Unwilling Ch. 13

The banister cracked beneath George's fist. Black, web-like fissures appeared along the carved wood, a stark reminder of the power still left in the broken body. He couldn't do much more than that, but the force spoke volumes, as did the tear in the corner of his eye. He wiped at it angrily, stopping its path halfway down. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? My failures as a father?" he asked, his voice tight and rough.

Jared shifted, straightened and turned to George, keeping his face pleasantly blank. "No. I wanted to talk about your behavior towards me and Darwin. I have no idea how I'm supposed to act because you're his father and I really want you to like me, but I think I've gone about this all wrong. I'm not just your son's boyfriend, I'm his mate and on my way to become your Alpha, and as the pack Alpha I've let you trample all over me. I've given you the impression of weakness for all the wrong reasons and now we're here and it's almost too late to patch up things. For that I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry I found Darwin or that he loves me and I won't stop seeing him just because you don't approve. I know that you're out of your depth. A few days ago you thought he was a dominant and now he isn't. You're worried for his safety, any good dominant would be, but you're forgetting something. I always knew what he was and he knew it too, which means that you're the only one still confused about how to treat him, how to see him. He didn't change, your opinion of him did."

Fresh winter wind carried off the last words and swallowed the echo. George kneaded the armrest of his wheelchair, chewed his lips and grunted noncommittally, but whatever force had fired his rage was suddenly gone. He looked old, cold and brittle, his jaws clenched as if to keep quiet by force. Jared turned his head and took in the view, at a loss for words now that he had said his piece. What else could he do to make George understand he wouldn't leave Darwin?

George snorted and shook his head. "Why are you telling me what I already know? Or did you really think that little heart-to-heart would make me see things your way?" He turned his chair, leaned back and threw Jared a loathing look. "I don't care what you want, I won't let you ruin him. I forbid it."

Familiar ground at last. Jared smirked and nodded. "As you wish. You leave me no other choice then: I challenge you, George."

'Dumbfounded' was too mild a description for the look on George's face. His jaw dropped and he sputtered, gasped and fumbled for words. At last he got his tongue back, eyes wild as he said, "You can't be serious!"

Now that the impasse loomed over him, Jared doubted how serious he was himself. If George didn't back down, now that the gauntlet had been thrown, a fight would be inevitable and Jared would be forced to hurt or even kill George. The choice between fucked and utterly fucked.

A sharp gust of wind howled by, rattling the banister and tugging at Jared's collar as the gust raced around the house. Seconds stretched and stretched, torturous time spent with staring, hoping, trying to keep his expression blank as George searched his face for hints of a bluff. A slight vertigo nudged at him, trying to steal the balance he had so easily held all his life.

Then the moment was over. George's face hardened, his lips nothing more but a whitened line as he turned his chair towards the balcony door. "I forfeit," he said, cleared his throat and repeated in a steadier voice, "I forfeit the duel."

"Then you accept my dominion over you?"

Teeth creaked as George tightened his jaws, his words a slithering thing, barely thick enough to crawl out of his mouth. "I do."

Something hard, tight and cold around Jared's chest loosened and he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. A trickle of laughter clogged his throat, barely held back by his will for fear of ruining the unsteady truce he had just forged. It took a while to cram down his elation deep enough to be sure it would stay hidden and only then did he open his eyes again. Nothing was more frightening than a quadriplegic, disgruntled father-in-law.

George was staring at him, his face intent and sharp.

It made Jared cringe a little. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

The old man hesitated, hissed, and shrugged. "No. Just wanted to make sure you weren't having a laugh on my account."

"And?"

A small smile tugged at the mobile part of George's mouth and he nodded slightly. "And you weren't. Thank you."

Then George wheeled himself back inside, leaving Jared to stare after him with bemused surprise and a little bit of anxiety on his face. Now that it was done, what the hell was he supposed to do next?

~*Darwin*~

The feet on his lap stank. Two days of constant travel did that to anyone's feet, but having the source of the odor sitting right there and right below his nose made it worse. No amount of turning his head or cracking the window open to catch the cold winter breeze helped for long, and the constant movement of the car did its part to twist Darwin's stomach in a tight, sick, knot.

"Could we please pull over at the next rest stop?" he begged, head held high and turned to escape the fumes. The owner of those feet, no other than Harry, snored peacefully, his head burrowed into Rayne's sweater to keep out the daylight.

Darla huffed, swerving around another unsuspecting motorist dumb enough to stick to the speed limit. Somewhere, miles behind them for all Darwin knew, Mary was probably having a coronary event. Or she had given up on keeping up. "Again? What is it this time, Darwin?"

Torn between truth and lie, Darwin sucked in a hesitant breath. Sock sweat immediately coated his tongue and crept into his gullet as he swallowed convulsively. "I'm gonna be sick if you don't!"

Swearing, Darla cut off a truck and almost sheared against the picketing as she pulled off the highway, sending everyone into a confused uproar and waking Harry. Not that Darwin cared; as soon as the car stopped, he popped out the back, stumbled to the side, and plastered the lawn with what little coffee and pancakes he had managed to force down at breakfast.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, too. Ever since the group had decided to leave Renton and go back to Banes, his whole body felt tight, tense, and off. Sure, Darwin was giddy with elation that Jared had made peace with his father, however unstable it was, and he was out of his mind with joy to know they would all stay together, both his new pack and what was left of his old one. He even agreed with Jared's reasoning, having their own territory and a chance to re-build the Banes pack like it was supposed to be was a giant step up from squatting and being run off every few days. But...

He spit a few times, coughing at the bitter taste in the back of his throat, and got up on wobbly knees. If the trip went on like this, they would never reach Banes. On the other hand, would that be such a bad thing?

The others stayed with the car, chatting in low voices, but a hand grabbed Darwin's arm to help him up and a set of lips kissed the scarred bite on his neck. "I feel exactly the same," whispered Jared, a tight smile on his lips. "Too bad we can't simply elope and run off to Hawaii."

Darwin turned and hugged him, burying his face against his sweater. He stank of sweat and too much deodorant, just like everyone else, but Jared's unique scent never made him sick. If only it had been his feet on his lap, instead of Harry's.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually so weak," Darwin mumbled and swallowed remnants of bile. "Maybe I've caught a stomach bug or something."

Jared chuckled softly and hugged him tighter. "Yeah, right. I think it's called 'nerves'."

"What!"

"Don't be so tense, nobody's blaming you for it. You've got every right to be freaked out."

"I am not freaked out!" Darwin wiggled and shoved against Jared's chest, but he wouldn't let go. It only made him feel more trapped. There was nothing to be freaked out about, nothing at all! They were just going home to Banes, his home, the place he had lived in his whole life, a familiar place, nothing more. Granted, he didn't have fond memories about Banes- or his pack, for that matter- but Carl was dead, so what could go wrong?

His stomach did a backflip and he twisted, dry-heaving to the side while Jared held him upright. His abs hurt from the sheer violence of the contractions and he groaned exhaustedly when the fit finally passed.

Well, so much for a stomach bug. "Okay, so I'm a little freaked out, so what?"

"So nothing. I just came over here to tell you that we understand and that you don't have to worry about appearances. You're not the only one worried about going back, you know? Rayne has been pacing all night before we took off and Darla was almost at the point of proposing to stay with Margo. Graham had to talk her down for hours. The only ones not feeling the pressure are Harry and Graham, but, you know, they are Prince and King Valium compared to everyone else."

"Really?" It shouldn't have made him feel better, but it did. The impulse to play dominant, to try and control everything and everyone, still haunted him at times, but those moments weren't as bad as the ones where that tiny, inner voice whispered strings and strings of self-deprecations to him. Weak, it said, weak and fragile, useless, unworthy. The thought of anyone thinking those things about him was too much, but what if they weren't?

"I promise you, we're all shaken. I didn't tell anyone about what Carl did to you, but they seem to sense that it's harder for you. Nobody said a word and that's how it will stay." Jared hugged him again, squeezing his cramped insides between his powerful arms, and grinned broadly. "Don't worry about the puking. We'll get you mouthwash if it starts to bother us."

"Har har." Darwin rolled his eyes and straightened carefully. His tummy stayed quiet, cramping but too empty to be a risk any longer. A group of deer stalked through the nearby field, eying first them, then the highway and the flitting cars warily. Even nervous like this, they still looked calm and happy. Fear didn't stop them from enjoying the winter sun, so why should Darwin let it stop him? "Okay, fine, I'm freaked. And I'll probably puke again, but I can do this. I will do this. Carl can suck my-"

"-oh no, he can't, that's my job," Jared interrupted him, picked him up and all but dragged him back to the car, ignoring Darwin's protests and breathless cackling.

"Let's go home."

The End