Too Many Secrets To Hide | ✔| #Wattys2017

Chapter Twenty-One

Word Count: 3812

He had piercing gray eyes, an extremely unusual color. His fur was pure black, like something out of a movie. And don't even ask me how I knew he was male, he just seemed like one. He cocked his head off to one side, as if examining me. He was, of course. He had just followed an unfamiliar wolf's scent to a car with a human girl.

He shifted into a human- and dear sweet gorgeous. It must have been the strength of my wolf that kept my jaw from dropping. He was beautiful. Like Jasper, but more exotic. There was something about those silver eyes next to that jet black hair. Paired with that face and... Damn.
It wasn't until I settled back on his eyes that I realized how I had been all but drooling over him. It was in this same moment that I realized he was looking at me exactly the same way.
He knocked on the window, asking for me to open the door. I complied without much thought. Before I knew it, I was standing face to face with this amazing creature. "Who are you?" he asked with a startling deep voice. "I could ask you the same thing," I returned as I crossed my arms tenaciously. I only vaguely understood that I was possibly trespassing on his territory and it was not my place to ask him what he was doing here.
He seemed a little shocked about my reply, but answered nonetheless. "Malachi," he extended a hand to me. I took it with a skeptical gleam in my eyes that wasn't real. "Cadence," I retorted curtly. "And where are you from, Cadence?" he asked, saying my name like it was a puzzle piece he wasn't sure went there or if it just looked like it did.

I dropped my head at his question, finally lowering my hand from his. "My past," I said cryptically. He looked confused, and I didn't blame him. "What do you mean?" he questioned. "I left my old home and I don't really want to talk about it," I told him bluntly, but with just enough of a plea to get my way. I had been 'daddy's little princess' once, so I knew how to get what I wanted.

"Do you need a place to stay?" The question caught me off guard. He seemed innocent enough, but then, so had my dad for fifteen years. I wasn't going to just go with this werewolf boy who had just wandered out of the woods and knocked on my window. Even if he was ridiculously hot, even if I did need a place to stay. No matter what, I was still, for all I knew, an intruder on his territory. That meant that he could do whatever he saw fit to do with this random trespassing werewolf. I wasn't exactly up to date on customs yet, so for now I would play it safe.

"No," I said almost honestly. Really though, it was the truth. I didn't need a place to stay. I stood up a little straighter. "Are you sure?" he asked cautiously. I nodded. He was not so easily deterred, however. "Well I did just catch you trespassing on my land," he stated like he was going to use it against me. "So I have every right to take you in for questioning, especially since you do appear to be a rogue." I scoffed at him. "My father was a rogue," I sneered half to myself as I leaned against my open car door. He raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "Regardless," he went on with a sigh. "I won't force you into anything you don't want because I can see that you're harmless." Harmless? Very funny, but I was at least happy he was going to let me go. "If you answer me this one question truthfully." And just like that, happiness vanished. I raised my eyebrows, one slightly moreso than the other, to show I was listening. "Why do you have Hunter Jackson's scent all over you?"

I turned my head over to one side because, who was Hunter Jackson. Suddenly it hit me. "I have no idea who that is, but I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say he's about fix feet tall, blond hair and brown eyes?" I guessed. Malachi gave me a look that told me I was right, but he was wondering why and how. "Him and two other guys tried to..." what exactly had they tried to do? "Hurt me..." I trailed off in search of a better word than 'hurt'. I was fairly confident 'rape' would have been more correct, but I didn't want to say that.

"When?" Malachi asked, sounding concerned. He was acting a little like Jasper. "Yesterday," I told him, not seeing how it mattered. "Several hours away from here," I added. I thought I had gotten away from those three. "We recently kicked Hunter out of the pack on charges of treason," Malachi explained, I was very familiar with the concept of treason. "The other two who were with him were likely human." I nodded.
Then, we both realized something at the same time. He voiced it while I thought it. "Did you fight all three of them by yourself?" I had, and it had seemed amazing until I realized at least one of then was a werewolf. Now, it seemed impossible. "I did," I say proudly, as if I had known all along. His gaze was still fixed intently on me, and I got the feeling he knew something I didn't. "Hunter was my cousin," he said as if that had some higher meaning. Strangely enough, it did for me. I understood completely what it was like to be betrayed by a family member. "He was next in line after my brother to become alpha." That, however, came as a shock. This guy was an alpha? Maybe it was just that his father was the alpha, but the way he said it made me think he himself owned the position. "So that makes Hunter a very strong, capable person," Malachi continued when I didn't speak.

"Which makes me think you've got alpha blood in you if you were able to fend him off along with two others." That I hadn't thought of. I knew that dad had fought Christopher for the alpha title, and Jasper had said it was a rough battle. It rose questions in my mind I intentionally put away because I needed to forget about my old life. This is my new one and I need to focus on it.