Factors of Change Ch. 08

"Let me call Gabriel," I said, laying a comforting hand on Joseph's arm. "It's still too dangerous for you to leave, but he can go pick up Marie, and bring her back with him when he comes back here."

He nodded with a small sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly in relief. "Thank you, Leah."

***

Later that day

Gabriel hung up the phone and leaned back into his office chair with a groan. He rocked the chair back, reaching up to rub his hands over his face before spinning it around to look through the window.

It was half past noon, and he hadn't eaten a bite since he had gotten up in the middle of the night. He had rushed to Montreal but thankfully had everything under control for now. The use of figureheads as owners of the restaurants would protect the Pack and keep the police from making their way up the pack hierarchy. The last thing he needed now was for the police to think they were some sort of criminal syndicate that owned the town. Hopefully, they would simply come to the conclusion that a criminal group of pyromaniacs had attacked seven random restaurants during the night. As upsetting as it was that his father's former restaurant was gone, it was actually something in their favour, since it had no link at all with the pack and steered the police in a different direction.

He was theoretically done in Montreal. The owners knew what to do and what to say to the police. Leah had called to ask him to pick up Marie, and he had sent William right away. Gabriel glanced at his watch; the beta should have been back by now.

He frowned and crossed his hands over his stomach as he looked at the city skyline. As much as he tried setting aside his worries, Leah's thoughts about his group of betas haunted him. He refused to believe either of his trusted friends might betray him, but it was hard not to consider it. Leah had a point: they were the only ones who knew about Joseph.

They didn't even all know about his father's restaurant, come to think of it; only Cedric, William, and most probably Isabelle, knew of who he actually was in his previous life.

"Not Cedric," he said out loud. They were practically brothers, and he owed the beta his life as it was now. Not Isabelle, who would follow Cedric everywhere. And not William, either, who had been his close friend since the beta's arrival in the pack, twenty-odd years prior.

Thomas had grown up with Cedric and was loyal to him. Mark, his former mentor when he took his first steps into the Were world, had always been nothing but supportive of him, and he had been the one to recommend his niece Elise.

No, Leah had to be wrong about the Six. But he couldn't help but think about it. He got to his feet and stepped out of his office, running into Mark who had been on his way in. "Is William back?" he asked him.

"No. Do you want me to call him?"

Gabriel shook his head and reached into his pocket for his own phone. He called William and brought the phone to his ear, his frown deepening with each ring that went without an answer. When the call went to voicemail, he ended it and glared at the phone. "Why is he not answering my call?"

Mark shrugged. "Maybe he's in his car."

Gabriel nodded shortly, but he didn't really believe that; William always answered his phone, driving or not. Especially on a day like that day, when they needed to run a tight operation to keep a lid on everything.

A cold hand wrapped around his heart, and he tightened his hand around the phone as he remembered Leah's words yet again. He shook his head quickly to keep the doubts at bay, and dialled another number. He put it on speakerphone and started walking towards the elevator as it rang, Mark following in his tracks.

"Hello?" a feminine voice answered.

"Marie, hello."

"Gabriel?" She sounded surprise to hear him, which wasn't good at all. "Is everything okay? Is Joey..."

"Joey is all right," he quickly reassured her as he and Mark stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and he pressed the button for the underground parking garage. "I am looking for William, Marie. Is he with you?"

"William? I ... well no. I haven't seen him in weeks."

Gabriel glanced up at Mark, who frowned back at him. "Okay. Listen, Marie. I am coming to your house, and I need you to pack a bag. I will take you back to the compound with us."

"Oh," she let out, and chuckled nervously. "Oh, good. All right." She sighed in relief. "I'll be ready."

"Okay. I will see you in fifteen minutes." He hung up and swallowed hard as he looked down at the phone.

"Where is he?" Mark said softly. "This isn't like him at all." Gabriel shook his head wordlessly, just as the elevator doors opened. "Let me try him," Mark added, pulling out his phone as they stepped out. First they could hear nothing but their feet on the concrete ground. Then, echoing through the half-empty parking lot, came the distant melody of a cellphone ringing.

The two men froze upon hearing it. Gabriel's eyes widened before he hurried between cars to reach the soft music. They both made their way towards the back of the parking garage, and Gabriel stopped in his tracks. The phone was on the ground, still ringing despite its cracked glass screen. It lay among shreds of denim jeans and cotton t-shirt, car keys and running shoes, spread all over the ground over the next ten feet. Mark crouched and picked the phone up before plucking a piece of clothing off the ground to analyze it, and William's leather wallet fell out of what was left of a back pocket.

"He shifted," Gabriel realized, appalled. He looked around him, his heart beating loudly in his ribcage. Right here, in the middle of downtown Montreal, in an underground parking lot, William had shifted through his clothes and left everything there on the ground. Where was he now? His eyes fell upon a dark spot on the ground, and he walked over to crouch next to him, his heart sinking in his chest ad he reached out and touched fresh blood. "What the fuck happened here?" he whispered.

"It wasn't pretty," another voice answered him, and both he and Mark jumped up to their feet to turn towards the intruder. The light caught on blonde hair before he stepped into the light, and Gabriel's stomach tightened.

"Thomas?" he called as the other beta stepped closer. "What are you doing here? I left you on sentry duty." Mark, frowning deeply, inched closer to his side.

"I had something else to do," Thomas explained with a shrug.

As if on cue, three other Weres suddenly stepped out from behind cars. They were strangers, and Gabriel could hear more footsteps behind him as more of them came closer. All sorts of alarm bells rang in his head as he clenched his fists. His wolf growled loudly in his mind and he shuddered with the strong impulse to shift.

"What the fuck is this?" he hissed at Thomas, and let a tone of command drip into his tone. "Stand down, Tom. All of you. Now."

Thomas clicked his tongue. "That won't work, Gabriel." He reached at his side and pulled out a small handgun that he pointed at the two men. "You're not my Alpha anymore, you can't order me around. You'll get in my car, now."

"The hell he will," Mark growled, and Thomas's gaze shifted to him, as did the aim of the gun.

"Why do you even have a gun?" Gabriel hissed at him. "Since when do we use that?"

Thomas chuckled. "Why shouldn't we? Didn't you want the pack to evolve? Look at us, prancing around in neat clothes and using cellphones. Why not guns?" He pointed it back towards Gabriel, and pulled off the safety. "It's just easier this way, Gabriel. I'm sorry. Really. Now get in the car."

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Mark growled again and instantly shifted into his pale grey wolf before Gabriel could stop him. He lunged at Thomas in a giant leap, shreds of clothing still clinging to his fur. In one single movement, Thomas turned, aimed the gun on the wolf and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed loudly in the underground parking lot, as deafening as a lightning bolt. The grey wolf curled up mid-flight and his big body fell heavily on the concrete ground, limply rolling a few feet before sprawling over next to a car. "Mark!" Gabriel ran to him, ignoring the other wolves, and fell to his knees next to the still body. "Non, non non non," he whispered frantically as he reached for his friend, grabbing him and trying to roll him onto his side. He felt warm blood, groped to find the wound, dug his fingers through the thick fur of his neck to look for a pulse, but rough hands grabbed his arms and pulled him away. He instantly snarled and whirled around to face them, yanking his arms out of their grip, and a ripple went through his body as he started shifting. Who the hell did they think they were? Did they actually think they could simply pick him up and take him away, like a helpless pup?

Suddenly furious, he shifted into his large black wolf, tearing through his own clothes, and stood his ground over Mark's body, his chest rumbling loudly as he showed as many teeth as he could. He counted seven enemies and a few Weres seemed hesitant to move, but Thomas raised his gun. "Get him!" he called to them, and Gabriel snarled.

Take them down. Get the gun, his wolf hissed as Gabriel let it take over his conscience. Make them pay, one by one. He braced himself low to the ground, but instead of leaping at Thomas's neck, which had been Mark's mistake, he turned and quickly ducked under the large pickup truck that was parked right next to him. There were exclamations of dismay as he quickly crept under the vehicle to go around it. Make them pay for the life they took. His dark colour worked to his advantage in the dimly lit parking lot, and he ran between and under the cars as the others looked for him, going in a large circle around them. Take them from behind. Like the cowards that they are. He could see Thomas's head above the cars, and his vision went red with fury as he silently ran towards the traitorous, murderous bastard, his eyes focused on his throat.

Another Were saw him, and barely had time to let out a startled exclamation and point at him. Thomas started turning around but Gabriel got to him first, tackling him violently to the ground. He snarled and went straight for the neck, but someone else slammed into his side and they rolled off together in a flurry of fur and limbs, sharp teeth vainly snapping audibly. Gabriel rolled further and stood on all four, facing the group of Weres, half of which had already shifted and stepped towards him, hackles raised in aggression. One at a time, his wolf growled. You can take them, one by one.

He leaped at the closest one and tackled him to the ground with a snarl. They rolled together until Gabriel pinned him and quickly closed his jaws on the other wolf's neck. It whined and instantly went limp, offering him its neck, but he ignored its submission, his teeth ripping through fur and skin. Another wolf tackled him off and he was thrown several feet away, but adrenaline and fury had him back on his legs in a second. One at a time. He growled at his new opponent and jumped, but a loud gunshot tore the air. A sharp, blinding pain shot through his midsection and he crashed to the ground with a loud, surprised whimper.

Get up. Get up, he thought frantically as he struggled to get back to his feet. Blinding white pain shot through his middle when he tried standing up, but he ignored it and lunged again, tackling the closest wolf to the concrete ground and sinking his teeth into the other's muzzle. Fight! He wasn't going to stop, no matter how unfair the fight was.

There were suddenly several hands on him, roughly pinning him to the ground before he could even get up. He struggled violently, snarling and snapping his teeth in the empty air in the hopes of catching a limb, but while he managed a few good bites and heard pained exclamations, all he seemed to manage was to cover them in his blood and injure himself further as someone pulled sharply on his front legs to immobilize him. One of them was lying on him to keep him flat on the floor, and another sat high across his shoulders and had his hands clamped tightly around his muzzle to keep him from biting. He could barely breathe under the pressure and the sharp, burning pain in his middle was making him dizzy. He struggled again, his vision faltering, but could barely move now as they restrained him. He saw a blurry Thomas crouching in front of him. Gabriel noticed, with some satisfaction, that he had a deep gash on his neck that had bled all over his shirt, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. "It could have been much easier, Gabriel," he said in a low tone. "But you had to be difficult."

Gabriel managed a muffled snarl in answer, struggling harder against those who were holding him down. He noticed some movement at the corner of his eye and saw the blow coming. He certainly felt the blinding pain as a blunt object crashed against his skull, but his vision went suddenly dark, and he stopped feeling anything at all.