Believe Me Chapter 15

James sat upon an overhang on an elevated platform in the abandoned warehouse. He had lured a group of humans into the warehouse and had just set his newborns loose on them. A few of them almost attacked prematurely, before he gave the order to, but in the end all of them had waited until he gave the command to attack.

He had almost forgotten how rambunctious a newborn could eat their meal. It had been a long time since he was considered a newborn; so long that he had forgotten how much work it was just to keep one newborn in line; never mind a whole horde of them.

But that was price he was willing to pay.

As long as he was able to show how much better, stronger and smarter he was than them, then they would still follow his lead. While he may not have his newborn strength, he had his tactician skills and with newborns, that was all that really mattered.

James snarled in disgust as one of the newborns jammed their hand through a humans’ stomach, not only wasting a lot of blood in the process, but also not killing the human first and ensuring they were all going to suffer for the next few minutes as the human screamed at the top of its’ lungs. Newborns had no finesse when it came to eating.

He still needed to gather a few more, he was doing a lot more research than he was used to in order to make sure he got all the people he needed for his army while not giving away where he was. He wasn’t stupid enough to think his tactics were going to go unnoticed by those other vampires, but at least he could hide from them for as long as he could; until he was ready that is.

But while he waits for the perfect moment, he could at least watch over his newborns and goad them into hating Victoria and that human as much as he did. At least it would be easy to fool them while they were so young and reliant on his information. They wouldn’t know that everything he told them wasn’t true and that in the end, they were all going to die.

***

Sam sat motionless as he listened to the Elders talk about their options. He had to grit his teeth as the Elders tossed out different ideas about what they needed to do. They talked as if they were about to send his pack off to war, not caring about the actual lives they were willing to sacrifice in their war. Sam sneered at the old men as they talked about winning or losing a war they weren’t even going to be fighting in. The promises they were making, the tactics they were willing to use, it was all bullshit. Everything they talked about doing, they really meant to have Sam’s pack do it.

He had done everything he was told the second he had shifted into a wolf. The moment he realized the responsibility that was given to him, the second another shifted as well, he did what he was told. He followed their rules because they had known best. Everyone from his age group and younger had all thought the Elders and their stories were just that: stories. To realize it was all true was very jarring and Sam could fully admit he had no idea what he was doing. The Elders did though; at least they seemed like it.

But the more Sam learned about being a shifter from hands on experience, he started to quickly learn that what the Elders knew, well, it was just really elementary knowledge. There was a fine difference from learning how to be a shifter while not being one, and learning because you were one. While Sam was sure the Elders had originally meant well, in the end, they really didn’t know what they were doing.

When Sam had first turned and learned that the Cold Ones were real, he ate up all the information the Elders gave him; including their prejudice. But as he interacted with them, even if from a distance on the Reservation, he could tell that the Cullen’s were not quite what the Elders wanted them to believe. While he wasn’t necessarily their biggest fan, especially a couple of them that had the biggest mouth and influence of the coven, he was a lot more willing to work with the Cullen’s than the Elders were.

As he listened to the Elders talk about sending half the pack to attack the missing male vampire and then other half attacking the Cullen’s for their breach of the treaty, Sam couldn’t help but come up with his own plans. Nothing the Elders said would work for his pack; if anything, it would only end up either hurting them or even killing them. Sam’s first priority was his pack, his second priority was all the La Push people they were protecting. If protecting the second priority was going to sacrifice his first priority, then it was his job to come up with other options. Even if those options were not favored by the Elders.

As he continued to listen to the Elders talk, he was starting to dislike the Elders more and more. Each plan and modification they made to a plan upset him more and more. They were so careless with their lives. They were so willing to give up the lives of his pack as long as it meant they weren’t bothered to do anything. They wanted a quick and easy answer; but Sam had long since learned that humans, especially the supernatural, were never easy. The Elders really had no idea what it was like to navigate the supernatural world, they were only spectators that loved to see themselves as all knowing because they only ever have hindsight to a situation and hindsight is 20/20.

No, the only thing Sam agreed with was that the Elders wanted the red eyed vampires dead. He knew there were two others still out there, that were a threat to his people. While that threat remained, Sam would do his best to keep his pack and everyone on the reservation safe and if that meant defying what the Elders wanted, then so be it. Sam would keep his pack safe and keep his tribe safe; even if what he did went against the Elders.

“What do you think Sam?” Asked an Elder and Sam knew they weren’t asking his opinion on what they were talking about, they really wanted to know when he would start implementing their orders.

“Actually, I am going to take my pack and we’re going to go check on our injured packmate.” Sam said as he stood up, ignoring the confused looks from most of the elders, he opted to focus on the concerned gaze of Harry Clearwater, it was his daughter that was hurt and while what Harry wanted to do didn’t necessarily go hand in hand with what Sam wanted, Harry was always a lot more willing to work with the Pack rather than order him around. “I’m going to go make sure Leah is okay and then I’m going to talk with those other vampires and see what they have decided to do. At the moment, we have the same goal: to kill those red eyed vampires. While our goals are the same, I’m going to work with them because that means there’s a much smaller chance of my pack being hurt.” Sam said before starting to leave the room.

“That isn’t what we agreed upon Sam.” Yelled one of the elders, clearly upset with Sam not wanting to bend to their will. “You are obligated to listen to our council and protect our people.”

Sam didn’t even turn around as he answered, “I listened to everything you all had to say and I don’t agree with any of it. So I’m going to take control of the situation and do what is best for my pack and the tribe. I’ll let you guys know of any updates that you need to know.” Sam said as he left the room, he would only tell them what they needed to know when he felt they needed to know. He was tired of always having to go through them to make decisions and in the end only making decisions because the Elders had decided upon it. It was finally his time to be a true alpha and lead his pack.

“Hey, Sam!” Jarod said as he ran to meet up with his alpha, “The Cullen’s called and said they found out some important information about the red eyes. They want us to go over as soon as we can so we can not only check on Leah but to also hear what happened.” Jarod, Sam’s beta, told him right away as they walked away from the still grumbling men in the meeting room.

“Then we should we go; I’ve got to tell them that no matter what the Elders tell them, the treaty is my control not theirs.” Sam said with a relieved smile, happy to have taken control of his pack at last. “All of us will go over to check on Leah and Seth. I think it’s only fair for the pack to make sure our pack is safe; especially now that they have so many vampires with them.” Sam had already sense that more vampires than just the Cullen’s had arrived; he didn’t know who or exactly how many vampires joined the Cullen’s but he would feel a lot safer if he had his whole pack with them.

“Good, they said it would be better for everyone to be there.” Jarod agreed.

They must have some very important news if they were willing to invite the whole pack onto their territory. Sam stretched his back from sitting for so long and immediately shifted and howled, calling his pack to him. Sam took off, Jarod hot on his heels, and made his way towards the Cullen’s house. Something told him that it would be a very interesting conversation they were about to have.