Selene POV
The hideout was dark and damp, hidden deep in the forest. I didn’t know where we were but I could tell we were far from Moon Whisper’s territory.
Inside, Jared paced restlessly, while Jade kept a wary eye on . I sat in a corner, my wrists bound. I could feel the baby in my womb, turning uncomfortably. It could be hungry who knows? Because I’ve gone nearly three days without any food or water.
"We need to feed her," Jared said suddenly, breaking the tense silence. "The baby... we can’t risk harming it and she would need her strength too,".
Jade’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Since when do you care about the welfare of Noah’s heir?" she asked, her voice laced with scepticism. I thought you said you hated her so much too. Why do you care about that,".
Jared turned to her, his expression unreadable. "This isn’t just about Noah anymore. We need to think long-term. Look at her, she’s weak already, I can’t stand her falling sick. It’ll slow us down and you think Noah would listen to you if she’s dead?"
Jade stood up, her voice filled with frustration. "But this wasn’t the original plan," she fud. "This was going to be simple, sothing easy but you had to get those slly foxes involved. You were supposed to take us sowhere closer, not this sprawling distance from Moon Whisper and use Selene to lure Noah out. Why are you changing everything?"
"Plans change, Jade," Jared replied, his tone dismissive. "We need to adapt. So, get over it!".
"Adapt?" Jade hissed. "We’re miles from anywhere, with a pregnant hostage and no sign of Noah ever reaching out. This was la... I told you it wasn’t going to work in the first place. What if they didn’t notice that the person they rescued as their Luna isn’t their Luna? Have you thought of that at least or it doesn’t concern you too?"
My eyes widened with shock at the information. I had seen a lot of foxes a few days ago but had assud they needed them to fight but now it dawned on that they had deceived Noah and everyone else. Foxes were shapeshifters. I struggled in my bonds, anger coursed through . I didn’t understand why they were doing this.
As both of them argued, I watched silently, my mind racing. I could sense hostility between them and I knew I needed to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presented itself.
A while later, Jared approached , a bowl of soup in his hands. He paused in front of , kneeling to my level. "I’m going to untie you now so you can eat and ease yourself if you want. So don’t try anything funny, Sienna. I’m not as kind as I sound,".
I didn’t say anything. Carefully he untied and removed the gag from my mouth. He opened a bottle of water which he pointed at before shifting the bowl of soup to .
"You need to eat," he said, his voice softer than I had ever heard it. "For the baby’s sake,".
I accepted the food warily, my eyes never leaving Jared’s face. As I ate, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this satiation than I understood. It was obvious that both of them had different agendas. Jade needed as bait to get Noah to do what she wanted but I didn’t know why Jared wanted .
After I was done eating, I thanked Jared and held out my hand, an indication that he should tie them back but after a few seconds, he said I should stretch them for a bit and left. As night fell, the duo argued more with Jade doing most of the talking while Jared seed to retreat further into his thoughts.
"I’m going to check the periter," Jade announced finally, unable to bear the suffocating tension any longer. "Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,".
After she left, Jared turned to , an odd expression on his face. "I’m sorry it had to be this way," he said quietly.
Selene’s eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about, Jared? What’s going on here?"
But he shook his head flashing a small smile. He moved to the small table in the corner to prepare sothing. A few seconds later, Jade returned and he walked up to her, offering her a drink.
"I’m sorry about everything," he said quietly. "I must have misjudged Noah but I want to make this right because I need to go back to my pack anyway. How about you go back to Moon Whisper tomorrow... he cannot arrest you because you have immunity and ask him to reject her. In exchange for her life. If he agrees, you give a signal and vice versa. That way, he would know you an business,".
Jade thought for a while, her brows scrunched in deep thoughts. "That could work but how are you sure that Noah would fall for that? Look at how he is... it’s been four days now and he won’t take my call. Every attempt to reach him has been futile. I wish there was a way I could contact anyone in the pack to know what’s up but knowing who he is, he’ll make sure every call is being monitored. He must be suspecting that there’s a mole and poor Reid,".
"You shouldn’t have set him up like that," Jared said quietly "Reid is a good man,".
"And fucks so good," Jade bit her lips and turned to . "Was that the reason why you left Xavier for Noah? Because he could fuck?"
"If the Beta Lycan is good in bed, it doesn’t an that the Lycan King would be," Jared chuckled crossing the room to pick a cup from the table and went back to Jade again.
"Here," he handed her the cup, "It’s Chamolie tea, it’ll calm you down,".
She nodded and took it. I watched as Jade drank from the cup, drinking everything in one go. When she was done, she handed the cup back to Jared who settled on the other side of the hideout and stared at her. Within minutes, Jade’s movents beca sluggish. Her eyes widened as she staggered towards Jared pointing her hand at him, her speech slurred. Finally, she collapsed onto the makeshift bed, unconscious.
"What did you do to her?" I gasped.
Jared turned to , "Sothing to make her sleep for a long ti. C’mon, we’re leaving,".
Before I could protest, Jared had gathered their agre supplies and scooped up in his arms. We slipped out of the hideout and went towards one of the cars parked in the forest.
We drove through the night. My mind whirled with questions and fears and I couldn’t seem to figure out what exactly was going on. Jared on his own end was quiet too and was just driving. Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, I spoke.
"Why are you doing this, Jared? What do you have against ?" My voice was steady despite the fear I felt. "I know you’ve never liked , but what did I do to deserve this?"
He smiled and turned to spare a glance. "You’re a good person, Selene. That night at the forest behind the pack house in Greyhound Belinda had been with and we were talking... I knew you were there. I knew you hid and you listened to all our conversation. You could have said sothing to Xavier or anyone. Why didn’t you?"
"That was so long ago," I muttered "And it was none of my business. I was going to leave the pack anyway and I didn’t understand half of what you had said to her that day. I figured out it was not as serious as it sounded so I let it go,".
He nodded and didn’t say anything else. For a long mont, I thought he wouldn’t answer and had resigned to my fate when unexpectedly, he laughed – a harsh, bitter sound that sent chills down my spine.
"You think this is about Xavier? Or Noah?" he asked, his voice tinged with amusent. "It was never about them for . Never,".
Confused and wary, I turned to him "Then what? Why go to all this trouble? Why beco an Alpha if not to challenge Xavier and Noah?"
He marched the brakes abruptly, and I nearly flew out of the car but thankfully, I had my seatbelt on. In the faint moonlight, filtering through the trees, his face was a mask of conflicting emotions.
"The only reason, I stooped to beco an Alpha... the only reason I killed off all my brothers and fought so hard, despite being an illegitimate child," he said slowly, each word deliberate. "Was because I wanted you, Selene,".
The forest seed to go silent around us at his confession hung in the air. I stared at him, trying to process what he had just said.
Reviews
All reviews (0)