Authors Note:
As I kind of noted in the previous chapter, I know that there will be some continuity errors with my story. In the show Julia receives her powers from the Nemeton the a couple of months after Derek kills Paige. Obviously in my story's continuity, Kali is only just joining the Alpha pack so that throws that out of sync. But I hope it's an error you can let slide over your head. It becomes important later down the line in season 3 for my own story. It's all planned out. Thanks for the ongoing support, I'd love to hear some constructive criticism if you have any.
Chapter Nine: Issues With Blind Men.
"Go boy! Go!" Avery laughed as Pascal heaved them up a hill. Sam was smirking behind them. There were beads of sweat dripping from Pascal's forehead, until finally they reached the top of the hill and he dropped Avery straight to the ground. Her fun and games were over now. Sam walked straight to her side and pulled her to her feet, giving Pascal an unimpressed glare. Neither of them said anything though, not wanting to start a fight.
"We make camp here." Kali exhaled after doing a small survey of the area they were in. It was right where she needed them to be. Jarred came over the hill with Julia who he placed much more gracefully on the ground
"Thank you." Julia smiled at Jarred as she went to Kali's side, "Deucalion will be waiting."
"I know." Kali nodded and looked at her pack who was starting to set up their sleeping arrangements. Pascal had started to collect fire wood. The female beta, who's name was Lila, has by his side. Jarred was helping another male beta drag a log over to sit on when the fire was made. The rest of the pack were off looking for water.
"I need to leave. While I'm gone Julia's in charge. Remember, any of you lay a finger on the newbies you'll have me to deal with." Kali ordered, her wolves obliged. Straight away she raced off through the woods, barely making a noise.
"So Jules." Jarred waltz forward, "Are you going to tell us why she dragged our butts across the country to meet with Deucalion?"
"You want the honest truth?" Julia sat down on the log he had dragged over, "No idea. She hasn't said a word to me."
"Oooh." Lila chuckled eerily, dropping a pile of sticks at her feet, "If Julia doesn't know it's gotta be big!"
"What do ya reckon she's up to?" Pascal added some more sticks to the pile.
"Maybe she's secretly in loooove!" Jarred mocked, "Her and Deucalion always seemed close."
"No way!" Lila shook her head, "If Kali's got the hots for anyone it's that Alpha Ennis."
"Care to share who this Deucalion dude is?" Avery asked, taking her bag off and digging around for a granola bar.
"He's another Alpha." Lila said.
"Wow very explanatory." Avery rolled her eyes and sat at the other end of the log to Julia.
"He's an old friend, who just happens to be an Alpha." Julia filled Avery in, "This pack and his have been allies for a long time. Since the Argent attack ten years ago. I'm sure you know who they are."
"Yeah. I do." Avery said, "What attack?"
"A bunch of wolf packs met up at the Beacon Hills Distillery. They had called the Argents to request a truce on all the fighting. Only Gerard Argent had other plans and set a trap for Deucalion who promised to meet them." Jarred explained.
"Gerard dug two arrows into his eyes and blinded him. Now I suppose he's called Kali for some kind of revenge attack. It's always been on the cards." Julia finished.
"And you'll condone that?" Avery questioned, shouldn't emissaries want to stop war between wolves?
"I'd rather that, than them go after each other or innocents." she said with a shrug. Avery went to protest as Julia sighed.
"You weren't there. You didn't see what they did. It's taken Kali this long to be confident out in the open. For a long time she hid underground to avoid being hunted by the Argents and your family." Julia added at the end. Avery kept her mouth shut, got up and walked away. She could sense the pain behind Julia's words and decided not to push her luck. It had been a long day for everyone.
A little bit further away from camp Avery sat with Sam, under tree cover, as the sun began to set.
"How you feeling?" she asked, looking to the horizon.
"About what exactly? Because I'm feeling a lot of things right now." he replied, his mind ticking over.
"Being a cat." she cleared up.
"I'm not sure. I suppose it's a good thing. The were-jaguar can be controlled and it means I won't go crazy on a full moon and try to kill you." he laid back into the damp leaves that covered the forest floor, "To be honest, I was more worried about you."
"Me?" Avery asked, not knowing what he meant.
"You're the one in control. Julia said you were my master."
"Oh..." she let out a weak chuckle, "I hadn't really thought much of it."
"Do you think that if you told Mum and Dad they'd be happier to accept me?"
"I wish I could say yes." Avery groaned, "But I think it'll only solidify their quest to kill you."
"Yeah." he said simply, down-heartened by his sisters response. Unfortunately she would be right. Despite the fact that now he wouldn't feel the urge to kill people, because Avery could stop him, they would still see him as unnatural. He still had claws and fangs. He was still incredibly strong. He still wasn't human.
"What do you really think Kali's up to?" Avery asked.
"I'm not sure, but I don't like it." Sam replied.
"We should follow her." Avery got to her feet. "I hate not seeing a whole picture."
"She'll smell us." Sam shook his head, getting up too. But Avery knew better, she held his shoulders and smiled as she explained her realisation.
"The guy down in Mexico, couldn't be tracked by scent. Kanima's don't have a distinct smell, that's why Kali couldn't pick up what you were straight away. Why no one could unless you showed yourself visually."
"I'm not leaving you here alone." Sam objected. Avery sighed, she didn't need his consent on this.
"I'm not asking you, Sam." she looked him down, "I'm telling you."
"Don't do this Avy." his eyes pleaded, but she had already made up her mind. She looked away from him when his eyes glowed yellow. It was if he was in a trance, when she sent him on his way.
"I've gotta go and find out what this Deucalion and Kali are up to. Don't worry, you'll be perfectly fine." he smiled falsely and ran off into the cover of the trees. He had basically mimicked Avery's train of thought. She was quite disgusted at what she had just made her brother do. If she knew correct information about the Kanima, she didn't have to be there to know what was going on. She would learn it all through her dear brother. But it didn't make the guilt in her stomach go away. They were going to have a heated discussion about this once he was back in human form, she was not looking forward to it at all.
xxxx
Sam had been crouched, hiding behind a wall as Kali met up with the mysterious Deucalion. He had tracked her scent, as his primal instincts took over and all he wanted to do was please Avery's wishes. He had a goal set by her, to find out whatever these two were up to and make sure he didn't get caught in the process.
He was silent and calculated, not moving a muscle. He was shifted into jaguar form but the two on the other wall wouldn't have the slightest clue he was there, not even if they were actively searching for him.
"You've come alone." the man Deucalion spoke with a british accent, "Good."
"I've thought over your ultimatum." Kali stopped in front of him.
"And?" Deucalion asked, he sounded interested.
"I wasn't planning to come back. But after Ilena's death, I've become distanced to them all. Jarred has been trying to challenge my authority and now he's convinced Pascal to defy my every command. Lila seems to be conflicted too. The rest are waiting to follow him if he makes a move. They think I'm weak." Kali said with disgust in her voice.
"Then I will help you take them." Deucalion said, nodding, "It's much easier than you'd think."
"But there's another problem." Kali paused. In the shadows, Sam thought he had a feeling what she might say.
"Don't be afraid of their numbers, they'll only make you stronger in the end." Deucalion coaxed her.
"That's not it."
"Then what dear?"
"We've taken on two new members."
"That's great." Deucalion beamed.
"It's not. The two Venator kids came to me looking for help after I bit Sam. But he's not a wolf." Kali began to lose conviction in her voice, she was clearly nervous about the presence of the new members, "He's a Kanima."
"How rare..." Deucalion's face lit up in a smile.
"His sister is his master, I've kept them around because I thought they might be of use."
"Good thinking my dear." Deucalion was nodding with glee, "I'll take care of the sister. Kill her. Then we can bring Sam into the fold."
"What? Why?" Kali was dumbfounded, "I thought you wanted to build an Alpha pack."
"I do... did you know that Kanima's have an Alpha form too?" he moved closer to his friend, holding out his arm so they could walk forward, "Well they do. And if you know anything of their strength as a Beta, you'd know how fierce they are as Alphas. If I kill his master and take her place, we can level him up so to speak. He'll be a great addition to the pack."
"How do you turn them?" Kali sounded intrigued.
"I'll tell you all in good time." Deucalion laughed, patting her arm, "You better get back to your pack before they get suspicious."
"Alright." Kali nodded and let go of his arm, "Make sure you convince Ennis to join us. You know how attached he can be to his pack."
"Ennis is not the problem. Just deal with your pack and then we'll move onto the next issue." Deucalion stated clearly, he didn't want any confusion. Kali went to walk away when he reminded her of one final thing.
"The emissary goes too."
The entire time, Avery had heard what Sam had. She was frightened to the core. Instantly she called Sam back to her side. It was dark out and she was making sure that their bags were packed so that as soon as her brother was back at camp, they would leave. Everything she had heard made sense, why Kali had kept them around. Even when she didn't know about Sam's true nature, she had still intended to kill Sam so she could join some Alpha pack. Avery was rushing around so frantically to pack that she hadn't noticed Julia come down to meet her with another bowl of soup.
"What are you packing up for?" she questioned, startling Avery half out of her boots. Avery stared at the innocent emissary remembering what she had heard through Sam. She may not have known Julia that well, but she didn't wish her dead.
"Sam and I are getting out of here." she shoved one last thing in her bag and moved up to Julia's side, dropping the level of her voice, "I sent him to spy on Kali and she's up to something terrible."
"Kali wouldn't do anything bad." Julia tried to step away, but Avery grasped her wrist, causing her to drop the soup.
"Julia, she's going to kill you and the pack. It's some kind of power thing. If she kills you all she gains your strengths. Deucalion specifically stated for her to ensure that she killed the emissary. That's you."
"You're lying." Julia pried her hand away.
"While Kali's taking care of your pack, Deucalion is coming to kill me so he can control my brother. Why do you think I'm so eager to leave?" Avery threw her bag on her back, "I'm offering you to come with us. Run away before she can kill you."
"No. Stop it." Julia kept backing away.
"Julia. I want to help you. If I'm wrong then just come back and I'll apologise profusely, but why risk it?"
"Because I trust Kali. She wouldn't hurt her pack. She wouldn't hurt me." Julia scowled, "You can run, you can leave. I'm going to stay and put faith in my friend."
"Julia..." Avery went to continue, but Julia had already run off back towards the pack. Avery let out a heavy sigh and started to move onwards, feeling Sam drawing closer. She really did wish she was wrong.
When they met, he had just begun to shift out of wolf form. He had been slightly aware of what was going on around him the whole time. He knew that something Kali was doing was bad and it threatened his sister's life.
"She's going to kill them all." Avery said as he was completely human and held her in a comforting hug, "I tried to warn Julia, but she didn't believe me. Kali and Deucalion want to kill the pack and take their strength. Then Deucalion wants to kill me, to have control of you."
"We have to warn them." Sam let go of her and tried to head back in the direction of camp. Avery tugged on his arm.
"We can't. Deucalion, he's not like normal wolves. He's different. I could feel it. If we try to fight he'll make Kali kill them all and then he'll kill me. You'll be a slave to someone who isn't concerned about your morals and wishes. He won't care like I do and he won't protect you."
"But what if we have a chance to save them?" Sam was torn.
"I promised you that I would take care of you and that's what I'm doing. We're going to see the next full moon together."
"You could really just leave them there?" Sam said exasperated, he was surprised at his sisters actions. He thought she was much braver than this.
"Yes." she dropped her gaze, disappointed in herself, "I'm not ready to die. I've still got a life ahead of me and so do you. You still have an opportunity for a family, a wife and children."
"If we can help then we must, no matter what the cost. They took us in at our most vulnerable. We should repay the favour." Sam rested his hand on his sister shoulder. She almost caved, until an shriek echoed through the woods. Growling soon followed and they knew what had begun. Avery started to shake her head and back away. Sam could see the fear growing in her eyes. She had no weapons to defend herself and if Sam left her side for one second she would be completely helpless at the mercy of two hellbent Alphas.
"I... I can't." she had frozen. Sam couldn't win on this one, the losses outweighed the positives. He nodded and walked in her direction.
"Get on." he said, turning around so she could get on his back, "We're going to Beacon Hills."
xxxx
Julia knew the other two were long gone by now. She stood amongst a field of the dead, covered in her and her pack's blood. Kali finally dispatched Jarred and moved forward towards her terrified emissary.
"You don't have to do this Kali." Julia pleaded, unable to back away further as she tripped over a gigantic tree stump, "We're friends."
"I know. But I'm making new ones." Kali said sinisterly before pouncing on Julia, slashing at her face. Kali stopped, she had severely injured Julia, tears running down her cheeks. She got to her feet and walked away, hoping that her friend could have a peaceful passing, not one where Kali's face was the last thing she saw before mauling her to pieces. This way Julia could die in a somewhat calm way. She would just bleed out and die of exhaustion.
Little did Kali know, this would not be the end for her druid friend.
"The Venator's are gone." Deucalion came to meet her, in his demon wolf form. Grey faced and terrifying.
"We go after them then." Kali suggested.
"No." Deucalion shook his head. "I have a feeling that out paths are destined to cross again. For now we need to rally Ennis' support."