The Alpha Assassin novel Chapter 12

I spent the afternoon wandering through the forest after carefully cutting back some of the fireheart, leaving some leaves to die.

I was trying to re-calculate my plan, and sitting inside made everything seem more jumbled. My plans were vague, at best, and that used to be an advantage. I saw how hard it was to stick to something concrete, especially when death was involved.

I wasn’t naive enough to believe that there wouldn’t be external involvement. I just banked on Alpha Raymond’s arrogance; I didn’t think that someone outside would send someone in. I wished I could find out who send the hunter and who their spies were. In the end, it didn’t matter. My mask was airtight even when talking to the omegas.

Alpha Raymond called him, so he must not have been part of this pack. Even if I could sneak into his office and retrieve a number from his office phone, what would I do with it? No, it wasn’t a thread that needed to be followed. I knew that the hunter was here against Alpha Raymond's wishes, and I could use that. That was all I needed.

I would wait for my wolf in case I had to make an escape.

Then Hunter would die, so Dominick would start to fear. Then Nolan, just to get him out of the way. Next would be Luna Addison, so she had time to properly feel unparalleled grief and be consumed by it. Dominick would be after, and I would enjoy it possibly the most.

Finally, Alpha Raymond would die at my hands after knowing that someone was coming for him. There would be no doubts that he would be next, even in his own arrogant mind. Then my justice would be complete.

Those thoughts warmed me against the chill as I made my way back to the pack house. I would need to procure a few invites in the next few days, so I should start to get ready.

- - - -

A sharp knock that I didn’t recognize pulled me from my thoughts. I put down the brush; something about brushing my hair helped me unjumble my thoughts as if I were untangling them as well.

“Come in,” I called in a soft voice that was barely perceptible.

The door opened, and the hunter stood in the door frame. I began calling him the hunter because it made him seem less human. He was one-dimensional in my mind. He was here to try to find me, but I would ensure that he would be dead before he could even start sniffing in the right direction.

I widened my eyes before focusing on my brush. I hunched my shoulders in a bit, a movement that I tried to copy from Tia. She was so naturally skittish it awed me, but I had to remember that she wasn’t acting, and that thought ate at me.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” his rich voice offered. Offend me? I looked peered up at him. “When I asked about your pack,” he explained.

“You didn’t.” I shook my head, some of my midnight hair fell over my shoulder. “The memories, they still hurt.” I didn’t have to fake the pain that rippled across my features. I let the pain show. It was real and raw and not a whisper like it was when I tried to fake it.

“I understand.” His voice softened, and I met his gaze. His jaw ticked, and anger and hurt seemed to flash in his eyes even though his face remained impassive.

“Do you?” I asked. I genuinely wanted to know, but I didn’t understand why. “Nevermind,” I added. He couldn’t become human.

It was easy to kill the others, the ones that I assigned one trait to. The visiting Beta was a horrible man that forced a young girl to break the mate bond because he felt entitled to her. The visiting Alpha’s son was an attempted rapist. Probably an actual rapist. Dalton, well, Dalton was personal. But he was an abuser, not just to me but to his fated mate.

They all were abusers.

Whether physical, sexual, or power, it didn’t matter. The world was better without their entitlement.

“I do. In a sense, at least,” he went on, and I tried to ignore him. I didn’t want to hear his sob story. “I never knew my parents.” He stopped, and I let out a breath.

Thankfully, he didn’t go on, and I wasn’t going to press him for information, even if I was curious. I was so insatiably bored I realized the most real conversation I had in years was with Dalton on his deathbed, and that was one-sided. I suppressed a laugh at the thought.

“Something funny?” The hunter asked, his voice cold and hard again.

My gaze snapped to his blue and brown eyes. His face gave nothing away, something that I thought I mastered. Did I accidentally let my face curl into a smile? I glanced back at the mirror.

I would have to be even more careful.

The ranked members here weren’t watching me closely anymore. I had to remember someone trained was here now, paid to watch the things others long forgot. I was seen as someone who couldn’t be trusted, and I would have to remember how I acted when I was first let out of the prison that was this room.

“I apologize,” I said. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, still, my face held, thankfully nothing.

“May I?” he asked, gesturing to the room. I knew he wasn’t asking to sit down for tea.

I nodded, hiding in the wall of hair I made for myself. I really didn’t want him in here. I hoped my beating heart didn’t give away the nerves of a trained assassin assessing my space.

“You said that much.”

“So why ask me again?” I tilted my head, trying to look as vacant as possible.

“I’m curious.”

“I don’t believe that.” Damnit. I kept slipping. Part of me thought he might be some sort of warlock, but he smelled full werewolf.

“You know why I’m here. I’m trying to keep you all safe. For your protection, I need to know if anyone is after you.”

“I am the only member of my pack left living,” I admitted. It was the truth, and it cleaved open that well of pain that I suppress with anger.

“So someone had something against your pack?” he asked.

I shrugged. Was it not obvious who it was? He said he did his research. “People like power,” I suggested trying to give him a sheepish smile.

“That they do.” His eyes softened, but his jaw hardened.

I sensed there was a lot to him, and I desperately wanted to ask. But it would only satiate my curiosity, nothing more. And it would make him harder to kill when I inevitably had to—inevitably being days away.

He nodded slightly, a small inclination of his head, and a loose strand of dark brown hair fell over his forehead. I internally winced a the humanity of it. I needed to see him as a robot. The enemy, because he was.

I made up my mind to start tonight. Once it was in motion, no sad story of this orphan assassin would be enough to stop it.

“Thank you for your time,” he said, and I almost laughed at the formality.

“Of course.” I started brushing my hair and didn’t dare look at him as he silently left the room.