Chapter Four:
Jace

 

“Jace. Jace!” a voice whispered from the darkness.

Jace blinked his eyes blearily open, trying to focus on where the voice was coming from. There was the light sound of a touch on the bars of his kennel, too, of the door swinging open with ease. He remained inside where it was comfortable… where it was safe.

He frowned. This wasn’t normal. The only person who even acknowledged his existence was Elias. Everyone else in the home treated him like a piece of furniture, and he might as well have been. He didn’t care.

He only cared about one man’s opinion, and that hadn’t been Elias’s voice.

He preferred the kennel in Elias’s room, dark and deserted as it was. It was easier to rest there without outside noises and the light of the day. But Elias had firmly told him he needed some sunlight, so his secondary kennel had been placed where the sun’s rays warmed him up on cold days and became uncomfortable on hot ones.

Jace knew better than to argue.

He finally focused enough on the speaker to recognize him. His eyes narrowed as he saw Spencer before him.

The werewolf who had once been his lover had tried to speak to him before, but it had never been like this. He’d never dared something clandestine in the middle of the day in the open before. Elias could walk in at any moment.

Jace’s hackles went up.

“Jace,” Spencer repeated insistently, “wake up.”

He was awake, but it didn’t seem worth it to point that out to Spencer. Besides, he knew the consequences for speaking without permission, and Elias sure as hell wasn’t there to grant it.

“Can you say something?” Spencer pleaded. He reached a hand into the open kennel.

Jace bared his teeth at him

It shocked Spencer back, onto his ass, and the door of the kennel swung shut when he was knocked off balance. The sound of the metal clattering back into place made them both freeze, eyes darting simultaneously to the door.

No one came, but Jace didn’t trust that. There could easily be someone on the other side of the door, listening and preparing to report back to his master. Elias seemed to know everything that went on in his house despite the complete lack of surveillance or monitoring equipment. Jace hadn’t managed to figure out how despite the amount of time he spent at the man’s feet, which was another reason not to risk it.

Spencer sighed, and their eyes briefly met before Jace settled back down, closing his own again.

He wasn’t going to fall for this sort of trap. He knew better.

“Jace, come on. Elder Ivers is in meetings for the rest of the day,” Spencer urged. “This is the only time I can get you out.”

Out? Jace’s eyes blinked open again. His mind had a hard time processing the words because they seemed so ridiculous, so impossible. Once, he’d have been out of the kennel already, but now, the idea of moving wasn’t an appealing one.

Spencer bit his bottom lip, looking behind him again. “Jace, we don’t have time, okay? I’ll explain later, but for now, you need to trust me.”

Because trusting Spencer had gotten him… where, exactly?

Here.

In this kennel, all too aware of what Elias would do to him if he so much as tried to set foot outside of it without good reason.

Jace had no reason to trust Spencer. Really, he had every reason to distrust him. This was ridiculous.

A part of him was unsettled by his own dismissal of the idea of leaving, questioning why he wasn’t even trying to scramble after Spencer. He probably would have trouble even walking on two legs, but that wasn’t the important part. No, it was about the fact that he was too… what?

He didn’t even want to try, and it only partially had to do with the idea that he was sure this was a trap.

It wasn’t a trap he was going to fall into.

“Jace,” Spencer hissed again, like repeating his name would get him to change his mind, or like he thought Jace just needed to… snap out of something. “Let’s go.”

Jace slowly shook his head, eschewing speech in favor of the slight motion.

Spencer gaped at him, features twisted in lack of comprehension that slowly melted into resignation. Tears shone in eyes he’d once stared into, the eyes of the man he’d once trusted, but Jace had no desire to wipe them away this time.

“I… This is the only chance I have,” Spencer said softly.

Jace shrugged, curling up on his dog bed and resting against the comfortable pillow he’d earned. It was his favorite pillow, the one he dragged between his different spots around the house. He breathed in its scent for comfort.

The werewolf outside of his kennel kept talking, but Jace tuned him out. He’d been in the middle of a particularly good nap, and this wasn’t worth waking up for — even if once, the idea of Elias laying a trap for him might’ve sent his heart racing.

These days, it was only a precursory thing. Elias barely tested him, but it had been a while…

Spencer finally went away, and Jace drifted back off to sleep in the comfort of his own space with his own pillow.

He dreamt of the taste of Spencer’s mouth on his.

He dreamt of the way Spencer had lashed out with a fist when he got too angry.

He dreamt, and he dreamt, and all of the peace he’d found before was lost.

 

***

 

“Jace.”

This time when he heard his name, Jace snapped awake. His head was already lifting as he sluggishly wiggled his ass so the makeshift tail in his ass would wag for his master.

Elias smiled at him, something that might’ve even been real, and he opened the door to the kennel. “Good boy,” he praised. “I’m happy to see you too.”

It wasn’t as though much of anything made Elias truly happy, but Jace was willing to accept the comment. He got to all fours, stretching as much as he could within the confines of his cage. He slowly left it as his master beckoned him out. For his master, he’d leave its safety.

Not for his master’s servant, no matter who that servant had been before…

Before.

Maybe especially because of that.

Jace was silent as he grabbed his pillow in his mouth, even as Elias chuckled indulgently at him. All that mattered was that the witch let him carry it with him. He didn’t care anymore about the subtle mockery, even though he’d been embarrassed at first to have so much dependency on something soft and stuffed. Now he was just glad it was his comfortable little pillow and not a gag. This was something he got to choose to carry because he wanted to and not because he’d fucked up.

Elias led him to the dining room, and Jace only paused long enough to drop his pillow off atop his dog bed before heading over to his food bowls. His nightly allotment of Happy Human Food awaited him. It no longer mattered that his master’s meal on the table smelled delicious — especially in comparison. He’d either get treats or he wouldn’t, and he erred on the side of wouldn’t instead of getting his hopes up.

But sometimes, when Elias was in an especially good mood, he’d share. It was both good and bad. It tasted amazing, but at the same time, it reminded Jace of who and what he’d been before… and he wasn’t sure he particularly liked those memories.

It was easier to stay in the here and now without anything getting in his way.

Memories were only a weakness. If he’d followed through on the emotions that went with them, there was no telling what sort of punishment he’d be undergoing right now. Elias had to be in such a good mood because Jace had passed his test with flying colors. He dared to hope for some sort of treat despite the confusion it promised.

Jace crunched on the food, which was worlds better than the dog food had been. He emptied his bowl like he knew he was supposed to do and gulped down some of the water from the other bowl nearby. When he was done, he went to his dog bed to wait for Elias to finish eating. He glanced up to watch as his master tapped away on his phone in between bites of the gourmet meal in front of him.

He was half-dozing again by the time Elias finished and stood. Elias hummed then picked up the plate, setting it down on the floor and beckoning Jace close.

Jace perked up and hurried over, watching Elias until the man nodded his permission for him to clean up what little remained — tiny pieces of vegetables, a sauce he didn’t recognize, a few gristly pieces of meat that were still heavenly…

He even managed it without making too much of a mess of himself, too, which was another thing that had his ass wagging.

Elias wiped his face off with a soft cloth napkin anyway, clucking his tongue. Jace darted to his bed to retrieve his little pillow then followed his master into his bedroom, hoping that wasn’t the only reward he was going to get for passing Elias’s test.

Maybe he was getting greedy, because he was disappointed when Elias disappeared into the bathroom without acknowledging him again. Usually there’d be some sort of conversation… but not tonight.

He hadn’t even invited Jace into his bed.

Jace’s shoulders slumped, and he retreated to his kennel, closing the door behind him.

Elias returned a few moments later, arching a brow. “What’s the matter, Jace? I thought you’d be happy to have an extra treat with supper.”

In other words: be grateful or else.

Jace didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to accuse Elias of laying a trap ahead of him, but he didn’t know how else to explain — and he didn’t want to get in trouble.

“Didn’t I do good today?” he asked awkwardly, looking up at Elias.

Elias arched a brow, looking back at him. “You’ve been very good,” he said, but it was so general that Jace didn’t think the witch really understood what he was saying. Was he playing dumb?

Or was Jace wrong, after all?

His stomach churned, and his dinner threatened to come back up, as he thought about the possibility that it hadn’t been a test — that he’d refused to try to leave when he knew that somewhere inside of him, he still wanted freedom. Of course he wanted freedom. Who didn’t?

Jace.

Because he was too scared of it now, after spending so much time with Elias, and… He wasn’t even sure he’d have gone even if he hadn’t been so sure it was a trap.

“With Spencer,” Jace whispered uncertainly, aware that he was about to cross a line he couldn’t come back from. If he was wrong, there was going to be hell to pay, and it wouldn’t be something he could hold back the consequences from… if he’d even want to.

Elias’s eyes narrowed, his cheer dissipating. “What are you talking about, Jace?”

Was this part of the test? It had to be.

But something in the pit of his stomach told him it wasn’t, and he was torn between panic and fear. What had he done? Was Elias just making sure he’d really avoided the trap, or…

“Jace,” Elias repeated sharply. “What about Spencer?”

He should’ve thought about all of it more, before he’d gotten so proud that he’d caught on. Maybe then he’d have thought it wasn’t really a trap…

What would he have done then? Would he have still told Elias?

The twisting of his stomach told him that he probably wouldn’t have, even though he didn’t completely understand why. But now that he’d started, there was no way of getting out of this. Elias knew something was wrong, period. If Jace tried to bluff his way out of this, he’d definitely lose his “good boy” status.

He might even lose his pillow for a night or two, and he couldn’t stand the thought of being without it for that long. A part of him dimly registered how ridiculous that sounded, when being parted with what was essentially a stuffed animal felt cruel, but it was all he had that was his. Not even his mind was his own anymore.

Just as Elias had told him once, that belonged to the witch now, too.

Jace licked his lips, and before Elias could say his name again, he blurted out, “I thought it was a test.”

“You thought what was a test?” Elias asked, his voice just a little too patient.

Jace did not want to wake up his master’s temper, which was far worse than those outside of these walls knew. Those who thought he was perfectly calm and controlled would’ve been even more terrified of him if they knew just how angry he got.

Worse, it was cold anger. Jace would have preferred a beating over the ingenious little punishments Elias devised for him…

“Spencer,” Jace whispered.

“You’ve already said that, pet,” Elias warned.

Fuck, he was resorting to “pet” already.

No. No, no, no.

That wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to take the fall for this, even though it was sort of his fault this had even started.

“He…” This had been his dream only a few months ago. Why hadn’t he gone? “He wanted me to leave. With him.”

Elias’s eyes darkened, and it absolutely confirmed that it hadn’t been a test.

Spencer really had been trying to get him out, which was something Jace didn’t know how to handle. He almost wanted to laugh, to tell his ex-boyfriend that it had been too little, too late, but there was no room for laughter in that room.

“Did he,” Elias said flatly. “And you thought it was a test?”

Fuck.

“Yes,” Jace said, his eyes flicking to the pillow right next to him.

“And would you have gone if you hadn’t thought it was a test?”

The worst thing about it was that Jace didn’t even have to think. Even though he wished he could say otherwise for the sake of his own sanity, he knew it wouldn’t have changed anything. He still would’ve stayed right there, in his kennel, waiting for his master to return.

He shook his head.

Elias’s shoulders relaxed just a touch, which was odd to see. Would he really care that much if Jace vanished?

Yes. No. Probably. It would be more of a point of pride than anything else, and Elias would’ve lost face if his pet traitor had escaped his grasp.

“Why not?” Elias asked. This time he crossed to open Jace’s kennel again. It felt less safe that way, with the door open, but Jace liked it when Elias was close — and not pissed off at him.

Jace swallowed hard, at a loss for what to say. There was nothing he really could say… because he didn’t know. “Because I didn’t want to.”

Elias reached into the kennel and slowly stroked his hair.

This was the reward he’d thought he’d get, positive attention — stroking, and petting, and maybe even the comfortable foot of the bed if he was really lucky.

“Because you know where your place is,” Elias corrected him.

Jace didn’t know if there was really a difference anymore. His place was with Elias, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else.

He only wished it didn’t nag at him.

What was going to happen to Spencer? Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be happening that night.

“On the bed,” Elias told him, stepping back and beckoning. “I think you’ve earned the right to sleep there tonight.”

Jace stopped thinking about Spencer, stopped caring. His ass wagged wildly, and he snatched up his pillow without thinking about it. He crawled up into the bed, getting comfortable at the foot of it.

As Elias slid in, he knew he was home.