Unwilling - 2. The dark side of envy

~*Darwin*~

It had been a strenuous weekend. Darwin loved his job and he loved nature, but hiking and at the same time managing sizable groups of tourists was demanding work and always left him totally exhausted. Even though he lived on campus, he always went to have dinner with his father on Sunday evenings. It was the only evening he could somehow fit into his father's rigid schedule, and the risk of chancing upon one of the pack meetings was lowest. The one story house sat on a hill at the outskirts of Banes, right next to a small forest with a lovely little pond in the middle. It was near enough to the city to get help quickly if something happened, but far enough from the busy main roads to avoid additional stress, nosy neighbors and traffic.

His adoptive father, George, opened the door before Darwin could get the keys out of his pocket, and smiled a lopsided smile at him.

"Hey there, boy. You're late!" George said hollered happily and moved his wheelchair out of the way.

"Sorry. There was a hold-up at base camp. Someone lost his Rolex and we had to look for it," Darwin said, came in, and hugged his father. "What's for dinner?"

"Pot roast." George moved his electric wheelchair out of the anteroom, while Darwin put his jacket away and took off his shoes. "Mary, Darwin's here!" George called into the house and disappeared around a corner. Seconds later, Mary, the young nurse/housekeeper, stuck her head into the anteroom and pressed a quick, dry kiss on Darwin's cheek.

"Hey, munchkin! Dinner's ready, hurry up!" she said and was gone again.

Darwin walked after her, shaking his head. Even his father's apoplectic stroke hadn't been able to slow down his family so far. Some things would never change around here, even though his dad never had gotten over the loss of his strength, mobility, and rank in their pack. George had been the Alpha's enforcer for twenty-five years, responsible for security in their pack territory and the well-being of their Alpha. Now he was chained to his electric wheelchair, his face distorted due to the paralysis of nearly the whole right side of his body, and he had to keep Mary around 24/7. He had taken it first with anger, then with resignation. In the last year he had gotten better, been happier somehow, and things were looking up.

Darwin walked through the rustic living room, only stopping for a moment to kiss the picture of his dead grandmother. The kitchen smelled of pot roast and steamed vegetables, with a faint note of fresh paint. It had been renovated just two weeks earlier, and the new maple covered kitchen units gave it a sunny, homey feeling. It vaguely reminded Darwin of Jared. Sunny, cheery Jared, who tried so hard to look grumpy and unhappy all the time. Smiling, Darwin sat down vis-a-vis his father, who gave him a curious look.

"How's college?" George asked, grabbing a bottle of apple juice to fill their glasses. With the new, low-set dining table it was easy for the older man to reach everything on it, but the height difference still felt funny and disconcerting to Darwin.

Let's see: I had a quickie in the gym showers, there's a new dominant in town who's ready to ruin my life and Harry's trying to set me up with him. How's your week been? Nope, that didn't sound like an answer George would enjoy. But what else could Darwin say? That he hated being forced to study something he didn't like, that he thought about running away, that his father's oldest friend was threatening his life? Would that he could be honest, really, but his father's health made it impossible. He grabbed his glass and took a big gulp of the sweet, homemade juice to buy some time, set the glass down with an unintentional loud thud and cursed softly before answering, "It's okay. I still haven't found time to enter the botany course I told you about, but that's fine. I can try next semester." Darwin had wanted to study botany since he was a kid, but when he had turned eighteen the Alpha had ordered him to major in business economics. Nobody knew why, but an order was an order.

George shook his head, fiddled around a bit with his drinking straw, finally seemed to find it to his liking, and took a sip himself. "I've never understood why Carl insisted on that. It's stupid. Are you sure you don't want me to talk with him?"

Carl Jefferson was their Alpha, and even though Darwin trusted and loved his adoptive father, he still knew that it would kill George to know the truth about his 'meetings' with Carl. George and Carl had been best friends for twenty-five years, and the doctors had explained in no uncertain terms what stress could do to a stroke victim. Stressing out George could cause another stroke and that second one would be his last. So what would happen if Darwin told his father about the things his best friend was doing to his adoptive son? About the late nights in Carl's soundproof cellar, about the marks, the bruises, the fear and the pain... Don't think about it, his inner voice demanded as soon as his mind started to drift towards that dark, ugly place.

Darwin wouldn't risk his father's life, not even for his own. He smiled broadly and shook his head. "Nah, that's okay. It's not bad, you know. I'm learning a lot of pretty useful stuff."

'...not,' he corrected his words silently.

Again his father shot him a curious, thoughtful look, then he shrugged. Only his left shoulder moved; the sight of it made Darwin's heart hurt. George had been a strong, well-built, outdoorsy guy before the stroke, but the death of his mother, Darwin's grandmother, and the accident in which his second wife had been killed shortly after had not only made his brain short-circuit, but also broken his heart and body.

"Okay, whatever floats your boat. If you change your mind, give me a holler." He winked and Mary chose that moment to interrupt their talk by walking in with a casserole full of steaming, glorious pot roast.

Time flew by over dinner, with the three of them sharing their week's adventures. Afterward, they sat in the living room, sharing hot cocoa-- without the obligatory squirt of rum, since George wasn't allowed alcohol anymore-- and somehow, the topic switched to their pack. It always did and it made Darwin get antsy and unsettled every time.

They talked about gas prices, movies, and about an incident where a police officer had shot a Miniature Pinscher in a home raid, then a comfortable silence settled. George decided to get more cocoa and drove off into the kitchen. Darwin sighed into his half empty mug when Mary turned to him, pulled one knee against her chest, and examined him with a slightly worried look.

"Did you hear about Giselle?" Mary asked, hands clutching her own mug tighter, never taking her eyes off him.

Darwin wrinkled his brows in confusion. Giselle was another submissive pack member, but neither was she someone special in the pack, nor was she in any way related to his family, or Mary's. Just a soccer mom with three little kids, a poodle and a balding, happy husband.

"Giselle? No. What happened?" he asked, trying to decipher the strange flurry of emotions on Mary's face.

Mary licked her lips, and threw a glance over her shoulder to where George had rolled off to. When her eyes found Darwin again, her gaze begged him to keep quiet about what she was going to tell him. "Well, seems like someone broke into her house while she was alone at home. We don't know what exactly happened, but the police found her tied up, scared to death." She threw another gaze over her shoulder, than she added softly, "She was beaten up badly, just like your grandmother. But she survived."

Darwin blanched. Break-ins happened all the time, but his grandmother had died when somebody had broken into their house. His father had found her tied up, beaten into a bloody pulp, and dead. She would have survived if she hadn't been lying on her back, drowning in her own blood.

"They never caught the guy," Darwin whispered, then he rubbed his hands over his face. "Does my father know about this?"

Mary sighed, chewing her lower lip for a moment. She was young, only twenty-three, but in that moment she looked old and worried. "He knows about the break-in, yes. But I didn't have the heart to tell him the details. You know what the doctors said."

Darwin knew all too well. Everyone had reasons to keep secrets from George and the amount of those secrets was growing slowly but steadily over the years.

He was just about to answer when George suddenly wheeled back into the living room and took a big gulp from his newly refilled cocoa. "Wow, people, why so silent?" he asked cheerily and parked next to the couch. His eyes found Mary, then he added, "Did you tell him about the pack meeting?"

Darwin's gaze snapped to Mary, who suddenly looked guilty. "What pack meeting?" he asked, alarmed. This couldn't be good. Darwin hadn't been in a pack meeting since last semester had ended, using the so called 'Student Clause' as an excuse. It was a good way to keep his distance from Carl, the Alpha. A distance he dearly wanted to keep.

George explained, "Well, obviously someone is targeting werewolves, what with the break-in at Giselle's and so forth. So Carl has called for an emergency pack meeting and he explicitly asked for you to come."

"A pack meeting, just because someone robbed Giselle's home?" That excuse smelled fishy and it made Darwin twitchy, but not in a good way. Had Carl finally found a way to get his hands on Darwin again, after nearly four months without an incident?

Nothing in George's face hinted that he had doubts about the reasoning. He just nodded, then shook his head, and sighed. "Well, they also tried to break into the pack headquarters and someone blew up one of Carl's Jeeps, out in the woods. They didn't succeed with the second break-in, luckily, because there are files on those laptops we wouldn't want anyone to see."

Mary just nodded, agreeing to George's descriptions, then shrugged. "It's just a pack meeting, Darwin. We won't keep you from your studies, or your work. You're free next Friday, right?"

Darwin's mouth went dry. He actually was free on Friday nights, even though he chose to spend those nights in one of the guide quarters at work, but he didn't have to work until Saturday morning. There was no way he would get out of this. Shit.

"Yeah, Friday's good," he mumbled, feeling his lips go numb. "I'll be there."

~* Harry *~

Harry's world had always been small. Growing up in southern Texas, he'd lived with his mother, father, and his little sister in a village so tiny, most travel maps didn't even have a marker for it and there was only one major road nearby used by a few local transportation companies. He had learned how to handle a tractor before he had learned how to ride a bike, his 'walk' to school had consisted of a twenty minute jog to catch the school bus, and a 15 minute ride in the beaten old thing.

When his teachers had urged him to go to college and "get out of this dump" on the day he turned eighteen, he'd been afraid enough to have a nervous breakdown over the thought of going somewhere else.

Just as afraid as he was right now, standing next to the doors of the locker rooms, waiting for the football team to come out after their Monday morning training. Waiting for Jared.

In Harry's world, the Alpha was a person of respect and great influence. You listened to your Alpha, you didn't talk back, and you didn't bother him with mundane problems. You didn't ask an Alpha if he fancied someone and you didn't talk about their private lives. If he-- or she-- wanted you to know, they told you. If they didn't, you'd never find out about it. How the hell was Harry, being the submissive werewolf he was, supposed to quiz Jared about being an Alpha, if he couldn't ask out of fear of being right?

He sighed and ran his hands through his short brown hair. The whole thing was a stupid idea. More than stupid, moronic. If he left right now, maybe he could still--

"Harry." A coconut-scented mountain suddenly blocked the sun and towered over Harry, corralling him against the wall. Shit.

Harry could felt his own racing pulse jump as he stared at a broad, shirt-covered chest. Jared's white shirt looked soft, like cotton or wool, and was tight enough that he could see the small pointed mounds the nipples made. Harry could almost taste the residue of water, showering gel, and shampoo on his tongue just from staring. God, this guy was gorgeous beyond belief--and he was Darwin's. Life sucked.

"Jared, hi," he croaked, unable to keep his voice casual.

Harry felt a piercing gaze wander over his scalp and down to his face. Never before had they been in such close proximity to each other, always keeping a distance to avoid unsettling encounters. But now that instinctive distance was gone and Harry's courage dissipated with the increase of his arousal. It was a totally inappropriate reaction to his best friend's potential boyfriend, Harry knew that, but knowing wasn't enough to convince his body. The downside of heightened senses were, well, heightened senses. He pressed his back against the wall, silently praying for a wider cut shirt--his cock defyingly seemed to flourish under those eyes like a flower in the sun, straining against his jeans for everyone to see.

Well, for everyone except Jared. He was too busy leaning forward and sniffing Harry's shoulder to notice his state of arousal. If he smelled it, he didn't show, or he didn't care.

"How come you are standing here and Darwin is nowhere to be seen?"

His voice was casual, amused, and light. Everyone who heard Jared would think he was making a good-natured joke. After all, people knew Harry and Darwin were glued together at the hips. But Harry wasn't anyone and he heard the slight disgruntlement hidden in Jared's words. He also saw the increased tension in his shoulders and the tightening around his eyes, up close and personal. Oh yes, Jared was definitely not happy that Darwin wasn't here.

It didn't do Harry's bravery any good. His pulse sped up and he pressed his back against the wall more tightly. "He," he began, swallowed and gulped for air, "well..."

Thunder appeared all over Jared's face, darkening his cheery-good-ol'-pal-expression to something scary. Harry could feel Jared's breath crawling over the side of his neck, wafting against his racing pulse. The air around them got so thick a spark could have combusted it.

"He sent you, didn't he? A scared little lamb, prepared for slaughter. Are you supposed to tell me to back off? I won't, but I'll make you remember in explicit detail how things are going to be."

Jared didn't even wait for an answer. Fingers wrapped around Harry's arm, tightened to the point of pain, and then Jared whirled around and pulled Harry with him.

Walls, doors, and windows raced by as Harry tried to keep up with the furious pace Jared set to get them through the gym department, then up the stairs, right across the enclosed footbridge, and into Statsby Hall. A breath was all Harry could manage, then their nightmarish travel ended, and a door slammed shut behind him as he stumbled into the small room and finally ground to a halt.

Harry didn't have much time to get a look at the room he had been taken to, but that small prospect was enough to confirm that it was Jared's -- the heady musk of sunshine and virile werewolf spoke for itself.

The interior of the dorm room was wondrous in its simplicity, not only because of the cleanliness, but also because there was absolutely nothing hinting that anyone lived there. The bed was made and there was not a crooked crinkle anywhere. The bookshelf was empty and unused, and the table next to the window was cleared and blank. How did Jared work in such a Spartan environment? His pens and notebooks appeared to have been stacked away into the drawers of the small desk-- if Jared even owned mundane things like that.

Harry did sympathize with the need to have a clean, orderly environment, but Jared's room had no personality, nothing homey or inviting. Furniture and storing space, nothing else. It felt lonely and cold.

He turned around, only to meet Jared's enraged eyes.

"It's not what you think," Harry husked, frightened by that expression, and took a step backwards. As much as he wanted to flee, the only way out of the room was blocked by the sun-tanned, bulky male staring him down, and the windows were secured glass. He would break his bones jumping through that.

Jared's voice was melodic, peaceful and eerily calm. "What do I think, Harry?" he asked, emphasizing the name, and cocking his head curiously. His eyes never left Harry's face, but the muscles in his shoulders were twitching with the effort to stay put. They were the only thing that gave Jared's simmering rage away. He was obviously trying very hard to control it.

"-you think we're in a relationship, which we're not!" Harry stammered, jerking back when Jared took a threatening step forward. "I'm n-not here to stop you, really! I just--" he shrank back against the desk and Jared wordlessly took two more steps in his direction with his hands balled to fists. "I-I-I just need to know if you're an Alpha."

"And what would you do with that information?" Jared sneered.

This time Jared didn't stop his advance until he loomed over the shivering submissive werewolf. The sunny fragrance of coconut, warm body, and werewolf once more wafted over Harry like a cloud of alluring perfume, making his head swim and his heart leap against the inside of his chest. For a few seconds he wanted nothing more than to melt against the warm body in front of him, rub his cheek against Jared's broad chest, and maybe let his hands wander and touch what he assumed to be a decently sized package. His fingers itched with the need to touch Jared. Only the thought of Darwin made him jam his hands behind his back to contain himself.

"Did Darwin send you?" Jared growled again, but Harry didn't answer.

His left hand grasped Harry's chin and lifted his gaze upwards until their eyes met. Jared used the moment of shock to close the last few inches of distance between their bodies, molding his chest against the lean, shivering body before him. "Tell me. Did he?"

Harry's breath hitched, and when his lungs finally decided to obey the commands his brain sent he just gasped like a stranded fish. He tried to answer, but the only sounds that came out of his mouth were soft whimpers. His body knew its preferred answer to Jared's force, though: instant, throbbing erection, paired with frantic arousal and need. His dick awoke from its semi-hard slumber and with it came blissful, single-minded vacuity.

Jared put both arms around Harry's shivering form, one hand pressing against his shoulder blades, while the other hand went deeper and burrowed underneath his shirt. His fingertips drew thoughtless, circling patterns onto Harry's back, then his lips brushed against the tender, warm skin of Harry's neck. It was a soft, taunting kiss against his pulse.

"You can tell me, c'mon," Jared husked softly against his skin.

'Tell him what?' Harry's mind contemplated, drunk with desire for more. Then he remembered the question.

"No, he--" he began, shivered violently for a second, and finally wrung his arms around Jared's body. "He didn't," he managed breathlessly, and mumbled, "I said I'd ask. If you're an Alpha, that is. It's important. To me. Because of Darwin. His family."

He would have rambled on and on, but Jared stopped his Morse code with a kiss. It was a chaste kiss, lips against lips and no signs of anything more, but it still set Harry aflame.

This was nothing like the amusing, lighthearted fumbling Harry had had with Darwin in the past, definitely not. Jared's hand brushed up his back, eliciting goosebumps wherever his fingers went. When Jared jerked his hand down and drew angry red welts on his skin, Harry moaned harshly and arched his back in sheer pleasure.

"What about his family?" Jared purred, nipping the skin beneath Harry's ear. It made the hairs on Harry's arms stand up in salute to the pleasure.

Some part of Harry knew Darwin would kill him-- not really, but friendship-wise, which was bad enough-- if he answered, but it was merely a fleeting thought. "You can save him from them." The words rolled from his tongue like rain, nearly unintelligible with the way his breath raced.

Jared's lips wandered lower, and his tongue licked over the jumping pulse at Harry's neck. "Who does he need saving from?" he murmured against Harry's chest.

"His Alpha." Harry's hands found their way beneath Jared's shirt, but then just lay there, twitching against his skin as he fought against his need to do more.

"What about his Alpha?" Jared whispered.

Harry whimpered, then tugged at Jared's waist band. "I can't tell you. I promised," he whined desperately, trying to pull Jared closer and push him away at the same time. "Please don't be angry, please! He's my friend, I can't--"

He only stopped wailing when Jared's fingers found their way around Harry's throat, wrapping around his pulse with featherlight pressure. It cut off the lament in mid-sentence and replaced words with a nervous moan.

"I understand that you can't tell me details," Jared purred as his hand slowly kneaded his throat, "But there must be a reason why me being an Alpha would be such an important thing."

Harry's arousal was nearly painful in its intensity, muddled and mixed up by a growing thread of shame and fear. If Darwin saw them like this, groping each other and at the same time not groping at all, he would have a fit and drop Harry like a hot coal. For a few seconds he tried to wrestle out of the tight spot he had been maneuvered into, but Jared kept him pinned in a half-sitting position on the edge of his desk, wedged between his knees and cutting off every possible exit. No way out. But then, did he need a way out? Wasn't this exactly why he had come, to find out about Jared, to get help for Darwin? Still, the decision hurt his heart.

"It is, because you could make him yours, take him away. Save him."

~*Jared*~

Harry was easy prey for someone as experienced with one-night-flings as Jared. Not that he had tried to actually get Harry into bed, but giving him a hint of that idea had loosened his tongue and made him pliant enough to pry out the information Jared had been looking for. As evil as it was to seduce someone without any intent of doing anything, holding back had been easy. First of all, it was Harry, not Darwin, and secondly, Jared had a purpose, and it wasn't wild and meaningless sex in his dorm room.

"Harry, Harry, you're not making any sense," he purred haughtily, grabbing him tighter as Harry once more tried to slip out of his grasp.

Harry's squeak was heartwarming and simply cute. "I can't tell you! But you need to save him, take him away. Far, far away from his Alpha. He's gonna kill him." The words were shaky and breathless, but at least this time Harry had actually said something useful. Well, it was more or less not making any sense in the literal way, but it had been a full sentence, with a subject, a predicate, words between and whatnot. Jared relented with a sigh, loosening his grip on Harry's throat and giving him a little more space.

The result wasn't what Jared had hoped for. Harry sagged, groaning out a decidedly distraught whimper. "Darwin's gonna kill me," he muttered as soon as he got his voice back.

"What? Oh. Don't worry about that," Jared mumbled absent-mindedly.

It took Jared a few seconds to identify the dismay on Harry's face. The poor guy was shivering, pale and on the verge of tears, but somehow Jared didn't think it was because of what he had done. "He's never gonna talk to me again if he finds out I told you his personal business." He sounded so hopeless and distressed.

Sighing, Jared leaned forward and hugged Harry to his chest. If Harry went to see Darwin in this condition, bad things were going to happen, and not just to their friendship. Who knew what kind of story Harry would tell Darwin when pressed to explain himself, and the last thing Jared needed was Darwin getting even more reasons to hiss at him.

"He won't find out, okay? Just tell him--" Jared rubbed Harry's back, digging through his memory to find something useful. "You'll tell him I'm an Alpha, and he'll be so giddy and excited he won't even ask why you're so nervous."

When Jared loosened the hug Harry still had a doubtful expression on his face, but he didn't look like he was going to have a nervous breakdown anymore. His chocolate brown eyes even lit up a bit when he studied Jared's face. "So I was right? You're an Alpha?"

Jared bared his teeth at that question, even though Harry shrank at the dominant, aggressive expression. Jared didn't see the good in his birthright and he hated talking about it, or even admitting it.

When his family had discovered that not one, but two of their three sons had been born as Alphas, they had thought about giving Jared away for adoption, knowing what kind of danger their sons would pose to each other once they'd hit puberty. But somehow they had managed to raise them without incident, getting them to love each other in spite of nature's demands. Their family even had survived Tobias' ascension to Alpha of the pack when their late Alpha had stepped down.

However, one could bend nature only so far before it snapped back to its well-known ways. As soon as Jared had hit his eighteenth birthday, things had gone downhill. Accepting another Alpha in his lands had cost Tobias respect in his own pack and had made him edgy and aggressive. Jared couldn't count the numbers of brawls he had had with his brother in the last year, and although Tobias had gone out of his way in his efforts to not kill Jared, it had gotten worse and worse. When an attempted coup against Tobias by some of their pack members had been exposed, he had snapped. Jared was to leave his lands in the next forty-eight hours, or they would fight to the death.

His mother had begged Jared to stay, to just submit to Tobias and his dominance, but again it had been nature that had kept him from doing so. So he had packed his belongings, stuffed his little Beetle with his goods and driven off to a new life. It had left him bitter and spiteful of 'nature' and his 'condition' having to leave his family like that.

Shaking his head, Jared lifted a hand and tousled Harry's hair. "It's okay. Don't be afraid. And yes, you're right. I'm an Alpha." Stepping back, he combed through his own hair and gestured to the door. "Now hop to it, sweet-cheeks. I bet Darwin's waiting for you." Jared even managed to smile and wink at Harry. At the same time his heart gave a painful twinge. Goddamnit, he missed his family something fierce!

Blushing, Harry got off the table and scuttled towards the door. His last glance met Jared's eyes, and he seemed to sense the sadness in the higher-ranking werewolf. Harry even stopped and started to say something, but another sharp gaze herded him right out the door with no further comment.

#

Nostalgia stuck to Jared's mind like cobwebs to a fly, but Jared tackled that problem like he did every other inconvenience these days: he intensified his stalking of Darwin. Wherever Darwin went, Jared was there. In his math class, in the cafeteria, in the gym, and Jared even found Darwin's favorite place in the small park next to the university.

Harry pretended not to notice, but his nervousness hung sickly-sweet in the air whenever his eyes found Jared. Jared realized that Harry couldn't lie if his life depended on it, which would have been a good thing were they playing poker, but a serious drawback in this situation.

Darwin seemed to notice Harry's strange behavior pretty quickly, but he didn't comment on it. He looked even more worn out, tired, nervous, and more short-tempered than usual. Even though Jared normally took great delight in letting Darwin see him and then watching him combust, Jared's instincts told him that it wouldn't be healthy to provoke Darwin any more right now.

Maybe it would have been prudent to ease up on the stalking for a few days, but Jared had never been good with prudence. The whole concept was simply too tiresome for his young mind to even contemplate it. Granted, he should have seen it coming, but even in his wildest dreams Jared hadn't anticipated the dimension of anger his constant presence elicited in Darwin.

All it took was one second of negligence on Jared's part. It was Friday and Jared was standing in the hallway, right next to the door to Darwin's class. He was waiting for the end of the last lesson, typing away on his smartphone, when someone had the guts to shove him against the wall and slap the small gadget out of his hand.

"What the fuck are you doing here!"

Darwin was seething, hands balled into fists, muscles tense enough to make him shake with rage. His eyes were reddened with lack of sleep, and the rings beneath them were black like bruises. A nervous twitch made his cheek quiver ever so often. He looked ready to strike out again, almost murderous. It was fearsome and endearing at the same time.

Jared felt a sudden urge to hug Darwin tightly, to banish whatever haunted Darwin from his mind, to protect him from whatever or whoever had shaken the submissive werewolf that intensely. The impulse was so sudden, it frightened Jared to the core, and he instinctively answered with anger.

"I'm waiting for Harry," he answered, icily calm while his hackles rose to the challenge and the drive to strike back. He averted his gaze, looked at Harry and held out his hand. "Would you like to have lunch with me?" Jared asked, masking his anger with a sweet smile. Harry blanched and closed his eyes in horror. A gasp drew Jared's eyes back to Darwin, catching his expression of hurt.

"I knew it!" Darwin hissed, then the hurt was gone from his face, replaced with an expression of murderous hate. He whirled around, threw a frosty glance at Harry, and hissed, "You're dead to me."

Then he was gone.

Jared had the presence of mind to jump forward when Harry fainted and caught him in his arms. "Well, that went well," he muttered.

~*Darwin*~

Darwin didn't pay attention to where he was running. He just ran until his breath wheezed out of his screaming lungs, and he only stopped when the honking of a truck made him dig his heels in right at the border of a busy street. His flight had lead him to the offshoots of the nearest highway, nearly four miles away from Banes Central University. It didn't matter though, no distance could have stopped the pain in his chest. Panting, he turned around and blindly started his way back. He didn't even know what hurt more, Harry's or Jared's betrayal.

Was Darwin even entitled to feel betrayed by Jared? After all he had pushed Jared away whenever he had had the chance to do so. Granted, secretly he had enjoyed the attention, and surely he would have given in sooner or later. He just hadn't anticipated Jared losing interest in him so soon. And in favor of Harry of all people.

Darwin decided that it didn't matter. He didn't cry as he followed the dirt road back. He had no tears left for something as small as a lost fling. It still hurt like hell though, and the hurt constricted his chest and made breathing harder. How had he run that far like this?

His best friend, betraying him like that! The thought just wouldn't fit into Darwin's view of the world. Harry would never ever... Or would he? What if their places were reversed, would Darwin snatch away Jared? He probably would, which meant that it was entirely possible that Harry had fallen for Jared and wouldn't try to resist his come-ons. They probably were on their way on their date right now. They would be shoving bits of food into each others mouths, all lovey-dovey. And afterward they would fuck. If Darwin were in Harry's place, he would. Fuck, that is. Who wouldn't want to fuck a prime specimen like Jared?

Well, Darwin should have suspected it. Staring down at the dirt beneath his trudging feet, he shook his head. He had wondered all week why Harry got skittish and nervous every time they met Jared, but he had been too preoccupied with his own problems to ask. He should have asked when he had had the chance. It would still have hurt like a dagger to the heart, but he would have gotten over it sooner. Now it was Friday, hours before the pack meeting, and his heart was broken.

He contemplated the possibility of surrender to the 'loving care' he would surely receive at the hand of his Alpha later that night, simply because it was a good way to stop the other aches and pains life held for him, but he decided against it. No one was worth dying for- or over-, his adoptive father George being the sole exception.

When he reached the city limits, he decided to skip going back to BCU and headed for his father's house instead. He didn't want to risk meeting Jared or Harry again, or heaven help, both of them at once.

George was surprised to see him, but even though Darwin looked horrible, neither George nor Mary commented on it or asked questions.

For once Darwin was relieved to be alone. His room still had all of his things, a change of clothes included, but instead of getting changed and going down to face his family he dropped face down onto his bed and closed his eyes. Sleep came easily, and it was mercifully dreamless.

#

Four hours later, Mary woke him up. Darwin crawled out of bed feeling even more tired than before, but an icy shower fixed that. He threw on a black, soft turtleneck shirt made from knit wool that didn't cling to his skin and obscured his slender, athletic upper body and light-brown corduroy pants with ripped hems that went perfectly with his black sneakers. Using the blow-dryer to tame his mid-length black hair, he went with a side parting because it made him look defying and restive, and because Carl hated that look on him.

It wasn't so much that Darwin wanted to provoke his Alpha--the things Carl did to him were horrible enough on their own--but if Darwin tried to avoid behavior his Alpha despised, he would sense weakness, and act upon it. What had started as teenage rebellion now was a calculated part of Darwin's charade with no way out or around it.

In the last year, the numbers of submissives in their territory had dwindled alarmingly. Even with people disappearing left and right, nobody knew why. Some of them died in accidents, others decided to move into another territory, and some were simply never seen again. Darwin had his suspicions as to what had happened to the vanished ones, based on his own experiences, because all of them had been male. Interestingly, all of the emigrants had been female and single so far, and those with accidents had had family. It was a pattern nobody but Darwin seemed to recognize. On the other hand, Darwin didn't think that anyone but him knew what Carl did in his cellar.

Darwin gave himself a once-over in the mirror and nodded approvingly. His outfit was nice, something he would have worn to a first date in a restaurant. Classy, but not too high-strung. His guts clenched at the thought of for whom he had chosen this look, and again, he felt the distinct urge to cry. It was such a waste dressing up to get torn to pieces, instead of showing himself off to Jared or even Harry.

"Hurry up, munchkin! We're gonna be late!" Mary's voice came from the anteroom, then the front door clicked. Mary would stow away George into the car, so Darwin had another minute to get his things and follow them outside.

He went back to his room and stared at his wallet and his mobile phone, pondering. He would need his wallet to be able to pay a cab once Carl was done, optimistically assuming he survived the night. Sighing, he grabbed both items, stuffed them into his back pockets, and stalked down the stairs and outside.

#

The pack house was filled with people and chatter. As predicted, everybody was pretty upset about the attack on Giselle. There were lots of suggestions as to who could have done it, and why, and what would happen next, or what should be done about it, but Darwin didn't really listen. Sipping his water he feigned disinterest, staring blankly at the table in front of him. The Alpha, Carl, sat on the other side of the table and right in front of him, but he didn't acknowledge Darwin. Only those speaking got their Alpha's attention, and since Darwin would have rather died than speak up, he was spared.

There were thirty-seven werewolves in the room, three- including Mary and Darwin himself- being submissives and the rest of the crowd being dominant, and feelings ran high with no one to balance them. Carl didn't seem to mind the clamor. He even managed to keep them on track instead of ripping each others throats out. Darwin was privately impressed by Carl's talent to make everyone feel needed and heard, mostly because it gave him an insight into the past. At some point in the last ten years, something had made Carl slip from being a good, reasonable Alpha, and made him become a crazy, raving monster.

Sudden movement around him made Darwin jump. Chairs scraped over hardwood floor, chatter erupted from every corner of the assembly room, and on the other side of the table, George talked to Carl. Darwin watched them out of the corner of his eye while standing, trying not to flinch at the expression of happiness on his father's face. It was the perfect moment to slip out of the pack headquarters and run like hell. His father would be disappointed if he didn't say goodbye, but damn, fatherly disappointment was easier to handle than Carl.

"Darwin! A word please." He had nearly made it through the front door when Carl's voice boomed through the room, easily drowning out the chatter.

The exit was there, right in front of him. Every instinct screamed for Darwin to make a dash for it, to escape while he still could.

He clenched his fists, squashed his instincts with pure stubbornness, and turned around to walk back. On his way, he crossed paths with his father, who was still smiling and nodded a quick goodbye.

The door fell closed behind the last person to leave. For a moment, deep silence settled onto the room.

"How's school?"

Darwin flinched at the sound of Carl's voice, but kept his eyes fixed on the broad chest in front of him. Carl was like his father used to be before his stroke. Mid-fifties, in peak condition, even though he had a little pot-belly to show off, tanned to the extreme, hair starting to grey at the temples. He looked like a well-worn worker's boot, leathery and ready to kick ass.

"Good, sir," Darwin answered through clenched teeth, fighting the urge to shiver and shy away from the accumulated force his Alpha represented. He had had a hard time behaving like this when he'd been younger and less experienced. It went against everything the submissive side of him demanded, but it had saved his life countless times.

Carl sniffed dismissively, then his hand shot forward to slap Darwin. The smacking sound resonated through the roomy hall, then the echo died down. Carl kept staring at Darwin's face intently, and Darwin still didn't move or make a sound. His cheek throbbed with the force of the impact and his heart all but leapt out of his chest, but this was nothing. A small inconvenience.

"Oh yes. You're good. I'll give you that. But don't you believe even for a second that I don't see through your little charade," Carl hissed angrily when he didn't get the reaction he had hoped for. Again his hand shot forward, and this time Darwin did flinch, but only a little. Instead of slapping him again, Carl grabbed his neck and turned around, pulling Darwin with him like dead weight. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Everyone of us learns their place when they hit puberty, and you're way beyond that," he snarled, marching Darwin through a hallway and then down a flight of stairs, right into the cellar. They passed a ping-pong table, a pool table, and a group of exercise machines, heading towards an apparently seamless wall. Darwin knew better.

Carl stopped him with a cruel tug at his neck, using his other hand to push the camouflaged button at the top of the wall.

There was a click, then a whirr, and then the wall in front of them swung open. To Darwin's knowledge, no other pack member knew of the secret passage to what he called "Carl's negotiation room." Darwin had smelled the blood of others there once or twice, but he hadn't asked who they had been or what Carl had done to them.

He also knew better than to try and break free. It was a moot effort at this point and would only make things worse for him.

Carl shoved him inside, then followed, pushing the door closed. There was a strange glimmer in the Alpha's eyes, an expression that Darwin called 'Carl's Hyde-side'. This wasn't the clever, diplomatic Alpha he had seen anymore. This was a batshit-crazy lunatic, and he was heading for Darwin.

"Tell me the truth." Carl's voice was a dark, angry growl and his gaze burned itself into Darwin's scalp.

Darwin knew the game though. "I'm a dominant, sir. It can't be helped. It wasn't my decision to be born this way," he snarled, measuring the exasperation and the light lilt of anger in his voice artfully. His instincts demanded he grovel at Carl's feet, beg for mercy, and show his throat to quench his Alpha's anger, but to listen to his instincts meant he would disappear, just like the other submissive boys.

He could feel Carl lean closer. "We'll see about that, won't we?"

This time Darwin couldn't suppress the yelp when Carl grabbed him.