The Scarlet Hunter

Chapter 38-1

Jax and two warriors were using everything they had to hold Alpha Alec back in the kitchen. Six hands, six arms, six legs, and three backs were engaged to keep him from interfering with the maid making her way from the front door to the guest room. Although Jax can stand up to Alec in a fight, he was no match against his alpha when it came to raw strength.

A roadmap of veins popped up on the thick neck of the restrained. A beat of a command emanated from him and for a split-second the warriors fell weak before he took it back. There was a war raging under taunt skin that would be considered won if he could keep from shifting.

The two warriors believed this was a lovers' quarrel. A spat to be worked out over the next couple days sparked by the recent attack of the neighboring pack. Their involvement was to allow Isla the space she needed.

Jax knew the real battle was between believing in the plan laid out by Alec's head or following his instinct governed by his heart.

"It's Becky, Alpha." Jax was centered in front of the wide chest and Alec's focal point when he wasn't looking over his head at the intruder. "Becky has taken care of you and your family since before you were born. She is going to help Isla."

Clicks of door opening could be heard and all four males increased their intensity. The maid pushed a large janitorial cart into the guest room uninterrupted. Once secured inside with Isla, Jax and the warriors released Alec.

Anais slipped out of the cleaning cart cubby just big enough to stow a she-wolf to the sound of her alpha rushing to the room and roaring. She froze and watched the door rattle.

The blonde warrior, recovered from witnessing the assault on the door, reached up for a big stretch and hugged Isla. "You ready?" Anais asked. She is to stay in the room as a decoy allowing Isla to sneak out of the Alpha Suites and travel to the New Territory. This way, the ambient noises of someone being in the room still exist. They'll bring Anais to the New Territory after the full moon as if she were Isla.

"I'm so ready to be out of this room." Isla nodded. "Thank you for covering for me. It gets a little boring, and Jax has pretty snobbish taste in books." Isla pointed to a collection of books stacked under a copy of The Art of War. "I'll see if I can convince him to sneak you in a trashy romance novel or something."

Anais laughed, "It'll be like a spa day or three. He's going to sneak in some nail polish, face masks, and junk food. This is like a vacation! Plus, I've wanted to see the New Territory for a while now."

"Please don't freak out," Isla warned her as Becky collected the trays that had been piling up and moved into the bathroom. "Alpha Alec needs to keep up appearances. There can't be a noticeable change in his behavior. If Jax didn't tell you, he's probably going to be sleeping outside your door."

"Fucking alphas. Girl, I don't know how you're going to do it." Anais rolled her eyes, "That 'D' better be worth it." Both warriors laughed while Isla shook her head with a look of mock pain.

"My cell phone is right here. Please remember to bring it with you when you head to the New Territory." Isla handed the wrapped up Samsung over, and Anais dropped it in the small purse she snuck in with her.

Jax believed she was likely hacked. As a precaution, Isla had not used it while locked in the room but kept it out so that those precious hard to fake ambient noises would still be picked up. With it covered like it was, it would only be able to convey indiscriminate sounds as if it were locked up. Conversations and identifying voices would not be transmitted. It would continue to not be used even after the switch, maintaining consistency.

"Time to get in. I ain't gonna lie, Isla. It's a bumpy ride." Anais warned, and Isla crawled into the cubby area. After she was secure and hidden from sight, the cleaning staff knocked to signal that she was ready to leave.

Jax yelled from across the apartment that it was safe to come out. The maid emerged, pushing the cart that now held Isla, and Anais closed and locked the door to the guest room. Alpha Alec should have been calmed with the guest room closed because Isla was on the other side of the door, but he caught her scent moving through the apartment and couldn't settle.

She was going to be with him, with Damon. Alec and Jax explored every alternative, and this was the safest option. An extra body in Beta Kelvin's quarters would be noticed by the staff at the packhouse. If she were to go to her family home, Damon would have to stay there to protect her, and he would be seen. To move her away from Alec for the full moon and keep her undetected at the New Territory, she would have to be in the care of Damon, in the privacy of his quarters.

The two warriors held their alpha by his arms. Jax pressed against his chest and locked eyes with Alec in a direct challenge outside of the sparring ring, something he had never done in his life. If Alec rushed the cart and pulled out Isla, their cover would be blown. The perpetrator watching them through the cameras would know that he or she had been found out. Alec's temper rose with every passing second, but he held still, locked on to Jax's challenge. As soon as the front door was closed, with Isla on the other side, Jax dropped his eye contact and moved between Alec and the front door.

Anais heard furniture being destroyed in the apartment, followed by the huffing of her alpha outside of her door. As romantic as it was always portrayed to be with an alpha, the reality was that if you didn't calm his spirit and match his soul, the entire pack might suffer.

Over the next couple of days, Anais would hear her alpha's frustration, temper, and pure anguish. She desperately wanted to comfort him but knew that there was nothing more she could do except play her role to protect her future luna. In a few days, she would be whisked out of the room, covered in a cloak supposedly to prevent anyone from seeing Isla, but it was really to prevent anyone from seeing that she wasn't Isla. Her alpha's firm hands would be on her, guiding her as if Anais was his luna, only turning her over to the care of her gamma. The security staff would also take defensive positions to protect their future luna, not realizing the ruse.

Anais knew that the attention, the planning, the resources were all justified. She knew that the most risk she would ever be in was when she was faking being the future luna. After five days of fake being the Luna, all her fantasies about actually being one evaporated.

When they found out what happened, her friends begged her for details about Alpha Alec and how he was in his apartment at night. They cooed about how she was alone with the alpha for the better half of a week, over the full moon even, that she must know something more about him. Jax chose right when he chose her for this assignment, though, because she never felt compelled or comfortable sharing those details about Alpha Alec and Isla by extension.