Chapter 11 A Spy In Silk
A Spy In Silk
Jada’s POV
The silk dress stuck to my body while I walked down the small forest path. Its deep red seemed too bright for a place like this but that was the point. Rogue Alpha Max enjoyed beautiful things and women who stood apart from the dirt and blood of his world. The night air was cold, smelling of wet earth and fear and every step reminded me that should I mess up, then there would be no going back.
There was a clearing ahead, illuminated by torches which gobbled up the darkness. The flames are fluttering in the wind. I slowed my pace, lifted my chin and my heart thudded against my ribs. Fear was useless now. I had decided on this way a long time ago.
Two rogue guards came out of the shadows alert eyes, hands on weapons.
"Say your business," one of them said.
"I'm expected," I replied calmly. "Tell Alpha Max that I, Jada Stone, have come."
They looked at each other, then one walked off in the darkness. The other had his eyes on me, scanning me like a prey.
After a minute the guard came back and nodded. "He’ll see you."
I followed them into the camp. It was like a kind of temporary kingdom: tents in rough circles, rogues going around confidently and hungry-eyed. This was not chaos. It was control—Max’s control.
I stopped at the biggest tent. Guards pulled aside the flap and warm light flowed out.
Alpha Max stood inside - tall, broad, hair dark and pulled back. His features were sharp and defined. He was dressed in black leather, and his eyes stared at me with slow interest.
Jada Stone," his voice was smooth and deep, "you're late.
"I had to be careful," I replied. "The Redcreek Pack is restless."
He smiled faintly. "Sit."
I crossed my legs, smoothed my dress with my hands. "You asked for information. I have it."
He leaned forward. "Then speak."
I took a breath. "Olivia has bonded."
His expression changed in a jiffy. "Bonded," he repeated. "With whom?"
"A Lycan," I said. "The Lycan Prince."
There was a thick and heavy silence between us. Max looked at me and then laughed-his laugh was a low sound which had no humor in it.
"A Lycan," he said again. "That explains the change."
"She's different," I continued. "Distracted, guarded. The bond is strong."
His eyes darkened. "Did she choose this?"
"No," I said quickly. "She’s trapped. Betrothed to Alpha Tristan, now bound to an enemy she can't have."
Max stood and paced. "A Lycan prince dares touch what belongs to my pack," he muttered. "What belongs to me."
I frowned slightly. "Belongs to you?"
He stopped and turned to face me. "Olivia Brown represents a symbol," he said. "If I take her from the Lycans, from the Alphas I become more than a rogue." I become a savior."
"You sound obsessed," I said warily.
His gaze sharpened. "I am invested."
I swallowed. "The bond puts her in danger. The Lycans find out, she may be killed."
"Then I will save her," he said his voice full of certainty. I will tear her from their world and present her with a new one."
"That sounds like another prison" I couldn't stop myself from saying.
He walked closer, looming. "Be careful, Jada."
I held his gaze. I tell you this, because you asked." Because you said that you wanted her to be protected."
"I do," he said. "From them."
"And from Tristan?" I asked.
A cruel smile curved his lips. "Especially from him."
He looked away again, already planning, already seeing paths of blood and power. A chill went down my spine when I realized I had not just exchanged information, I had started a fire.
"When will you move?" I asked.
"Soon," he said. "The prince of the lycans will make mistakes. Bonded males always do."
"And me?" I asked. "What do you need from me now?"
He looked back at me, calculating. "Stay close to Olivia. Watch her. Report everything."
I nodded. "She trusts me."
"She shouldn't," he answered in his usual neutral way.
The words stuck with me as I walked back through the forest as I left the camp. The way was quieter now, with danger gone, and a strange excitement in the place which made my steps lighter than they ought to be. By the time I got to my villa, the sky was beginning to lighten. I snuck inside and took my shoes off and sunk onto the couch, letting out a long breath. I didn’t know when I dozed off.
A loud knock on my door jolted me out of my quick nap. The sound startled me, but when I opened the door, Olivia was standing there dressed in a simple dress with her hair loose around her shoulders.
“Hey,” she said, smiling. “Am I disturbing you?”
"Not at all," I replied, and stepping to one side I allowed her in.
She walked into the villa as if it was her second home, slipping off her slippers by the door, without a care. I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, watching her slowly pacing, fingers brushing the back of the couch, her mind clearly elsewhere.
"You look like you are about to burst," I said lightly.
She laughed. “Is it that obvious?”
She collapsed on the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging one of the cushions. I sat next to her with our shoulders touching, close enough to feel the nervous energy she was giving off.
“Talk to me,” I said. “What’s happening now?”
She looked at the floor for a few seconds, and lifted her head. Her eyes were shining in a way that I've never seen before, even in our younger days whispering about forbidden boys.
"Jada," she whispered, "I think I'm gone for good.
I raised an eyebrow. “Gone how?”
She laughed again, but then she laughed soft and almost shy. I can't stop thinking about him." He’s everywhere. When I wake up, when I try to sleep, even when I'm angry - he's still there."
My chest tightened, but my face was relaxed. "Ryder," I said, because she'd told me already about him.
She nodded quickly. “Ryder.”
She leaned back, staring at the ceiling talking faster now that she'd begun. The way he looks at me, like I matter, like I'm not just an Alpha's daughter or a future Luna or somebody's property. "When he touches me even with his hand, everything else disappears." "
I smiled at her, as a best friend would. "You're smiling without even realizing it."
She put her face in the cushion, groaning. “This is bad, isn’t it?”
“That depends,” I said. “Does it make you feel alive?”
At an equinox of the Solstice, she slowly lowered the cushion. “Yes.”
“How safe?”
She hesitated. “With him, yes. With everything else… no.”
We sat for a moment in silence, the kind that felt heavy but honest. She moved closer and rested her head on my shoulder like we used to in our younger days.
"I know what everybody would say," she murmured. That he's a Lycan, that it's wrong, it can't end well. But when I'm with him, I don't care."
I reached up and ran my fingers through a strand of her hair. "You've spent your entire life doing what everyone expects." "When was the last time you made a choice just because it felt right?"
She laughed softly. “Never.”
I turned to face her. "Then maybe this is your chance."
She looked at me, searching my face. Do you really think I should keep seeing him?"
I met her eyes and nodded. "Unless you don't, then you'll always be wondering what could have been." And that kind of regret sticks.
The face broke into a wide and a hopeful smile. “I knew you’d understand.”
She suddenly hugged me, so tight and warm. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you, Jada.”
I hugged her back with a rehearsed smile. My heart sank quietly as I whispered, "You're welcome bestie."