Running [On Hold - See 'The Holding Cell' For More Info]

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

When Jaden returned, true to his word he brought more food with him—this time in the form of a bowl of chicken pasta and a large bottle of water. I was in that fuzzy place between being awake and being asleep when he came in, the sound of the door opening jolting me fully awake.

“Drink some of this first” he ordered, handing me the bottle. “Then you can eat some more.”

I didn’t reacted as badly to his close presence this time; I still flinched as he raised his arm towards me, but I ignored the part of me that wanted to curl up into a ball again and instead just sat up from lying down. I figured he’d already had more than enough time to do something if he wanted to.

My muscles groaned in protest at the movement but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had before. I was healing faster than normal, but that was to be expected with the kind of treatment I was receiving; I hadn’t felt this good in a long time, (whether that was due to all the food and rest or Jaden himself was still to be debated).

Jaden sat down in the chair again, watching me with a hesitant expression on his face. I was still uncomfortable being this near to him—he was so close I could feel the heat that was radiating off of his body—but I tried to stay as still as possible. If I wasted any more energy panicking like I had before it would slow the healing process back down. And besides, I didn’t want to run the risk of angering this strange man again, especially when he was the only person I had come into contact with so far and was thus my only source of information.

Carefully drinking the water in small sips I ran my gaze over Jaden’s form, once again marvelling at how alike he looked to him. The only thing that differed was the eyes—ice blue and forest green—and the expression they held. He was never one for showing any emotions, and if he did it was all fake. Jaden, however, was like an open book in comparison. At that moment he was clearly troubled about something; the conflict in his eyes was clear for all to see.

I couldn’t help but wonder though, what if Jaden was the same as him? What if all the things I was reading from his expression were purposely written there? After all, I had also first thought him to be just as open and caring.

When I had drunk about a quarter of the water and had gotten half way through the bowl of pasta Jaden finally spoke, breaking the somewhat awkward silence.

“So…” he paused, clearly waiting for me to fill in the space with my name. He sighed when he realised that that wasn’t going to happen. Those alluring blue orbs meet my gaze solemnly. “I’m going to have to ask you a few questions now—it would be everyone’s best interest, including yours, if you cooperate and answer them truthfully.”

I stayed silent and took another sip of water. I wasn’t all that worried; the chances were that I’d already experienced worse than whatever punishment they were going to give me for not talking. But the fact that he wanted information from me proved that these people—whoever they are—are not from mypack. His pack.

“How about we start with you telling me your name?”

I took another bite of pasta.

“No? Well, where are you from?”

Once again I ignored him and took another mouthful of food.

“Why did you come here? Do you even know where here is?”

Another sip of water.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

This time I gave him a puzzled look. What did that have to do with anything?

Jaden shrugged and leaned back in the chair casually.

“You won’t answer any other questions, which probably means that you’ll have to be kept here longer while the Alpha and the Council decide what to do with you, so we might as well get to know each other better.”

I froze when he mentioned ‘the Council’. Werewolf Councils were a tradition long forgotten by most packs—originally they helped the Alpha in planning war strategies and initiating evacuations in cases of human or hunter discovery. But pack wars are an extreme rarity these days, hunters are now non-existent, and humans are too wrapped up in their technology to notice each other let alone us ‘mythical’ creatures.

However, there was still one pack in Europe that valued the old ways and held a strong Council. The O’Shea pack. Neighbour to my pack. Enemy to my pack. 

I tried to keep the panic I felt from showing in my expression, but I highly doubt that I was successful. Jaden just watched me in silence, a frown forming on his brow.

How could I possibly answer his questions now? Granted, it was never my intention to, but I had a feeling that if anyone could persuade me to talk it would be Jaden. I just felt…drawn to him. Now I couldn’t tell him anything even if I wanted to—if I was right and I am currently being held captive by the O’Shea pack then I could never tell them who I was or what pack I came from.

With pack wars being such a rare occurrence it means the stakes are ten times higher when they do happen, so when you get two colliding packs, like the O’Shea and the Jackson pack, they put every effort into getting one up on the other. So, say you had a Jackson pack member being held captive by the O’Shea pack…all hell was likely to break lose.

There was a sickening feeling welling up in the pit of stomach and the air felt too thin, like there wasn’t enough to breathe properly.

“Hey,” a warm hand enclosed my softly—I hadn’t even realised that I was balling my fists together at my sides. “It’s going to be okay.” Jaden said softly, his sparkling blue orbs looking at me with so much intensity it felt like he was looking into me. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise.”

I frowned. There he goes again, promising things like it means something—yeah right. And yet…I relaxed. The air wasn’t so thin anymore and my stomach acid no longer felt like it wanted to climb up my throat.

What the hell? How is he doing that?!

My lips twisted into a weak smile before I could stop them. Jaden blinked, seemingly shocked. Then his face broke into an answering grin that literally took my breath away.

Get a hold of yourself Kathrynne! And for God’s sake: BREATHE!

Jaden opened his mouth to say something, but before he could a sudden beeping sounded from his pocket.

With a slight grimace, he pulled out a flashy-looking phone and tapped the screen a few times before letting out a sigh.

“That’s my queue to leave I’m afraid.” He said standing up. I frowned—why did it feel like my heart was sinking as he left?

With a small tried looking smile in my direction, Jaden picked up the now empty bowl and headed to the door. It was about to slam closed when my mouth decided that it had a mind of its own.

“Jaden.”

Quizzical green eyes met my gaze, as if he half-way believed that he’d imagined my speaking.

“Thank you.” The words came out in a soft whisper but they seemed to dance in the air around us.

Jaden swallowed, blinked a few times, and stuttered a hasty “You’re welcome” before hurriedly closing the door behind him.

I stared at the heavy looking wood for a moment and finally decided that they had clearly being putting some sort of drug in the food they gave me—what else could possibly cause my heart to beat this rapidly?