Chapter 44: A Monster's Welcome

Something was amiss in Jack's mansion in the atmosphere—it. Not the wealth, the smell of costly cigars and old leather. Something ancient, tension energy that lurked in the shadows and seeped into the walls themselves.

Ben had felt it the moment he walked in, a choking tension wrapping itself around him like rope. Jack had never been safe, with a temper that flashed into fury, but now?

Now, he was different.

Stronger. Darker.

Deadlier.

Jack moved slowly and purposely down the spiral stairs, trapping Ben under his golden stare, and shivers ran along the hairs at the back of his neck. There was something cat-like in the way he moved that sensitized all the nerve endings in Ben's body to the highest degree. He did not stroll; he padded.

He was not gazing at Ben. He was studying him, scrutinizing him, as if Ben were a specimen on a microscope slide. No warmth in his amber-hued eyes, no flicker of recognition, no suggestion of that connection they used to have. Just a chilly, calculating look that dug into Ben's back.

There was tense quiet in the hallway, a silent battle of wills between them. Max was standing beside Ben, his body rigid, his eyes scanning the room, anticipating any danger. There was tension, thick tension, tension that clung to the air between them like the burden of their past.

Ben could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a frenzied beat within his ribcage. He tried to shove aside the fear writhing within him, that he was walking into a trap. He had reason to be here, to request Jack's help, to strike a deal for refuge from the storm on the horizon. He would not be intimidated.

“Jack,” Ben said, his voice steady, trying to project an air of confidence he didn’t feel. “We need to talk.”

Jack stopped a few feet away, his lips curling into a slow, dangerous smirk. “Talk? About what, exactly?”

“About what’s coming,” Ben said, his gaze unwavering. “About the Ancients.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of something unreadable in their depths. “The Ancients?” he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. “You’re serious?”

Cyrus warned me," Ben's tone was flat. "He told me that Viktor was a pawn. That they're on their way, and they won't let up until I'm dead."

Jack's sneer deepened, a gnawing twist of his lip. "And you think you can expect my assistance?"

"We need you, Jack," Ben's tone was pleading. "We need your strength. We need your power.".

The silence was oppressive and heavy, the burden of what they'd done between them. Ben waited, gasping for Jack's answer, bracing himself for the worst. He knew it was a last throw to Jack, the last roll of the dice. But they had no other place to go. They needed him.

He followed behind him.

"Didn't figure I'd be staring at you again so quickly," Jack snarled, his voice slick and smooth with an undertone. "I was thinking I was done with you, too."

Ben didn't blink, his face slick and smooth. "Things change."

The corner of Jack's mouth curled into a sneer. "Do they?"

The air in the room was thick with weight.

Max shifted beside Ben, his body inching forward— poised. He'd noticed it as well. How Jack's presence appeared to fill the space, how the air around him seemed to bend.

This was not the Jack they had left behind.

Jack halted a few feet away from Ben, his head tilting. "You look different." His eyes flashed, languid and controlled. "Feel different too.

Ben clenched his jaw. “You’re one to talk.”

Jack's smirk grew. "Noticed, have you?"

Ben didn't answer. He had noticed. The power coming from Jack wasn't natural. It wasn't just alpha power—it was something more.

Something unnatural.

Jack's fists were clenched at his sides, his eyes darkening with amusement. "You didn't come for the view."

Ben let out a slow breath. "Viktor's men are coming. And they're not coming for you—they're coming for me."

Jack's smile continued, though his eyes were now narrowed, a predatory glint deep in their blue depths. "And?"

Ben moved closer, bridging the space between them, his voice even despite increasing tension. "And we require your help."

Jack's laugh was low, one that sent a shiver through Ben and from the bottom of his chest. He moved too, invading Ben's space without hesitation, his body smothering.

"My assistance?" he growled, voice dropping once more, the harsh rasp of his breathing along the line of Ben's ear. "All that about freedom? No longer belonging to me?"

Ben's heart sped up, half fear and half forbidden, unwanted flame, but he did not back away. "This is none of our concern."

He stared at him with such intensity, the smile never really dissipating from his lips, a facade for something else, something sinister, something deadly. And then, all of a sudden—

He shifted.

Too quickly.

One second, he was there, his eyes locked with Ben's. The next, Ben's shoulders hit the wall behind him, the impact like a shock of electricity to his system, Jack's hand deep around his neck—not cutting off his air, just holding on, threat made.

Ben’s breath caught in his throat, his heart pounding against his ribs.

Jack leaned in, his golden eyes burning into Ben’s, his breath hot against his skin. “You’re wrong,” he murmured, his voice a low growl. “This has everything to do with us.”

Max’s blade was out in an instant, the tip pressed against Jack’s ribs, a silent promise of violence. “Let. Him. Go.”

Jack did not even look in his direction, his gaze at Ben. Ignoring was a display of dominance, a blatant show of being superior.

Ben's heart pounded, his body betraying him with reactions he did not want it to have, some primal urge roaring at him to run. He warned himself not to shift, to keep his eyes fixed on Jack unflinchingly, to exude an air of defiance he could hardly find.

You need my help?\\" Jack's fist clenched, just, a reminder of his hold. "Then let's get one thing clear."

The smile faded and a hard, icy glint replaced it that travelled down Ben's spine.

His voice lowered to a cold, deadly one. "I don't take orders, Ben. I give them."

Ben swallowed, the words suspended in the silence of the corridor. He knew Jack never bluffed.

Jack's power was no longer physical. It was strength, pure and unadulterated, and it seemed to radiate out of him like a darkened halo. Something that had happened to him after the attempt on his life had changed him, made him better, made him something Ben hardly recognized.

And Ben wasn't certain if he'd made a friend—or awakened a new foe, one even more lethal than any they had ever imagined. He knew that he had to be cautious, that one misstep would ignite a war that would leave them all to ash.