~Ayla~
If he was surprised, Killian was very good at hiding it. After I had patched up my neck and before I went to the prison, I had done some searching in the alpha database about his assassin rogue group. Killian's name was tied to quite a few events of the past, but I hadn't been surprised. His whole aura screamed dark and dangerous. Yet, when he reacted the way he did after he'd accidentally pushed the knife deeper into my throat, I knew he wouldn't ever kill me. He may have been trying to pretend that he was willing to hurt me, but I saw past the facade.
"I assume you probably did some research on me as well," I told him. "You can call me Ayla."
He didn't respond in words but instead made some kind of animalistic grumbling noise. I could tell he was wild in more ways than that one, and the raw, unbridled maleness of him piqued my interest in a way no man had ever before.
His hair fell around his shoulders, and while he had pulled it into a low bun, most of it had fallen out over the course of the past few hours. The look in his dark brown eyes was almost predatory, and the way he held himself was so instinctively confident. Even underneath the fading scent of whatever he had done to make him smell similar to my pack, I could detect an underlying, naturally-masculine, musky smell.
"Do you know who wants me killed?" I asked him, wanting to get to the point yet knowing he probably didn't have the answer. Hell, even I had no idea. There were a lot of people out there who hated me and the idea of me.
"No," he said curtly. Then, he added, "Only our boss knows the names of all the clients."
"I see. How much are they paying?"
He locked his eyes with mine. "300 grand."
I sucked in a breath at the price but retained my composure. "So I can definitely expect more people to come knocking."
I allowed myself some time for that to sink in. Lifting my sweater, I placed my knife back into my holster and tucked everything in as best as I could. I liked to appear clean-cut, and my style helped me maintain some semblance of confidence in even the most anxiety-inducing situations. I needed as much respect as I could from my male colleagues, so my attire always bordered on business casual unless I was training. However, I liked that it was still subtly feminine, almost as if to say "I can do the same things as any male, and I can even do them with heels (albeit short and adaptable ones) on."
I looked up to find Killian watching me. Since I didn't have any other relevant questions, I got straight to the point. "The warriors stationed here have unfortunately already alerted their alpha, so you don't have a lot of time before the warrior alpha comes for you. Way too many witnesses saw you being led here, so I can't deny much of anything. This situation will be out of my hands. You need to leave now, and I'll make it look like you escaped. Since Alpha Cox is so keen on letting me know I'm incompetent, he'll believe it. You can trust the people that are outside not to say anything, that is if they even see you. Please try to be discrete anyway."
I was taking a risk with this and practically betting on the fact that Alpha Cox's misogyny would win over his ability to discern fact from fiction, but the risk was necessary. I was not going to let Alpha Cox, the warrior alpha, hand Killian over to the national council so that Killian could be tortured for information on the assassin group. For the things I'd seen in Killian's file, the council would have no mercy.
Resigned now, he nodded.
Signalling for him to get going, I gestured to the open jail door.
Instead of going straight through it, however, Killian stopped in front of me. "I'd recommend exchanging that knife for something silver."
Now that I knew one of my male colleagues' hate had turned into an inclination to have me murdered, I had already fully intended to. "I will."
~~~
Normally Saleem's presence would have calmed me, but it was not at the moment; my nerves were everywhere after having met my mate under such unfortunate circumstances.
Saleem was a peaceful young man with a soft, even voice and a sharp mind, making him one of my best strategists and trackers. Although he hadn't questioned why I had asked him and the few others at the prison, people I knew I could trust, to keep quiet about Killian, I could tell he had not understood my decision.
Saleem and my beta/lead trainer, Jorge, stood on either side of my desk, the one in my main office on the ground floor and not the one on the third - I had thought it best not to lead the warrior alpha directly to Killian's scent on the third - while I sat in my desk chair. We had just been notified that Alpha Cox had driven across the border, so he would be here soon.
Between Killian "escaping" and now, I had tried to clean everything up as best as I could while the stationed warriors sniffed around in the woods for Killian. Objects in any rooms he had been in had been discreetly wiped down with an unscented disinfectant, and I'd showered and changed outfits. The two warriors had seen and smelled Killian, but hopefully anything that remained in the woods wasn't helpful enough for anyone, even them, to track him down.
He's arrived, Tori notified me.
Thank you, I responded and prepared myself for the best acting of my life.
Alpha Cox's heavy, thunderous steps resounded through the first floor, and I could smell the arrogance dripping off him in waves before he even made it to my office. The door had purposefully been left open, so he stormed right in. You'd think the leader of the region's warriors, someone of great importance, would have more tact, but he didn't.
"Explain to me why you left someone as dangerous as Killian Murray unguarded," he demanded immediately, not even beginning with a greeting.
"He was in a prison cell," I responded, nonchalant. "People were needed to secure the border and investigate the territory for more rogues."
"Then, when he escaped, why didn't any of these 'people' notice him?"
"I suppose if they had been allowed in certain areas of the woods by your men," I stated, keeping the annoyance out of my tone but still emphasizing my words, "then perhaps someone would have come across him."
Saying that they didn't want anyone messing up Killian's trail, the warriors hadn't let anyone anywhere near his original path in the woods. When Jorge had notified me of the detail, I hadn't done anything about it because it aided my agenda. I did not like the fact, however, that the warriors had undermined me in my own territory. If this situation had been real and a rogue had escaped because the warriors had haughtily did things their way, I would have been pissed.
"Murray didn't leave a trackable scent behind on the way out," Alpha Cox declared as if that would exonerate his men. "He could've taken any route out of here."
"If he had taken a route outside of the areas that were deemed off-limits, my pack would have already found him by now." I tried to keep my tone plain as if I was stating a fact.
I could tell Alpha Cox was seething from the way his face turned red from his chin all the way up to his receding hairline. "If you allowed men to train men, Killian Murray wouldn't have made it past your border at all."
I gritted my teeth to keep my calm as my rage from earlier in the night came back full force. Instead of yelling at Alpha Cox, like I had so desperately wanted to for the past year, I kept my voice even and switched to using lengthy diction. "The occurrence of tonight's predicament does not correlate with my predilection for unconventional manners of training," I began. "Moreover, Huxley modified his scent so that it was analogous to that of someone in this pack. You noted yourself that a path attributable to him was not left upon his departure." I shrugged. "It would not be senseless to draw parallels between that and the absence of a strong scent, one incapable of attracting immediate attention, upon entry."
As I spoke, the detectable difference in Alpha Cox's blinking caused a smile to appear on my face. Hiding behind my intelligence is a tactic I often employ when I am unallowed to let my irritation show. People are often too busy keeping up with my words to recognize that they are being patronized.
"The council will hear of this," Alpha Cox stated, likely not following my logic but wanting to seem assertive to save face.
"Of course," I began. "I have already informed them of tonight's events."
There was no such thing as being too ahead of the game. Alerting the council before even the warrior alpha of the region had had the chance demonstrated my capacity to handle my pack's matters to the council.
At that, Alpha Cox decided he was done with our little exchange. Exhibiting as much maturity as he had when he entered the room, he left without another word and stormed out the building.
~~~
Please vote, follow, and/or comment!