Alice and The Rogue Wolf

Chapter 26

Alice

The rain still poured in heavy torrents, and even though Mrs. Allen offered me an umbrella, I insisted that I was fine with getting drenched in the rain. I bade Mrs. Allen goodbye as she dropped me off a couple of yards away from Jonathan's house. The car was a bit too noisy and I feared if we went any closer, it would announce my arrival and even wake Jonathan.

For once since we drove away from this park, Megan lifted her eyes from her phone and waved me goodbye as I stepped out. After tucking my phone safely to avoid it getting soaked in the rain, I took to my heels, keeping to the sides of the road to be shielded from the rain by the towering tree branches and their thick leaves.

Apart from the dull brake light of Mrs. Allen's car as it retreated into the distance and a headlamp further down the road, I had barely any source of light to guide my path. From time to time, a s***h of lightning tore through the sky and thunder grumbled but I kept on jogging till I got to the small wooden gate and pushed it open.

Quickly, I looked for any sign of the guards but they were nowhere in sight. They must have sought shelter for the rain, I supposed, or perhaps they had been dismissed from their posts by Jonathan.

I hopped on the front porch, every inch of my body drenched with water that dripped down to my socks. The night breeze which swayed dangerously also did not lighten my predicament as it sent goosebumps down my arms and back.

Laying my phone down on a dry spot, I took off my boots and drained off the water which had lodged in them. With my teeth gnashing against each other, I then proceeded to take off the upper part of my clothing, wriggling them off before putting them back on.

When I had mopped off most of the water on my body, I moved closer to sneak in through the front door when I heard voices that seemed to be coming from the sitting room. Jonathan must have not yet slept and it seemed he had visitors. I strained my ears to listen to what they were saying, but couldn't hear a word.

Now that the main entrance was blocked, I needed to find a way into the house, a way stealth enough to prevent me from being noticed by the people sitting in the living room, especially Jonathan. I know if he saw me, I'll be in for questioning so my best shot was to get up to the room and turn in for the night before him. Perhaps, in the morning, I would be able to figure out a response for returning this late in the night,

The only thing I had left was to get through the back door so I began making my way down there. It was so dark that I groped around before I could even find my way. I was still tiptoeing through the rain, my shoes buried in puddles, and I didn't notice the gardening tools lying in a corner of the yard.

The noise startled me and most of all startled Jonathan and his guests. They remained silent for a while, and then I heard footsteps approaching the back door followed by the c*****g of a gun.

I was in a tight spot but I wouldn't let myself be caught. Taking off my shoes to reduce their squishy sound, I took them in my hands and tiptoed away from the door, and hid behind one of the cars in the driveway.

As soon as the torch was switched on, I made out the figure of two guys, one I recognized to be Jonathan and the other his sidekick and Beta; Evans. Too afraid of getting in the rain, they stood at the door and scanned for what could have caused the commotion.

I was a bit far off but I could hear a voice ask from inside the house; "What is going on?"

"Some animal knocked off some tools," Jonathan yelled back, and as he made one last check, he and Evans returned to the house.

When they had shut the door behind them, I came out from my hiding place and ran towards the door. I knew whenever Jonathan and his friends were together, they were always up to some mischief. Seeing them heightened my curiosity and instead of the original plan to get upstairs undetected, I sought to listen to what they were talking about.

With one ear plastered on the door to make sure they weren't anywhere near, I gently turned the doorknob and went in. Thankfully, they had forgotten to lock the door so I was able to keep my entrance as silent as possible. Once in, I gently closed the door and tiptoed through the kitchen, and crouched at the door connecting the kitchen to the small halfway leading up to the stairs, peeking and listening to the three of them as they bickered among themselves.

"Evans, I can't believe you had that gun on you all this while. Didn't you think that the weapon could have been dangerous or worse still, go off when you least expected it?" Taylor asked in bewilderment.

"Guns don't work like that, Taylor. It has a safety that you keep on so it doesn't fire. And yeah, I keep it on me cause you never know when the need to defend yourself from danger arises," the Beta replied, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

The three men just sat there for a while, slurping from their glasses of whiskey, with no one uttering a word. It seemed like a lot was running through each of their minds, and after what seemed like an eternity, Jonathan finally spoke up.

"What is taking Alice so long?" He asked no one in particular.

On hearing my name, I almost jumped out of my shadow. Even though I was unsure before, it was now clear that Jonathan was nowhere near resting his head until he saw me walk through the front door. Also, his friends didn't seem to have any complaints about staying up late with him.

"I don't mean to pry but does she normally stay out this late?" I heard Taylor ask wearily.

"No! I mean, she would spend the early mornings and most of the afternoon with him, but never has she stayed out this late."

"Why do you let her go out to meet him, anyway?" Evans asked.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" Brayden groaned in frustration. "She is trying to lure Brayden into a trap of hers and kill him."

"Kill him?" Taylor repeated, sitting up on the couch. "I don't mean to look down on Alice's highly sharpened skills, but don't you think one of the warrior wolves would have handled the murder faster and in any way she desired, rather than expose her to frequent contact with that rascal?"

"I tried to make her drop the idea and let me handle it but she wouldn't listen nor agree. Ever since she learned that Brayden was the name behind the death of her father, her mind was set on taking revenge by herself. What was I supposed to do, lock her up?"

"Probably! I'm sorry, but don't you think this could be a matter that calls for concern?" Evans asked.

"What do you mean?" Jonathan retorted. "If you are worried about Alice's safety, then drop it. I had always doubted her at first, but I now trust she can take care of herself. "

"Evans isn't talking about her ability to take care of herself, Jonathan, " Taylor informed. "Don't you remember what could happen if Alice and Brayden got together?"

"You do know well that when Alice gets too close to Brayden, he will try to win her back right?" Evans chipped in not before Jonathan could reply to Taylor's question.

"Yes!"

"So why then aren't you worried that one of these days he would call out to her as mate, or she would hear her inner wolf recognize him as her soulmate, not you? Who knows? They might have already recognized each other."

That question rang in my head as loudly as it seemed to do with Jonathan who sat in silence contemplating the question. I gasped in astonishment as the weight of the question dawned on me. How could they have known about the affection that I and Brayden shared or even the truth about me and the Rogue finding each other as mates? And why should Brayden be able to call out to me as his mate instead of Jonathan? A lot of unanswered questions were running through my mind.

"Don't say that, Alice would never do that to me! She is so loyal," Adam muttered, the tone in his voice sounding unsure.

The others remained silent while Jonathan spoke, including me. I leaned by the door, wondering why Jonathan had tried to keep all of this hidden from me. Well, there was only one way to find out and that was by staying still and listening.