012 Deal With The Devil

They stayed at the meadow around nine until when Erebus Absolutely had to go to catch his flight.

What Erebus didn't see coming, was that after a day spent with Kitty, it was even harder for him to leave her for his mission, instead of the other way around.

"I'll be back before you know," Erebus said to her when he brought her back to the bar, but he knew he was the one who need these words more than her, "Take a couple days off before I come back. We will finish your lesson when I come home."

Kitty flinched a little when she heard the word home. It was a great place that gave her the feeling of safety, a thing that few places had been able to offer her in a long time. But she dared not think she should be so lucky, to share with him his "home". She would rather think herself as a tenant here who owns him big, than the kid she could not afford to be and risk losing another home, again.

"I will." She just simply answered that request, "Let me know how it goes okay? I want to know."

She was talking about Perses.

Of course, Erebus thought to himself. Who would be able to forgive and forget an enemy that took their whole family just because he could? She wanted him punished for what he did, which he very much deserved.

"Don't concern yourself too much over it. There's no doubt on his crime." Erebus patted her on the head and promised, a mistake he regreted greatly later that day.

They ordered a charter flight for Perses and the twelve men of his that were still alive, well, more or less. It was Perses that they were worried about, even though they gave him the shot that would most certainly prevent him from being able to shift any time soon, yet they still didn't dare to take a public airline.

Perses had been quiet all the time they were in the car to the Airport, until--

"Boo!" Perses suddenly made an exaggerating move as if jumping at the stewardess, and made the latter gave a shrill scream.

Ares pushed Perses on his back, frowning: "Glad you had the last fun of your pathetic life, now move along."

Perses just laughed and headed in without even putting up an argument. And this, was what worried Erebus, because that was far away from the Perses he knew. Perses was short-tempered with a vicious tongue. He only overlooks insults like this when HE was the one getting his way.

"I'm hungry, get me a meal." Perses sit down and required before they could even settle down.

"Not likely." Ares snapped. And that was when Erebus heard his nightmare coming true--

"How's the little girl you took home?" Perses asked with a vicious smile. He was looking at Erebus.

"...This is what you have been waiting for." Erebus's words didn't get much of a response from Perses. Erebus stared at him for a while and turned to Pallas: "Get him something to eat."

"A good meal. I want a steak with some good wine." Perses added as Pallas walked away. Unlike Ares, Pallas could tell Erebus did worry about what Preses had to say, so he didn't make much of a protest.

"Tell me." Erebus sit through Perses's leisured dinner with incredible patience, and asked after the plates were removed from the table.

"Wow, I didn't know you care so much. Too much, even for you." Perses squinted his eyes at Erebus, who didn't move but at all.

"You like her. Oh my God!" But Perses burst into laughter, "I admit, she is an interesting one. Didn't know you were so easy though. You disappoint me, Erebus."

"Tell me." Erebus repeated, only this time, there was danger in his tone. Perses flinched a bit at the dominance Erebus was showing. Yes, they were both alpha, but there were differences between alphas of different packs, and Perses wouldn't hate Erebus so much if he was the one who had the upper hand in that.

"Get me out of this trouble, and THEN I'll tell you." Perses dialed down a bit the playful act, but that was not cooperating enough.

Erebus stood up and left without even saying another word.

"Okay, fine!" Perses knew him well enough to know there was little chance for Erebus to come back, "I chose that specific village for a reason, a reason that had something to do with her."

Erebus stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I was ordered to kill her." Perses did go there with an order to kill someone, except it wasn't Kitty, but he knew Erebus didn't know that Perses had met Kitty twice on that day, or Erebus would have seen through his trick.

Erebus finally turned and went back to sit on the seat opposed to Perses again: "On whose order and why?"

"This one you will allow me to keep until you get me out of this trouble." Perses said with a genuine tone, he needed Erebus's help right now.

He messed up his mission, and he knew it. He was supposed to kill Erebus right there in the village and blame all these on Erebus, saying that Erebus got upset at his village been assigned to Perses, and went berserk on all those poor people.

"You didn't find her?" Erebus narrowed his eyes, looking right into Perses eyes. He didn't know Perses did, but if that was Perses mission, he doubts Perses would allow her to survive all the way to the end just like that.

"She ran away from me." Which was actually true, for the first time.

"And you let her?" Erebus was not buying his half lies because he was well aware of what Perses was able.

"Fineee, you caught me. I was having my fun chasing her around." Which was not totally a lie. Perses did have every intention of killing her, except he chose to kill Erebus at that time because he knew she wasn't the target of his mission, but that was not something he would tell Erebus because that was the only leverage he had to get Erebus to help him.

This was a reason Erebus actually bought. If perses wanted Kitty dead from the beginning, she wouldn't have stood any chance. But Perses playing catch the mouse with her was much more convincing. He WAS that arrogant and stupid type.

"Why would someone want her dead?" Erebus changed a question.

"You got me. I don't have the slightest idea, and I don't care." Perses shrugged and took a sip at his wine. He was sure by now that Erebus WOULD help him.

"..." Erebus fell into silence. What Perses was asking was not small. He wiped out a WHOLE village! Even if Erebus could forgive himself for not bringing Perses to justice, there was very little he could do to turn this thing around.

"Just say you weren't there to witness anything, and I will take care of the rest." Perses smirked at Erebus, knowing that Erebus was struggling on how he could help.

"No one else knows." Erebus stood up and left Pallas and Ares with only these four words.

It was supposed to be a trip to Perses end, but somehow he was the only one who seemed to be happy for the rest of the trip.

In silence, the crew fell asleep, leaving Erebus gazing into the dark clouds outside the plane window in deep thoughts.