MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
1259 Words
JAX
I smelled him. A split second before he came into the room.
Cade.
My fingers, which had tightened on the silver dagger tipped with wolfsbane, which would have ended his life in a heartbeat, loosened.
"Always knock before you enter, Cade," I said. "Else one of these days..."
He said something in reply but already my attention was off him.
I continued studying the document in front of me, the war treaty which the Alpha of Bloodstone pack had drawn up, offering me more than half of his lands if I called off the attack on his pack.
My lips peeled back from my teeth in a savage grin. I felt my nerves coil up like a spring as I remembered the battle we had just fought, the screams of the dying enemies.
I could take all of Bloodstone if I wanted to. Hell I could take the world!
The acute I had felt throughput today was not all about the battle though.
I hated to admit it, but there was that strange dream I had last night.
It was something about a woman whose face I hadn't seen because looking at her was like looking at the sun.
In the stupid way of dreams, she had fallen from the sky like a comet. In the instant she had looked my way, I had felt a strange connection to her.
Then followed a jumble of emotions I still couldn't process.
It had been a senseless, silly dream but it made me uneasy all the same.
"... Jax."
Cade saying my name brought me back to the present.
I turned to him.
"What?" I growled then noticed he was eyeing my hand on the table nervously.
I was once more holding the handle of the dagger tightly. I slowly let go of it.
"You seem tense tonight," he said.
"We have just come back from a war that lasted weeks, Cade," I said. "I expected you to be resting now not coming into my room to... Why are you even here again?"
Cade blinked. "I've been talking this whole time. You mean you didn't hear a word I said?"
I gestured to the peace treaty which I had half decided to ignore. Another battle would at least keep my warriors in shape.
"I was going through that," I explained.
"The Bloodstone treaty?"
I nodded. Once. "By the way, have you secured the prisoners?"
"Yes. That was the first thing we did. They are all safely locked in the dungeons."
"We will question them tomorrow then. Get rid of anyone who refuses to cooperate." I paused. "Maybe we'll get rid of all of them. We have too many slaves in the pack as it is. I don't think we need more."
Cade bowed.
"As you wish," he said.
I flung the treaty document aside, picked up my favourite blade and began polishing the already gleaming steel.
As I did, I thought of the next battle.
Fireheart pack in the north was growing too strong. It might be a good idea to invade and crush them before they could become a threat.
The sound of shuffling feet cut into my thoughts. Again. My head whipped around.
"What are you still doing here?" I barked.
It was then I looked- really looked at Cade's face.
Cade was a tall, huge man, very self contained, which was one of the major reasons why I had chosen him as Beta.
The Cade standing before me now had flushed cheeks. His eyes were too bright. He kept making little jerky movements. It was almost like something had shaken him.
Also he was still wearing his blood and sweat stained clothes which was odd because he was a man of neat habits.
For the first time, thoughts of war were driven right out of my mind.
"What is it? Why do you look like that?" I asked him.
He glanced at me, made an effort to compose himself. He gave me a half smile.
"Sorry," he said. "It's just that... I've never seen anything like it."
I sighed. Would he never get to the point?
"Anything like what?" I said.
"Well I... Let me start from the beginning. The warriors and I were almost at the pack house, thinking of nothing but securing the prisoners and getting some rest when Nolan spotted something. It was a woman, sitting under one of the trees." He paused. His eyes seemed far away. He swallowed once. Twice. "Jax, in all my days I haven't seen a woman so strange and so- so damn beautiful. The word doesn't even do her justice."
I began to lose interest again. I raised the dagger to the light, admiring the deadly blade from every angle.
"A woman!" I snorted. "I would never have thought you would be this affected by a pretty face, Cade. There are lots of beautiful women all over the world... human women, she-wolves, you name it-"
Cade took a step forward.
"You don't understand," he said in a hushed voice. "She was different. I was not the only one affected by her. All the men were too. We just kept staring and staring at her like we were enchanted or something. If Nolan hadn't accidentally bumped against me and then made me say something, maybe we would all still have been standing there, staring at her."
I raised a brow. "Are you sure someone didn't hit a little too hard on the head during the fight?"
Cade went on as if he hadn't heard me. "And get this- she was naked. Butt naked, and she didn't seem to realize it."
Nothing really surprised me, but this certainly did. I sat up.
"Yes," Cade continued, taking in my surprise. "That was not all. She was bleeding seriously and she also didn't seem to know it. I wonder how someone could loose that much blood and still be alive... unless she's a werewolf. But from her scent, I don't think she is. Maybe she's human or a hybrid or something."
"Where is she now?" I asked.
"She passed out. It took a few hours but Aradia fixed her up."
"Hours? And you have been with her all this time?
"Yes," Cade said, not quite meeting my eyes. "I wanted to make sure she was okay."
"I see. She may be a spy. I might put her in the dungeon with the rest while I question her tomorrow."
His head snapped up. "No. No. She can't be a spy. She doesn't look like-"
Cade hastily took a step back as I stood up quickly.
"If I want her in the dungeons, that is where she will be," I said quietly. "Careful Cade that you don't get in trouble over a pretty face."
Cade's face went white. He quickly bowed.
"Whatever you say, Alpha," he murmured.
With the dagger, I pointed to the door. He bowed again and hurried out.
As the door closed behind him, I was suddenly seized with a desire to see this mystery woman.
I looked at the closed door leading to my bedroom. Women, specially handpicked from the neighboring packs were there in bed, naked, waiting and eagerly willing to please me tonight, to help ease the stress of past war.
I took a half step towards my bedroom then stopped.
I would see this strange woman.
If her influence over the men in my pack was as strong as Cade had said, I would get rid of her.
I snatched up a dagger and left the room.
- Writer
