In honor of the fact Bitten premiered on Space last night, I decided to write a drabble. (If you didn't see it, I suggest you do. It was really good so far, and I'm hoping that the show will go into depth and we'll get to meet the characters that get introduced in the other books. If you haven't read the books, and just like supernatural creature shows, watch it. These werewolves aren't like Twilight ones, or even Vampire Diaries ones. As far as series go, the Women of the Otherworld are my favourite, thirteen books of greatness.)
Anyways, my copy of No Humans Involved was out because I was rereading the book tattered thing over again, and I decided to write a drabble from it, the chapter 'Played'. If you haven't gotten to this book in the series, or you haven't gotten this far in the book, I suggest you stop. There are some spoilers, I suppose. Anyways, since I adore Jeremy, I decided to write this in his POV, where he's in his car outside Botnick's house and Jaime is back in the house in bed and they're on the phone. As usual, I own nothing, and everything belongs to the amazingly talented, and idolized by me, writer Kelley Armstrong.
Jeremy sat comfortably in his car, situated in a spot where he could watch Botnick's house with ease. However though his attentions were focused on the house and any signs of activity, his mind was slipping every once and awhile to the cell phone in his pocket, waiting for it to ring. He'd told Jaime to call him when she got back to the house, just for safety of course, and he'd been waiting on edge to grab the phone and answer the second it rang.
She had taken the whole outing rather well he thought. Any of the Pack and they would've been ready to take action when they'd been stuck in the small cubby he'd made for them to hide in. With Jaime, he was more concerned about having her safe and hidden from them, rather than trying to think of a way to attack what had been going on.
Jaime was strong, and he wouldn't ever tell her otherwise, but she was no werewolf. She was remarkable, and in no way would he consider her to be weak. However her being a Necromancer meant that her skills and strengths were different than his. While he had enhanced senses and strength, she had the ability to talk to and raise the dead. A whole other level of skill sets completely, but still, strong.
His instincts though had him wanting to protect her first, before taking any action. When Botnick had seen her, Jeremy had seen the lazy predatory gleam in his eyes. Botnick been savoring her look of fear when he'd been striding over to her, and Jeremy had reacted by grabbing the man around the neck. The distraction had worked to his advantage, and if she asked he would tell her that. However the wolf part of him had screamed danger, and he hadn't even needed to think about what to do next.
It worried him slightly, when he considered the shift in feelings for Jaime. He'd seen Clayton when it came to Elena, and never once had he had any difficulties with a mate. It was simply so natural and right for him, the wolf part of him so strong it saw no need to question it. Elena was used to the danger that being Clay's mate brought her, and she was a werewolf, more than capable of defending herself or proving anyone who thought she was weak wrong.
Jaime couldn't fight off a werewolf. She was a supernatural like the rest, but she was more human. Elena had mentioned in passing years ago, the witches, sorcerers, necromancers, and the rest were like humans with special powers, while she thought vampires and werewolves were completely different species. He was inclined to believe her reasoning, as it did make sense.
He was worried that if he took Jaime as a mate, which had crossed his mind, that a Mutt or some other supernatural would see it as a way to strike out at the Alpha of the werewolf Pack. What better way to get to him than through the next closest thing possible, his lover? How many times had such a thing happened with Clay and Elena? Too many to count, and the idea someone would go to hurt Jaime to get to him didn't sit right at all.
The ringing of his cell phone jarred him from his thoughts, and he answered on the second ring. He would've gotten it on the first he hadn't been so deep into his thoughts he was sure.
"Checking in as requested" she greeted him, sounding not even fazed about their earlier outing. "Safe and snug in bed. How's the hunt going?" She asked him. The idea of Jaime lying in a soft bed had his body relaxing with the mental image, but he went on as if it never had crossed his mind.
"Badly. I followed his trail to his car. Then presumably he drove off" he answered. There wasn't any way to track when once he was inside his car and driving off.
"Which makes tracking impossible. Was he alone when he left?" Jaime mused.
"Yes. He seems to have persuaded the others to go on without him. No sign of the police being called for the break-in." Which hadn't surprised him, he couldn't image the cult going on to explain themselves and what they did. They would go on to handle everything themselves.
"Can't take a chance of them finding the blood-flecked dungeon downstairs" Jaime mumbled. She hadn't taken than part of the night well, and he didn't blame her. As a werewolf, he was well used to violence. However she hadn't grown up around it like he had, she never had come much into contact with it until a few years ago, so he understood why she had reacted badly to it. He'd heard her heart rate spike when they'd been hiding, and she'd been unable to stay still.
It was good to know that his distraction skills were up to par. The childish games of tick-tack-toe and hangman had seemed to work wonders for her. She'd relaxed remarkably. Which was good, because he didn't like her being so terrified, and her wriggling and squirming in his lap hadn't exactly been good for his bodily reactions. Either it hadn't been noticeable, or she'd politely ignored it.
"No doubt. I'm parked behind his house, but he hasn't returned. While I hope he simply stopped to grab a late-night snack, I think he's done exactly what I feared he'd do" he told her, carrying on with the conversation.
"Run to his contact to try to get in touch with the group" she answered, and he nodded, though he knew she wouldn't be able to know he was doing it.
"Which would be perfect if I were still following him" he sighed softly. "I'll wait another hour or so, in case he returns" he told her.
"If he does, will you talk to him?" Jaime asked him. He could only imagine that conversation.
"Only if it can be done safely. Otherwise I'll regroup and try again tomorrow" he told her. From the other line, he heard the faint sound of blankets, and her moving. Another noise, like a soft crunch, and he imagined he'd put her head down on a pillow. He'd love to be in a warm, soft bed, and the idea of Jaime occupying the imaginary, warm, soft bed was even more delightful to his mind.
"Thanks. For looking out for me tonight" she told him softly "I know you're used to having a partner who can take more of the risks" she told him. He knew that Jaime's past escapades hadn't exactly been any type of walk in the park for her. Normally they ended worse for her. She did sound genuinely grateful and sorry though, and he almost longed to tell her he didn't mind whatsoever if it had her safe.
He didn't however. "All of the risks, you mean. If I'd been there with Clay or Elena - or anyone from the pack - I'd have been the one sitting above the hatch and being escorted past the rats. I'm the Alpha, remember? I'm not allowed to have fun" he told her.
"Fun?" She asked him, sounding amused.
"Fun might be punishing it" he told her, echoing her words from earlier. "But it's nice to say, 'I'm going down the hatch first' and not have four werewolves scrambling over themselves to do it for me, lest I stub my toe" he told her.
"Can't lead the Pack with a stubbed toe" she told him, sounding amused.
"Evidently. And while I have no objection to devising strategies, giving orders and letting them have their adventures, I can be a bit… much at times. You mentioned those diseased rats in Toronto?" He reminded her.
"Right."
"At least you were allowed to whack one. When we initially discovered the nest, I wanted to determine what disease they might have contracted. I was allowed a split-second glance at the next, then they let me examine a nearby rat corpse, with Clay hovering over me, twitching as if he expected the thing to jump up and bite me in the nose" he told her, reminded of the whole Toronto zombie incident back when Elena had been pregnant with the twins.
Jaime mentioning killing rats back then had him amused though. She usually was so well put together, dressed up and a smiling show-persona, it was a jarringly different reality to imagine her killing diseased rodents.
"He can be a tad overprotective, can't he?" She said to him, a slight chuckle in her voice. Tad was an understatement, but he was long used to Clay and his behavior. It was typical Clayton, the wolf part of him was so strong, it was natural for him to be overly protective of him, not to mention he was Alpha. That happened to stem back in his childhood, when Jeremy had taken him from the swamp and given him as normal a life as a werewolf boy could have.
"A tad" he answered her. "But it's his job and it's also his nature, so I can't argue. And, yet, I'll admit it's refreshing to turn the tables now and then" he told her. It was truly. With Jaime he was able to forget some of the roles that came with Alpha. She might not be a werewolf, but she was quite intelligent, and was able to understand what she was told, and make her own inferences from what she observed.
"And protect instead of being protected?" She asked him.
"You can take care of yourself. But…" he trailed off. It was nice to protect, instead of having Clay, Elena, Antonio or any of the rest scrambling to throw themselves in first in sacrifice for their Alpha. Jaime he knew was more than capable of holding her own, but he'd be content and happier to be able to be her backup, unofficial if that was what she was happy with calling him.
It made him slightly uneasy at the thought of her going off on her own. Her earlier incident with that witch and Savannah a prime example. She'd held her own, even though she'd needed some help from Savannah, and she'd gotten out of the situation and come back to him just slightly scuffed up, but he felt better knowing she was back where he could watch her and be able to react and protect than have to wait. Werewolves weren't patient in nature.
"I can just tell myself I'm humoring you" she told him.
He chuckled at that. "Yes you can" he told her, smiling slightly.
He carried out the conversation with her, while he sat in his car outside of Botnick's house, waiting for the man to make an appearance. He was aware he sat and waited longer than an hour as he'd said he'd do before while talking to her. The conversation between them flowed with ease, turning less serious and more friendly. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy talking to Jaime. She didn't back down from making little cracks at jokes at him, and it was nice to be treated equally, and not as an Alpha all the time.
Eventually he noticed Jaime's voice getting softer, like she was falling asleep while she spoke with him. Never once did she stop their talking to say she was tired and going to sleep, so he didn't say anything about it. He truthfully didn't want the conversation to end, though he knew it was inevitable.
Eventually her words died away to soft mumbles, and he could hear her soft, slow breathing, that told him she was asleep. He didn't blame her, he could go for sleeping as well. He smiled, just listening to her as she slept.
"Goodnight Jaime. Pleasant dreams" he said to her softly, knowing he wouldn't get a reply from her. He hung up the phone, and put it back into his pocket, leaning back against the seat, looking out at Botnick's house. The thought of Jaime curled up in bed, asleep with her phone pressed to her ear had him smiling softly, the wolf part of him not nearly content with simply the mental image of it, longing for the real thing.