The Chase

Chapter 25

Ava's idea of fun was "raiding" her mates closet and by raid, I mean nearly ripping and destroying all of his clothes. I mostly just stood there and watched as she tore them apart, but I found that I was having fun watching her. It was interesting to see all the rage I felt being enacted through her motions. She was eager at her work but underneath her deranged smile was a sadness I couldn't reach. The sadness was so deep that I could tell that she struggled not to fall into it.

We had spent the majority of the day together, drinking copious amounts of coffee and joking about random things. At one point she even whipped out board games to play, which she was extremely excited about. After she beat me for the fifth time on one of her games, Clue, I think it was, my amusement started to go down.

"You're extremely good at this." I grimaced.

She lets out a soft giggle and I hold back an amazed face. The sound is so light and genuine, it seems so polar to how she usually acts.

"Before I got to this pack, I use to play this made-up game with rocks to pass the time. One time I saw the Alpha playing a board game with his sons; it had these blocks that they had to take out one at a time and if it fell over the person lost. It looked really fun."

As she talks the light seems to drain from her face and I realize she's leaving something out. I know that the pack she came from, the Crimson Shade Pack, was known to be cruel and backwards when it came to human equality and treatment. I had heard horror stories of human mates being treated like dogs and made to crawl around their own home.

"Are you okay?"

She shakes herself out of whatever haze she was in and turns up to me and gives me a huge smile that doesn't reach her eyes and is to fake to be genuine.

"Of course, I am cutie, just reminiscing about the past."

I'm not sure reminiscing is the right word, but I let it go. We spend so much time together that I don't notice when the other guard, Samantha leaves. Being with Ava is like gaining some of my own freedom back. Being with her reminds me of the time me and Nicole used to lay on our living room floor and star up at the ceiling and talk about all the dreams we had. I remember the little glow in the dark stars and moon we placed up there to make it seem like we were really staring up at the sky.

It becomes so late and me and Ava are having such a good time that I don't hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs of the house. And I definitely don't hear the keys jingle, or the door open over the sound of my own laughing. It's not until the door is slammed that I realize it's not just the three of us. My body freezes over with scared shock, and I hear a low growl from the entrance of the doorway.

I look towards Ava who has a scowl on her face and slowly turn my head toward the door. Enforcer Garren is standing there with a scowl of his own and surveys the room. He looks at Noah with some anger and when his eyes land upon mine his eyes change from his scrunched-up position of his scowl to surprise. I look over to Noah and see that he carries a nonchalant expression and leans against the wall. I notice that he's really broad across the chest and his shoulders look strong. He looks stable, safe.

My thoughts are broken from a gruff voice speaking, "Luna, this is an...unexpected pleasure."

I give a slow nod, not really sure what to do with my body or voice. I can tell that he's irritated that I'm here, but I can also tell that he's intrigued. Maybe I can play that to my advantage.

"I just came here to keep Ava company. I thought that we could use all the friends we could get."

He gives me a sound of agreement and seems to calm at my statement. I think he likes the idea of Ava having the Luna as her friend. He might think that I will be a good influence on her, but if he thinks that then that shows how little he really knows. There's this awkward silence that seems to engulf the entire room until Noah speaks up.