Jane |18+| ✔️

17. The time when I explained adding to her Turmoil

"We, eh?" She smiles again, and her dewy honey browns alight this time, making my grin rise with happiness.

"I'm in the perfect position to interrogate and potentially unmask the traitors within your pack." My grin drops as I eye her carefully.

"No!" It's curt and unwavering.

"Too bad," she rebuts. "We're in this together, Silas. You've already gone public with who I am and my purpose. You need to follow through." Fuck. "What better way than for me to inconspicuously feel your packmates out—to add an unsuspecting question here or there?"

"I don't like it—"

"I'll need to know everything you know, Silas. Starting with Reeva," Jane completely ignores me. I don't know if I should punish or praise her for her bold gusto. Deciding to play along for the moment, I smirk, adding humour to my tone.

"Why Reeva?" I ask as she proceeds to clip at my ends. "Have you ever cut hair before?"

"Just my Barbie dolls," she admits as I chuckle. "You have lovely hair, Silas." I smile humbly. "Why was Reeva so important that you pretended to be her mate?"

Here we go.

"It wasn't just me pretending." The slice of sharp metal is the only sound before her large eyes move to mine. "Reeva initiated it."

"Initiated it?" I can practically see the wheels turning inside her mind. "When and how... why?" I smile at the craziness of the situation. It's fucked up, and only a few know the truth—now, so will Jane. "Why would you ever go along with it?"

"After I conquered Sweetwater, most of Reeva's family died in the battle, leaving only her and her cousin, Agatha, alive." Another pondering moment as I watch my mate digest. "That was nearly forty years ago."

"But Agatha looks so young," she mumbles but continues to snip at my hair. "Wow, I wish we aged like you guys." I huff with a smirk. "Sorry for interrupting."

"No need to apologize, little one." She shoots me a slight grin. "Some shifters age faster than others. Aggie is one of the unlucky ones." She snorts at my lame joke.

"You all look no older than thirty! It's a hard life..." then, something dawns on her. "I will look like an old woman next to you, Silas. You'll be all buff and young, and I'll be all weak and shrivelled." Bursting out in laughter, she playfully slaps my chest. "It's not funny."

"I think that's the least of our worries for the moment, Jane." She nods, but I can tell that will linger within her thoughts for years. I'll need to do some research. Surely, we can't be the only human-shifter...

"How does one even approach their vanquished Alpha after knowing them for decades, stating they are fate-mated?" Her raspy voice cuts through my thoughts without a lick of jealousy. Relief floods my soul as she waves the scissors around in ponderance. "Was she that dense? I presume you watched her grow for years and obviously felt and scented nothing? Reeva would have known you would question, Silas. You would have, right?"

"Reeva was just a baby when I ended her father and mother's reign." My words carefully form as I watch my little one. "When she turned eighteen, I returned to Sweetwater and partook in her name day festivities as she was revered by many still—being of Alpha blood. Agatha is a mix. Her mother was Reeva's mother's sister, whereas her father was an Omega—her watch, to be precise. Neither here nor there, the waters were still turbulent as many were not happy with what I had done. But Reeva was all too relieved, and when we saw each other, she was swooned by my overall presence.

"Swooned?" I chuckle from the roll of my young mate's eyes. "You miasma her?"

"What? No!" Chuckling darkly, I shake my head. "Jane, the miasma does not work on other shifters, just the more deficient species of our world."