The Alpha Assassin novel Chapter 19

I silently followed him, my curiosity far outweighing my annoyance. It wasn’t until we reached the Alpha and Luna’s office wing that I paused.

“We’re not. I’m not supposed to be in there.”

I had a slight in with the Luna after I brought her flowers, and the Alpha ignored my presence. But I wanted to save that for when I really needed it. At the moment, there weren’t any specific pieces of information I needed that I knew were housed here; and I didn’t want to risk being outright banished from the place and lose that advantage I was saving.

“They’re not here.” He paused. “There was a paint emergency in her new office, and The Alpha is meeting with his Beta and Gamma. Besides, I’m allowed to be anywhere,” he added, and I looked behind him down the dark hallway. There were no sounds, but was it a-

“It’s not a trap,” he said, reading my mind. “But that’s what people would say if it were a trap, so..”

“So you lie?” I asked.

“I said people, not me.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to trust your mercenary hired help moral code for my life,” I said dryly, and it almost looked like he was about to smile.

“I just need a few minutes of your time. I have a few questions.” I stilled. “Not for you,” he amended and motioned me forward.

We stopped at a door, and he stood eerily still listening before pressing gently against it. The thick wood door opened without a creak as if he had control over it. I wondered again if he was some sort of magical hybrid, but I knew he was full werewolf.

He flipped on a switch, and a light flickered to light with a loud buzzing sound. I waited until my eyes adjusted. The Hunter went and opened the thick curtains, and I shielded my eyes against the light.

“What is this place?” I asked, slowly turning around.

At first, it seemed like an old, abandoned library. Thick dust motes hung in the sunlight that streamed through faded panes. But when I looked further, I saw glass boxes on pedestals, and tables surrounding the room, almost like a museum.

Everything inside the room was clean, even if it was dated, despite the muddy windows and the curtains that seemed not to have been touched in months.

The Hunter came up next to me on silent feet, crossing his arms. “I’m not sure. I was hoping you knew.”

“Why does it matter?” I asked, hoping to glean some information from him. What he knew that I didn’t, which I knew was a lot.

He looked me over for a moment before walking around the room, hovering over a glass case.

I peered inside the cases. Different relics were placed together in a way that might have made sense to someone else. Bullets of different shapes, sizes, and materials. A few traps that looked big enough to snap a bear's paw.

I came to where he was standing, looking over plans and maps. Ink on faded paper showing territories. Some were stained with dried blood; some were too faded to make out.

“These must be years old,” I murmured.

“Decades, possibly centuries in some cases.”

I leaned closer and made out an area that was marked with my pack’s symbol, the blood moon. It was next to a territory marked with some kind of claws and a faded symbol.

“What are you implying?” I asked.

I didn’t care what his answer was because something hit me. What if there was something here about my pack? Some explanation as to how they were able to take out an entirety of skilled wolves, one of the strongest packs in the continent. What if there was a clue as to how they knew our secret, our one weakness of the night we couldn’t shift?

I turned on my heel and threw open another curtain, fighting back a cough as dust erupted from the thick velvet.

I scanned the shelves, looking with a mix of equal parts anticipation and dread. Shields, weapons that looked as ancient as this place felt, medical saws, I shuddered at the thought. But there was nothing besides that one symbol on that map that indicated anything to do with my pack.

Is this why he brought me here? To try to get me answers? To have my break down and admit everything to him, offer my motives up to him on a silver plate?

I slumped against a wall, completely defeated. “What are you looking for?” he asked, studying me from afar with crossed arms that made his veins and muscles bulge.

I don’t know what I wanted to find, maybe just some proof that it was real, that they were real. “I don’t know.” I pressed my hands to the side of my face trying to fight off the beginning of a headache. “This stuff, it’s just overwhelming. It’s scary,” I muttered, my voice quiet.

I grasped for the pieces of my shattered mask and pulled them back together, slipping into the person I played all too well, except for when I was around him.

“I should have asked, told you what it was before I brought you,” he conceded, and I nodded once. “I’ll walk you back to your room,” he offered.

“It’s okay. I think I’ll sit in the library for a change of scenery,” I said.

He thankfully left me at the library’s door, and I spent the entirety of the day before dinner scouring the racks and hiding the books I would need to come back to.