Chapter 5: We're Far From Finished

Chapter 5 

MICAH (A Couple Moments Ago)

“I'm afraid I can't let you do that.”

Benny blocks Adriana just before she can march after Alex.

“Tch. Get out of my way!” she grunts.

I watch as Alex's figure dissapears passed the entrance, bleeding into the darkness not long after. 

“Relax, Adriana” I mutter, my mind returning the feel of the present.

An outburst now would only blow back in her face.

I scan the crowd, feeling the hollow calm within them.

The low hum of conversation, but they're not talking about us.

They’re… still talking about her. 

Alex.

Sweeping across, my gaze lands on the one face that’s looking straight at me.

Picking me apart from a distance: 

Jacob. 

The Alpha of the BlackWood Pack strides out of the crowd, Roman close behind.

“My, my. So that was the real reason you brought her?” His voice is slick, almost hungry.

“Impressive. Here I was thinking you were chickening out. Still unpredictable. Still obsessed with anything that works in your favour. Still unfailingly impressing me.”

“Last I checked, you three were worried about the Lycan King,” I snap. “Buzz off before I start clipping wings.”

“No need to get feisty. We’re on the same team here. She was gonna side with royal asshole anyway so we’d have to deal with her sooner or later. I'm glad we chose a time like this.”

“We?” I repeat.

He smiles, small but inciting.

“Benny, leave the girl. Focus on the crowd. Sow some doubt, then disperse them.”

Benny, Alpha of the SlaughterHounds, looks different tonight. Not like the others. 

There’s a quiet edge under his usual ease.

Something almost like discontent.

“You heard him. Beat it, minion,” Adriana hisses, but Benny doesn’t answer her. 

His posture loosens, the hard edge slides away.

“Most of them are already on their way out,” he says, hands in his pockets. “Combine what happened to Alex with the Lycan King’s no-show… that’s enough dissension. I ought to leave too.”

Guests begin to trickle for the exits. 

The night’s over.

“So, where do we go from here player?”

“Quit all that shit,” I shut Jacob up before he can get any funny ideas. “There is no we. I was clear earlier. If I have to repeat myself—”

“Won’t be necessary.” Roman steps between us. “We get the message. We’ll leave you be.”

But Jacob doesn’t let it go. 

“Though I have a feeling you’ll need us soon. Don’t worry, we don’t hold grudges. You’ll have our support when you decide.”

“Why you—”

“We have other issues,” Adriana cuts in, holding me back…

…a lot closer than I'm comfortable with.

When I pull my arm out of hers and look back up, Roman and Jacob have melted back into the thinning crowd. 

Tsk.

“I followed the plan to the last detail. This better work out. Or else…”

“No. We didn’t get Alex to confess. She walked out with her head high. The plan was to crush her.” Her voice darkens. 

“We can count our losses. She couldn’t have gone far. Not in that state” she adds. “Order your men to find her whereabouts.”

When she raises her eyes to look back at me, the confidence in her gaze dies. 

“Don’t get this twisted, Adriana. I don’t serve you. Mutual benefit, remember?”

I step closer. She doesn’t flinch.

“You don’t realise her running off will come back to haunt both of us. We need her testimony to prove—”

“I couldn’t care less.” My voice is flat. 

“I said what I was supposed to. I followed the plan. Everything else is your responsibility. Got it?”

She doesn't answer, but from her unimpressed demeanor, it's not a statement she fully agrees with. Unfortunate. I don't give a shit. 

“Is there an issue here, Miss Adriana?” An unfamiliar voice dispels the tension. 

I turn, and though I initially fail to recognise him, something about his eyes seem… familiar.

 “Gather some gammas. Find Alex. Bring her back. Alive” she answers. “The plan’s not done just yet.”

…and that's when it clicks!

He was the one who gave the ‘eyes’ while she led me upstairs hours ago. 

This wasn’t an off-the-cuff thing. 

It was planned. From the very beginning 

“You didn’t come alone, did you?”

“There were other ways to get your attention if the first failed” she says, the abyss in her eyes widening. “Contingency plans in case this didn’t work.”

Now, she steps forward and though I don't show it, the abyss in her eyes unsettles me.

“I meant what I said back there Micah” her voice cracks a pitch darker. “This doesn't end until I completely crush her!”