Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty-nine
"Can you believe the nerve of that man. " Aquila huffed irritably as we walked side by side down the hall.
"I told you we didn't have to get them involved." I pointed calmly.
"It's about time they took responsibility as well. As I said, it's not your duty to protect them. "
"But it is. I'm the Alpha. " I stated.
"They don't seem to think so."
Aquila continued on about honour or something, but I was done talking about it. If we did things out of the volition of other people's impression of us, regardless of how capable we've proven ourselves to be, we'd never get things done, because at the end of the day, you could never please people.
At least, that's what the old Alpha thought me before he passed.
After the fire that razed my family and the life I...we, knew, Aquila and I bounced through various camps, barely scrapping by to survive another day. But Alpha Lucian, he found us, took us in when we escaped, and helped us find our way into his territory...
The memories of what we'd had to endure were a strange and painful one, but he gave us a place in his home and named me, an outsider, the Alpha.
"We'll do what we can, Aquila. Elder Calhoun and half the council have already agreed to the escortion."
We were just about to turn down the hall when something moving outside the window in the garden caught my attention.
Or rather, someone.
Crystal.
I slowed mid-step, my hand lifting slightly to halt Aquila before he walked ahead of me. He followed my gaze toward the tall arched window overlooking the inner garden and smiled.
Even if I'd been blind and devoid of most of my senses, I knew that figure anywhere. A slender frame with pale, porcelain skin, inky black hair, and that distinct scent I couldn't name yet.
My eye followed her careful movements as she prowled through the hedges.
She ducked low, then rose again.
Then glanced over both shoulders with all the subtlety of a thief who had never stolen anything in her life.
Aquila leaned closer to the glass, squinting dramatically.
“Well,” he murmured. “would you look at that. A rabbit stumbling around in the hedges. Shall we go hunt?"
His green eyes dilated with a mischievous glint. My only response was a low hum as I watched her with a curious look.
Even from this distance, I recognized the dark fall of her hair, the narrow line of her shoulders, and the way she seemed perpetually one breath away from either striking someone or fleeing them.
Crystal.
“What is she doing out there?” I asked, more to myself than to him.
She crept sideways along the hedge, paused, then crouched so suddenly she disappeared entirely behind it.
Aquila made a thoughtful sound.
“Shall we go say hi to her?” he asked gleefully, his cat ears perking up. I narrowed my gaze at him. He'd been so against bringing her with us, but now he acted like she was something akin to a new pet.
"Shouldn't you be on your way to work?" I asked and his ears dropped.
"Come on, humor me."
"She is supposed to be resting.”
“She is resting,” he said lightly. “Resting in the shrubbery.”
I ignored him and stepped closer to the window.
A moment later, Crystal’s head slowly rose above the greenery. Only her eyes and forehead were visible now as she peered into the garden with intense concentration, like a hunter stalking prey.
Then she vanished again.
There was a rustle.
A muffled sound.
Then, to my complete disbelief, she dropped to her knees and hands as she rummaged through the grass and lowered herself fully to the ground.
I frowned.
Aquila grinned beside me like he’d been handed a gift.
“Now that is a very interesting position for one to be in.”
I stared out into the garden, genuinely at a loss as I tried to push Aquila's suggestive statement out of my mind.
Why was she kneeling in front of the bushes like that?
\---
CRYSTAL
When I woke up from my nap, seeing as I had nothing else to do, I realized two things: the mysterious cat that had come into my room earlier today had somehow disappeared without a trace. I found it strange because, how could it have opened the windows without thumbs and without me hearing? I found that strange, because in its place was a tray of warm breakfast, just waiting for me to attend to it.
Still, I barely paid attention to it, just a few slices of toast and a cup of tea, because unlike last night, today I wasn't as hungry as I was last night.
Once I was done, I set out to find the cat, perhaps I would have found it in the garden that was outside my window. Or maybe it was just my subconscious mind making the whole thing up as a way of comfort with everything that was happening way too fast.
"Now, if I were a cat, where would I hide?" I muttered quietly to myself as I ducked behind the shrubbery, then picked up again, then ducked unto my hands and knees, crawling to the other side.
However, I was so lost in my own little hunt that I failed to pick up on the distinct pairs of boots crunching over grass as they neared, until the familiar husky voice of Asher, low and slightly muffled behind me, nearly sent my soul flying from my body.
"Have you lost something?" He asked steadily, his Amber ghosting over my body, until it stopped on my face.
I suddenly became acutely aware of how silly I looked on my hands and knees. I carefully rose to my feet, dusting off the dirt
rt on my palms and straightened out the hem of my dress.
"I...uh. I was looking for a cat."