Chapter 80 Chapter 80
The party was such a big deal for the pack members and many werewolves. It was an annual couples' party hosted in different packs each year that most werewolves looked forward to. I had never been involved in these things, so I had never really paid attention to it, but now that I was attending, I had to pay more attention and assist in preparation here and there.
It was going to be hosted in Diamond pack this year. A lot of people were making arrangements on their clothes, shoes, their movement, and were trying to attend to the work they had to do before leaving, and many more things.
With Keegan's resumed grumpy attitude, I didn't feel like attending the party with him anymore, but of course I couldn't break the agreement. I had agreed to go there if we went on a vacation and we had gone on the vacation.
I did a few more chores then decided to go on a walk to enjoy the natural breeze outside. I also took a little cash from Mrs. Bea so I could grab something from the store on my way back.
"Jane," Mason called, walking over to me.
I turned to him with a smile. "Good afternoon."
"Where are you heading to?"
Why did he care? "I just want to go on a walk and grab a few things from the store on my way back."
"Okay, I'd like to speak with you, so let's take a stroll together." He said.
I drew my eyes in askance, wondering what he had to say to me. He hardly ever spoke to me, so it had to be a serious issue.
"Lead the way," he extended his hand and I started walking away. In no time, he caught up with me and we just continued walking beside each other without a word.
As we walked in town, to avoid the boredom from his silence, I just watched everyone around doing one thing or the other: a few girls were giggling and chattering, children were playing, some people were fighting, some people were just enjoying themselves, holding hands, kissing, some people just read newspaper or typed on their phones while they sat on the bench, guards were everywhere watching over the crowded pack. The trees around and the bright sky made the place look calming and the fact that no one was glaring at me for my existence as an omega made it feel even better.
When I turned to my side, Mason wasn't beside me anymore; he had walked farther.
I scuttled to catch up with him. "You said you wanted to talk to me." I reminded him of that.
"Yes, I did. I thought you'd prefer the silence for a while and I wanted to be as far away from the pack house as possible."
"What is it?" I stopped walking, narrowing my eyes at him, eager to know what he had to say.
He also stopped then stared around. "So... there have been a few discoveries and I'm just warning you to stay away from Alpha Vladimir as much as possible. He's not the sweet Alpha you really think he is. Beware of him, so you don't fall into any sort of trap."
"Yes, I'll try to."
"Great! Just be really careful if you're ever around."
"I will, but can I know what prompted you to warn me?"
"I've been watching him and I think he's trying to use you to achieve something."
"Use me?" I wondered.
"Yes."
"But how? Does it mean I'm in danger?" my breath quickened.
"You don't need to be bothered. Just stay away from him for now." It was obvious that he didn't want to go into details, but that made me even more worried. "I'll talk to Alpha Keegan about it first then get back to you. He has been too busy to head out and I don't want to inform him about it with Vladimir being around. Bye, I have to attend to other things right now. Have a great day." He said then suddenly took his leave.
I was still pondering on what he could mean as I resumed walking. Did Vladimir want to harm me? Why should it be me?
I tried to brush it off my mind and focus on the walk when Mae's red head caught my attention. She was on a bench and was with Casper who was munching on food from a flask.
With a smile, I sauntered to them. "Why wasn't I wasn't invited to this meeting?" I joked and sat beside Mae. I could sit here for a while to stop myself from overthinking about Mason's warning.
"Hi Jane." Casper said with food in his mouth.
"Hey." Mae greeted me.
"I'm sorry for not visiting after you came back. How was your vacation?" Casper asked. This time, he had swallowed the food in his mouth.
"It was really amazing. Thanks for asking. I can see you're both getting closer, uh?" I winked at Mae; her face flushed with embarrassment and she avoided my gaze.
"How are you preparing for the party? Will you be attending it together?" I wanted to tease them even more.
"Yes." She simply said
"Really?" I smirked at her, surprised that my assumption was correct.
From the way she was fiddling with her fingers as she stared at Casper and still avoided my gaze, it was obvious that my presence was making her nervous. "I'll speak with you later. Don't forget to see me after your private meeting." I winked at her and her face reddened even more.
"No, it's not like..." Casper trailed off and when he couldn't continue what he had to say, he resumed his meal, also avoiding my gaze.
"I'll grab a few things from the store then will see you guys later." I rose to my feet, not wanting to seem like the third wheel and making things awkward for them.
\- KEEGAN ~
Jane walked back into the pack house while I was laying on the sofa, enjoying my break over coffee. Our gaze met and she immediately looked away from me, frowning. She had been acting more professional and was kind of ignoring me since we returned.
I didn't understand why but I assumed that she was too shy to speak to me or didn't want to draw any attention to us.
Mom suddenly walked out of the elevator then I noticed her glance at me through my peripheral vision. When I turned to her, her gaze traveled from me then to Jane. Mom eyed her from head to toe with disgust laced in her eyes then a frown crossed her face as she resumed walking away and Jane also walked away, not bothering to look at me again. Did I do something wrong? What was wrong with women and not speaking about what was going on in their heads?
'Alpha, I need your attention at the center of pack town. There are a few visitors and issues I can't address.' Mason mind linked me.
This man never rested in his entire life. My workaholic life had rubbed off on him so well but his was more extreme.
I rose to my feet and decided to wear a coat first before attending to what Mason needed my assistance for.
While on my way to my bedroom, "Keegan," Vladimir called, ruining every bit of joy that was left in me.
Anger replaced the cells in the blood as I stopped in my tracks to stare at him. He was leaning against the door frame of the leisure room with a cigarette between his lips.
"Do you need anything, Alpha Vladimir?" My face was painted with a frown.
He plucked the cigarette from his lips and exhaled its smoke almost right in my face. "You don't always have to make a big deal out of everything and be so grumpy. I just have really good news for you and want to feed you with a piece of information I think might be useful to both of us."
As much as I wanted to walk away, I was interested in what he had to say. Whether or not it made sense, it could be of great benefit to knowing a bit about what he wanted to do.
"I can help you out with maintaining peace in your pack and also give you important and updated information to have victory against the Ardolfs." He smirked. "You know they can be very sneaky but they've been silent for a long time now. Isn't that suspicious to you?"
My attention was drawn even closer to what he had to say and my frown hardened. "What do you mean?" How did he know about the Ardolfs being a threat to us again? Where did he derive these things from?
"I have so much information you can feast on, brother." I'd have made a fuss about him not calling me brother, but I wanted to know where he was heading to. "I can let you know what the Ardolfs are cooking up so they don't drag your name into the mud like they did last time and make you feel like a useless Alpha. You know how hard it was for you to gain back your fame after they destroyed you, your pride and everything you had, you wouldn't want that to happen again, right?"
My fists clenched at every word he spoke and I could feel my veins popping out of my neck. How the hell did he even figure this out? "Just spit whatever you have to say. What do you want?" I demanded.
"I'm glad you're trying to be reasonable for once in your life." He made my fists clench harder. Was he trying to get on my nerves? "All you just have to do is to forget about Jane and let me have her." I frowned even more, puckering my forehead to ensure that he understood how stupid and ridiculous he sounded.
"It's for your benefit. Regardless of whether or not you accept my condition, Jane will still belong to me. If you accept it, you'll have extra information to reduce your doom. If not, you'll be left out of options and your entire pack will seem like fools, you'll lose Jane and everything else. You know you can never have her, just let her be before it's too late." He placed the cigarette back into his mouth.
I threw my head back to laugh, holding his shoulder for support. I shook my head with a smirk playing on my lips. "Vladimir, you're so clueless."
My laughter clearly pissed him off. Did he think I was that desperate?
"Don't worry, I have a big surprise coming up for you and everyone else. Leave Jane?" I laughed again. "Let's just wait and see what happens then you can bring up a different condition later." I walked away, still chuckling. What a stupid man.