“So, where are we going?” Jonathan and I were on our way to our sixth date already and I could say I was starting to get used to letting my guard down around him.
“Today is not going to be a normal date I’m afraid,” Jonathan drawled as he drove his way into the city.
“What do you mean?” I stiffened, becoming wary instantly. Although on some level, I trusted him not to harm me, his tone just didn’t bode well.
“We need to stop by the pack house first,” he briefly glanced towards me before continuing, “I want you to see something.”
“Okay,” I couldn’t help but wonder why he was being so secretive all of the sudden, “Can’t you tell me what it is?”
“I’d rather just show you.” His tone told me to drop it and for some unknown reason I didn’t argue.
He looked a little too stiff for it to be just a normal werewolf get-together but, knowing he’d make sure I’d stay alright, there could be no harm in going.
I was so caught up in my trying to figure out what he was hiding that before I knew it, we were already there. After parking and exiting the car, Jonathan didn’t actually head for the white three-floor house but made a beeline to the forest line, which was only a four-minute walk from there. I followed closely behind him, keeping my mouth shut for a change as something deep down told me this was bigger than a little awkward witch-to-werewolves meeting.
Having avoided almost all contact with the Sunshine’s pack ever since my incident with the rogues, I felt a bit unease at having to face all the people I had grown up knowing, befriended even, and yet completely ignored the last few weeks.
Just as we entered the forest, we found Kyle the alpha and Andrew his younger brother and beta and some older werewolf whose name I didn’t remember standing on the right side. Their faces didn’t betray their emotions, but their posture somehow gave away their out-of-sorts state of mind. To the unknowing eye, they might look like they were relaxed in their silence, but they were anything but.
A look to the left revealed a dark-haired man who was leaning back on a tree, arms crossed on his chest, eyes closed, looking somewhere between asleep and bored.
“Oh, here comes sweet little Jonathan,” the stranger drawled, earning himself a surprisingly small growl, “Long time no see. I always thought you were the punctual type, but I guess I was wrong.”
Did he just call the alpha-ultra sweet little Jonathan? Is this guy out of his mind? That had been my first reaction and then I understood from his words that they knew each other… that explained the small growl.
“I just wanted to bring her to the trial,” was Jonathan’s flat response from beside me.
Trial? What trial? It’s not like we’re in court.
“There’s no need for a witch though.” The stranger had green eyes that were disturbingly deep. It almost felt like he could see into one’s soul if he so wished. I averted my eyes in discomfort, a little bit unnerved by my instinctual response.
“She’s my mate as a matter of fact,” Jonathan’s arm slid around my shoulders, bringing me a little closer to him, reassuring me and introducing me at the same time, “Jasmine’s been struggling a little bit with her control. I thought it’d be good for her to meet you.”
“Oh, nice to meet you,” the still nameless guy left his spot against the tree and approached us slowly, making me for some reason want to step back. I breathed deeply and kept my ground, refusing to bruise my pride over some chills I was probably only getting from the cold air.
“Likewise,” I couldn’t help being a little bit stiff because, for all his seemingly playful demeanor, I didn’t feel comfortable being in his presence. As I shook hands with him, the only thing I could feel was a crippling fear and I withdrew abruptly.
“Something the matter?” The green-eyed vampire cocked an intrigued eyebrow at me. Jonathan poked me softly in the side, silently urging me to explain. The vampire seemed important enough that even the alpha-ultra respected him.
Nobility perhaps?
“I just…” I wet my lips in uncontrollable nervousness, “I…”
“Clairvoyance ability?” He guessed, an amused smirk tugging at his lips, his deep-green eyes scrutinizing.
“Err, no,” taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to say the truth, consequences be damned, but it was all I could not to stammer, “it just felt like I was shaking hands with death itself.”
That’s it. All out. There’s nothing to fear really. Get your act together, Jas!
The guy chuckled good-humoredly, not taking offence in the least, the other werewolves present laughed in a stiff way, following suit but looking unsure still.
“There was a time when I was called the angel of death but let’s not dwell on that,” he winked at me before turning around to face Kyle.
Cold sweat erupted in my back and I was suddenly regretting not bringing my jacket with me. This was no normal vampire. I could feel it in my gut. Although his presence was not as dominating as that of alphas or anything, my instincts told me to run. Skilled vampires often hid their presences after all.
He clapped and everyone grew silent, “Now that we’re all here, let’s get this started, shall we?”
I had been so focused on him that I had not noticed they had brought two restrained persons, a male and a female who looked nothing alike.
“That werewolf,” Jonathan whispered in my ear, pointing a finger towards the blonde-haired male, “has killed a vampire this morning and this woman here is said vampire’s sister.”
I repressed the urge to gasp. Imagining someone, anyone, killing one of my brothers or Karl, I could only see myself losing it completely… yet, there she was keeping it together. I was perplexed, jealous and even a bit frustrated. How could she not be trashing around, trying to get to the werewolf that took her brother away from her?
“Why is there another leech in our land?” The restrained werewolf struggled to get loose, his eyes blackening and reverting to blue many times in a short span of time. He looked like he was struggling to keep the beast within him at bay. What could have possibly caused him this?
“Well, I am Blake The Troublemaker and I’d like to know why you killed a vampire this morning,” the dangerous-vibe vampire smirked humorlessly as he approached the werewolf unfazed by his growls.
Holy shit! Blake The Troublemaker was in town and he wasn’t just visiting. He was the one who established The Devil’s Pact, the peace treaty that ended the era of wars between species. All supernatural beings abide by its laws to keep the harmony going, and all crimes are investigated and punished.
Vampire, black hair, green eyes, dangerous vibe, impossibly sarcastic. How could I not have figured it out sooner?
“I don’t answer to you,” the werewolf was trying to act brave, but one could hear his voice shaking ever so slightly on the last word.
“Well, I’m interrogating you,” Blake retorted calmly, unperturbed by the lack of cooperation.
I’ll take a wild guess and say he won’t be just interrogating him tonight.
“He just went and killed my brother without reason,” the female finally spoke, her voice sad but strong. She looked confidently into The Troublemaker’s eyes even as tears rolled down her pretty face.
“There were no witnesses. When my beta here arrived on the scene, your brother was already dead and you were fighting Thomas,” the alpha countered, defending his pack member, as expected of a leader.
“I’m still waiting for an answer, pup,” Blake drawled in a dangerously sweet tone, ignoring both of them.
“And I already told you I don’t answer to a fucking leech,” the werewolf, whose eyes were still flickering from black to blue and back, spat on the ground to make his point clearer, “you’re not as intimidating as the rumors say.”
“Don’t disrespect him like that, Thomas,” his alpha all but barked, looking in panic towards the infamous vampire.
“Fucking leech, huh?” Blake cracked his neck to both sides as if preparing for combat or holding himself back, nobody knew, “I’ve never killed someone just because they’ve disrespected me, but I’d still advise you to choose your words wisely.”
“That vampire brought it on himself,” I could see that Thomas had started sweating profusely and I could definitely understand his fear.
“Care to elaborate?”
“He attacked me, so I defended myself,” was the flat, shrug-accompanied response.
“That’s not true!” The chestnut-haired vampire cried out in anguish from where she stood, a few steps away from her brother’s killer, “You were the one to attack him and you killed him.” her sobbing was heart-wrenching to say the least. That said, she and Thomas both sounded very convincing, determining the liar was no easy feat.
“Well, if you won’t tell me the truth, I’ll beat it out of you and then kill you slowly,” the walking living danger that was Blake The Troublemaker could have been speaking about the weather, his tone wouldn’t have been any different, “or you can choose to speak the truth now before they unchain you and you’ll have a quick death.”
His threat is something else, that’s for sure, I inwardly whistled in half-admiration, half-terror.
“Why are you taking it out on him? Why aren’t you doubting her? Because she’s your own kind?” The third werewolf’s annoyed intervention was definitely not expected. Both Jonathan and Kyle seemed to trust Blake’s judgment, that should have been good enough for him but somehow it wasn’t… not that I could blame him, vampires weren’t exactly known for their integrity.
Blake’s gaze shifted towards the guy that had just addressed him in that awfully defiant manner and he readily explained, surprising me by his forwardness, “His heartbeat had a little bit of a pace-change when he lied and he’s obviously turning into a rogue.”
“It could be just out of fear or something,” the guy argued.
“I’ve been around for a long time; I’ve learnt to pick up the difference.”
“Just let it go,” Kyle commanded while putting a comforting hand on his fellow werewolf’s shoulder.
“So, still not gonna change your version?” Blake, both the interrogator and the executioner on such occasions, once again addressed the accused, giving him his last chance to spill the beans.
The werewolf stubbornly kept his mouth shut, head held high proudly, eyes locked defiantly with those of his interrogator, “Just release me and I’ll show you what I’m made of.”
With a nod from Blake, the guy was freed. He growled, eyes going black as he started to change.
“Are you sure you want your mate to watch? She looks impressionable.” Although he hadn’t spared a glance our way, I was sure I was the mate that was believed to be impressionable.
“I think she needs this but it’s her call,” Jonathan’s arm tightened briefly around me as he silently conveyed his support and waited for my answer.
Was I scared? Yes.
Did I wish I had just stayed home? Yes.
Did I want to run far away from here? Hell yes.
“I’m staying,” were the husky words I managed to utter after taking a deep breath. Fears needed to be faced head on and I intended to do just that… I had to start somewhere.