Interlude: Braxton

There was definitely something strange about this woman. Of course that wasn’t Braxton’s main problem as he dragged her out of the water to lay on the rocky edge beside him. There was no getting out of this now; the guards had seen him and he doubted they would stop, especially while she was still free. Whatever the woman was running from was atrocious, he could tell that just by looking at her, but he knew better than to ask any direct questions about it. Even he wasn’t that insensitive.

He kept an eye on Adira for a moment as he just sat on the rocks, wanting to make sure she was still breathing, at least. It would have been great to know that she couldn’t swim before he jumped off a ledge holding onto her but he tried to ignore the inconvenience given the circumstances.

Once he had established that she was, in fact, breathing, he turned to face away from her. He slipped his shirt off, wringing it out to remove at least most of the water, even if he was just going to put it right back on again. As he did this, he looked up, trying to assess where the guards were now and try to get at least some kind of clue as to what their next move might be. They were nowhere to be seen though, and Braxton wasn’t sure whether he should feel relieved or concerned by that realisation. There was no telling how long they had before the guards reached them but it wasn’t like he could get far right now, not with a only half conscious woman to look after too.

He considered carrying her and looking for a way out but he didn’t know how well the woman would take to being carried by a stranger and the uneven surface was not giving him faith in his ability to remain upright with the added weight without at least one of them getting hurt.

“That mark!”

Braxton looked up when he heard her voice and instinctively shushed her, “Shush, someone will hear you. Do you want the guards to find us?”

“I’ve seen that mark before. It’s a pack marking. Biaios pack, right? Camden-”

“Listen…”

It took Adira a moment to realise that Braxton was waiting for a name before she spoke, “Adira.”

“Adira. Listen, Adira, my pack and I, we don’t really get along right now. It’s not a good idea to-”

“Why not?” She cut him off.

This time, it was Braxton’s turn to try and awkwardly avoid a question.

“It’s not a difficult question.”

Braxton almost glared at her and his tone came out harsher than he expected, “Neither is why you freaked out when I told you my name but here we are.”

He almost felt guilty when he saw the hurt cross Adira’s face and he wondered whether he had gone too far with that one. Adira had, after all, at least attempted to help him when she dragged him from the warehouse she ran out of; maybe it wasn’t fair to be so harsh with her, but they were both entitled to privacy and his pack was a particularly sensitive subject for him.

“Well then we agree.”

He looked over at Adira and raised an eyebrow, “On…?”

“We both have things that we would prefer not to talk about.”

That just made Braxton nod. He supposed that she was right but that didn’t keep him from being curious and even Adira didn’t seem to be willing to drop the subject. The look on her face was all the warning Braxton needed to know that this conversation wasn’t over; Adira was just thinking about the best way to say whatever she wanted to, how she could word it to have the best chance of getting the desired response. She wasn’t as subtle as she thought she was.

“It’s just that-”

Braxton’s groan cut her off. Even knowing that she was going to push further didn’t prepare him for the wave of irritation he felt when she actually spoke up. He didn’t understand why she couldn’t just accept that he didn’t want to talk about the others. Nothing Camden had to offer her could be that important.

“Look,” Adira’s frustration was rising, seeping into her tone and Braxton would have found it amusing how easily he could read her if she wasn’t making his life so difficult right now, “Whatever happened between you and your pack, I’m sure it can be fixed.”

“No,” he told her bluntly.

“Were you kicked out?”

“No.”

“Did you leave?”

“Not exactly.”

“Were you-”

“Enough questions!”

His tone was harsher than he meant for it to be as he snapped at the young woman but it did make her stop talking, at least for now.

“What happened with my pack is my business,” he continued, “I’m not going to discuss it with a stranger, no matter how grateful I am that you saved me from being caught back there. Some things are just…personal.”

Seeming to understand that her interrogation tactic wasn’t working as well as she had hoped, Adira changed her approach. She spoke again, her voice softer and calmer this time as she let a little of her emotion seep into it. It made her seem small and vulnerable, a direct contrast to how she had acted since she ran into him but Braxton couldn’t help but feel like this was the most real he had seen Adira be.

“Look, I know packs can be complicated…well, I think I do. I haven’t really had one since I was a kid, but Camden can help me. He was a family friend. If I can find him then my parents…maybe even my brother…I…”

Braxton waited patiently, his silence a gentle prompt for Adira to finish her trail of thought but she didn’t. Her vulnerability, or the parts of it she showed at least, appeared to have a limit, and they had reached it.

“I need to find Camden,” Adira spoke, her voice resolute, “I will. Not just for myself. There are too many people relying on me for failure to be an option. Please.”

There weren’t many options, Braxton was aware of that. Adira seemed certain that she was going to find Camden with or without him but she also appeared to be the kind of person that wouldn’t take no for an answer. Now that she knew he had ties to Camden, he doubted that she would really let him go, even if she was giving him the illusion of democracy for now.

God, this better be worth it.

“Fine!”

“It is?! Thank you, I-”

Braxton gave her a look, as if to say if she didn’t shut up, he would change his mind and retract the offer. Not wanting to push her luck any further today, Adira just nodded and looked down at the floor, keeping her mouth shut.

“I will take you to Camden.”

Why was I stupid enough to take my shirt off?