4 - Flash Fires

Loupe Fiasco, California
USA - North America
The NW Pack Cells

Sativa
I hardly ever showed emotion. Well, not before the Alpha showed up in my life, I hadn't. A long time ago, when my father was still my father, and when he didn't dwell in his infidelity, I used to think that my life was somewhat perfect. Loving parents, and a somewhat wonderful Pack.

But, all that changed once they got married. It was like, I didn't exist anymore, and Milly was all that mattered. Although, we weren't of the same age, our birthdays unfortunately fell on the same day, July sixth.

And, when Ivanna and my father revealed that they were getting married, it became too much for my mother's frail body to pretend anymore. After they would leave, she would open all the windows and smoke until she passed out. I would watch her as she spends hundreds of dollars just to sponsor her Charlie addiction. That's where and how mine came to a start.

I didn't mean to, she had only told me that it was an alternative source of happiness, and although it didn't last very long, it was alright. She never told me of the addiction, and I didn't ever ask. I'd like to think that it was a mistake on her part - but it was impossible.

They told me, the people that confined me, that they were going to let me leave.

But, not on my conditions.

Because of the extent of what the bag held, they had contacted my ex-Pack, and they were going to 'bail' me out. I had not a doubt in my mind that this was the end of any compensations that had to be paid - and that, they were going to ban me from ever returning again.

It is an unforgivable thing to do - going to another's Pack to cause trouble - especially if you aren't a Rogue and you still belong to a Pack - exactly what I have done. If, you are unable to escape you are free to go on the grounds of your own talent. But, seeing as this was the only Fascist Pack of this day and age, there was no chance of me escaping before due time. They call your pack, and give you two paradoxically taxed options.

One, to stay in their pack as a slave. Or, as an Omega.

Two, to be banned from both packs for as long as they both decide is alright.

I didn't know what to do, either options were horrible.

If I were to leave, I wouldn't survive a female Rogue, especially since I haven't mated yet. I would be prone to attacks, and I most likely would not live to survive it.

If I were to stay in Romanov's pack as an Omega, I would have to face total abasement from him, and not being able to do shit about it. I would have to see him everyday, and that would hurt. No matter how strong I posed myself to be, I wouldn't always falter at his words, not because I choose to, but because he is my Soulmate; unfortunately.

It wasn't my choice, after all. It was Romanov's, so anything that I said, or did, really could not really affect his choice in any way.

I couldn't say that I knew what he would want to do. I didn't know whether he would send me off his lands, or curse me to stay and become an Omega. I couldn't see what he would gain if I were to leave - however, if I were to stay, he would get the unlimited access to do whatever he pleased to me.

And that thought scared me.

I couldn't exactly tell, but I knew that it was at least, somewhere around midnight. At this point, I know that trying to ask them to not call my pack was useless - besides, I strongly suspected that they were already on their way.

Bringing my knees up to my chest, I lay my head on them and slowly rub my forehead. I could feel a headache coming on. I let my eyes scan the small room, taking in the nonexistent details. The large, silver bars were most likely drenched in Lyman.

It was a very dangerous substance in the Lycanthrope Community, worse than Wolfsbane. If touched - even the slightest bit of contact - it could literally melt the skin of a Shifter. It was normally a colorless, odorless substance, but the one used to cover the bars of my cell was extra-special, for extra-dangerous people like myself. At least, that's the man said. I had recently learned that his name was Ivan. He was the third-in-command, a Gamma, to Alpha Ivanovich - Romanov.

It was incredible, really, how much I had learned about the Pack. Just a list of things that I can use against them. There was a little silver toilet situated to the left of me, and a bunk attached to the wall to my right - it was excremental.

"Homely," my Wolf noted sarcastically.

I didn't respond.

I chewed down on my lower lip as I wrapped my hands tighter around my body. I didn't know why, but I couldn't shake the imminent feeling that had settled itself at the very bottom of my stomach. I didn't have my bags anymore, they had taken it. But, I did have the cigarette and the lighter that Alpha Ivanovich had so kindly disposed at my call.

I stretched my hand to reach for the lighter, while using my left foot to kick the pack of cigarettes to the other side of the room. Mostly due to the fact that, I didn't want any reminder of my mother. I frown as the silver chains halt, they were too short to allow me reach the lighter, so I used my right foot to kick it to me, successfully taking it in my palm, I roll the smooth, cuboid-like lighter, staring at its shiny, golden surface.

Knocking it against the floor, I listen for the sound as I conclude my thoughts. It was real gold. I wasn't surprised, in a pack like this, money shouldn't be a problem. I raise my head to stare at the professional cell equipped with CCTV's, hi-tech security systems, and the neatness of the place did nothing to intimidate me.

Ivan told me this was where they kept special prisoners.

But, Alpha Ivanovich made it clear that I wasn't a threat. Anyway, the pounding of my head surpassed the need to concentrate on any other thought that took my mind.

I needed to pee, but there was no way that I was using the toilet when four cameras were pointing towards me. I cleared the thought from my mind as quickly as it had come. But, that didn't make the pressure dissipate, or lessen.

I lean my head on the metallic wall, clicking my boot quickly up and down while pulling down on the switch of the lighter. I would light it, let it out, then light it again. Something that I had noticed, that helped my nerves about Romanov's decision ease up to a retail.

The loud click and bang of the door let me know that someone was coming in. I raise my head and cock a brow at the door as it slowly pushed open. Revealing a calm looking Ivan holding a pair of handcuffs in his hands. I lowered my head again, as if I didn't know of his presence, and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew that I had ineffectively angered him.

He slipped on a pair of black, leather gloves as he held the gates of the cell as to open it for entrance.

"Get up," he commanded, his voice cool as he spoke in a slight accent.

"Why?" I ask, raising my head to meet his eyes as I caught them roaming shamelessly up my body.

"Pervert," Vienna said.

I mentally agreed as I thought up an unstable plan, specially made for Ivan.

"Your Pack is here," he snapped, lowering down to unlock the chains that bounded my hands.

I watched carefully as he made any slight movement, I hadn't thought of the possibility of having to spend the rest of my life slaving away for people like Ivan. Don't get me wrong, the boy hardly scares me, although it's obvious that he tries to. With his mop of red hair, and his shiny blue eyes, Ivan was nothing more than an obstacle that I had no problem ridding of.

"Ivan," I whisper, tears brimming in my eyes. "I don't want to go, help me."

For a week or so, I had gone to The American Academy for Acting. At first, the little white certificate of participation was nothing more than the endless reminders of what my mother forced me to do to live vicariously through me. But, there were exceptions such as moments like the present, the skills, it came in surprisingly useful.

"Oh, the lies." Vienna snaps, causing my eyebrows to raise in question.

"Fuck off," I spit a reply, "I am doing this for the both of us, Wolfsbane."

"Oh," was her only reply before she could be heard no more. "Carry on," she added, after a moment of an uninterrupted silence.

Despite my irritation, I didn't block her out.

"Cut the crap, kid. You're not fooling anyone," Ivan snickered, pausing for a moment before inserting the key to unlock the chains on my feet. "Especially not me."

It takes a liar to know one.

"Ivan, you have to help me, I don't want to die," I hold back a triumphant smirk as his eyes soften considerably.

I had that effect on people.

The second the last of the chains fall free of my feet, I spread my legs slightly and wink at Ivan, using the tip of my nails to run them down the side of his face.

A pokerface plastered upon my image, I let a sultry smile slip unto my lips as I deliberately lick my lips.

He seem entranced, as if he were fighting something. I knew exactly what, but I pretended like I didn't. Patience, you needed to be patient. Ivan seemed hooked, but it could be exactly what I was doing.

An act.

I didn't have enough time to question it, for it would be a matter of minutes before the CCTV's caught on, and the onlookers would come investigating. Ever so slowly, I slip the blade that I had managed to extract from my bag, out of my sleeve and swiftly loosen it lower and lower down my sleeve, until he was close enough for the eradication.

"Fuck," the force of the word that came out of his lips as the blade sliced perfectly through his neck. "Ah, you little bitch," he snarled. I could tell that he was mind-linking as his eyes went blank. It took only a few seconds for Ivan's lifeless body to sprawl out before my feet. I almost felt sorry for what I had done, but like I said, Ivan was an obstacle I had no problem ridding of.

I stand up quickly, my eyes scanning the room for a minute before finding my escape route. The door wasn't an option, but the vent that crawled above it was perfect. I looked quickly from the bunk to the vent, hardly a foot away. Handy.

But, I doubted I had enough time. Thinking fast, I walk over to the door and insert the passcode I had seen them punch in millions of times. Four, seven, three, seven, four, eight. I quickly change it, sure of what I was doing, I nod my head at the beep and the flashing green light as the intercom's voice fills the room, "Password successfully changed," it said, making a slight smirk anode my normally sill face.

I ran over to the bed, deftly climbing unto the top of it, I hook my hands beneath the metal that held the bed. Skillfully, I jumped from the bed, barely missing the floor as my fingers hooked with the vent's opening. I manage to balance with one arm as I use my knife to unscrew the knots. The sound of the door being suddenly banged in, caused the blade to slip and slice through my finger.

"Shit," I mutter, thankful that the vent had been opened. I frantically, yet thoughtfully, tried to scramble up the vent. But, the door had been opened.

I wasn't exactly experienced in a wild escape, but I had the basic knowledge. In a Pack like this, I wondered if that was enough.

Voices and curses emanated through the room. I felt a strong grip on my foot as I desperately tried to shake it off. A little prick alerted me as I felt the pressure begin to build up in my head once more. I don't bother to look down as the substance filled my veins quite quickly.

"The pressure is immense." Vienna worries.

"Wolfsbane?" I half-ask my Wolf as my eye-lids begin to droop - yet, again.

"Wolfsbane." She confirms.

I don't fight it as I fall from the vent, no arms reach out to catch me as my head connects with the hard, metallic floor that lined the cell, making everything go a hard, apt blinding black.

But, it wasn't because I had fallen unconscious.

-

Loupe Fiasco, California
USA - North America
The Zurich Pack - Trial and Courts Hall Room

Sativa
In the entire eighteen years, four months, and five days that I have been alive, never have I wanted to kill someone so damn much. Yes, I had killed once or twice, discounting Ivan, but, it wasn't out of pleasure. It was for a mere purpose.

But, Alpha Romanov Ivanovich, is most likely going to be an exception.

I sat on a wooden chair, my hands bound behind my back, and my feet chained to the floor. This time, the chains had been coated with Wolfsbane. The more I moved, the more I suffered.

It was a large hall. Cold, and very distant from the rest of the Pack. Well, I couldn't exactly say that I knew what the Pack looked like - apart from the cell, I hadn't seen any other thing. After I had fallen unconscious, they had taken me here. A guard stood on my left, and another on my right. As I stared at the line of Elders seated perfectly in front of me, I couldn't help but gulp. I knew that I had done it this time, but there wasn't a thought of regret.

That Ivan had it coming in for him. I had just been the one to extricate it by acting.

I sat there, the golden lighter clutched tightly in my chain hands. I had tried a couple of times to light it, but I had only ended up burning the flesh on my palms multiple times. So I simply gave up. My denim clad legs bounced up and down in anticipation, I could feel Ivanovich's eyes on me.

But, I ignored it.

In the hall, there were four main sections. One, for the Alpha, his Beta (who was not present), and his third-in-command, (who was no longer alive). To my right was the second part, where the Elders sat. I had a line of about ten to fifteen old men with wrinkly faces, and beards that reached their feet, but it was quite different. The men, were actually quite young. And, despite their name, most of them simply sported five-o'clock shadows or longer.

I turned my gaze to the third section, where the audience sits. But, as of right now, and thankfully, there were none. Finally the fourth, for the criminals. I turn my gaze back to the first, where Alpha Ivanovich sat, with a man to his right, and another to his left. I wondered if Ivan was his third-in-command after all. I had only made assumptions, based on what I had heard and/or seen.

"He could have replaced him," Vienna suggested.

"That fast?" I frown mentally, chewing down on my lower lip as I started at Alpha Ivanovich. He wasn't looking at me, but I could tell that he knew that my eyes were trained on him.

Just by looking at the men that sat beside him, I knew that they were Warriors. The power they emanated didn't surpassed my guesses.

I knew that my pack had already arrived - but, the trial didn't officially begin until half-past four. I discreetly glance up at the clock hung on the wall. It read, half-past three. I had at least an hour left to figure how to get out of this situation. Knowing, that the fate of the rest of my life lies on a man such as Ivanovich, made me think twice.

As if sensing my imitations, Alpha Ivanovich narrowed his glassy, green orbs at me. But, to my surprise, he wasn't completely angered. Maybe, it was the fact that he had the upper-hand, and that he was the one deciding. I stare unnervingly back at him, he wanted a reaction from me.

Like hell, I would comply.

He didn't seem fazed at the fact that I hadn't given in, instead, he turned his head to the man seated beside him. I couldn't exactly tell what their whispered tones held, but I knew that I had something to do with me. I could tell by the way Ivanovich chuckled, and the way the man that he was talking to, would send little glances my way when he thought I was not looking.

"Fuck you," I snapped under my breath. The Wolfsbane rubbing against my wrists as I tried to ease the cramp.

From the way their two head shot up to look at me, then back down again, I was certain they had heard me. I frowned, it was quarter-to four. I let out a sigh as Romanov motions to the guards situated behind me. One of them walks over to him as he tells him something. I don't care to listen to their words, I could hear, but I didn't understand because it was in Russian.

The guard walked back over to me, and for a while, I thought what Romanov had said, had nothing to do with me, until the guard bent slightly, and tightened the cuffs that chained my hand. I swore violently as the Wolfsbane clashes with the already open gashes on my wrist. I felt tears sting my eyes at the pain, but I refused to let the Alpha have the perverse pleasure of getting a reaction out of me. I bit my lip, and keeping my face void of any emotion, I stare at the clock.

He thought I was planning to get away. Well, he wasn't exactly wrong, neither was he exactly right.

Five minutes past four.

I let out a deep breath as the large doors were finally pushed open. My Pack had arrived. I made sure to keep my face emotionless, ridding them of the chances of getting a rise out of me.

As usual, they looked desperate. Almost sad really. Milly didn't stare at me, and I didn't stare back. For, my eyes were on her 'mate', Morgan Crest. He was a tallish male with honey-blonde hair kept in a tousle on the top of his head. His stormy grey eyes had women looking twice, and his broad shoulders and chest giving male models a run for their money. He was in an immaculate suit, and I wondered if I was really that special. Anyway, it was sort of something being invited to a Pack like this, so his effort to impress was understandable to an extent.

Milly, as usual, had her raven black hair in a loose ponytail that hung down the length of her back. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the room, landing on everything and everyone but me. She had on a plain black dress, and killer heels. Her makeup, as usual, made her look orange, it contrasted against the pale whitish color of her neck downwards. I didn't stare at her longer than I needed to.

Terran Macklemore. The Chosen Beta. For the while that I had not been a respected member of the Pack, a man named Hue, had been the Chosen Beta, but after I had left, they must have changed it. Terran, I had recognized his name for I was invited to his Acceptation Ceremony. I didn't attend, but I knew. He was about my height, five-foot-eight. A slender man with wired glasses, and large blue eyes that hid behind them. He wore a plaid shirt tucked into his khaki trousers, a red tie hanging from his neck. I, again, wondered if my calculations on his position had been effortlessly wrong.

But, I myself had seen the Acceptation invitation. However, he looked nothing like a Beta. Nevertheless, maybe he had been voted in.

Still, even that didn't make sense. The boy hardly looked over fifteen, he had trembling fingers that he kept on swiping over the hem of his shirt, and the fear radiating of his body in waves must've delighted Alpha