Devious Schemes

RHEA
Daniel Hall's smile widened when we exchanged handshakes. I noticed that his white fangs were not retracted. Infact, they were proudly displayed. I wondered if he'd let his human clients see them or if he kept it that way because he knew we weren't human.
"Yes, I let them see it. I compel them to forget about what they saw" he said and my eyes widened.
"Compel? I thought vampires are the only ones who can do that" I said and he grinned.
"I'm a hybrid; a vampire-werewolf mix" he said and realization set in.
"Sit down, please" he said, lowering himself onto one of the cream colored couches in his large office.
"So, what's going on?" He asked after we'd all settled down.
"Jaden is in the custody of Valerian wolves" I said and he raised a dark brow.
"How did that happen? Jaden is usually careful enough to avoid getting involved with them" Daniel said.
"He was accused of murder" Klaus said.
"Who exactly was he accused of murdering?" Daniel asked, a slight frown on his face.
"The Alpha King" I said and he nodded in understanding.
"I heard that Jaden took part in the tournament and won. Why would he kill the Alpha King? It doesn't make sense," he added.
"It's all a set up. He was at the pack house when he received a call telling him that the king had passed away" Klaus responded.
Daniel nodded again, a mysterious look in his dual colored eyes.
"I'm guessing all this has to do with his enmity with Zaden" he said.
"We think he's the one responsible for this"
Daniel rubbed his jaw, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"If Zaden did this, he's starting to become smart. I suspect that he's also planning something else" He said and I clenched my fists, tensed.
Daniel rose to his feet with one fluid motion, slipped on a pair of black, gold-rimmed designer glasses, and pocketed his smartphone.
"Let's go. The longer Jaden remains in their custody, the harder the situation will become" he said and I stood up. The three of us headed out of the building. Daniel got into his very flashy yellow convertible. Then, he drove off. I got into Klaus' car and he drove off as well. I was relieved to know that Daniel was willing to help us. We didn't even talk too much.
We got to the headquarters in the evening. The sun was starting to sink below the horizon. Daniel walked into the lobby and headed straight for the main office. Klaus held my hand as I made to follow Daniel into the office.
"Stay. He'll know what to do" he said and I sighed. We waited outside the office for nothing more than thirty minutes. Daniel stepped out with another werewolf. He was tall and hulky. His hair was cut close to his scalp and he was dressed in the usual black leather jacket and pant. Daniel followed the man and they disappeared down the spiral stairs that led to the underground structure where offenders were locked up. I tapped my foot on the ground, impatiently. I wasn't going to relax until Jaden had stepped out.

Few minutes after Daniel and the agent had entered the underground holding cell, Jaden stepped out with Daniel. They were in a conversation. Jaden was no longer wearing the clothes he'd been wearing the previous day.

He looked pissed and Daniel had a devilish smile on his face. As they came closer, I could hear their conversation, thanks to my supernatural hearing ability.
"Do you want me to get rid of the bastard who said he witnessed you committing murder?" Daniel asked.
"I was going to do it, either way" Jaden replied with a cold look in his eyes.
Daniel patted him on the back, a smile still playing on his lips.
"You owe me one, J" Daniel said to my mate.
"Thank you for coming here" Jaden said and Daniel nodded.
"We're cool. Go to your mate, she's waiting. She has been very anxious" I heard him say.

Jaden's heated gaze met mine as he approached me. When he stopped right in front of me, I embraced him, squeezing my eyes shut. He brought his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my head.
"I'm here now" he breathed and I nodded. I pulled away, enough to gaze into his hazel eyes.
"You look tired" I said and he cracked a small smile.
"It's been hectic" he responded.
"Was it that bad?" I asked, embracing him again.
"What?"
"You had to change your clothes because they were stained with blood. I can still smell the blood on your skin, you know" I said and he sighed.
"Let's go home"
I nodded and released him from my embrace. He turned to look at Klaus.
"Thank you" he said and Klaus smiled.
"I'm just glad you're alright. Rhea was so worried"

Klaus drove us to the pack house and once we arrived, Jaden went straight to his quarters. We had a hot shower, together. Thereafter, we both laid down on the bed with me in his arms.
"It was like magic. How did Daniel convince them to let you go?" I said, drawing invisible irregular shapes on Jaden's midsection.
"Let's just say...his dad is a top official. You see, those agents were doing Zaden's bidding. They were simply being greedy and obnoxious" Jaden replied.
"It hurt really bad, didn't it?" I asked and he exhaled slowly.
"It did. I ended up killing three of the agents. They drove me mad. They believed they were superior" he said.
"Who was it? Who was the witness?" I questioned and he stiffened.
"Hunter"
My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it.
"He went to them and told them that he saw me doing it. He has decided to pick sides and now, he's an enemy. I can't handle betrayal, Rhea. It angers me"
Hunter deserved to pay for everything he made us go through. Even if Jaden decided to change his mind, I would make sure he paid for his sins.
"I'm so glad you're home" I said and he chuckled.
"How much did you miss me?" He asked and I grinned.
"So much. I thought I was going to lose it" I said, shuttng my eyes.
...
ZADEN
"That's it? Are you for real, Thalia? That's all you've got? You thought he was going to break so easily. I don't think you know exactly who we're dealing with here, Thalia. This isn't a game of cat and mouse. Even if it is, the only person who would be the mouse is you" I said, glaring at Thalia who was standing by the window in my office, looking nonchalant. I couldn't believe this was her plan. It was feeble, worthless and unproductive. When she had told me that she had a plan, I'd believed that whatever it was would be concrete and productive. I was very disappointed. The worst part was that she wasn't saying anything. It was annoying.

"Won't you say anything?! Damnit! Say something, Thalia! Your stupid plan has failed! I thought you were smarter than this. How could you involve the Valerian wolves with this? It just doesn't make any sense!" I said. She continued to ignore me. Her arms were folded across her chest, her gaze trained on the sky, through the window of my office. She was wearing a black dress today. And as usual, she was wearing a pair of stilettos. She chose to go with red ones today.

"That's your problem, Zaden. You underestimate people so easily" she said, still not turning to look at me.
"You're the one not paying attention to details, Thalia" I retorted. She turned to look at me with a blank expression on her face. Then, she moved away from the window and halted directly in front of me.
"You don't trust me, do you?" She asked, her voice soft. Her scent was so intoxicating. It was getting hard to keep a straight face and concentrate.
"Zaden, look at me. I'm going to ask you one more time. Do you trust me?" She said, unblinking.
"No." I responded, not breaking eye contact. "No, I don't"
A dark smile curved her lips, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"That's good. Follow me. You need to see what phase two is all about. That way, you can stop underestimating me" she said.
I watched her as she strode out of my office, not stopping to spare me a glance. I went after her, curious to know what she wanted to show me. I'd challenged Jaden enough to know that he wasn't the type who gets knocked over so easily. I had tried different schemes, but he always found a way to sneak out of it. He was such a sneaky bastard.
Thalia got into her car and I hesitated before walking towards her car. I got into the car, slammed the door shut, and slipped on my seatbelt.

"Where are we going?" I asked and she gave me another dark smile.

"You'll see it when we get there" she assured me.

When she finally stopped the car in front of some abandoned building which resembled a manor. There were so many things that was strange about this building. It was really old and everything about it screamed 'creepy'. Old vines were curled up around the structure and cobwebs was everywhere.

"What is this place?" I asked, waving away the flies buzzing around my ears. She took my hands in hers, mumbled a magic spell and in a blink of an eye, we were in what seemed to be the basement of a building.
"We're still in the building. What you saw outside is an illusion" Thalia explained.
I nodded slowly.

There were a couple of witches in the basement. They were preparing some sort of potion. They seemed to be so dedicated to their work.
"What's going on here?" I asked Thalia, a frown creasing my brows.
Everything about this place was shady. But, again, we were both shady.
"What you're seeing is the key to Jaden's downfall. A potion that has the ability to render him completely susceptible to our control. It is the only thing strong enough to take away his will and his self control" she said and my eyes went wide.