***

“When are you going to tell him?”

Vince squeezed Jack tightly. The hedgehog was safely tucked under his arm.

“I need to find the right time for it,” he explained in a low whisper.

Danny was walking in front of them, hurrying without realizing it. Although he’d never been one to indulge in physical exercise, the worry experienced on Ryder’s account made him so fast that Vince had to admit he was having a hard time keeping up with him. Since he had Jack and his short stride to worry about, he couldn’t start running after Danny.

“He needs to know,” Jack insisted.

“Shut up,” Vince murmured under his breath. “If this fight between Ryder and Pembroke goes badly, I’ll have to protect Danny with my life. I think he’s just going to have to see it with his own eyes.”

“And then you won’t have to explain it. Vee, do you have trouble with words and stuff?”

“No, what the hell?” Vince protested. “It’s just… well, we’ve been best friends all our lives. I don’t want him to hate me for lying to him for so long.”

“It’s only a little white lie, one of omission,” Jack tried to encourage him.

“I bought that crystal ball for you. Shouldn’t that make you shut up until I find the proper moment to tell Danny?”

“Yeah, I know, you mad lad. Although rock crystal is expensive. Like crazy expensive.”

Vince let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s just regular glass. It wasn’t that expensive.”

“Cheapskate,” Jack mumbled. Then, at the exact next moment, he pushed himself closer to Vince, right into his ribs. “I’m kidding. Thank you for the gift. I do see some really weird things in there. Although they might be completely useless.”

“You can add them to the list of your other useless stuff,” Vince suggested. He was looking around for signs of either Ryder or Pembroke. Soon, he’d have the opportunity to put his training to the test. Would he be enough to protect someone as important as Danny?

He would have to be, he decided. There was no point in doubting himself, even if he was about to face a wolfshifter with murder on his mind.

“Oh fuck,” Jack said and stopped. “It’s that crap. That shitty--”

***

Things were going from bad to worse. First the stinky incense had fallen from the sky, then that strange weapon that had managed to hurt Ryder at the store. Now Jack needed to prepare himself for the worst, and he knew for a fact that he wasn’t ready.

He stole a look at Danny. The poor guy looked so pale Jack wished he could offer him a glass of wine or anything that would bring a more natural color back to his cheeks. Damn, he was getting nervous. Like really, really nervous now, when he had been just plain nervous before.

“You know,” Jack blabbered, “first that piece of crap fell, and then that weapon fell too, and in all the stories, things come in threes, right? I wonder what the third thing will be.”

No, he didn’t wonder. He was afraid that he knew—

“No!” Danny’s desperate shout made his heart sink.

“Vee, that’s--” Jack began, instinctively catching Vince’s hand.

“I know.” Vince looked up.

“What’s that look on your face? I don’t like it. Ryder is there—is he dead? Don’t tell me he’s dead—hey, where are you going?”

“I have to protect Danny, and I can’t do that if I stand here crying,” Vince said matter-of-factly. “I’m going after that son of a bitch.”

Jack threw a desperate look in Danny’s direction. The guy was bent over Ryder’s unmoving body, crying and sobbing.

“You know, calling Theodore a son of a bitch might not be far from the truth--” he started. When he turned, Vince was already climbing the first flight of stairs. “Wait for me,” he whispered, throwing one last look at Danny.

Vince moved really fast, but Jack had the advantage of being light on his feet and also energized by the idea that he might get a chance to strangle Theodore, or at least live vicariously through Vince doing the actual strangling.

“Stay behind, Jack,” Vince warned him.

“No, no way, you need me. You’re going alone against a wolf. A mean one. Did he kill Ryder, Vee? You think he’s dead?”

“I don’t know,” Vince replied. “Ah, damn it, why are there so many stairs here?”

“You got that right,” Jack agreed. His bellicose energy was starting to wear thin in the face of current challenges. “But wolfshifters are like powerful, right? They can heal and stuff.”

“Yes, they might. But Ryder just went against an alpha, one who, as you said, doesn’t fight fair.”

“Right. Wait, are we there yet?”

Vince stopped abruptly. “He’s gone,” he said. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

Jack knew that it was impossible to hide anywhere in that empty building with no interior walls, but he paced around the top floor, looking left and right.

“Let’s go back down,” Vince said. “Come on, Jack. Danny might be in danger now.”

“Coming,” Jack said and hurried after Vince.

That damn Theodore. Why did he have to be such an asshole?

***

Vince felt Danny’s eyes on him, filled with distrust and hurt. His mom and dad had warned him that being a guardian meant that he would feel deeply for his charge, in a way other people would feel only for family or a friend for life. And now, Danny’s disappointment made him ache all over. That was one thing he couldn’t explain to Jack.

At least Ryder was alive for now. He had fallen from the top floor, but his wolf was healing him. Not the same could be said for the deep gash in his shoulder. Theodore had bitten him with the intention of terminating him. It was, indeed, a miracle that Ryder was still walking.

He had no time to analyze his own feelings on the matter. Theodore had disappeared, most likely believing that his bite would finish the job of killing Ryder. Or he could be concealed somewhere nearby. He looked around, avoiding Danny’s reproachful, dumbfounded stare.

“Danny’s about to call an ambulance,” Jack hissed at him, grabbing his arm. “Stop him, Vee, please.”

Vince felt his hands flexing. Grabbing the phone from Danny, a very distrustful Danny, under these circumstances, would only make things worse between them.

It looked like he wasn’t going to have to. Danny froze and let the phone drop from his hands.

“W-wolf,” he whispered, making Vince turn abruptly.

With stark clarity, Vince knew exactly what he had to do. His hand flew to his pocket, where he’d stashed the weapon that had fallen from the sky earlier, as if of its own accord.

“Did you tell me this thing can kill a wolfshifter, according to your crystal ball?” he asked Jack while lifting the boomerang-like weapon above his head.

“Vince, any moment now,” Jack warned in a squeaky voice from where he was hiding behind him.

“I need to make sure I don’t miss,” Vince said through clenched teeth. It all boiled down to his having perfect aim now.

Clutching his wounded shoulder, Ryder moved in front of them. “It is me he wants. I’ll keep him occupied. So run. Now.”

“Stop with the bullshit, man, and get out of the way,” Vince warned him. “Danny, move Ryder. He’s trying to die a hero, and this isn’t that kind of movie.”

Danny obeyed, whispering soothing words to the alpha. Vince’s vision narrowed to a tunnel. The white wolf was preparing to attack. There was no doubt in his mind that wolf was Theodore Pembroke.

Ryder was barely out of the way, when the white wolf growled and broke into a run.

“Take this, motherfucker,” Vince grunted, putting his all into throwing the weapon at Theodore.

He got him. The weapon hit the white wolf right in the head, making him wobble and fall.

“Okay, let’s go,” Vince ordered. “Everyone, to my car, now!”

“Do you think it killed him?” Danny asked.

“Do you want to go check?” Vince asked impatiently. “Let’s go, now.”

***

“Will Ryder and Danny be okay by themselves?” Jack asked, rushing after Vince.

“They wouldn’t be by themselves if you had chosen to stay behind. Why are you following me again?”

“Don’t be a silly guardian. Even guardians need guardians,” Jack protested.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt safe when he was this close to Vince. All his life, he’d struggled to get through life on his own, so this sort of sensation was annoying and terrible at the same time. But he couldn’t help himself. His cards and crystal ball said that Ryder was safe with Danny. The balance was fragile, but it existed.

And that flimsy conclusion was enough to make him follow Vince, who wanted to get to the bottom of things by finding the shop assistant who had used that weapon first against Ryder.

“You wouldn’t even recognize that guy if I wasn’t with you,” Jack said quickly.

“Your description was quite detailed,” Vince said. “Fine, tag along if you must.”

“So,” Jack said, quickly grabbing Vince’s arm, “if any wolves appear, you’ll protect me, right?”

“I thought I was a silly guardian,” Vince teased him. “And that I needed you, not the other way around.”

“Well, it’s a reciprocal thing. You have my back, and I have yours. Although yours is bigger. Much bigger. What are you eating to get this big?”

“You know what. You’ve lived with me for the last few days.”

“Right.” Jack scrunched up his nose. “I hate kale, by the way. And did you see that wolf? It was humongous!”

“Yes,” Vince said grimly. “Theodore Pembroke is a dangerous alpha.”

Jack pondered over his next question as they climbed in Vince’s car. “Do you think his thing is as big as the rest of him?”

Vince smirked. “You should know. Didn’t you feel his thing poking you when you were in his office?”

TBC