50: Old Friends

    "Derek, how very nice of you to join us." Tanner snarled, the enmity readily apparent in his voice.

    "Tanner." Derek gave as a simple greeting. "Where is she?"

    "Where is the stone?" Tanner countered.

    "Here." Marge spoke up, stepping out from behind Rob's back.

    Tanner smirked. "This must be the vampire-witch. Such an interesting hybrid."

   "Where's my daughter?" she asked before a blood-curdling howl rent the air. Someone in the hunting party wasn't happy.

     Tanner's eyes narrowed a fraction before he refocused on Marge.

     "My daughter?" Marge asked. "I refuse to hand this over until she is in our custody."

     "Show her the witch." Tanner barked over his shoulder. They brought Gabby within view through a window they could see through the short patch of woods behind the gate. She struggled against the hold of the wolf that held her.

     Marge glared at Tanner. "Bring her down here. You said-"

     "Don't, Tanner!" Katharine suddenly screeched. "It's a fake!"

     "Preposterous." Marge scoffed. "Why would we offer a fake?"

     "More like why wouldn't you?" Tanner growled while the wolves behind Marge tensed.

     I'm going to kill you, Derek, Marge thought maliciously.

     "Looks like we're going to have a little fun tonight, boys." Tanner grinned at the vampire. With a simple flick of his wrist, his pack charged forward towards Derek's crew.

      Unfortunately for one of Tanner's number, however, Marge shot a killing spell out from her hand, bringing the wolf crashing down in front of his brothers. She quickly felt a sudden inspiration, and she created a wall of flames between herself and the remaining members of Tanner's pack.

      Suddenly, she felt herself jerked backwards, being carried away in someone's arms.

      "Keep firing!" Robert directed as he carried her along, so she did so, downing a few more of Tanner's pack that felt brave enough to dash through the wall of fire.

      Their path got intercepted by Nate as he flew past them, knocking down a few more wolves.

      "Go!" he yelled behind him, looking irritated, while the two small opposing forces worked quickly to get organized, thinking that Nate, Marge, and Robert would do the same.

      Robert and Marge went towards Appaloosa Plains while Nate rushed back in the direction of the compound. Not expecting this, the larger wolf party had to split once again.

      Just before they disappeared from view, Marge's gaze fell upon a wolf with long black hair, and she knew without trying that this wolf was the one that raped her daughter.

      "Robert." Julian growled while the other wolves raced in another direction, chasing Derek and the others of their small band, giving Marge a wide berth.

      Cowards, she thought viciously while Rob set her down and faced the rapist.

     "Murderer." Julian snarled, and Marge wondered what he meant. She didn't bother trying to figure it out and instead kept her attention on the enemy wolf.

     "An accident." Robert growled back, and her stomach plummeted.

     The other wolf took a step towards the pair, but Marge quickly fired a warning shot at his feet.

     "Why not simply kill me and be done with it?" his ancient eyes asked her.

     "It's not my place to do so nor it is your time." Marge answered cryptically before the wolf roared with laughter.

     "Then be gone, witch! Leave the big dogs to their fight." he suggested.

     "I said I wouldn't kill you; I didn't say I wouldn't stop you." she snapped. "Rapist." she finished.

     "I wouldn't be interested in Gabriella if it weren't for your boyfriend here." the other wolf said as he took a step towards them. A look of mock concern showed up on his face as he asked, "Has he not told you he's a murderer?"
     Marge shrugged. "As am I."
     "He killed my wife."
     "You raped my daughter."
     Julian snarled at her, "My fight is not with you, witch!"

     "Well, mine is with you!" she argued back, throwing a stunning spell his way that he quickly dodged.
      Julian had wanted to only fight with Robert, he hadn't really counted on the fact that the woman would want to fight him. Still, he knew he could overpower her if given the chance, and he sought his opening. Finding it, he pounced.
      Simultaneously, Robert reached out to pull Marge out of the way, and Gus appeared from out of nowhere to attack Julian, pinning him to the ground.
      "Foolish move, boy." Gus spit at Julian below him.
      Julian threw August off of him, sending him in an arch through the air. Gus landed on his feet and hands in a crouched position, watching the were with excited eyes.

     In a laughing voice, Gus said, "I was all for you attacking the pup, but you made the decision to go after my woman." He ignored the low growl from Robert.
       Julian smiled evilly at August and quipped, "And yet, you let the pup mate with her. I can smell him all over her."
       "My Marge knows to whom she really belongs, and to whom I lend her is my business." Gus said coldly.
      "My fight is with Robert, Ancient One, not with you, or her, for that matter. If she continues to be in the way, then I must remove her." Julian said almost warily and watched Gus like a hawk.
      "Let's go." Robert said quietly to Marge. "I want you away from this."
      Men, Marge thought, irritated at how both Gus and Robert felt the need to protect her. She looked at Robert with a mildly-irritated expression.
       Rob took her hand and said, "Please." She rolled her eyes, and the pair of them sped off.

       Julian moved to follow them, but August blocked his path once again. He roared with irritation at the vampire and his jovial expression.
      August laughed loudly and asked, "So, hm, what do you call yourself now? Oh yes, Julian. Tell me, Julian, I'm curious. Just how was Gabriella?"
     "Still listening to gossip, old man?" Julian asked in place of an answer.
     "Only when I'm curious." Gus answered. "How much of a fight did she give you? I've found her to be quite resourceful in a state of panic."

     Julian smiled wickedly and decided to give an answer. "She was more than I expected."
     "I must admit I'm rather curious about the offspring." Gus smiled. "I wonder if the old man ever considered that when he made that bauble?"
     "You knew him, only you can answer that question." Julian remarked.

     August's mind went back to a different place and time for a few seconds as he remembered the man that made the stone and what he intended its original purpose to be.
      He smiled and said, "I love how your kind wish to cherish and protect it." Gus felt pleased that Julian looked confused as to the meaning behind his statement. They still don't realize.

      A howl sounded in the distance, one that meant a victory of sorts. Julian sniffed the air.
      "Your pack calls you." Gus pointed out dryly.
      "If the witch gets in the way again, I will remove her." Julian promised.
      "And I will be there to stop you."
      Julian let out a chuckle. "Until next time then, 'old friend'." With that, he sped off in the direction of the howl.

49: Extortion

Recap:
*Tanner instructed Julian to capture, not kill Nate even though Julian would prefer to kill him.

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The following scene takes place a little before Derek's pack shows up on the cliff overlooking Tanner's estate. I decided to jump a little ahead chronologically in the last chapter so it would flow better, thinking it would've been odd to jump to this scene in the middle of Derek's pack running.

For the record, I'm a little uncomfortable with the next chapters. Not by the way they're written, but with what takes place. They're a prime example of how I feel like the story has taken control even if what's happening is what was planned. I hope that makes sense.

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      Gabriella stood and watched dispassionately as Julian prepared to go out. The sun was nearly set outside the window.

       Julian saw her looking at him, and he took a few large steps to bring himself directly in front of her.

       "Don't worry, Kitten. I'll come back in one piece, and I have been instructed not to kill your vampire love." he said softly as he reached up to cup her face with his hand. 

       She unsuccessfully tried to bat his hand away before she said, "I don't care if you come back in one piece or not, and you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not to kill Nathaniel if you'd just simply hand me over to him." She said it, but she doubted seriously that he would do as she recommended.

       Julian chuckled deeply in his throat. "I said I was 'instructed' not to kill him, but if I get the opportunity to do it and get away with it, believe me, I will do it gladly. He is an obstacle that needs to be removed." He could smell the cold fear coming from her, and that gave him an idea.

       "What do you mean 'instructed'?" Gabriella asked, trying to mask her fear.

      "Tanner wants him taken prisoner. I don't really care why, and I'm not happy with his order. I may need to find another alpha once again. If that's the case, I'll take you with me when I leave." he said, his eyes drinking in her features as his thumb caressed her cheek.

      "You've had other alphas?" she asked, trying to delay and distract him.

      "Many."

      She studied him for a second before she asked, "How old are you?" She didn't care if he was offended by the question or not.

      He smiled a small smile down at her. "Old."

     "That's a relative term." she said, continuing to distract him. "Old like you should be a grandfather old? Several hundred years? Stone circles old?"

     His eyes took on a curious gleam as he said, "Interesting you should mention stone circles."

     "You avoided answering." she pointed out. Then, she couldn't stand not taking the bait he threw out, "What do you mean by that?"

     He shrugged noncommittally, "Only because of what you are."

     "I don't understand."

     He looked at her in mild disbelief. "Haven't you wondered why there are so few of you?"

     "Are there few of those like me? Seems to me I'm running into them everywhere."

     "Because you have steadily been killing each other over the years." he continued with his earlier statement like she hadn't spoken. "You swear you don't know this?" He waited, curious.

     "I only found out what I was a short time ago. I thought I was just weird."

     He chuckled and said, "No wonder you were so easy to capture." He caught her hand as she reached up to slap him, her fury rampaging across her face. He laughed outright now before he said, "Much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have a vampire I need to try to figure out a way to 'accidentally' kill." He held onto her wrist as again he felt curious about her reaction.

     "No." she whispered, her anger dissipating quickly. "He's not been really good to me either, but he doesn't deserve to die."

     Neither did Charlotte, Julian thought angrily. Pushing that anger aside, he quickly took this opening to execute his earlier idea. "What will you do for me if I don't kill him?"

      Gabriella's eyes widened in horror. "That's .... that's extortion!" She took a step back, pressing her back against the wall.

      He kissed the knuckles of the hand he still held captive. "Maybe." he stated, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "But I want you."

      "You said you wouldn't hurt me." None of my visions prepared me for this. I have to get out of it somehow.

      "And I won't. I want you to give yourself to me willingly." he said huskily, taking a step forward to close the gap between them.

      "You're despicable." she spat at him.

      He shrugged and said, "Maybe I am, but I'm also a man. And you are a beautiful woman that is under my 'protection'."

       Her eyes narrowed as she said, "Like you protected me from your alpha's mate?"

       "That, sadly, was out of my control, and it's another reason I want to leave this pack." He sighed in an over-dramatic way and continued, "I guess I'll have to kill him then."

       "Please, no." she begged.

       "Then agree to my proposal."

       She shook her head and said, "No. I can't."

     He dropped her hand and said, "No matter then. I can wait. I am a patient man all things considering. I'll kill him, and you'll eventually come around." He turned and made his way to the door at a normal pace.

       "Wait!" Gabby cried as he'd made his way halfway across the room.

       Julian turned, his eyebrows raised in question as he asked, "Yes?"

        I'm crazy for doing this, but Nate is definitely outnumbered.... and if Julian can keep him from being killed.... "Fine." she said and tried not to vomit.

        Julian tried not to gloat. He hated the disgusted look on her face, however, and his gloating mood turned sour. He got another idea. "Since I have no time to see that you'll carry through on your end, how can I know you're telling me the truth?" He started back towards her.

        Gabby shook her head hopelessly. "I don't know."

        "I do." he said as he stood directly in front of her. "And it's really quite simple, but it will tide me over for now." He looked into her crystal-blue eyes and said, "Kiss me."

       No. "What?"

       "You heard me. I need a little assurance that you're not going to go back on your word."

       Gabriella's heart raced as her eyes darted around. She'd honestly hoped she wouldn't have to follow through on her end of the deal, and she hadn't expected him to want anything immediately.

       "I'm waiting, Gabriella." he said in a commanding way, leaning towards her to make it easier. 

       She backed her head up as far against the wall as she could because he'd started getting too close.

        "It's very simple, you know." he pointed out laconically. "Just press your lips to mine. Easy."

        "Why are you making me do this?" she whimpered.

        "I explained that already." he said in an exasperated manner. "You're wasting my time. Either do it or I won't take you at your word."

      She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him as her breath came out in painful shudders.

        Julian snorted derisively and said, "I see." He straightened up, looked down at her, and prepared to go.

        "No!" Gabby said in a panicked voice, and without letting herself think too much about it, she did as he asked, hoping it would be brief.

        Julian had no intention of the kiss being brief. He greedily wrapped his arms around her with one of his hands holding the back of her head in place as he hungrily opened her mouth for more.

        Gabby let out a small cry, immediately regretting her hasty decision. Julian continued to demand more out of her, reminding her of the horrible night she had a few nights ago. She struggled to break away from him, but he wouldn't have any of that.

       His hands roved over her unchecked while he had her pressed back against the wall behind her. This had gone much farther than she even dreaded for it to go, and she felt violated by his lack of restraint. When his hand cupped her between her legs, she managed to jerk her head to the side in her shock.

       "No." she whimpered.

       "Oh, that's not what we agreed to, Kitten. You're mine. You said so yourself, and I intend to take full advantage of this short moment before I have to go out and show mercy to the undeserving for you." he mumbled into her neck while she fought against the pleasurable sensations between her thighs.

        He lifted his head and held her eyes with his as he said, "Besides, I want to give you something to carry you over until I can return and really pick up where we'll leave off."

      She reached her hands down to try and pull him off of her, but he, almost angrily, caught both of her hands in his other one and pinned them above her head, now even more determined to prove his dominance.

       "No, Kitten. You're going to feel this. Feel me and what I can do to you." he said as he picked up the speed of his hand.

       "Ah!" she cried out, still fighting against the will of his hand. "Please."

     "No need to beg. Take it." he commanded, deliberately mistaking the reason for her plea. Not too much time went by, and Julian watched her as her breathing became labored. He leaned down and claimed her mouth once again. As he shoved his tongue into her unwilling mouth, her body tensed against him, and he forced her to repeatedly feel each wave as it struck. He pulled back once again to watch her aggravated expression that was often overshadowed with a softening of her eyes that could only mean she couldn't fight off the consuming pleasure anymore.

      He smiled at her spunk at still trying to resist him no matter what her body told her to do. Then he kissed her forehead affectionately and said, "Until the morning at the latest, my kitten." He left her leaning against the wall as he exited the room.

     Tears coursed down Gabriella's face as she thought to herself, What have I done?