Alice and The Rogue Wolf

Chapter 11

The next three days that followed I woke up with the same bizarre look on my face, and much of that was due to Brayden. Day by day, the desire to make him pay haunted me, and with every new day came even more dreadful thoughts on how to put an end to him.

This morning, Jonathan had noticed my discomfort and had mustered up to me about it. He still had three hours until his shift so he had enough time on his hands to spare for a quick discussion.

"Stop staring at me. If you have something on your mind, just go ahead and say it," I blurted out.

He smiled sweetly as he rested his back on the cushion.

"That's one of the reasons I fell for you in the first place. Your fiery disposition. But I have begun to notice you draw back into yourself these past days and I'm starting to worry."

I sighed. "I'm fine, it's just… uh… "

"C'mon what is it?"

"I have been thinking about Brayden!"

Like a torch kissed by a spark, Jonathan's eyes lit up immediately after those words had flown out my mouth.

"Brayden? Why?"

"Yeah! This might be kind of a bummer but I've met him before."

He jumped off his cushion and crashed down beside me. I looked into his eyes and I could see a somewhat mix of curiosity and slight jealousy.

"What!" He yelled. "How? When?"

"Lower your voice!" I advised. "Remember, when you had told me to stay back the first time the Rogues attacked?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I sneaked out."

"I knew it," He exclaimed.

"I was about to come to you when one of the Rogues attacked me, but Brayden saved me. I had thought he had a good heart but turns out I had no idea how evil he was."

"How could you put yourself in so much danger, Alice? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Stop yelling! I didn't get myself killed did I? See you gotta trust me."

"Did you see him again after the attack ended?" Jealousy was written all over his face.

"Yes, I kept contact."

"Why?" He asked despondently. "Don't you care about me at all?"

"I do, Jonathan," I said, moving closer. "It's just that… never mind. The point is Brayden right now is a threat to us."

"You damn right he is!"

"I've been thinking of ways to bring him down, and eventually kill him. But I'll have to use myself as bait."

"Bait?" He asked curiously.

"Yes! Since we are getting to be each other, I could pretend to be his friend. Then after he completely trusts me, I can take him down or bring him to you."

"So you figured this all by yourself?" He said, gesturing. I gave an affirmative nod. "Well hell no!"

"What do you mean hell no? It's a good plan, the best plan!"

"What do you mean it's the best plan? How do you intend to lure him into a death trap as you said? Listen, Brayden may be evil but not in the least, stupid."

"I know. That's the best part. I will get him to believe that I want to turn my back on you guys. That I'm tired of being treated as inferior and then when he buys it and lets me in among his pack. Bingo! We make our move."

"Well, I have to give you credit for coming up with such an organized plan but do you seriously think I'll risk you getting close with that traitor or even give him a chance to get intimate with you?"

"Are you seriously getting jealous right now?" I asked teasingly.

"This isn't about me getting jealous, which I am, it's about me ensuring that you do not offer yourself to the enemy."

"Jonathan," I called, gently putting my hand over his shoulders. "I am going after Brayden as an enraged lady deprived of her father. I would never fall in love with the man who killed my father."

"I know, Alice. I'm just scared you can get hurt."

"Well, I have made it this far. What makes you think I can't get through this as well? C'mon, I've probably faced worse challenges like this before, let me prove to you I can handle this."

He seemed to think about it for a while before sighing deeply. I couldn't say I understood what he was going through but I sure knew putting your loved ones voluntarily in the face of danger was not a thing to be comfortable about. It was a tough decision.

"Okay fine! But before you get all merry, you need to promise me that you'll take care of yourself out there."

"I promise," I squealed, hugging him tightly.

"One more thing, once I sense a threat, I'm pulling you out. Anything he tells you, you report back to me, is that clear?"

"Yeah!" I was elated. "Hey I was thinking I could, Uhm, get like a job or something to keep me busy."

He checked the silver watch strapped on his wrist and from his face I could tell that his time was far spent.

"You do know that we wolves are wealthy enough to take care of everyone right? Most of us only work for the sake of getting ourselves busy. If you need to get yourself busy, you have just been assigned an important task."

"Wait!" I called as I ran after him, but he was already out the door and into the car. "I need a phone."

"I'll get one for you by the time I get back."

Before I had the time to say anything he had zoomed off, leaving me in the driveway where I now stood. I paused for a moment to enjoy the ballads from a nearby tree. It was truly beautiful. I longed to share this moment with someone, especially my father, yet it seemed reality had different plans for me.

"I miss you Dad!" I whispered, facing upwards. "I promise to avenge your death. I just need you to guide me through."

Wiping off the tears that had formed a puddle, I headed back inside to freshen up and have breakfast before making my way into the woods to set my plan in motion.

Even though we didn't schedule this visit I had this conviction that upon my arrival, he would be there at that fallen stump beneath the shades of the mahogany above. But I was wrong. He wasn't there. I scanned the area but there was still no trace of him. I screamed out his name till I had the air knocked out from my lungs, and just when I gave up, I rested my butt on the stump.

"It's nice to see you yearn for me with such energy!" A voice whispered behind me, making me jump in fright.

"Oh my God! You scared me! Wait, you heard me the whole time?"

Amused by my frustration, he broke into a fit of laughter. Enraged, I almost drove a fist through his smoothly streamlined face when his strong arm prevented what would have been devastating.

"You think stressing me this much is funny, huh?" I snapped and wiggled my palm from his grasp.

"Same old Alice. Always throwing punches. Well, good thing I get to speak to you again. So tell me how's life treating you?" He asked, taking a seat beside me.

"No!" I protested. "You go first. You seem to know so much stuff about me so how about I get to know something about you."

"Well… "

"Wait. I got us drinks and some cheese so it'll be like a picnic. If you don't mind, maybe we could get a spot and lay this mat all out?"

He looked surprised at the things I had squeezed into my backpack but helped out and soon we were sipping some wine on a mat atop dew-dotted grass.

"Okay, about your question, I'm Brayden as you may remember. I'm a Rogue and answering the question of how I met you, before what happened a month ago, we used to be friends."

"Friends?"

"Yeah! Like very good friends. Until, you know, the whole Excelsis-Rogue dispute erupted and I was forced to lose contact."

"Oh!" I mouthed audibly enough for him to hear.

Staying in the open with him was amazing. He had so much to say about his mother, his two sisters, and his pack. He also talked a lot about my mother, how she would take him in whenever he visited and wouldn't let him leave until she had filled him to the brim with cookies and "stuffed" his pockets for some for his sisters.

"She is a good woman, isn't she?" I remarked, gulping down what was left in my glass.

"Yes, she was." He replied grinning widely.

"You know, thinking about it, I reckon you are the leader of the Rogues, correct?"

"Yes, I am. How did you figure it out?"

"Well, you're not so good at hiding the pack's crest you hang around your neck," I explained, pointing to the amulet which rested on his chest which was exposed by the first three buttons of his shirt.

"I see you haven't lost your observation skills either," he stated, impressed.

A brief silence passed and I took the opportunity to refill my glass and throw some chunks of cheese in my mouth. Finally, I had seen the question that had been burning heavily on my mind since I got here.

"So you're the one who has been orchestrating these attacks, why?" I asked in the plainest tone I could muster.

"It's a long story."