“Today is not going to be a normal date I’m afraid,” Jonathan drawled as he drove his way into the city.
“What do you mean?” I stiffened, becoming wary instantly. Although on some level, I trusted him not to harm me, his tone just didn’t bode well.
“We need to stop by the pack house first,” he briefly glanced towards me before continuing, “I want you to see something.”
“Okay,” I couldn’t help but wonder why he was being so secretive all of the sudden, “Can’t you tell me what it is?”
“I’d rather just show you.” His tone told me to drop it and for some unknown reason I didn’t argue.
He looked a little too stiff for it to be just a normal werewolf get-together but, knowing he’d make sure I’d stay alright, there could be no harm in going.
I was so caught up in my trying to figure out what he was hiding that before I knew it, we were already there. After parking and exiting the car, Jonathan didn’t actually head for the white three-floor house but made a beeline to the forest line, which was only a four-minute walk from there. I followed closely behind him, keeping my mouth shut for a change as something deep down told me this was bigger than a little awkward witch-to-werewolves meeting.
Having avoided almost all contact with the Sunshine’s pack ever since my incident with the rogues, I felt a bit unease at having to face all the people I had grown up knowing, befriended even, and yet completely ignored the last few weeks.
Just as we entered the forest, we found Kyle – the alpha – and Andrew – his younger brother and beta – and some older werewolf whose name I didn’t remember standing on the right side. Their faces didn’t betray their emotions, but their posture somehow gave away their out-of-sorts state of mind. To the unknowing eye, they might look like they were relaxed in their silence, but they were anything but.
A look to the left revealed a dark-haired man who was leaning back on a tree, arms crossed on his chest, eyes closed, looking somewhere between asleep and bored.
“Oh, here comes sweet little Jonathan,” the stranger drawled, earning himself a surprisingly small growl, “Long time no see. I always thought you were the punctual type, but I guess I was wrong.”
Did he just call the alpha-ultra sweet little Jonathan? Is this guy out of his mind? That had been my first reaction and then I understood from his words that they knew each other... that explained the small growl.
“I just wanted to bring her to the trial,” was Jonathan’s flat response from beside me.
Trial? What trial? It’s not like we’re in court.
“There’s no need for a witch though.” The stranger had green eyes that were disturbingly deep. It almost felt like he could see into one’s soul if he so wished. I averted my eyes in discomfort, a little bit unnerved by my instinctual response.
“She’s my mate as a matter of fact,” Jonathan’s arm slid around my shoulders, bringing me a little closer to him, reassuring me and introducing me at the same time, “Jasmine’s been struggling a little bit with her control. I thought it’d be good for her to meet you.”
“Oh, nice to meet you,” the still nameless guy left his spot against the tree and approached us slowly, making me for some reason want to step back. I breathed deeply and kept my ground, refusing to bruise my pride over some chills I was probably only getting from the cold air.
“Likewise,” I couldn’t help being a little bit stiff because, for all his seemingly playful demeanor, I didn’t feel comfortable being in his presence. As I shook hands with him, the only thing I could feel was a crippling fear and I withdrew abruptly.
“Something the matter?” The green-eyed vampire cocked an intrigued eyebrow at me. Jonathan poked me softly in the side, silently urging me to explain. The vampire seemed important enough that even the alpha-ultra respected him.
Nobility perhaps?
“I just...” I wet my lips in uncontrollable nervousness, “I...”
“Clairvoyance ability?” He guessed, an amused smirk tugging at his lips, his deep-green eyes scrutinizing.
“Err, no,” taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to say the truth, consequences be damned, but it was all I could not to stammer, “it just felt like I was shaking hands with death itself.”
That’s it. All out. There’s nothing to fear really. Get your act together, Jas!
The guy chuckled good-humoredly, not taking offence in the least, the other werewolves present laughed in a stiff way, following suit but looking unsure still.
“There was a time when I was called the angel of death but let’s not dwell on that,” he winked at me before turning around to face Kyle.
Cold sweat erupted in my back and I was suddenly regretting not bringing my jacket with me. This was no normal vampire. I could feel it in my gut. Although his presence was not as dominating as that of alphas or anything, my instincts told me to run. Skilled vampires often hid their presences after all.
He clapped and everyone grew silent, “Now that we’re all here, let’s get this started, shall we?”
I had been so focused on him that I had not noticed they had brought two restrained persons, a male and a female who looked nothing alike.
“That werewolf,” Jonathan whispered in my ear, pointing a finger towards the blonde-haired male, “has killed a vampire this morning and this woman here is said vampire’s sister.”
I repressed the urge to gasp. Imagining someone, anyone, killing one of my brothers or Karl, I could only see myself losing it completely... yet, there she was keeping it together. I was perplexed, jealous and even a bit frustrated. How could she not be trashing around, trying to get to the werewolf that took her brother away from her?
“Why is there another leech in our land?”
