darkangel_0410 | Mine, ch 23 (Reply)

A/N: Well, here's another chapter. Thanks for all the great reviews, and here's the new character I was telling you about. Hope everyone likes him. Enjoy, peeps, we're almost to the end of this one.

“Maybe we should just pull everyone back from the perimeter,” Mike said, frowning a little as he rubbed Alex's knee.

“Cody's vision doesn't leave any guess work; they are going to get through. Doesn't it make more sense to have as many people ready for the fight?”

Randy nodded; he was already slowly forming a plan. “It does; at least some of the borders, anyway.

“We can pull Dan and Josh; since that was were the Bucks came in, I'm going to assume that's where the fangs are going to come from. Besides, I wanted Dan to get more training, and we might as well make use of the situation we have.

“Dan, Josh, you'll work with Sabin and Shelley. You're going to be the only ones here without any fight experience, so listen when someone tells you something. Sabin is in charge of you when me or Ted's not around; he was the one who first thought you should get more training. Don't make either one of us regret it.”

Dan nodded fervently and Randy could tell by the hunger to prove himself that was written all over his face, that he had made the right choice.

“What about Matt and Jeff?” John asked quietly. He could feel how tense Evan was and he rubbed his back in an attempt to relax him a little.

Evan was watching Shelley out of the corner of his eye, afraid to lose sight of him now that he knew what Shelley was really like.

He's not like that any more, John said, his voice reassuring. I might not be as close to Shelley as Sabin is, or even Mike, but I don't think he ever was that kind of person deep inside.

Evan shook his head stubbornly. You don't know that; it's probably just an act.

John dropped it; he didn't want Evan more upset then he already was but he needed a way to make Evan see how different Alex was now.

“I'll call them down, too,” Randy answered, and there was a certain sadness in his eyes when he went on.

“I'm going to call Punk, too.”

Ted looked at him sharply, his eyebrow raised while everyone else looked surprised.

“You think that's, uh, necessary?” Adam asked after a minute.

“I don't have a choice,” Randy told him, his arms tightening around Justin, making him squirm a little.

“I need every fighter I can get and Punk is one of the best. He can keep up with any of us and he's pack.”

“Who's Punk?” Justin asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“Did we meet him the other day?” Evan wondered, taking his eyes off of Shelley finally.

“No, Punk goes his own way,” Randy answered Evan first, a distant look in his eye. “He's pack, though, and my cousin.”

They'd been close once, Randy thought sadly. It had been Bob, Randy's father, that started calling Phil 'Punk' when they were both only three or four. It had caught on; as far as Randy knew, no one had called Punk by his given name in years.

Punk had moved in with them for a couple years until he had been fifteen; after that he had moved in with Colt.

“Punk lived here until a couple years ago,” Chris continued when Randy didn't say anything else. “He left after...” Chris trailed off, his hand automatically reaching out to touch Alex's thigh.

Alex understood why Chris needed to feel him right then and rubbed his hand down Chris's arm.

Justin and Evan looked around the clearing, slightly disturbed at the looks of sadness and pity on everyone's face, but what really caught their attention was the edge of fear that was underneath them.

“Punk and Colt were in Virginia, on pack business, when they got jumped,” Alex went on, his voice bleak.

“By four other wolves. It didn't seem like a big deal; the other wolves were young and Punk's a fucken excellent fighter; Colt was a hell of a brawler in his own right, too. Punk and Colt figured they were just letting off some steam; especially since they were in the territory with Hunter's permission.”

“They had silver knives on them,” Randy growled, feeling the familiar ball of helpless rage in the pit of his stomach. The two and a half years had dulled it a little, but he could still feel it there; a reminder of a time when he had failed his pack -his family- when they had needed him the most.

Justin shifted a little, just enough so he could snake his arm around Randy's back and hug him tightly. Randy sighed and dropped a kiss on top of his head.

“By the time some of Hunter's pack got there, it was too late; they had run off and Punk was almost dead. And Colt was already gone.” Alex told them, shuddering lightly, unable to do anything but picture Chris there were Colt had been.

“There was so much blood, they couldn't tell who got cut where,” Chris put in, noticing everyone else in the clearing were gripping their mates just as hard as he was; he had the feeling Alex was going to have bruises on his thigh later on from where his hand had a death grip on him.

“Punk was latched onto Colt, curled around his back,” Adam remembered, his arm still around Jay's waist and Jay was leaning his head on Adam's shoulder.

“They had to break his fingers before they could pry his hands off of him,” Jay added softly. “Even unconscious, he refused to let go of Colt.”

Justin's breath caught and he exchanged terrified looks with Evan before burying his head in Randy's chest.

“He was never the same after that,” Cody murmured, his own guilt obvious. “He stayed here until we buried Colt and Hunter had found the wolves who had done it.”

“What happened to them?” Evan asked, almost afraid of the answer. He could only imagine what could have been done to them and he had a feeling he was going to have nightmares about it.

“I don't know,” Randy answered, but there was a vicious edge to his smile that said he could picture what it was and that he was very pleased with the image he had come up with. “Hunter kept two of them to make an example out of for his pack, and delivered the other two to Punk.”

“I saw him after,” Mike said, his voice low. “Me and Alex were hunting,” he paused to look at his mate and when Alex nodded, he went on.

“He was covered in blood and I mean covered; even his hair was stained red. I don't think there was a single part of his body that wasn't. He looked like a horror movie come to life.”

“After that, he rinsed off in the river and sat in front of Colt's grave for almost two days,” Ted finished, his own hold on Cody turning his knuckles white. “Punk left after that, and he hasn't been back since.”

“If he shows up,” Chris started, his eyes on Justin, not even acknowledging the other newborn.

“He'll show up,” Randy interrupted, his voice sure.

“Ya don't know that,” Ted corrected him quietly. He shook his head at the look on Randy's face. “What could ya do to him to make him, Randy? Cut him off from the pack? Kill him? He's been trying to get killed for two and a half years and ya know it.”

Randy's temper flared but as he looked at Ted, it died just as quickly as it had started. He knew Ted was right; ever since Colt's death, he'd hear stories from other packs about the antics Punk had been getting into, the fights and risks he'd been taking, all in an effort to make sure he didn't have to go on without Colt.

“If he shows up,” Adam repeated, looking at both the newborns, noticing the looks Evan was throwing Shelley.

Chris is going to kick his ass for that, Jay said offhandedly. Or, rather, Chris is going to kick John's ass for it.

You don't sound too upset, Angel, Adam observed, smiling a little.

Evan was out of line; he has no right to judge someone when he hasn't been through the same things he has, Jay said simply. And even then I don't think he'd have the right.

“Whatever you do, don't touch him. He hates it; some wolf in West Virginia put his hand on Punk's shoulder for something and he almost lost his arm.”

“But why? I thought wolves liked being in contact with each other.” Evan said, rubbing his cheek against John's chest and inhaling his scent.

“We do,” Alex answered, shifting closer to Mike until their legs were pressed together. “The touch and feel of pack helps comfort us and makes us feel safe and happy; it reminds us that, no matter what happens, we're not alone.”

“Punk doesn't want that,” Randy said, answering Justin's unspoken question. “He thinks he has to suffer every minute he's still alive without Colt.”

“He blames himself,” Chris said quietly, sliding his hand from Alex's thigh, up his back and resting it on the back of his neck. “”He couldn't protect the one thing he loved more then life itself. He loathes himself more and more everyday.”

You might want to talk to Evan, Chris told Randy evenly. He doesn't like 'Lex now, that's his own deal, but he's starting to get on my nerves with all the dirty looks.

I'll talk to him, Randy said, his own voice borderline aggravated. We can't afford to have you guys at each others throats.

“It's good to see some people have a conscious,” Evan muttered.

An ominous growl came from Chris but Randy raised a hand before he could say or do anything.

“Alright, let's get some rest tonight; starting tomorrow, we run 24/7 border checks. One of us,” Randy said, motioning to everyone in the clearing. “Is always going to be awake at all times. No one is to go off by themselves. Understand?”

Once everyone nodded, he continued. “I'll talk to Matt and Jeff tonight and I'll try Punk, too. We'll meet at Sabin and Shelley's at first light. Evan, John, stay a minute.” Randy added when everyone was leaving.

“I'm gonna go say goodbye to everyone,” Justin murmured, brushing a quick kiss over Randy's lips before he got up and went over where the wolves had changed and were rough housing with each other and his onderwysers.

Randy watched as his mate paused to hug Evan and then ruffle his hair affectionately before continuing over to everyone else.

“Randy,” Evan murmured, ducking his head respectfully. John searched Randy's face for a split second before he dropped his eyes.

“Evan,” Randy murmured back, mentally sighing.

“I know why you want to talk to me,” Evan told him, his voice respectful but there was no mistaking the animosity in his words. “But you can't make me trust him again.”

“You're right; I can't. More to the point: I wouldn't even if I could,” Randy said, smiling slightly at the look of surprise on Evan's face.

“You can, you know; if Shelley wanted to hurt you, he had more then enough opportunity to. The person he was then is not the person he is now, or even the person he really was, I believe.

“But that's neither here or there.

“What I wanted to talk to you about is a lot simpler then the question of trusting someone. You need to watch what you're saying and doing.

“You don't have to like Shelley, or trust him; hell, you don't even have to talk to him. But you need to stop insulting him.

“In the first place, you need to get the full story before you start making snap decisions about someone. Beyond even that, if you keep talking like you are to Shelley and making accusations about him, you're going to pay the price.

“More to the point, John's going to pay the price. Chris will only stand for so much before he challenges John about it, and then there's going to be a fight. And I don't need to tell you that that is the absolute last thing we need right now.”

“But why would he blame John?” Evan questioned, his heart in his throat. Despite his reluctance to accept the mating at first, he didn't want John to pay for his mouth. “I mean, I'm not a little kid, I'm responsible for myself.”

“To a certain point, yes, you are,” Randy answered, shaking his head slightly in disappointment. He knew they had gone over this with Evan and Justin.

“But when it comes down to a fight, John's responsible for you. Our laws state that if you're submissive, you can't fight. At all, no matter what it's for. You're mate has to fight your battles for you.

“And with good reason. You saw the kind of damage dominants can do to each other; now imagine if it was you or Justin, or, hell, even Cody trying to fight. It would be a fucken massacre.

“Chris is pretty easy going about most things -but when it comes to his mate, he draws the line; which is how it should be. And believe me when I tell you, you've seen nothing close to what Chris is capable of when it comes to protecting his mate from any kind of threat -no matter if it's physical or emotional.

“Eventually, he's going to get pissed enough to challenge John and then one of them is going to get hurt, badly. I wouldn't be surprised if neither one of them were able to walk away from that fight.

“All I'm telling you is to watch your mouth. If it boils down to a fight, my hands are tied. John and Chris are close in dominance and our laws state that they have to settle it themselves.

“I don't want either of them hurt -in the first place, they're both of my pack and in the second, we're going to need every single fighter we can get our hands on.

“And I want you to think about this: you might not like or trust him right now, but Shelley's willing to lay his life on the line for you -so is Chris for that matter. I don't think it's too much to ask to be polite and show them a little respect.”

Evan nodded, making sure to keep his eyes down. John threw his arm around Evan's shoulder and led the confused vampire away from their Alpha. He hoped Randy had gotten through to him about this.

Later on that night, Randy laid in bed curled around Justin with his eyes closed. Taking a deep breath, he called out to his cousin.

Punk? Are you there? I need your help.

For a minute, Randy thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he heard Punk; his voice almost the same as it always had been, but now there was a deep mourning to it that Randy would never be able to fully understand.

Cousin, Punk said formally, the words slightly mocking. What could I possibly do for you?

A/N2: If anyone's interested, you can read the scene that set off the idea of wolf!Punk here:30 Times -Chicago Style. It's under 'Devastated'.