Alpha Kael

~Jada

I’m mortified.

There’s a smile on Kael’s face, but it’s subtle. I’m ashamed the answer came out like that, as a lie. Within the depths of me, I knew the answer would come out as a lie, however, I was hoping it wouldn’t come through. This is quite the technology. I bet Alpha Alden of the Wisdom Pack is proud of this one.

“Ask another question,” I say quickly, staring down at my knuckles rather than Kael’s face. I can feel his eyes looking down at me, waiting for the reaction that he is looking for. Little does he know he won’t get it. “Actually, ask that question again.”

Kael pauses for a moment, considering my proposition. “Are you sure? This is excellent technology. It’s virtually impossible to evade it.”

I nod. “I’m sure.”

With keen hearing, I listen to him reset the machine with a few clicks. With luck, I can outsmart the machine, and prove him wrong. If he thinks I’m attracted to him, there is no way he will want me by his side at a Silent. He will assume I’ll be distracted the entire time. He won’t trust me…

“Again, are you attracted to me?” he questions, his voice deep and probing, wanting me to fail.

My eyes close, and I picture Kael in my head, starting to manipulate my favourite features of him. I turn those two beautiful dark eyes into one, twist his full lips around, vanish his dark locks of thick black hair. Slowly he morphs into another creature entirely, which I imagine when I answer the question.

“No.”

There’s a silence following after, however, I don’t stop thinking about the distorted version of Kael until he next speaks. It becomes so ingrained in my mind, that when I look up, I assume he would look that way. When he doesn’t, it almost startles me.

He’s looking down at the machine, studying it carefully. “It’s a lie, again. Like I said, you can’t escape the nature of the machine. Of the test.”

I wince, that was not what I was wanting. Shamefully, I look up at him, and this time he isn’t smiling at me. He is staring intently, as if he is trying to search past my expression and right into my mind. And with nothing to decipher in Kael’s cold black eyes, I’m left unsure of what to think.

“You can’t escape truth. It follows you everywhere,” Kael says softly. “Attraction isn’t always surface level. It’s deeper than just what someone looks like.”

I swallow. “So what? I’m kicked out now?”

Kael raises an eyebrow at me. He isn’t revealing his motive which isn’t helping my situation. What I want is to protect myself. To predict what Kael is going to do and say next. This attentive expression on his face paired with those searching eyes send hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I can’t figure it out.

“That’s not what I said,” Kael tells me, resetting the machine. “I’m going to ask you a few more questions. The first question was just a little fun on my part. These, however, will be more serious.”

Slowly, I take in a deep breath, steadying myself. Part of me wants to ask whether he is going to ask anyone else that question, but the other doesn’t want to know.

I keep my mouth shut.

“Myself and my team selected you for this competition knowing your family rebelled against the rules of this Pack,” Kael tells me, to which I have to refrain from scowling at him out of anger. I was hoping my parents wouldn’t be brought up. “Actually, that’s one of the main reasons we chose you.”

My eyes widen. I’ve been wondering this entire time they would chose me, when there were plenty of girls back at the school that would have excelled here. Now everything suddenly makes sense.

“Why’s that? Because you’re curious why someone could ever go against a regime like yours,” I snap. “Sorry to say, no one likes it. No one likes you.”

Kael blinks.

Once the words left my mouth, I wanted to immediately reign it back in. If Kael wanted a reason to kick me from the competition to add to the growing list, he got it. Disrespecting your Alpha is known to get you in trouble. I’ve heard people whispering in the streets and the next day they are being prosecuted. And here I am, telling my Alpha to his face that no one likes him.

“You’re probably right,” Kael admits, leaning back in his chair. “If it makes any difference, I didn’t create this regime. It was created by my ancestors and I don’t have a choice on how this Pack is run. Believe it or not.”

“No, it doesn’t make a difference,” I tell him firmly, folding my arms over my chest.

A smile touches Kael’s features. It breaks the tension in the room with a knife. For a fleeting moment, I can imagine I’m in the room with someone I can share short banter with, rather than an Alpha. However, I know better than to put all my trust in him. There’s a end to this he is wanting to reach.

“See this is why I like you. A lot of the time, you don’t try to impress me. It’s refreshing. It seems everyone I’m around fears me, aside from you,” Kael admits, to which I find a strange amount of satisfaction in.

“So what’s your point?’

I can see Kael biting his tongue within his own mouth. He proceeds to glance down at the paper on his desk, reading what I assume is a mix of questions for me.

“Can I trust you, dear Jada?” he asks.

A shiver runs down my back. Can Kael trust me? My mind immediately goes back to the time I made a deal with the immortal Sinful, hoping he would never speak a word of it to Kael. As guilty as I my feel, I know I did it for him and for his family. Something a Silent would do for his Alpha in a second if it became necessary. Myself and Jake just took it a step further…

I glance back up at Kael, consuming myself in his dark gaze. “Yes, Alpha Kael, you can trust me.”

He looks down at his machine and I nearly feel myself wanting to throw up my food from this morning. I thought we would be training. I didn’t think I would be interrogated with questions I’m not sure I can answer.

Instead of telling me whether it was a truth or a lie, Kael decides to ask me another question. “Okay, do you trust me?”RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

Another question to take my by surprise. Another question to leave me blank within my head. If my parents were sitting in the room, they would have insisted I spoke their truth. They weren’t put to death for me to be in this competition, however, I can’t make myself to say I don’t trust him. It seems wrong.

It seems like it would be a lie.

“Yes, I trust you,” I say uneasily, trying to gauge his reaction, however, he isn’t looking at me, but at the machine. “I would trust you would care for me if I become a Silent and worked for you.

Kael doesn’t say any more until the machine gives him the answer he is looking for. Once he reads it, he remains blank in his expression, once again giving nothing away. It makes me want to get up and shake his shoulders to tell me what he is thinking.

Finally, Kael pushes his paper away looking at me as if there is only one last thing he wants to ask me.

“Do you truly want to work for me? Does it appeal to you to be put through hard tasks that might risk your life? I can assure you, it will not be easy. It will take further training beyond this. This wasn’t a test of brute force. Those are skills to be learnt. What cannot be learnt, is what I’ve been studying you all on this entire time,” Kael says.

I breathe in deeply, considering it.

Past this, I have nothing. I have no job worth living for. No place to live other than a warden’s office. No friends, no family. My entire life does not exist beyond this. So the answer is easy.

“Of course.”

Once Kael reads the answer on the machine, he promptly turns it off. I watch his every movement, ready to hear how he has eliminated me on this alone. That every answer has been what he has no wanted to heat.

However, he takes me by surprise. “Alright. You won. You won the competition.”