Chapter 8 A Dangerous Lie
Chapter Eight - A Dangerous Lie
Jada's POV
The elders met in the middle of the day, which indicated the gravity of the issue. Redcreek elders only met in the face of a danger, shame, or blood, sometimes all at once.
I stood next to Olivia in the great hall She looked calm but I could feel her fear. Her hands were cold against mine and her shoulders were tense.
Fear kept people anxious and worried.
Five elders were in a half-circling position: old wolves with lean eyes and slow voices. They had been in control of the pack longer than either Olivia or I had been alive.
Elder Rowan got ahead of himself. "Olivia," he said, "you were gone almost a whole night.
Olivia nodded. “Yes, Elder.” Elder Mara added "That has never happened before - no one disappears without permission." "I know," Olivia replied, voice steady. I admired her composure.
Elder Rowan turned to me. “You are her closest friend. Did she inform you as to where she was going?"
Every eye in the room was fixed upon me. This was my moment.
I answered, “No, she did not.”
It was true. She had actually not told me, she disappeared without telling anyone. The irony almost made me smile.
Elder Rowan grunted. "Then explain this," he said sniffing the air. "I found a foreign smell on her when she got home."
My heart skipped; but I kept a blank face.
Before Olivia could say anything, I stepped forward.
Elders, I said, bowing my head. “If I may.”
They nodded.
"I was with Olivia earlier that day," I said. "We went to the old east wing - into the relic rooms."
That was the plan we had agreed to by whispers that morning.
Elder Mara frowned.
“The relic rooms are sealed.”
“Yes,” I said. "But the door was open on that day, as guards were changing shifts."
I was lying about that - clean, willfully.
"There is a lot of ancient objects there," I continued. "Old wolf bones, war charms - artifacts stolen from other packs, years and years ago."
Elder Rowan's eyes became narrow.
"So you say the scent came from there."
“Yes,” I replied. It stuck in our hair - Olivia's especially. She touched more things around than I did."
Olivia looked at me and her eyes were wide for a second, but then she nodded.
“It’s true,” she said. “I didn’t think it mattered.”
Silence filled the hall.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
Elder Mara leaned back.
"That's why the scent was strong," I said. “Old things retain old smells.”
Another pause.
Elder Rowan sniffed the air again -- more slowly.
“It is possible.”
Relief washed over Olivia; I felt it next to me, like a breath of release.
But I did not relax—yet.
Elder Tomas said next: "You were gone too long to make just a visit."
Olivia lowered her head.
“I lost track of time. I was upset.”
"About the betrothal," one Elder, Tomas, said.
“Yes,” Olivia replied.
That was all too real.
The elders exchanged looks. They were all aware she did not want Alpha Tristan, but to them, politics were more important than feelings.
Last to raise his hand was Elder Rowan. “Enough. We have no proof of wrong doing."
Olivia’s shoulders relaxed.
But," added he, "this pack is on edge. The Lycans grow restless and there are rogue packs stirring."
The word "rogue" made my stomach become as hard.
“From now on,” Elder Rowan said. "Olivia will not leave the inner grounds without escort."
Olivia nodded. “I understand.”
The meeting ended soon after.
The elders dismissed us but their eyes were sharp. Trust was thin and it could be shattered by one wrong move.
Outside the hall, Olivia took my hands and looked at me with her soft eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You saved me.” Her eyes got teary as she spoke and I got touched but I was quick to slip my mask back on.
I smiled. “That’s what best friends do.”
She hugged me around a lot; I gave it back and it was warm and convincing.
There was something else moving inside, something colder.
I watched her walk towards her mother. She looked safe, protected, loved.
I turned and walked in the other direction.
My steps took me past the training grounds, through the storage sheds and out the pack walls. No one questioned me, I had always had the freedom to wander.
At the edge of the woods I came to a stop.
I pressed two fingers on the little mark behind my ear. This looked like a scar but was not.
“Report,” a voice said in my head.
Alpha Max.
“She lied,” I said silently. “About where she was.”
"I know," he said, with a calm, dangerous voice. “Who helped her?”
“I did,” I answered.
A pause.
“Good,” he said. “What was the lie?”
“The relic rooms,” I said. “The elders believed it.”
Another, longer pause.
“And the scent,” he asked. “Was it Lycan?”
My throat went dry.
“Yes,” I said. “Very faint, but real.”
I felt his satisfaction and feel it like a shadow sliding across my mind.
“She met someone,” he said. “A male.”
“I believe so,” I replied. “She is hiding it.”
“Good,” Max said. “Stay close to her. Listen. Watch.”
“I already am,” I said.
He laughed softly.
"You played your part well, Jada Stone. Well done." He commented.
"Thanks boss." I responded with a smile, glad that I had impressed him.
The link faded.
I dropped my hand and stared blankly into the trees.
My reflection looked back at me from a dark patch of glass on the storage wall.
Best friend. Liar. Spy.
I had worn all three faces for years.
Olivia was trusting me with her life; the pack was trusting me with their secrets.
Alpha Max trusted me with their downfall.
I turned back towards the pack house, with a smile.
The lie had worked. They all bought it.
And that made everything much more dangerous.