Alpha Kael

~Jada

I couldn’t get to Axel from here.

Everyone crowded around him, asking him where he has been. He must be fairly popular if everyone is so interested in where he has been. Of course, they refer to him as Blue, the name he has gone by thus far as a Silent. It reminds me to keep my mouth shut on what I know and others don’t.

So without anyone noticing me, I back away from the group and slink back to my tent. When I glance over my shoulder Kael is watching me, but luckily he doesn’t question it, most likely assuming I’m just tired.

As I zip up my tent and crawl under my blankets, I plot my plan within my head. There is no way I’m sleeping through the night without finding out where Axel has been.

So I wait.

With time, I can hear everyone else getting into their tents, conversations outside starting to cease. When all is quiet, I slowly sneak out, the grass slick with dew wetting my hands and knees before I get to my feet.

Looking around the campsite, I see an unfamiliar tent that must belong to Axel. I stride toward it, unsure of what my plan consists of past this. All I know is that there is much more to Axel’s story than he has told me. If he’s here for me, I need to know the full story, and why he has dedicated his life to this.

Stopping outside the tent entrance, I cough quietly under my breath. It’s enough for him to hear but no one else close.

He doesn’t leave his tent until I’ve stepped away.

I’m by the edge of the trees when he catches sight of me. He is still dressed in the clothes he showed up in today, which just consist of his usual tunic and pants and jacket. Perhaps he knew I wanted to talk to him tonight.

He follows me into the forest, right onto the path Kael and I had walked on earlier. I only stopped and waited for him to catch up when I could be sure no one would hear us from the campsite. The only sounds around here are insects chirping and the river rushing past the rocks.

Axel saunters over, coming to stop in front of me. “I figured you would call.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I mutter, rolling my eyes comically at him. “You can’t expect to reveal all the information to me that you have and leave again without me wanting to know what is going on.”

Blue shrugs loosely, shoving his hands in his pants. “I apologise about disappearing. Unfortunately, I’m a Silent at the end of the day, and Kael had business I needed to attend to. If I could have been by your side this entire time, I would have. I want to explain this to you as much as you want to know.”

“Regardless, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I question. “Last time we tried to talk about the past we were interrupted.”

Blue nods, motioning down a patch of grass right by the river. He pulls his jacket off and lays it down for us to both sit on next to each other. I do so tentatively, unsure of what Axel is going to reveal to me.

“What do you want to know?”

What don’t I want to know. From what I can remember about Axel, he was a very outgoing boy who I thought of as a cooler older brother. He was always so impressive and skillful. No wonder he is a Silent now. However, I can’t remember him paying me much attention at all. In fact, I assumed my childishness at that time bothered him.

“I want to know why you decided to dedicate your entire life to trying to help me,” I decide to ask. He could have an incredible life right now. “What is your objective anyway. I wouldn’t consider myself safe here.”

Kael might have expressed that he likes me, but with all these other Silent’s disliking me so far, I can’t say I feel very safe.

“You are safest here, I promise,” he assures me.

“Once I get to training, I’m not sure how true that will be,” I remind him. He mustn’t be aware that I’m not so good at fighting and most likely anything else that is required to be a Silent. Looking at Axel’s build, which is broad and muscular, I know I wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

“Either way, you should thank me for being here in the first place,” he mentions. “I did convince Kael you would excel here.”

My eyes widen as his words sink in. I whirl around, looking at him instead of the wildflowers that were growing in front of us. He doesn’t look smug, but his expression insinuates he expected me to know that already.

“You what?” I spat.

“Luckily I didn’t have to do much convincing to get him to chose you as the winner. It seems he likes you quite a lot on your own,” Axel murmurs, looking up past the canopy at the moon.

“Well that’s comforting,” I mutter in disbelief. “I can’t believe you were the one to get me into this.”

It takes me a few moments to let that information sink in. I can’t seriously be sitting here right now because of Axel. The only reason I was approached for this competition is because he convinced Kael I would be good for it. I knew it made no sense for someone like me to be selected…

“Did you seriously expect me to let you work in the prisons your entire life?” he question, finally looking at me. The colour of his eyes seem even brighter as the moonlight reflecting off the river water hits them.

“I didn’t expect you to do anything for me. Not offence, but after I was taken to boarding school I forgot you after a year,” I admit.

Axel flinches. “Ouch.”

“I’m sorry but it’s true. You don’t owe me anything, you know. Why did you even do this? Why do you care?” I question. In desperation, I might be being harsh, but I can’t help it. I need to know why Axel has become so obsessed with helping me, when I haven’t done anything for him as a child. I was only six when I left for school.

Still, Axel looks genuinely offended and taken aback. It can’t be easy to hear that all your hardwork has been thrown back in your face. If I weren’t so confused I would feel bad for him.

Axel’s jaw clenches. “You’re important to me. After I heard what happened to your family I knew I had to do something. You have no idea how hard it was for me knowing you were trapped in that school.”

“Really?”

“I fell into a dark depression for a long while. So much so I got into fighting a lot as a kid. I was lucky that Kael’s father started the Silent’s programme and I became one. I knew through that, I would be able to help you,” Axel admits.

“I just don’t understand why you would want to help me so badly. I mean, I appreciate it, but I can’t wrap my head around it,” I tell him honestly.

Axel turns his entire body toward me, suddenly becoming so much closer to me than I remembered when we sat down. My entire body bristles, and I’m not so sure why. It doesn’t seem to matter that I know Axel from childhood. Something about him now is creeping me out.

“I care about you,” he murmurs softly.

I was about to ask him about what I did to get him so attached, when all of a sudden he lurches forward and grabs my face between his hands. They are shockingly cold, like the colour of his eyes which get closer and close to my face.

Before I could pull away, his lips are on mine, burning hot and pressing, paralysing me for a split second.

At first I’m unsure of how to react, a million thoughts and feelings filling my mind before I can make any move. As I realise what’s happening, I push his chest as hard as I can. He falls away from me, bracing himself up.

“What?” I growl. I clamber to my feet. “What are you doing?”

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, and you’ve become so beautiful. I fell for you the moment I laid my eyes on you again,” he admits, also getting to his feet.

I’m not sure how to feel. It felt so wrong to kiss him like that, my stomach turning his disgust. I take another few steps back from him. Why is he admitting his feelings like this? This isn’t what I want…

“Axel look…I think this is a mistake,” I tell him firmly.

He shakes his head at me. “Please don’t freak out. I didn’t mean-”

I wasn’t sticking around to hear what he had to say. Weaving through the forest, I make it back to the campsite, looking over my shoulders constantly to ensure he isn’t chasing after me.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Quickly I crawl into my tent, my fingers touching my lips.

What does this mean?