Alpha Kael

~Jada

My plan was set for tonight.

I’m assuming it won’t be difficult to get in, if it’s anything like my sects residence. By the first hour of morning, everyone is in the room should be asleep, which leaves the perfect time to put my plan into fruition. Luckily, I was able to sneak the kids – whose name I learned was Jake – room number thanks to a very impressionable girl hanging around the library.

Tonight, I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to find out, but hopefully it will keep me in this competition. He seems to always be hiding something, and I’m hoping it’s dark and intriguing.

Sneaking around the side of the building, I approach the kitchen window. As I expected, after walking past it casually today, it is slightly ajar.

Perfect.

It doesn’t creak nor protest when I prop it open large enough for me to slip through, and onto the sleek linoleum floor. It’s perfect for swallowing most of the sound of my footsteps as I step out of the kitchen and into the eating area. And much to my imminent surprise, someone is standing like a distant shadow, watching me.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I flinch, but luckily, manage to keep hold of the scream that threatened to slip past my lips. Having someone lurking downstairs at this hour was the last thing I expected. Especially when I catch a sight of who it is.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I growl, my voice still hushed, not moving above a whisper.

It’s Blue, sitting on one of the cafeteria benches, smirking. Just seeing him elicits uncomfortable chills down my spine. He’s lingered in my room, and is now trying to ruin my immaculate plan. How did he even know I was planning on coming here? I wasn’t that obvious about it, was I?

At that moment, a dark though creeps into my mind.

What if Blue snuck into my room again? I’ve been writing my plan down in a diary to keep track of it. Nothing incriminating, but it’s enough to track down my movements. I’ve been keeping it on my bed too. Just the idea of him in my room, looking through my personal things makes me extremely uneasy.

“I thought I would come see what you’re up to,” he says simply, as if that offers any explanation at all. I stare at him, dumbfounded.

He seems awfully casual for being an absolute creep. He’s dressed in dark clothes, which wouldn’t be surprising, however, they don’t seem like his normal attire. His pants are more slimming, jacket clinging tightly against his body. His chest even seems to be covered by some kind of disguised plate of protection.

Almost like he’s dressed for a Silent’s mission.

“How did you know I was here?” I question, looking around to ensure no one else has seen me. Blue, despite being a Silent, has the full capability to expose me and this mission I’ve set up. Maybe to get me eliminated…

He shrugs, slipping down from where he sat, making almost no sound. “Word gets around, and my job is to find out secret information.”

Of course, he’s a Silent. He got unlucky when I found him in my room, since I decided to change my plans. Somehow, he managed to find out I was going to be out that day and stole himself in. He even managed to slip past other sect members, which flaunts his proficiency at his job.

“In all due respect, can you please get out of here?” I snap. “I have things to do, and I don’t need you here creeping around.”

I’m over being polite with this guy.

Not waiting for his answer, I sneak toward the stairs, repeating the room number in my head over and over. I have a small pocket knife tucked in my sleeve if it comes down to it, but mainly I’ll be relying on my own mouth to intimidate him. I’m not sure if it will be enough, but I have to try.

Blue snags my arm before I can get very far. “I don’t see why you so desperately want to get rid of me. I’m your trainer assessing you-”

“Get off me,” I growl, pulling my arm from him. His touch burns through my clothes, my skin protesting from the firmness. I don’t show that it made me uneasy though. Everything about him does. “Go sneak into someone else’s room.”

My last jab could get me kicked out. I don’t care.

Without waiting to hear his retort, I quickly trot up the stairs, keeping my steps as light as possible. He doesn’t follow me, so I make a mental note to keep an eye on him later, before concentrating on the mission at hand. At least his room wasn’t easy to find, and once I reached it, I didn’t hesitate walking straight in there.

Jake is wrapped up in his sheets, and when I barge in, he startles right out of his slumber. For a fleeting moment I feel sympathy, but it’s quickly squashed by the fact this is a mission I need to fulfil, and no harm will come to him.

“Get up,” I say promptly, concealing any ounce of fear under a veil of confidence. He shouldn’t know who I am, with the cover over my mouth and nose, and the dark clothes I covered by body with.

Jake wipes his eyes as he sits up. “What’s going on?”

I flick his light on, momentarily blinding him. He swears in protest, shielding his eyes. My attempts to disorientate him seem to be working, as I stand staunch in front of him, giving him no room to escape. He’s forced to lay in a vulnerable position in front of me, exposed at my mercy.

“I’m here to collect a little bit of information on you,” I say, tone taunting. This confident facade seems to be working, but it doesn’t take my mind away from the pocket knife sweaty in my grasp. I pray I won’t be forced to use it.

Jake blinks at me a few times, looking up at me blarily. It strikes me in that moment he wears glasses beneath that long fringe of untrimmed brunette hair. Perfect.

“Crap,” he growls. “I knew this would come.”

It takes plenty of self control not to look surprised. Does he think I’m someone else? Or is he afraid he’s being exposed for something he has done? Either way, he can barely see me and is still disorientated, which means I have to go along with this. It’s my one chance to succeed.

“You know how Alpha Kael is about punishment,” I threaten, hoping I can play it off like a Silent busting him. “He likes honesty, so I would speak up now or you won’t be seeing his good side.”

What has Jake been up to? By the way he pales, it’s not good at all. Perhaps he smuggled drugs in here, or maybe he has been stealing?

“Okay okay,” he mutters helplessly. “I’m basically dead now anyway.”

I don’t say anything, not wanting to push my luck. Instead, I just stand there, holding my stance, waiting for him to admit his guilt. I just can’t believe I have gotten so lucky as I am to have him admitting what he has done. Hopefully it will be enough for Blue and Kael to keep me in this competition.

“Yes, I snuck into Kael’s house last week. I swear I didn’t take anything but information out,” he admits.

I gape at him.

Either he is messing with me, knowing who I am, or he is telling the truth. Did he really sneak into Kael’s home? He might as well be the winner of this competition if he had the skill to pull that off.

Suddenly, Jake reaches for the glasses off his bedside table, and slips them on his face. When he sees me, realising I’m not a Silent, he flinches, taken aback. I don’t move, don’t apologise or nothing. I just stare him down, consuming the information he admitted to me, wondering what I’m going to do with it.

“Oh no,” he says breathlessly, blinking a few times to make sure he isn’t seeing things. “You’re not a Silent, are you?”

“What do you mean you snuck into Kael’s manor?”

His head falls into his hands. “I was curious okay? There were so many rumours I had to find out if any of them were right. And let me tell you, there are a few that aren’t very far off. But you can’t tell anyone this, otherwise I’ll probably be dragged into a dark room and executed.”

Jake seems frankly mortified that I found out his secret. And I am too, knowing he snuck into Kael’s residence. I doubt it was very easy to navigate.

“You know what would have happened if you did get caught…

He cringes, digging his hands through his hair. “Yes, I know okay. God, I’m so stupid for saying this to you. You just can’t tell anyone. I’ll get you in there or something if you want me to. I’ll give you all the information on him you need.”

I pause. This sounds like a delightfully tempting offer. To know more about the Alpha who has been haunting my dreams. Who has taken a lot of my daily thought up.

He must have noticed my expression. “Silence, and you could know all the Alpha’s darkest secrets.”