Word Count: 1821
~Avia
I sit on the edge of the bed, examining Isaiah with a cautious eye.
It's the first time I've been in his room, and not exactly in the circumstances I would have presumed before I started this mission. We all stood silently in his room while he showered, neither me, Zire nor Elise having anything to say to one another. All the while, I kept my eyes trained out the expansive window and at the sunrise.
Where all the time has gone, I have no idea.
Once Isaiah stepped from the shower, no more than a white towel draped around his hips, it became clear the nature of his injuries. Those rebels fought back. It's clear by the large gash down his stomach, the slice across his jawline and a myriad of scratches littering his skin.
"How did you do it?" Zire asks. He stands at the entrance of the bathroom, watching Elise cleaning blood from Isaiah's skin. "Kill them, I mean?"
"They let me out of my binds to unlock the door, and I turned on them." Isaiah almost sounds numb, as he examines himself coldly in the mirror, watching Elise. As much as I dislike her, she is adept with the medical equipment needed to nurture him back to help.
Even if an uncomfortably feeling is digging deep under my skin witnessing it.
"How did you fight all of them off?" Elise asks, rinsing her cloth under the facet. Isaiah winces slightly as she presses it back to his skin.
Isaiah meets my eyes in the mirrors reflection. "Don't worry about it."
Shifting my gaze away to back out the window, I let my shoulders deflate. I'm not sure if Isaiah will ever go into detail about what happened and how he killed those rebels, I just know, as Alpha, he is fully capable of it. My heart thinking about those innocent lives. They may not have gone about it a very good way, but there intentions aren't all that different to mine.
Would Isaiah kill me in the same way as he killed them? I imagine my death would be more scheduled and perhaps less brutal. Either way, I would either be spending my life in a prison or executed.
"Where were you, Elise?" Zire asks curiously. Elise pauses, her lashes so thick and dark when she narrows her eyes upon the second in command, she looks genuinely sinister.
"Hiding. I heard something so I hid under the bed," she shrugs.
"You're lucky..." Zire mutters. I can see the burden lingering in him, wishing he could have done more. Instead he negotiated with me, leaving me to wonder if he will actually keep his end of the bargain. No one else in the rebellion needs to know about him, and considering what I may get out of him, I'm happy to keep up my end.
"I doubt they wouldn't have killed you," Elise notes, holding Isaiah's wrist as she wipes at a small cut above his eye brow, his dismissive swatting clearly bothering her. "They are all pathetic cowards."
I'm too exhausted to note the anger that rises up within me, dying down as quickly as it comes. All of these people are privileged and have no idea what the rebellion is really fighting for. From their perspective, we are all evil, and they are the good ones.
Zire glances at me, although thankfully no one else seems to notice. "I've never agreed with you more."
"They shouldn't have done that," I say, shaking my head. Malin is going to be infuriated when she hears. She has an idea of merging all the rebellions together so her and I can rule them together, and ultimately have all the control. "But I think they just wanted to be heard, for you to know they are serious about their injustices."
"Injustices? They don't deserve anything," Elise dismisses irritably, not even bothering to look at me as she says it.
"Why would you say that?"
Finally, she looks up, pausing her action of smearing ointment onto one of Isaiah's cuts. "Because I mean it."
It was to thoroughly enjoyable to take her out once all of this comes to an end, but I know I can't think like that. If I do, I'm not better than her, and I'm no better than the rebels who have now been killed.
Isaiah stays silently, focusing on his wounds. He seems eerily calm, suggesting this isn't the first time he has killed someone. I can't help but watch him, as Elise hops down from where she was sitting on the bench, the morning sunlight washed over his wounded body. I want to talk to him alone, to understand what he is thinking, but I doubt I'll be able to with Elise here.
A knock on the door diverts all our attention, one of Isaiah's staff leaning in to speak to us. "Sir, your father is here."
"Tell him I will be out in a moment," Isaiah dismisses, reaching for his shirt.
I freeze. Isaiah's father...I haven't seen any trace of the previous Alpha since he ruled...since he burned down the house my family were in. There was no warning that he was coming, and now I'm going to have to face him like I'm not wise to his true cruelty.
Suddenly I want to be sick.
"You going to be okay?" Zire asks Isaiah as he walks past. There's a storm that briefly consumes Isaiah's eyes, before he shakes his head and it's gone. He doesn't look at me as he walks past, as if the sight of me is going to make him say something he shouldn't right now.
"It's not like I have another choice," he mutters under the breath, leaving the room.
Zire shakes his head at me silently, warning me not to say anything out of turn. It's as if the announcement of Isaiah's fathers has soured everyone's mood. Even Elise looks irritable as she pushes past me, squaring her shoulders back as if preparing for the meeting. Zire and I are the last to leave, remaining solemnly silent.
As we come down the stairs, I note a group of people standing in the foyer, all surrounding one person. Narrowing my eyes closer on them, I realise with a cold strike to my chest that it's him. It's Kit, the man that inspired the initial rebellion. The man who devastated his Pack and left it to his son to scramble the pieces back together.
Or keep them apart. I haven't decided yet.
"Son, are you okay?" Kit exclaims, sounding genuinely worried as he pushes through all the doting people toward his approaching son.
His broad hands clutch either side of Isaiah's arms, examining him from head to toe. Isaiah brushes him off with enough force to make it look burdened with meaning. More than just from the pain of his touch, I get the feeling...
"Yes, one of my guards managed to kill the rebels," Isaiah mutters, looking to Zire who comes to stand next to him, abandoning me to the side. I don't let my face convey my confusion. Why does Isaiah feel the need to lie to his father? Neither Elise nor Zire correct him, so I keep my mouth shutting, knowing better than to question the Alpha's motive in front of his father.
"Well done, perhaps they deserve a promotion," Kit says cheerfully, looking around at a few of the guards littered about the room, usually keeping to the shadows. At this point, I'm so used to their presence, I don't even notice them.
Isaiah clears his throat, turning back to motion me forward.
"This is Kenna, by the way," he introduces. "The one you insisted on me bringing here to improve my reputation."
"And by the sounds of it, you're doing an amazing job, Kenna," Kit comments, leaning forward to extend his hand. "I'm Kit."
For an uncomfortably long moment, I just stare at his hand. Images flash through my head rapidly. Fire. Burning. The Screaming...It all attacks my senses in one go, making my stomach turn to the point I'm convinced I'm about to lean over and throw up straight onto the floor in front of everyone.
Regardless, I shove it down and shake his hand firmly. "Nice to meet you."
"You're very beautiful. You look wonderful next to my son," Kit smiles, although his dark eyes are muted, cold. I don't return his smile, unable to find it in myself to draw upon that much false emotion. I wipe my hand down the side of my leg, wishing I could rid of the feeling of his skin on mine, concentrating my attention on Elise, who sidles up next to the other side of the Isaiah, nudging a grouchy Zire away.
"Kenna is doing a wonderful job here, she will be missed when she leaves." Elise wraps her arm through Isaiah's in a not-so-subtle way, looking Kit over.
Kit blinks, as if he forgot about Elise's presence. "Elise, it's great to see you also."
"How long are you going to be here?" Isaiah cuts in. His tone is stern, no-nonsense. I hope he doesn't notice me intensely examining his interaction with his father, hoping to draw something from it to use against him in the future.
But there's almost something so wrong about using family bonds to tear a person down. Yet isn't that the entire point? Where is this guilt nestled into the cavity of my chest coming from?
"I wanted to make sure you were safe, Isaiah," Kit soothes. I can't tell if this is an act of if he is seriously worried about his son. This is man is harder to read than I would like. "And we have an event tomorrow, remember?"
At this event, I'm going to have to play the role of Kenna. Great...
"Of course..." Isaiah sighs.
"I'm so glad to meet you Kenna," Kit says softly, dipping his head. "I can't wait to learn more about you."
You shall learn nothing of me. But I will learn enough about you and your retched reign to bring it all down.
🤎••🤎
If you enjoy the story, it's always ten chapters ahead on Radish. It's another way of supporting me as a writer, so thank you! Otherwise, I'll be updating here on Wattpad consistently as well.
***
I have a brand new story called IMMORTAL PRINCE now available on Radish, and soon on Wattpad (:
"Tomorrow, we don't have to speak of this again." I hardly know what I'm asking. I just know I want whatever it is.
He watches me with an intensity that I know only he is capable of. "Put my hand where you want me to touch you."
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!! Thank you all!
I hope you guys enjoyed!!
Instagram: Sophie_Midika
Snapchat: Midikacrane
~Midika 💜🐼