4| The Betrayal

Denzel Pov

See, one of the curses of wolf hyper senses was you could never sleep deep enough. If sounds from a quarter mile away didn’t disturb you enough to cause you to wake, your sixth sense would, the tingling along your spine along with the increasing nudge at the back of your mind.

He knew he’d been jarred awake by that feeling that something - or someone as it had turned out to be - was approaching, as well as the crunching sound the gravel on his driveway made whenever a person was driving up the long path leading to his house’s grounds.

By now, though, the vehicle had come to a stop at the end of the driveway, and peering out his window, he had seen Reid hop out of his sizable red truck and head for his door. Talk of the devil. Reid definitely would be getting it from him this morning.

As he moved away from the windows, he paused and took a quick glance around for his shirt, the one he had pulled off just as he crawled into bed next to Nira’s already sleeping form the previous night.

Not finding it anywhere within his eyeshot, then realizing that it had been what Nira had had on as he had admired her body when she’d come to serve him coffee just a few minutes earlier, he strode over to his walk-in closet and selected a loose white t-shirt and just as he was shutting his closet doors, he heard the bell ring downstairs.

Pulling the t-shirt over his muscular torso, he grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants from his laundry bin, wiggled into those, then strode outside the room and into the hallway.

Rather than head straight for the staircase that led downstairs into the living room area, though, he turned right towards the indoor balcony that had a view of the living area below, and leaning his elbows on the overlook, he watched Nira stride over to the door.

Nira must’ve heard him walk out the room, though, because as she was about halfway to the door, she looked up at him and mouthed, “It’s Reid.”

She rolled her eyes.

She had never liked nor approved of Denzel’s brash impulsive Beta, but as Denzel knew best about his pack and who he wanted to oversee its affairs with, she never nagged him about it. She, however, did very little to conceal her displeasure.

“I know; I saw him walk to the door,” Denzel mouthed back.

A tiny smile tugged at one corner of his mouth as he watched her grimace and shuddered in mock disgust. She flipped her hair, then continued towards the door. She amused him.

She had such a powerful spirit and a giant soul in her petite body. She seemed to add an extra touch of color to places when she walked in them, outgoing but not loud, loving with as much power as her spirit possessed. She’d gotten to the door now. Twisting the doorknob, she pulled the heavy maple door open.

“Oh, hey, Nira Luv,” Reid breathed as he squeezed his head in to peer around the inside before she’d had the time to pull the door open all the way. He sounded enthusiastic this morning, too excited for her liking.

She turned and watched him saunter in and stand in the middle of the room. He stopped and asked, “Is Denzel up yet?”

Reid must’ve sensed Denzel because he raised his head and looked up at the overlook just a second after he’d asked Nira over his shoulder.

“Oh hey there, Alpha,” Reid said, raising his head. He cocked his head to one side, bowing slightly downwards and sideways. His bow seemed more like acknowledgment than full-on respect, but Denzel didn’t really care for bows this morning.

“Where were you at the dispersal at dawn this morning?” Denzel asked.

“Yeah, yes, see, that’s exactly why I’m here this uh early,” Reid replied, pausing, turning towards one of the sofas in the living room area and sinking himself into it.

“I mean, I know it’s not exactly early, but you know what I mean.”

“You know, I’d intended to call and ask you to come up here so you could tell me exactly why you were absent and discuss a few other matters relating to your recent excesses as well as our new encroaching neighbors, but seeing as you’re here now on your own accord and cutting short my recovery sleep too, your reasons better be good.”

“Yes, yes,” Reid began.

“You see, just after the last howls at around half past 3 AM, I caught a scent; the scent seemed odd at first, then it struck me where I’d picked it up before. Do you remember those sets of prints we found on our territory that had a scent that didn’t match anybody’s in the pack? Just at the beginning of the Bluefur encroachment? That was the same scent I picked up. So I called a few wolves I had close to my location, and as I followed it on and on, determined to catch the wolf that carried that scent, we soon lost track of time. We’d reached our outer boundaries before I realized how bright the day was getting, then I decided to call the chase off. I dispersed the wolves I had with me after I’d made sure we’d all returned to our human forms, and I went home. I slept only a little, though, because I was eager to come to tell you of my findings."

“Do you realize how careless your actions were and how much risk you put us all in due to those actions?”

Denzel asked, now full-on frowning as he inched towards the staircase while still looking down at Reid.

“You could have led those wolves into an ambush, or worse, you could have led them into an ambush and then gotten discovered by humans in the ensuing chaos of it all, putting our pack at further risk of being uncovered.”

“Do you even stop to think about your impulsiveness? I was what? Half a mile away, you couldn't inform me first but decided to just jump into action. On whose orders Reid!?”

Preoccupied with his anger as he’d been, he had ignored Nira coming up the staircase.

She’d stopped, though, when she got to him and touched his shoulder lightly, causing him to pause for a moment and turn towards her.

“He’s lying,” Nira said telepathically while looking deep into his eyes.

His breath caught in his throat as he understood the significance of that statement. Nira was a woman unlike any he’d ever met.