Chapter 24

KIRA:
“Why not?” Bradley, who seems rather enthusiastic about the annoying thought he just laid down, asks.
I lash out in return, “Because that’s so stupid to even think of. Pretty much stupid that you could even say it to me. Why would I want to be mated to someone from our rival pack? And on top of that, the leader,”
“But I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he says as he attempts to defend himself. “If you think about it, it works well. Alpha Reid is a young alpha without a wolf and you, you are a young female wolfling. A good idea I must say,”
His enthusiasm was the most annoying thing out of everything he was doing or saying at the moment. It was the reason I was getting more and more infuriated from hearing him speak. And trust me, it was pushing me to hit him square in the face.
“Do you know what you’re saying? Are you even listening to yourself at all?” I have to ask. And at the same time, I start to shift away from him again. I guess he was not totally in his right senses today.
“Don’t make it such a big deal. At least, things like this could work,”
“Tell me something I don’t know about how mating works. Does a minor get to have a mate?”
Realization flushes his expression instantly. “Uhm, no,” he says.
“So let’s end the discussion that way.”
What I do next is stare deep into the light woods ahead. The uncomplicated setting was what I try to deuce from it since I literally have no idea what to say again to Bradley.
I cannot believe that he would think Alpha Reid of the Night Blaze pack would be my mate. Like, what the hell? I cannot even imagine being with him. Not that he was any bad, the fact remains that he heads the pack that has been on edge with my pack for years now.
‘We will be seeing more of each other soon...’
Of course, I remember those words. The Alpha had mentioned that and I remember being confused about what he meant but he didn’t even bother to explain myself. Oh geez, why does this seem to be linking with what Bradley guessed to be? It’s only one so I’m sure I can do away with the idea.
“Brad,” I call out to Bradley who seems to be lost in thoughts while seated next to me.
“Yeah?” he snaps out of his thoughts and looks at me.
“I have something to ask you. Let’s just say I need a clarification from you about something,”
He does his face in a way that tells me he is briefly thinking about my request. Why does he have to be so dramatic sometimes?
“It’s not a big deal, so stop it,” I tell him with a frown etched on my face.
“Well, I had to weigh my options before you asked me whatever you wanted to ask,”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not like I wanted to request for something,” After a pause, I add, “Adam told me something some time ago about the disappearance of two guards. Is it true?”
Bradley’s eyes bulged in surprise. Making it seem like they were about to pop out the sockets. “Where did he get that from?”
I scratch my head as I try to recollect the conversation I had with Adam that led to the question I just threw at Bradley. It took me a while to figure out how Adam said he got the information but I eventually do.
“I think he said he overheard some guards talking about it. Yeah, that’s what he said,” was my response to Bradley’s question which seems a bit laced with panic. “But is it true? I’m guessing it is for you to decide to react that way.”
The reaction from Bradley switches back to normal as he tries to clear his throat afterward. “It’s true. But the information should never have reached his ears because we have been concealing it for a while now. How did Adam even get to overhear the guards? Were they talking too loud? Or did he eavesdrop on them?”
“That I will never know. And no amount of pressure would make him spill how he did it,” A thought then flows through my head. It was a question that I needed to ask Bradley and that is what I proceed to do. “Why is it being concealed? I mean, if something like that could happen, then should the pack members not know about it? At least for our safety. Who knows what could have caused such mishap?”
“Look, that is why we decided to have it concealed. For the pack’s safety. We have no idea what might have caused the disappearances so it was advisable we kept it under wraps for now until we figure out what happened.”
“What if those guards had just decided to make a run away from the pack and made it seem like they had mysteriously disappeared?”
Bradley narrows his eyes at me. I can tell he is trying to make me understand what made me come up with the theory and I am surely willing to spill because there was nothing to hide in this situation.
“And why would you think that?” Bradley asks.
“Because, according to what Adam told me, the guards had left their weapons on the ground before the disappearances occurred. Wouldn’t it make sense to say that they simply ran but to make it look like they mysteriously disappeared, they decided to fake drop their weapons?”
“How much did that kid even get to hear?”
I slightly smile because I know the brother I have. He has keen for smoothly listening in on conversations even without having a sharp hearing yet. That is the reason I try to be wary of speaking out loud to Alexia whenever I’m in the quarters. Won’t be surprised if he’s found out already about what I do.
“To answer your question,” Bradley starts to say, “No, the guards didn’t fake a disappearance.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“Because it has been looked into already by the experts. And with enough questioning, especially of the guards that were around that location, we found out there was no way such could have happened. Their disappearance is still a mystery. Don’t even know why I am telling you all these. It’s meant to be confidential,”
Just like that, I am totally intrigued by the topic. There are questions I want to ask and findings I will like to make on my own. But I know I should not poke my nose into affairs like this because it was beyond my reach.
“Thank you for explaining, Brad. I really enjoyed the insight even if it wasn’t much,” I tell Bradley while supposedly staring into space.
“I hope you are not planning to look into it personally. Please don’t even go there. It is none of your business!”
The panic in his voice has me wondering how big of a deal the issue is. Is there more to it that he is not telling me? I think there is because Bradley would never be this way if it was not an issue that has serious consequences.
“Chill out,” I tell him, giving him the face. “I was not even planning to. I’ve got bigger problems in my life that I need to tend to so don’t worry about it,”
“Are you sure that I do not need to be worried?” he asks.
“When was the last time I was this serious?”
He thinks for a while before saying, “Two years ago... when you beat up Adam for wearing your skirt?”
“Exactly,” I affirm and then look away from him as I prepare to take my time in staying out here longer. I’m out of words already so this is the only thing that could come to mind for me.
I guess I must have been missing out all these years by choosing not to use the backyard of our quarters as a place to take my mind off things. Today has been an eye-opener for me and I can tell that I would be frequenting here more as the woods was a no-go area for me for the time being.
Bradley’s swift movement beside me catches my attention and I look to the side to see that he was up on his feet. When I look at his face, I sensed that something bad must have happened and I have to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“Get up,” he says, almost too authoritatively for me.
“Why?” I frown as I ask.
“Just get up first,”
I decide to adhere to his instruction but let the frown stay up on my face. “Now what is it?” I ask as I eventually get up on my feet.
“Listen to me,” he says. “Go into your quarters now and shut the door behind you. Something is going on around the pack but I have no idea what it is at the moment. But I need you to be safe. I promise to talk to you about it the next time we meet,”
A nod from me and I start to run off to my quarters. But even on the way, I am still trying to process what could have been the reason for the urgency.