The Alpha's Stolen Daughter

Episode 5:Secondary Location

Secondary Location

The trees thinned into something that didn’t look like academy grounds anymore. It had no gates, no path lights, literally nothing. Just dirt road, unmarked, swallowed on both sides by forest old enough that the canopy blocked out what little moon there was.

“This isn’t the way to the Council seat,” I said again, louder this time.

The driver’s silence made it pretty clear that somebody had told him not to answer me, and he was following that order to the core.

The car slowed down at a break in the trees where a single building stood. A part was built on stones while the others the windows were dark except for one lit room on the second floor. It looked less like a Council building and more of something I couldn’t picture entirely.

The driver opened my door but didn’t offer a hand.

“Rude.” I stared at him in disgust. I got out on my own.

“Inside,” the driver said. First word he’d spoken since the radio was turned on.

I didn’t move right away. My inner instinct told me that whatever waited past that door wasn’t going to explain itself gently.

“Who’s in there?”

“Not my place to say.”

“You keep telling me things aren’t your place. What is your place then?”

He almost smiled at such a statement. “Getting you through that door before it gets dark enough that I stop being able to promise you a safe walk there.”

That worked better than any threat would have. I walked inside and noticed how warm it felt. A woman waited at the base of the stairs.. it was not the silver-haired Council member from Voss’s study though. This is someone new, younger, dressed beautifully. From the looks of things.. seems she’s a staff.

“You’re smaller than the report said,” she said, which I didn’t know if I should take it as an insult or not.

“What report?”

She didn’t answer that either. Nobody in this place seemed interested in answering any question I asked, only the ones they’d decided I was allowed to know. It made me so angry.

“Upstairs,” she said. “He’s waiting.”

“He??” I asked in confusion.

The stairs creaked under me the whole way up, and I found myself counting them, the way I used to count things as a kid. I just had to do anything to keep my mind somewhere other than the fear I’ve been feeling since I got here.

The lit room at the top was smaller than it looked from the outside. A desk, a chair, a man standing at the window with his back to me.

It was similar to the same way Voss so often stood.

“Close the door,” he said, without turning.

I did and he turned around.

He wasn’t old, which surprised me. I was honestly expecting someone older or old enough at least.

He looked at me and kept staring, assessing me from head to toe.

“You’re the one they found at the border six years ago,” he said.

“I don’t know what I am. That seems to be the theme of my week.” I answered back. Where the courage came from.. I sincerely do not know.

He smiled at him like he was impressed or something and offered me a seat. “Sit.”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Do not disobey my orders.” He said sternly. “ Now, sit”

I sat, because refusing felt like a fight I didn’t have the strength left to win today.

“My name is Jayden,” he said, settling into the chair across from me like this was a negotiation rather than an interrogation. “I doubt Voss ever mentioned me.”

“Voss doesn’t mention anyone or anything. He barely mentions me.”

That almost got a real reaction out of him. He tightened his mouth to the side in a way I couldn’t decide if it was amusement or something colder. “That track. He’s spent six years keeping you exactly where no one could find you. Today someone finally asked about you, and here you are.”

“Here I am, where exactly? This isn’t the Council seat.”

“No,” Jayden agreed easily. “It isn’t.”

“Then what is this and where exactly am I ?” I raised my voice a bit out of frustration.

“A courtesy.” He leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, “The Council doesn’t move fast, and I have interests that don’t survive waiting on their process. So I made sure you came here first.”

I felt shivers move down my spine. “You diverted a Council transport??.”

“Won’t that cause issues??” I asked out of concern. Not for him but for me.

“I redirected an asset that had not yet been formally assigned anywhere. There’s a difference, if you ask the right lawyer.” He stated.

“Don’t look so betrayed. Nothing has happened to you.. yet.”

“Yet??” I arched my brows to the sound of such a statement.

“What do you want from me?”

He looked at me for a while before he answered, long enough that I understood he was choosing how much truth I’d earned versus how much he intended to keep for himself.

“There’s a war coming,” he said finally. “Not the kind the Council likes to pretend it can be managed with statutes and hearings. I’m talking about a real one. My pack is going to be on the losing side of it unless something changes the aftermath.” His eyes didn’t leave mine. “You changed the situation today. One shift, untrained, and you broke a child’s arm in the same motion.”

“ Do you understand how rare that is?” His face lit up like he was amazed.

“I understand a kid is in a hospital bed because of it.”

“That’s a cost dear. Not exactly the point of what I’m telling you.” He replied instantly.

“I don’t need you trained. I need you to be willing to do this.

“Huh?? Do what??”

“There’s a considerable difference between a weapon someone points at and a weapon that chooses where to aim itself.”

“I’m not a weapon.”

“You broke a bone today without meaning to. Imagine what you could do while actually meaning it.” He sat back, in a relaxed manner.

“I’m not asking you to decide tonight. I’m asking you to understand what’s actually on the table before the Council gets its hands on you and decides for you instead.”

I wanted to tell him no immediately but considering everything that’s happening. I didn’t quite have anywhere to go specifically.

“Why me,” I said instead. “Specifically…There have to be other unregistered shifters.”

“You’re not unregistered,” he said quietly. “You’re erased. Those aren’t the same thing, and I think you already suspected that, if not..you wouldn’t have asked.”

The room became very quiet and the tension increased.

“What do you mean, erased?”

He opened his mouth and wanted to say something but he stopped midway. “Not tonight, little one. You’ve had enough thrown at you for one day, and I’d rather you remember this conversation as an offer than a threat.”

“You brought me here against my will and you’re worried about how I’ll remember it?” I looked around the room to know truly if this is a dream.

“I’m practical,” he said, standing, the conversation closing whether I was ready or not. “Threats make poor allies. I prefer you choosing me later with a clear head and mind than resenting me for refusing out of spite.”

“Okay.. what if I never choose you?”

He walked to the door, opened it, and paused there before looking back at me.

“Then someone with far less patience than me will find you first,” he said. “There are two others who know what you are now. Neither of them is going to treat you the way I did.”

He left the door open behind him, an invitation or a dismissal, I couldn’t tell which but I sat there in confusion contemplating which part I should follow.