around Micha protectively. Both the Alpha and the Beta determined to protect the submissive wolves and ensure that they were cared for. It had been a trying day, and they still had some issues that would need work, but they had survived; for now that would be enough.
FGHP
The atmosphere in Gideon’s pack was tense, apprehensive even, as though all hell might break loose at any moment. Aiden was sat between Dean and Russ, glaring at Axlar as though he might be seriously considering attacking the larger werewolf. Thankfully, so far he had managed to resist that urge.
A howl sounded out and their heads all turned to listen; it was close, within their territory and they all knew it. Gideon growled, it was turning out to be a fucking bastard of a day.
“Jack, Axlar, Russ stay here,” he ordered, “Aiden, Dean, with me.” He would be damned if he would leave the latter two alone with Axlar, he had no desire to return to a bloodbath. But his mind was on the intruder and he couldn’t help but wonder if having let Tessie run was about to come back and bite him on the arse.
They didn’t get far before they could smell the scents of other wolves, several of them; blood, Tessie’s Gideon thought, but that was being overpowered by more blood… Harlan’s. SHIT! That didn’t bode well. He raised his hands to indicate to the other two that they should be cautious; slowing their pace in fear of an ambush.
Leading them in the direction of Harlan’s scent he inhaled again and couldn’t help but scrunch up his face as the smell of urine reached his nose but his expression soon changed to one of fury as he realised that it was the other Alpha’s. The son of a bitch who had stolen his hand, had attacked him and his pack, had urinated in their territory; Gideon snarled at the insult and challenge.
“Greyback,” Dean growled angrily under his breath, having picked up the same scent.
“And Harlan’s blood,” Gideon responded with a nod of confirmation.“Your cousin might have a lot to answer for,” he said, turning to Aiden with a snarl. “If she’s even still alive!” He had picked up the scent of her blood, but he couldn’t be sure if that was from Axlar’s attack on her earlier or because Greyback had finally done something useful and killed the stupid bitch.
If the spy they had sent into Greyback’s pack was dead then Aiden knew that Tessie would have had something to do with it, he felt it in his gut. He had grown up with his cousin, he knew how strong she was. She was alive and she was going to do whatever it took to stay that way.
With the scent of blood and urine heavy in the air they knew they were close. It really wasn’t looking good. Though when they finally saw the body they realised that that was an understatement, Harlan was barely recognisable as a person let alone as the man he had once been. Nothing had been left untouched, white bone peaked through his skin where they had been broken. Harlan wasn’t just dead, he was mutilated beyond recognition.
“I think Greyback might have been a little pissed off,” Dean commented, and actually he could admire the handiwork; there was no doubt that Harlan suffered before his death. It seemed fairly obvious that Harlan’s true reason for joining the other pack had been uncovered and while he didn’t particularly care that the werewolf had been killed, he was aware of the potential problems it could cause for them.
Aiden kept his mouth shut; he didn’t know what to say anyway, but it was probably not smart to make wisecracks like Dean was, given that it was looking as though his cousin might have lost them their spy. The last thing he needed was them being worried that he might be a problem they needed to deal with, he didn’t want to end up like this Harlan guy and he had no delusions about what Gideon was capable of.
“If I ever lay eyes on that bitch cousin of yours again, I will replicate this fucking mess on her,” Gideon told Aiden, with a gesture towards Harlan’s corpse.
“If she is behind this then they trust her now,” Aiden pointed out, trying to think on his feet, he needed to make them think twice before killing Tessie. “Harlan was a piss poor spy anyway, they never trusted him; for all we know she is going to take his place, feed information back to us, be our new spy,” he suggested. He didn’t really believe that, not after what Axlar had done to her, but he hoped that the others might.
“Why would she?” Dean asked suspiciously, but it looked as though neither of the other werewolves had dismissed the idea completely out of hand.
“The Dark Lord, he has leverage over her, over both of us,” Aiden told them, not wanting to get into the specifics about Jilly’s imprisonment when he didn’t know how much Gideon had been told about their loyalty and motivations. “She won’t turn her back on us unless she is given no choice,” he said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
“That must be pretty serious leverage,” Dean hissed, he liked Aiden but he was loyal to Gideon and his pack above all others.
“He has my other cousin,” Aiden snapped, “Tessie’s little sister.” He glared at Dean, he really didn’t want to talk about this.
“Dean,” Gideon said, having had enough of this squabble already. “Burn the body, leave it, whatever you want. Then go back to the others and tell them what happened; Aiden you’re coming with me.”
“Where are we going?” Aiden asked curiously.
“We’re going to pay a little visit to the Dark Lord,” the Alpha said.
Normally he wouldn’t have taken Aiden anywhere, he would have much preferred to have Dean accompanying him on this particular trip but he wasn’t going to let Aiden have the opportunity to take his revenge on Axlar. Maybe, he thought, he would even let Aiden break the news of his cousin’s probable shift in loyalties to the Dark Lord; let him face those consequences. It might even improve his mood a little.
FGHP
“My Lord,” Lucius said enthusiastically as he strolled proudly into the large dining room at Malfoy Manor, where the Dark Lord and his rather intimidating beast of a basilisk resided most of the time. “We have news,” he declared.
Voldemort, who was sitting at the head of the table, furthest from the door, looked up and surveyed the eldest Malfoy with mild interest. He had sent him and a number of others to scout Diagon Alley and, while he was not surprised to see Lucius had returned by this point, he had not suspected that there would be anything interesting to report. He was certainly in no mood to have to listen to the details of their long, and likely tedious, day of conversations with shopkeepers and the way Lucius was almost bouncing from foot to foot in excitement was tiring to witness.
“Crucio,” Tom hissed, his tone bored and flippant. Even the sight of the blond writhing on the marble floor, having been knocked on his arse by the force of the spell was barely worth his notice. The pitiful groans and cries that slipped involuntarily from Lucius’ lips, however, was enough to bring a sinister smile to Voldemort’s face. That ought to calm him down somewhat, Tom thought smugly as he released the spell and Malfoy gasped to regain his breath. “You had something to tell me Lucius.”
“Yes… My Lord,” Lucius stuttered, his body trembling with the aftershock from the curse as he struggled to his feet.
He nearly fell again as a spasm rippled painfully through his thigh, but he forced himself to stand, his head bowed subserviently. Tom sneered at the man quaking before him; now that was the kind of fear that he liked in his followers.
“We found something, someone, in Diagon Alley,” the blond managed to say.
“Who?” Tom questioned his voice calm and emotionless despite the curiosity of who could be of such value to have warranted Lucius’ excitement. The blond clearly believed he had information that Voldemort would have interest in, but that was, of course, for him to judge.
“Forgive me, my Lord,” Lucius said, looking up with a glimmer of that enthusiasm in his eyes, but he managed to contain himself, so Tom was spared the effort of torturing the man again. “My Lord, it... it looked like… it looked like Harry Potter,” he managed to spit out eventually, and, though Tom would not admit or show it, his curiosity was piqued. “Though he called himself Harry Prince,” Lucius went on, “which was Severus’ mother’s maiden name. The boy looked unmistakably similar to James Potter.”
Tom leaned forward, holding out his hand as the basilisk shifted and brushed up against it; it was disturbing how the two of them could move with that level of synchronicity. Tom surveyed the oldest Malfoy with sharp interest, his eyes narrowed.
He had been wondering what had happened to Harry Potter; the child that had defeated him and he was infuriated that he still had no idea how it had been done. He had never believed that Dumbledore had him; if he had then why would the old fool have put his efforts into working with that bumbling buffoon, Longbottom. Severus’ involvement was certainly a turn in events he had not expected but at least it seemed as if the boy had resurfaced finally; it was, he thought, rather curious timing.
“You brought him here, I presume!” Tom demanded; his eyes flashing dangerously as he wondering why his idiot subjects had wasted time, rather than just bringing the boy before him. He had plans for Harry Potter, or Prince, or whatever name the boy chose to use; it would make no difference in the end.
“My Lord…” Lucius stuttered and Tom knew instantly his servant had failed him.
“CRUCIO!” Voldemort bellowed as fury rushed through him; he licked his lips with glee as Lucius writhed on the floor again, his mouth open in a scream that couldn’t escape through his tensed throat.
They had seen Harry Potter, had the boy within their grasp, and yet still they had failed to bring the boy to him; he would not forgive them this easily. He still wanted answers though, needed to know where to find the boy and that would be more complicated if he drove Lucius to insanity; though admittedly it might improve his mood. But he lifted his wand and broke the spell.
“He had…,” Lucius said between gasps for air, “...others... protecting him..., my Lord,” he explained, not even bothering to try to stand; his legs were beyond that for a little while now.
“Aurors?” Tom questioned lightly, his rage fading in place of curiosity once more.
“No..., my Lord,” Lucius said quickly, his tone pleading as he dragged himself the short distance to the table and made a valiant effort to stand, even if it did fail. “I... I didn’t recognise any of them,” he told the Dark Lord, “but they protected him... like he was precious to them.”
The doors to the dining room burst open, and the two occupants turned to stare at the person who had been foolish enough to interrupt. The large Alpha werewolf, Gideon was standing there with Aiden a few paces behind him, looking like he would rather be just about anywhere else.
“Gideon, explain yourself!” Tom hissed furiously at the uninvited and unwelcome interruption; he had little patience for werewolves when he had use for them, and next to none when they barged into rooms where they weren’t wanted.
Malfoy once again used the table to pull himself up, this time managing to remain so with the help of a chair; it simply would have not been acceptable for someone to see such weakness, it was barely tolerable that the Dark Lord had been witness to it.
“Damn Greyback killed the boy you sent to spy on his pack!” Gideon raged at the Dark Lord, storming forward and slamming his hand onto the table top at the end closest to the door.
Tom waved his wand and muttered a spell; from the way that Gideon tried to pull away from the silver hand attached to his arm it was obvious that Voldemort had removed the spells keeping it from harming him. But the werewolf was stubborn and despite the pain he remained upright, gritting his teeth through it.
Lucius gave the other smaller werewolf, who had looked rather alarmed by the way Gideon was speaking to the Dark Lord, a withering stare. He had to agree with the sentiment in those eyes; the Alpha werewolf seemed to have some kind of death wish.
The Dark Lord did indeed look livid as he eyed the two werewolves who had joined them, his fingers clenched around his wand and he resisted his desire to kill Gideon for his intrusion. He needed the Alpha wolf alive to bring him Greyback, even if he was proving incompetent at the task; Harlan’s death was certainly an inconvenience.
“Greyback, as in Fenrir Greyback?” Lucius asked, once his brain had had a moment to process what had been said; it had been a while since he had heard that name and now he thought about it, it was certainly curious that there werewolf had not once again taken up his position with the Dark Lord after his return, as so many of them had.
“The one and same,” Tom hissed out, turning from the two werewolves to look at Lucius. “You were... friends,” the word seemed to be alien on his tongue as he questioned the blond conversationally, “Were you not?”
“Of sorts,” Lucius admitted, not wanting to give the Dark Lord ideas about sending him off looking for werewolves. “We were acquaintances but I have not seen him for many years,” he elaborated.
“He defies me,” Tom stated, his eyes narrowed as he yearned to bring the Alpha wolf to his knees, to regain his loyalty. “His failure to return to my side will be punished.”
“Of course, my Lord,” Lucius said, bowing his head. He and Fenrir might have had something of a friendship more than a decade earlier but he would not pay for the werewolf’s foolish betrayal of the Dark Lord.
“Did Harlan provide anything of use before his… unfortunate demise?” Voldemort asked, hoping that he hadn’t wasted a perfectly useful werewolf for nothing.
“Some,” Gideon informed him with a frown; it certainly wasn’t the degree of information he had hoped for, but they knew the identities of all the members of the pack and the layout of their territory, so it was a good start. “They never trusted him,” he added, wanting to make it clear that the fault lay with Harlan not him; he wouldn’t be taking any flack for the dead werewolf’s incompetence.
“My Lord,” Lucius said hesitantly; he really had no desire to stand around listening to the trivial matters of werewolves. If the Dark Lord chose to involve himself in such matters then that was his decision, but unless directly ordered, Lucius intended to stay out of it. And surely there were more crucial matters to discuss. “I do not wish to interrupt but surely the issue of Harry-”
“I could do with not hearing that name for a while,” Gideon grumbled under his breath with a disgusted snarl on his face, as he turned to make sure that Aiden had obediently remained close by.
It was, however, not beyond Voldemort’s hearing. “Explain!” he demanded of Gideon; his voice silky and smooth, but it carried an order that would not be ignored.
“It’s that damn submissive wolf's name,” Gideon explained, anger building as he remembered the humiliation he had suffered when Greyback’s pack had fought for that little bitch. “He’s the one mated to Greyback!”
“Harry Potter?” Tom asked, sure that it could not be the same boy; how would the Potter boy come to have been bitten. But Severus and Greyback had been acquaintances too, even if they had not been close. It was possible.
“No,” Gideon growled. “Harry Prince.”
Voldemort smiled in glee at the revelation, turning to Lucius. “I believe we may have found our illusive Harry Potter,” he said with surprise and a little amusement in his tone at the unexpected turn of events. It certainly gave him much to think on, but with evidence of Severus’, and now Greyback’s, involvement Voldemort found himself questioning just who else might have been involved in the disappearance of Harry Potter.
“Leave me!” Voldemort bellowed suddenly, he wanted time to think and he couldn’t do that with his poor excuse for followers looming over him.
“There is one other thing,” Gideon said, turning to fetch Aiden and dragging him forward by his neck. “Tell him of your traitorous cousin,” he insisted, his tone low and quiet as he spoke to the smaller werewolf.
“My cousin, Tessie,” Aiden told Voldemort, trying to summon all his courage to even be able to speak. He had suffered the cruciatus curse before, when his family had been killed and the three of them that survived had been brought before the Dark Lord; simply put, it was not an experience he cared to repeat. “My cousin… she was attacked, by the Beta…” he tried to explain, but Gideon’s nails dug into his neck making him cry out.
“Silence,” Voldemort hissed warningly, “I have no interest in your animalistic ways.”
“The stupid bitch ran,” Gideon told him, “we believe she went into Greyback’s territory; pretty sure she was the one who got Harlan killed.”
“Send word to her,” Tom said, obviously uninterested in the conversation already, “if she does not help you, Axlar gets her sister.”
“He’ll be delighted that you thought of him with this gift,” Gideon said with a respectful bow of his head.
Aiden looked positively horrified at the idea, he didn’t want either of his cousins given to that lunatic. He had listened to the stories and been horrified by them. Dean had seemed the most sane of them all and he had clung to him like a lifeline but he so wished that he could be with Tessie but he couldn’t, not if they were ever going to save Jilly.
“Do not be so presumptuous, Gideon, she is not his yet,” Tom chastised, but clearly he was amused. “I will have more recruits for you soon. Our recruitment of your kind has been rather… productive. Apparently wizarding legislation is not favourable and they seek the change I can give them. Now leave me!”
Gideon and Aiden turned and headed hastily for the doors; they had not suffered for the unfavourable turn of events, and were not going to wait around for Voldemort to come to the same realisation. They still had a mission to complete, a new additional order and information regarding the identity of the submissive; they had much work to do.
“Now, Lucius,” Tom said in mockingly sweet tones, “I believe you were about to tell me just how you failed to bring me one little boy; about how you failed me AGAIN! CRUCIO!”Lucius fell to the ground for the third time. Voldemort watched on, deep in thought about Harry Potter, as he watched the blond’s body squirm about in agony.
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Fragmented Soul