"Tell me. What is that thing on the floor?"

"Ummm, the rug?" I asked, baffled.

"Not the damn rug, that thing!" Jamison sneered, glaring at something. Considering he was blocking my view, I had to shift to the side to see what the fuss was all about.

And lo and behold, the thing he had claimed with much disgust was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen in my life.

"It's a kitty." I went to my knees and picked up the white, meowing ball of fluff. It was the size of my palm and it felt like literal silk against my fingertips.

Jamison stayed rooted in his spot. His gaze narrowed. "That thing needs to be thrown outside."

"What? It's a baby. We have to find where it came from."

"Yeah, it came from the gutter."

"She's not even dirty! Look at it. It's so innocent and lonely, maybe even scared." I cuddled the little animal to my cheek. She purred against my skin. I melted. I swore she smelt like fresh laundry and a hint of vanilla. "She's adorable."

"You don't even know if it's a she or he."

"It's a she Jamison. We must respect the pronouns." I petted her silky paw she lifted to play with my ponytail.

"It is a kitten. It needs to be gone."

"I don't think I can abandon her."

"Then pass it here. I'll deal with it." He extended his hand to take the soft ball of fluff, but I swung out from his reach, cradling the purring kitty in my arms. "No, we have to look for its owner."

"It doesn't have a collar."

"That's why we have to find her owner."

"Just dump it outside. We have other matters to address. There are important visitors in this house. We must ensure that there is nothing out of place. That thing will cause a riot."

"Not if I shelter it." My protective instincts surged like a wave.

"If you don't dump that piece of shi-"

"Jamison." That familiar interrupted our dispute.

"Alpha." Jamison froze.

Alpha Slater came into the room and acknowledged his Enforcer with a curt nod. He scanned the room quietly from wall to wall before he found what he was supposedly searching for.

"Misty." His voice was a soft rumble when his gaze found the ball of fluff sitting in my palms.

The kitty perked up. When she saw Alpha Slater, she preened and released a soft meow.

I froze as he stalked towards me, eyes blazing. His hands moved towards Misty who was ready to pounce in his big, toned arms. Misty scrambled into his hold without hesitance and settled on her back, nuzzling her furry face into the crook of his elbow.

My jaw dropped.

I felt Jamison sigh before he clamped my lips shut with a quick manoeuvre of his hand.

The Alpha scratched the tip of Misty's pink nose with the end of his index finger. I was more than bewildered when a soft look gradually crept upon his features, softening the hard angles of his face.

I didn't even know what was happening and even Jamison had trouble making sense of the scene in front of us.

"Jamison, I will not require your protection tomorrow when the Full Moon event takes place. I'll only want you to report to the inner circle that no one is to follow and approach the Recruit and I when we leave here at sunset."

When Jamison didn't answer, Alpha Slater stopped petting the kitty and raised an expectant brow, "Understood?"

"Understood."

Before he left, he said to me, "I've sent apparel for you to wear for tomorrow's hunt. If it does not fit, call upon Jane and she'll adjust your size, but it should fit."

And then he was gone.

"He has a kitty." I, for whatever reason said to my companion.

"I have eyes. I saw."

"Her name is Misty." I whispered.

"I have ears. I heard-"

"You normally this sour, or just with me?"

"Sour?"

"Yeah. Sour and bitter to the very core." I crossed my arms, rotating, so my body faced him. I was already sick of the crap he kept shoving my way and so far, I had tolerated enough. I didn't care if he didn't like me but there was a thin line between dislike and being disrespectful.

He had been treading the disrespectful line for quite a while.

Something dark swept across his expression, "Be very careful Recruit."

I sighed, "Careful? Are you threatening me?" I asked softly, without a speck of care in my tone.

"Warning you." He said in a low tone I'd never heard him take on before. It sent shivers across my skin and down my spine. It was rumblier, like the emergence of a chaotic storm about to shred shit into pieces. "There's a reason why I'm part of the Alpha's inner circle, Recruit. I've trained several potential Elite Syndicate Enforcers over the years, decades and more. The same thing happens. Every four years people are scouted. They come here all thinking they'll be the ones joining the Syndicate. They have dreams and hopes but when shit comes down to it, they fucking crumble. What you're facing now is nothing. The training, the real training hasn't even begun. These 'tests' we've been doing so far have only been a way for Alpha Slater to feel exactly what set of skills the Scouts have gathered in."

It was the genuine acid filling his words that made my throat constrict.

As he moved closer, I felt the air thicken.

Jamison didn't smell like pine and frost.

He smelt like burning coal.

Not even a glimmer of warmth.

"You may think you're here to fulfill your dreams, but you all forget a vital part of taking that dream." He paused and stared over my shoulder. Cold. Distant. "You having to earn your place Recruit. Not earn it but earn every little part, no matter the sacrifices at hand. You want to live this life? You gotta know that this life isn't made for many and even less for those who cannot endure."

"You don't know me." I replied, just as quiet as his threat.

His head shot down and he fisted the collar of my shirt, forcing me into his space. "Likewise." He gritted out, "You also don't know that the man I address as Alpha in this Pack is fucking lethal to the core of his bone. May not seem like it now but that man is a weapon and a mastermind. Why do you think he has the strongest men in the Pack always surrounding him? It isn't for his protection, that's for sure. It's because people need to be protected from him."

When only stark silence lingered, he shoved me back and adjusted the cuff of his sleeves. "Exactly."

***

Wondering around the Shadow Hunters' Pack hadn't been a good idea.

Too many eyes.

Too many ears.

Too much attention.

I wanted to find a place to cool my thoughts, and hopefully stop rewinding the words back to what Jamison had said.

...They have dreams and hopes, but when shit comes down to it, they fucking crumble...

...real training hasn't even begun...

...earn every little part, no matter the sacrifices at hand...

...that man is a weapon...

...a mastermind...

Fuc-

"Oi!"

The greeting was probably a dude calling his friend but when that 'Oi!' was repeated and much closer, I checked to see who the pair were.

Except, I could only see Kian.

The members of the Pack who were still out in the eve slowly opened a narrow path for him to move through like he was some sort of crowned prince from a foreign land.

There was a bright green lollipop in his hand, unwrapped and moving across his fingers in deft twirls.

I wondered if anyone had told him that he had pretty hands. The thought took back seat of my ruminations as he closed the gap between us.

Hours of handling my stars led to the scarring on my palms. I guess I did have an extent of vanity. My hands were those of a working woman. My hands weren't soft, but they were capable, enduring hands- the best. I loved that my ninja stars had a hand in making them stronger.

When Kian was close enough that I could just touch him, I spotted the tight purse of his lips.

"You have been summoned."

"Who?" I asked, confused. Kian and I rarely spoke. I could count on one hand the amount of times we conversed.

One slow blink was my response, "The Alpha."

I smelt the deceit.

He was up to something. There was no way the Alpha would use him to call me. He had the Elite Syndicate for that business. Kian was not one of the Alpha's Enforcers. He wasn't privy to the Alpha's business. There was no reason for Kian to deliver a message to me on behalf of the Alpha.

"Right." I nodded, unconvinced.

What was he up to?

His eyes narrowed.

"He wants to see you." He said, more adamantly like the lie on his lips instilled a single bit of truth in it.

"Look Kian, I don't know why you're going to lie to me point-blank, but I don't have time listening to you spouting off lies. I just saw the Alpha earlier, if he had wanted to see me, he would've said so at that moment or told an E.S Enforcer to deliver the message. He didn't, so I'm not going."

I turned to leave but his hand wrapped around my wrist, tugging me close so his lips skimmed the rim of my ear when he leaned down and whispered caustically, "The Alpha wants to see you." He repeated slowly, "You have five minutes to get to his office."

"Kian. Release me."

"Five minutes." He emphasised, squeezing my wrist hard. He held on for a moment longer but then he was gone, leaving only a cold breeze behind.

I glanced to my side, seeing the Pack members watching Kian leave. Despite being a silent recluse, he garnered attention wherever he went. Although he was lanky with a penchant of wearing black clothes, he emanated a perpetual fuck-off vibe almost similar to that of Pen's aura. It was ironic considering people watched him with curiosity.

I could still feel the remnant of his grip on my wrist. I glanced down and saw he left a ring of pink on that particular area of skin.

I absently rubbed the coloured spot. My mind was wrapped around his words. There was an underlining warning in his tone. Although I was speculative, I found myself rotating on my heels and making my way back to the Pack House. There was no harm in checking up on him.

I didn't want to see Jamison just yet, which was why I was peering around the corners, before entering each room. I felt stupid, especially when I almost stumbled into Joel who was carrying a tray stuffed with food in his hands. I may have given him something like a suspicious head nod because his eyes flashed with wariness. I didn't linger and casually made my way towards the Alpha's office door.

"Why the freak am I doing this?" I whispered to myself, before I tentatively knocked on the door.

I winced from the sound. It sounded too loud. If anyone found me, I was probably going to get additional chores added to my load. I was already washing dishes and I barely had time for myself when I wasn't in the company of Jamison.

I waited but there was no answer.

I knocked again, waited some more but again, there was no answer.

"Of course, he was lying." I mumbled under my breath. Even if Alpha Slater was inside, he wouldn't open the door. You had to be granted permission, which I wasn't.

It made sense that Jamison hadn't knocked on his door. Entry was given only by and through the Alpha's verbal command.

Checking the time, I knew I had to return to Jamison. My break was finished and if I was late to meet him, it would be another strike against me.

I turned to leave but something stopped me.

I felt the little hairs on the nape of my neck stand.

I knew I should've grabbed someone, but it would have been too late.

That cold feeling didn't leave when I dashed up the stairs. It only grew colder and more intense the further I ventured across the hallway, towards Alpha Slater's room.

The only reason I knew it was his room was because Jamison had wanted me to check the surveillance surrounding it.

I wasn't completely sure if this was the right place. I felt the prickle of danger, but instinct demanded that I stay.

I stood stock-still outside his bedroom door, trying to make out any noise. For a brief second, I thought that maybe I placed my senses on a pedestal. Maybe I was overreacting. I could still turn around and go find Jamison-

Clink.

Clink.

Clink.

Shrreeeck!

I didn't think. There was no time. I slammed my boot into the door.

The wood splintered. I kicked once more before the wood fully gave in under the pressure of my boot. I pushed the broken pieces out of sight.

I wasn't prepared to see inside the room.

Alpha Slater stood shirtless in the room, donned in nothing but a towel he had wrapped around his trim waist. His body still had water droplets along his skin. His hair too was still damp, dripping wet at the ends.

He had his chains spinning above his head, wielding it like a lasso.

They made low whistling sounds as he swung one long strand in each hand in rapid circles at his sides. He didn't look at me when I barged inside. He flung his right chain out and I was shocked by the sharp, blistering sound they made when it slashed at the mangled changeling standing in front of him. It appeared as if he had just unravelled a snake at his hand and commanded the creature to slice at the adversary.

The changeling barked out a high-pitched sound that shook the furniture.

Then it lunged forward with frightening grace.

Alpha Slater moved just as quickly, shooting his chains outwards, where it gripped around the changeling three-fold. His chains drew taut, and he yanked them back with force, knocking the changeling onto its belly.

It shrieked again- another shrill sound that scraped painfully against the walls. It thrashed wildly, spitting out foam and tugging at the chains with desperate cries.

Alpha Slater didn't hesitate as he rounded the animal and crouched low beside it. The thing tried to pierce its claws into him, but he swiftly looped the metal around its neck and pulled. It choked, sputtering with outrage.

"Can you talk?" He asked the changeling with a steady, perilous tone.

It shrieked again.

"Who did this to you?"

Another horrific shriek rang out. My eardrums rang.

"How many are there of you?"

The thing moved too quick. One second, Alpha Slater was beside it, then he was pinned under the weight of it where a bloody line appeared on his bicep.

I finally broke out of my trance. My fingers automatically wrapped around the familiar hilt of my dagger. Feeling the firmness of the handle, I withdrew it from its pelt where it made a hissing sound.

I didn't realise I had dug my blade straight across the changeling's throat, slicing it clean off from the body. The head rolled off to the side with a dull sound.

Alpha Slater tossed the beheaded body near its discarded head. He swiftly leaped onto his feet, dodging the pool of blood on the floor.

The bedroom door suddenly slammed opened, exposing both Jamison and Luka. They took in the chaos with shock.

I discreetly wiped the blood from my blade with the material of my shirt, avoiding their questioning gazes.

"What the hell happened in here?" Jamison demanded.