SURROUNDED

CHAPTER FOUR

SURROUNDED

(Ava's POV)

I sucked in a breath. They could smell me. They knew I was in the area, even from a distance, by scent alone.

Orion raised his head. And suddenly, he looked at his pack straight in the eye, and he shifted his posture. From tired man to Alpha in an instant—power glowed round about his presence. “The scent is mine,” Orion declared, his voice resounding with authority. “It is not your concern.”

I flinched, weighed down by my own shock and panic.

“All of what you do concerns us, Orion.” The woman took a step forward. Her footsteps sounded very smoothly, like those of a predator about to pounce on its prey. "The land is in disorder. You vanished for two days. And now, having come back, your scent is that of the city, of another creature. This is an insult to the pack."

“A stranger is a guide,” Orion continued in a lowered tone. “I had to look for this particular aspect of the woods. She pointed the way. This is exactly the woman who led me here.”

He lied to me. I felt a spark of warmth filled with fear. He was risking himself for my safety.

The young man did not believe him. "They're definitely breaking up," he continued, "and a beautiful woman like her doesn't usually get involved with a guy who reeks like a dumpster, at least not unless she's really hung up on him." The young man began walking towards me, his nose sniffing up and down, eager to sniff out a secret. "I smell fresh vanilla and just cheap leather..."

I pushed myself flat against the tree trunk, trying to make myself invisible, holding up my gasps.

“Stop, Rhys,” commanded Matthias, the elder of the two. “Orion has given his word.”

Rhys hung back, his eyes flashing towards his brother. He did not respect the Alpha's word enough to follow it at once.

Orion’s voice hardened to a deadly cold, “I said, stop."

Rhys stood frozen in place. The reality of his power was there. Orion did not have to yell. All he had to do was speak with the Alpha command.

“The girl means nothing to us anymore,” said Orion, still looking at Rhys. “The issue at hand is the treaty. Have you recovered the corrected documents from the southern boundary?"

The talk turned to business, the tension still there, but focusing less on me. They discussed lines of territories, trade agreements, and a treaty which I didn’t understand. It moved quickly, it was complex, with all these names which I couldn’t recognize. They spoke like kings, but bodily threat was twisted with every word of their mouths.

I watched Orion.

The words came easily and effectively from his mouth: brilliant, swift, and even defensive at times as he struggled to restrain himself amidst these burning feelings. But I could see that he was tired, his body showing the effects.

This entire argument went on for almost half an hour. But finally, Matthias, the elder one, moved aside. “The council will meet after two days,” he said. “You will come to that meeting, Orion. And you will tell them about this newfound interest you gained... in the human world,”

“I will be there,” Orion agreed.

They turned, and silently, at the same speed, melted away into the shadows of the deep woods. The pressure in the air relaxed, but my heart was still pounding.

Orion stood there for another minute, listening, to make sure they were really gone. Then, he let out a deep sigh and came to me. “You can breathe, Ava,” he said, and this time he was really strong in tone. Now, he really was just a regular man, sounding tired again.

I pushed myself off the tree trunk. "That was insane," I said aloud to no one in particular. "They knew I was here and could have killed me!"

"They couldn't," he said, standing close enough that I could see the lines around his eyes that showed how stressed he was. "Not without my permission. I told you, you are saved by my lie."

“You lied for me," I repeated, my gaze locked on him. “Why would you even do something like that? What could possibly make you..."

“Because if I hadn’t,” he snapped, “they would have tailed you home. And I don’t want them near you.”

He reached out and pushed away the stray lock of hair that was dancing around my face. It was gentle. There was no hurry about it. It even felt good. My skin tingled because it was felt all of a sudden.

“You should have left me yesterday,” I whispered firmly.

"I tried," he explained, his attention completely focused on mine. "But your face kept popping up in my thoughts, with trouble wafting around you. I was curious if the real thing would be as enticing as the scent."

“And is it?” I asked, my voice no more than a whisper.

"Even worse," he breathed, moving a deliberate step closer to me. "It’s a distraction, and a danger." He was so close that I could feel his warmth and his muscles without having to touch him at all.

He leaned down close, his face inches from mine. My whole world shrunk down to the smell of him, the brightness of his eyes, and the sound of ragged gasps from my own chest.

I was afraid, but every part of my body screamed at me to not run.

“I must ask you to go home now,” he ordered, his voice deep and rough. “Take the path of the creek. Don’t look back. Don’t breathe a word about seeing me,” he commanded.

There was a brief silence.

“And the five hundred dollars you owe me?" I asked, feeling the need to break the silence.

He pulled a large, rough hand from his pocket. He wasn't passing me a wad of bills this time. He held a small, smooth, dark stone—a piece of polished granite in his fist. He pressed it into mine. It was warm from his body heat.

"This is your payment," he said. "It's worth more than five hundred dollars. It means you can go and return in and out of the woods. And if they smell you, they will recognize the smell of the stone, see? It's a temporary pass mark," he added.

"Your mark?" I looked down at the stone and then back at his face.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “And if you need me, you smash it. Anywhere in the woods… I will find you.”

He turned suddenly, going back to the center of the clearing, and I was left standing by myself in the dark, holding the warm stone.

I didn't wait.

I took the pass, and I fled. I ran as fast as I had ever run, trying to get back to the world of humans, scared out of my wits about what I had just committed myself to.

Then I stopped… again.