Chapter Two:
Reese

 

When Spencer Smith, of all people, showed up at his house, Reese wasn’t sure what to do.

He had a few ideas, of course. Most of them included violence and bloodshed, but the other werewolf had come to him for a reason… He wanted to know what it was.

More importantly, Reese didn’t want Ashton or Leo to see the part of him that would happily rip the other ‘wolf to shreds for daring to be the reason one of their own had fallen into Elias Ivers’ cruel hands. As it was, he had to take in several deep breaths just to cope with the man’s scent, and his nostrils flared as he stared at the creature at his doorstep.

“You aren’t welcome here,” Reese told him, staring down at the much smaller werewolf.

Spencer cowered in front of him, wringing his hands and fidgeting. He cast a glance around them, radiating anxiety and fear like he was prey. “I know. I know,” he repeated. “But I need—” He paused, then corrected himself, “Jace needs help, and I don’t know what to do.”

Reese let out a bitter laugh. “He wouldn’t need help if it wasn’t for you,” he said.

“What’s going on?” a voice asked from behind him.

Reese didn’t turn around to look at its source. “Go upstairs, Ashton. Take Leo with you.”

“Why?” Ashton asked.

Reese’s solid body blocked most of the doorway, preventing Spencer and Ashton from coming into contact with one another. Even the idea of them meeting infuriated him. He turned his head to stare at the human. “I said to go upstairs.”

“And I’m not your fucking slave, remember?” Ashton retorted.

“This isn’t the time to argue with me, Ashton,” Reese replied sharply.

In front of him, Spencer’s eyes went wide, but the werewolf said nothing. He took a step back.

For a moment, Reese thought he’d make a run for it.

“This isn’t the time for you to be a—”

“Ashton!” Reese snarled.

Ashton’s face went blank, but his voice was venomous as he replied with a dip of his head, “Yes, Master.”

Before Reese could snap at him about his attitude, Ashton stormed off toward the stairs.

Well, that would be something else to deal with later. Great. He didn’t know why Ashton couldn’t just listen for once. He was trying to protect the human, but Ashton obviously saw it as an inconvenience at best and an insult at worst.

“You!” Reese snapped at Spencer, crooking his finger. “Inside.”

Spencer gulped, glancing at the door frame. “I…”

“I said, get inside,” Reese told him.

The second the ‘wolf scurried inside, Reese shoved Spencer against the wall, and the smaller werewolf cowered. Thin and lean as he was, he seemed tiny in that moment, almost fragile. Reese didn’t care.

“The only reason I’m even thinking about helping you,” he snarled, “is because Jace doesn’t deserve what Ivers is doing to him.”

Spencer twitched. “Elder Ivers,” he whispered.

Reese growled. “I don’t need a fucking correction. I know who he is. I know what he is.”

That went far beyond Elias being the newest Elder on the Council, too. He was a sadist and a megalomaniac — cruel, manipulative, and entirely too poised for anyone’s comfort.

“I’m sorry,” Spencer squeaked. “He’s very sensitive.”

Sensitive. Like that was a word for Elias Fucking Ivers.

He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? Defending him, working for him.”

Spencer closed his eyes. “What else am I supposed to do?” he asked.

Reese had to strain to hear him.

“I can’t go back to Aggie’s pack. Elder Ivers would hurt Jace if I tried to leave. And… they wouldn’t let me come back. No pack would take me.”

Reese didn’t want to pity the man, but a slight edge of unease crept into his thoughts. He knew the dangers a lone ‘wolf could be in, and someone as weak as Spencer…

“It’s not a fucking excuse,” he spat anyway. “If you’d told someone that he was blackmailing you, we could’ve helped. That’s what packs do. They don’t sell each other out.”

They weren’t supposed to, anyway, but the Ivers witch knew entirely too much about werewolves — probably because of Spencer and Jace, both of whom were chained to Ivers in their own way.

It was still inexcusable. Spencer had betrayed pack.

Spencer shuddered. “There’s a problem.”

Reese wanted to shake him. “What kind of problem?”

“I…” Spencer finally opened his eyes, but he wouldn’t meet Reese’s gaze. “I don’t know if Jace will actually… leave.”

Reese stared at him.

“He’s… changed,” Spencer mumbled. “He’s not like he was.”

A few months of being with someone like Ivers would change someone, sure, but the idea that Jace wouldn’t leave if he had the chance was ludicrous. “If he’s afraid of retribution, he doesn’t need to be.”

Spencer shook his head. “It isn’t that.”

Reese waited, but the other ‘wolf didn’t continue. “Then what is it?” he asked impatiently.

Spencer squirmed in his grasp. “The way he looks at the Elder…” He trailed off. “It’s all… wrong.”

“He has to look at him like that,” Reese said impatiently, ready to dismiss the ridiculous idea that Jace might not put his time in slavery behind him if he had the chance.

“You’re not listening!” Spencer burst out, though he instantly shrank back. He swallowed hard, eyeing Reese as he said in a rush, “He’s not Jace anymore. Not the Jace I know. Knew.” Before Reese could press him for more details, the ‘wolf shivered and continued, “It’s like he’s all twisted up inside.”

Reese’s stomach sank. He’d seen the way Ivers had acted with Jace, the way he’d treated him like he was nothing more than a dog. Jace had gotten defensive of Ivers when Reese had been there last, but he’d just thought it was an act.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

“Are you telling me he likes it?” Reese asked slowly.

Spencer hesitated. “I… don’t know,” he admitted. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. His breath smelled faintly of blood, and it set Reese on edge. “But he wants it.”

“Not much of a difference,” Reese said, finally letting Spencer go. He couldn’t stand that metallic scent, the way it seemed to overpower the ‘wolf now that he’d noticed it.

“It’s… conditioning,” Spencer said, daring a glance up at Reese then looking away again. “He reacts to it. He wants it. But I don’t know where his mind is when his body’s begging for it.”

That made more sense than Reese wanted to acknowledge. It was worse, in a way. The idea of his body responding while his mind screamed… No, he didn’t like that thought at all.

“I’d kill myself first,” he muttered.

Spencer’s lips twisted into a bitter smile. “And if he had Ashton?” he asked.

Reese’s hackles went up. “Careful,” he warned.

“You want things to be your way so much that you’re not even willing to listen to me,” Spencer said. “I do what I have to do to keep Jace safe.”

“He wouldn’t be in that situation if you hadn’t been spying on them,” Reese countered.

“You’ve never made a single fucking mistake in your life?” The smaller ‘wolf stood straighter, his eyes finding Reese as he defied the pack leader he’d asked for help from. “I didn’t think I had a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.”

“You really don’t get it,” Spencer said, his shoulders slumping as the defiance bled out of him.

Reese got it just fine. He shook his head.

“You’re so over-privileged that you can’t even see what’s right in front of you,” Spencer muttered.

Reese bared his teeth, growling as he snatched Spencer by the throat. “I could rip your throat out right now,” he said, clenching his teeth.

Spencer didn’t struggle.

Reese loosened his grip enough for the other ‘wolf to speak.

“Please,” Spencer whispered earnestly.

Reese didn’t have to be told that Spencer wasn’t begging for him to stop. He dropped the smaller ‘wolf again, stunned by the plea.

“I can’t do it,” Spencer said, dropping to his knees in front of Reese. “I tried. I can’t. If you won’t help… then do it. Please.”

The room was silent except for the sound of their breathing. “I’ll help you get out,” Reese finally said. He rubbed his temples. “Both of you.”

“What if Jace—”

“I don’t care if he wants to leave or not,” Reese cut him off. “We’ll fix it.”

Spencer looked at him. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Like I said,” Reese said, grabbing Spencer’s arm and pulling him back to his feet, “I’m not doing this for you.” He shoved the ‘wolf back. “Now get out.”

Spencer stumbled but caught himself, if only barely. He hugged his arms against his chest, his pace as he headed toward the door just shy of a run. He fled through the still-open door, leaving Reese standing there and wondering what the fuck to do.

First, he had to deal with Ashton and his hurt ego. Then… then he had to figure out a way to do the impossible.

Elias Ivers was not a man to be fucked with, and Reese was firmly under his thumb for the moment. He knew others who could help, but the problem was that they wouldn’t be inclined to — especially not when it involved helping Spencer, too.

He’d figure out a way to talk to Aggie. If she wouldn’t help Spencer, then maybe Reese would give him the out he’d begged for. It only seemed right. After all, Reese himself would rather die than be Elias’s personal assistant — his personal anything.

Never mind that you’re his personal pack leader, and he controls you.

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the voice in the back of his mind.

Taking a moment to draw in a deep breath, Reese squeezed his eyes closed, trying to get the image of the enslaved werewolf out of his mind. But Jace was in his mind’s eye even when they opened again, submissive and deferential to someone who should’ve been the enemy.

Maybe Jace really was too far gone.

Maybe Spencer wasn’t the only one who needed to be put out of his misery.

He was the pack leader now, and it was his job to cull those who endangered or weakened their kind. Jace and Spencer might’ve once belonged to Aggie’s pack, but she hadn’t done what she should have. She’d let them both go — Jace, to take the fall for what she’d been doing with the rebellion, and Spencer in a misguided attempt to keep her word to Jace.

Reese wasn’t sure he’d make the same mistake.

“Ashton?” he called out as he got to the top of the stairs.

No answer.

He sighed. He was tired of having this conversation. All he wanted to do was keep the human safe, but Ashton made a huge deal out of it every time. It wasn’t like he was some workhorse of a slave. Reese gave him everything he wanted, and he had a life here. All he asked was that Ashton stayed out of harm’s way.

It didn’t seem like too much, but Ashton disagreed.

Leo, Ashton’s best friend, had stopped participating in the discussions, and Reese didn’t even know what the man thought anymore. He stayed out of trouble, though, and that was what he needed.

He found Ashton in his room, lying on his back on the bed.

“C’mon, little mouse,” Reese said, leaning against the door frame. “Don’t be mad at me.”

Ashton wouldn’t quite look at him. “I’m not mad,” he said, but the sullen note in his voice said otherwise.

“I just want to keep you safe,” he repeated for the umpteenth time.

“Yeah. By treating me like a child.”

“After what happened—”

Ashton shot up into a sitting position, his eyes narrowing as though daring him to continue.

Reese shut up instead of bringing up the fact that Ashton had been gang raped because of his refusal to get the mark and let himself be protected.

“You’re really turning into a condescending ass, you know that?” Ashton’s smile was mirthless.

The words stung. “Ashton, I—”

“You know what, Reese? I really don’t feel like talking right now.” Ashton got up, crossing the room toward Reese.

Reese hoped for something — a hug, a kiss, some gesture that they weren’t going to be as cold and distant as it seemed — but Ashton only stood in front of him.

“I’m going to go bunk with Leo for the night,” Ashton said.

In other words, move.

Jealousy and anger stabbed him in the chest, but Reese nodded curtly, stepping out of the way. “We’ll talk in the morning,” he said — and the words weren’t a request.

Ashton let out a quiet, bitter little laugh, one that reminded him of the human he’d first met in the slums a few months earlier instead of the vibrant person he was. “Yeah. Okay.”

Reese gritted his teeth to stop himself from talking, instead letting Ashton out and shutting the door behind him.

The bed was horribly lonely without Ashton in it.