Cara’s povs
“Garreth” I repeated, my heart beating unsteady, ” that’s…the beta of the pack?”
“Yes, he is the second in command of the whole pack, and the second strongest after the Alpha, a strong rogue, even when master is not around he alone can handle the pack” she whispered to me.
The air inside the bar seemed to grow thicker as Debby and I exchanged tense glances. Garreth was still seated at his table, laughing with his companions, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes peering at my back. From the bosterous laugh coming from their table, you would think that he is a kind and jovial person, but behind the facade might be a dangerous predator.
Debby leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper. “Cara, we can’t stay here. Garreth isn’t someone we want to cross paths with. He is loyal to master. We need to leave now.”My heart raced at the urgency in her tone.
“But how? If we just get up and walk out, he’ll see us.”Debby’s eyes darted around the room, calculating. “There’s another way. The bartender owes me a favor. I’ll talk to him, and he’ll create a distraction. When the moment comes, you slip out the back door. I’ll meet you outside once I’ve handled things.”
I nodded, trying to steady my breathing. “Okay. But what if Garreth notices?””He won’t,” Debby assured me, though I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. “Just keep your head down, stay quiet, and don’t draw any attention to yourself, he wont notice it’s you with the masking powder.”
With that, Debby slipped away, making her way to the bar where the bulky bartender was cleaning glasses with a practice. I watched as they exchanged a few words, the bartender glancing over at me before nodding subtly. My fingers drummed nervously on the table as I tried to appear as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
After what felt like an eternity, the bartender moved to the front of the bar, his voice booming over the din. “Alright, folks, who’s up for a round on the house? First come, first served!” The promise of free drinks sent a ripple of excitement through the air and a surge of people crowded around the bar. In the chaos, I quietly rose from my seat, slipping toward the back door as inconspicuously as I could.
The noise covered the whole bar, and for a moment, I thought I was in the clear. But just as I reached to stand up, a shadow loomed over me. I froze, feeling the familiar weight of Gareth’s presence before I even turned around.”Going somewhere?” Gareth’s voice was light, almost teasing, but there was an edge to it that sent a shiver down my spine.
Garreth stood there, his towering presence blocking out the dim light of the bar. Up close, he was even more intimidating, or he would have been, if not for the wide grin spreading across his face.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked, though he didn’t wait for an answer before pulling out a chair and plopping down into it. “I promise I’m not as scary as I look. Well, maybe a little, but only on Mondays.”
I blinked, caught off guard by his unexpected humor. “It’s Wednesday,” I replied, trying to match his light tone.
“Ah, well, in that case, you’re safe. On Wednesdays, I’m all charm,” he said with a wink, leaning back in his chair. “So, what brings you to our humble little corner of the pack? Not the drinks, I hope. I wouldn’t trust the stuff they serve here to clean my boots.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his easygoing nature. “Just…” passing through. Needed a break from work”
“Work, huh? Sounds exciting or exhausting. Probably both,” he mused, tapping his fingers on the table in a little rhythm.
I hesitated, unsure if he was being genuinely curious or if he was fishing for information. “I… had some help finding it,” I admitted, hoping my voice didn’t betray my nerves.
Garreth nodded sagely. “you took a wrong turn and found yourself in a mysterious, possibly dangerous town’ routine, Classic. Happens to the best of us”.
I let out a small laugh despite myself. “Does it?”
“Maybe not all of us,” he said, leaning forward with a smile. “But it’s happened to me a couple of times. Trust me, the stories I could tell you would make your hair curl. There was this one time I ended up in a town where everyone spoke in riddles. By the end of it, I wasn’t sure if I’d bought a loaf of bread or agreed to marry the baker’s daughter.”
“Did you?” I asked, genuinely curious despite myself.
“Buy the bread? Absolutely. Marry the baker’s daughter? That’s a story for another day,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “So, tell me, what kind of trouble are you running from? Or are you the trouble?”
“I’m not trouble,” I protested, though the amusement in his eyes made it hard to keep a straight face.
“That’s exactly what trouble would say,” he pointed out with a grin. “But don’t worry, I’m an expert in trouble. It’s practically my middle name. Well, not really. My middle name’s actually Cornelius, but you didn’t hear that from me, am widely known as Gareth”
“Cornelius?” I echoed, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, yeah, get it all out,” he sighed dramatically. “My parents had high hopes I’d become some sort of scholar or, I don’t know, a wizard. Instead, I became… “well, this,” he gestured to himself with a flourish. “Still, could’ve been worse. I could’ve ended up as Gareth G. Garethson.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. Despite the initial tension, I found myself relaxing in his presence. He had a way of putting me at ease, even if I couldn’t quite shake the nagging feeling that there was more to him than met the eye.
“So, what’s your story, Cara? Which demon of work chased you into our little slice of paradise?” he asked, leaning forward with genuine interest.
“Ohh, I…I work in the infirmary” so I kinda found my way here too…you know” I chuckled nervously under his gaze, commending myself for having thought up something fast to lie about.
“Wow, really, that makes a nurse that I bought a drink in a bar, lucky me” he said playfully.
“its a Shame, duty calls ” Gareth said, standing up, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. “Well, I’ll leave you too enjoy yourself. Try not to get into too much trouble, Cara”
With a final wink, he sauntered back to his table, leaving me both amused and more than a little bewildered. As he joined his companions.
I immediately stood to leave the bar, meeting up with Debby, who had already been waiting for me for a while now. ” Sorry, I was held up by Gareth”.
“Gareth!, the Beta, what did he say” she asked
I nodded, still feeling the residual warmth of his humor. “He seems… nice.”
“Nice isn’t the word I’d use,” Debby replied, glancing over around, ” we need to go back to the cottage, am sorry”
“What do you mean?” I asked, the lighthearted mood beginning to ebb away.
Garreth likes to play the fool, but don’t let him fool you,” she said quietly. “He’s sharper than he lets on. He is dangerous, Cara, way more dangerous than you’did realise”
I was confused at what Debby was saying, Garreth looked to me to be a very outgoing person with his jokes and charming smiles, the smiles….. i gasped causing debby to stop.
the winking when he was leaving, I remembered I didn’t tell him my name, i said in horror all over my face. Debby’s smile faded, ” What happened”
” I didn’t tell him my name throughout our discussions, but when he was leaving the table, he called my name… he called me, cara”. I told Debby, who was already rushing back to the cottage.