Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

51. Not Your Friend, Sweetheart: Anna Jade

“Stop it. It will be better if she just sleeps until tomorrow,” a low, growly male voice that I do not recognize says, breaking through the haze of sleep.

Sleep. Oh Goddess, I fell asleep. I was really trying not to do that. I don’t trust Grayson, barrier or not, and I hate letting myself be vulnerable like that when he’s around.

Wait, hold on. I didn’t recognize that voice. It’s not Grayson. Is there someone else involved in this now? Does he have a partner he’s been working with, or someone new who has just joined up?

Either way, it’s bad news for me, considering that I’ve been asleep. At least I was getting used to Grayson, and he’s rather predictable in his routines. This guy, I have no idea, nor do I know what he’s been doing to me while I’ve been out.

But I also know that he’s less likely to do or say anything useful if he thinks I’m awake, so it might be worth keeping my eyes closed. Unless he’s a shifter, in which case he probably already knows I’m not sleeping anymore.

“But I’m curious about her eyes,” another strange male voice says, presumably in response to the first. “She looks so much like that Alpha woman, except I’ve heard that her hybrids have weird eyes.”

“It’s not worth disturbing her over,” the first voice growls in answer. “She’s not a toy or a plaything. She’s a payday. Don’t go letting yourself forget that, and don’t do anything to mess it up, either.”

“She’s already waking up,” a third voice chimes in, this one a woman. “You’d know that already if you were paying attention. She’s stirring, and even starting to panic a little. Back away from her and give her some space.”

“What’s her name?” one of the men wonders.

“No one has said yet, but I bet you can ask her in a minute,” another of the men responds to him.

“We’re strangers to her,” the woman reminds them. “I’m serious about backing away. We don’t want to spook her first thing, and you guys aren’t exactly a sight for sore eyes.”

“Hey now. I didn’t hear you complaining last night,” one of the men teases her, and I hear a sound that kind of sounds like she might have smacked him. He just laughs, and adds, “In fact, I seem to recall you saying something about how beautiful I am.”

“I said your eyes are beautiful. The rest of you, well, I’d say you’re a bit rough around the edges.”

“Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me. I like it rough, and I seem to remember you also saying something about how you do too.”

I have no idea who these people are, but other than the comments about my eyes and the payday, I’m not hearing anything too alarming. Beyond the obvious – I’m apparently in the custody of multiple strangers now, and whatever they plan to do with me, it’s for money.

But the woman seems to be concerned for me, and I can’t help but feel kind of hopeful about that. Maybe these are people who know my parents, or were hired by them at least. The one seems to know what my mom looks like, if nothing else. And if he’s met her in person and is still here to talk about it, sounding more curious and amused than anything, then that seems promising, right?

“Save all that nonsense for when you’re off the clock,” the growly, grumbly one demands. “And Lita, you’re on. The rest of us will step away and let you introduce yourself, see if you can calm her down a bit, but we’ll be just outside if you need anything.”

I hear an alarming number of footsteps moving around after that, and I think I count no fewer than four people exiting the door. That’s assuming that my limited senses can be trusted. I don’t have my wolf yet, and blind perception is not something I’ve ever practiced. I still think it was four, though.

“They’re gone now,” the woman says, softly and from much nearer to me than I realized.

Apparently, I was so preoccupied with listening for the other guys, that I forgot about her. I didn’t even hear her move, though I suppose her movements could have been lost in all the rustling noise the men were making.

“I know you’re awake, sweetheart, and listening. Which is good,” she tells me approvingly, almost sounding impressed. “You should be. You’ve been through something awful, so it’s good to see that you haven’t given up. You’re still fighting for yourself and doing what you can to stay safe, and that’s without a lick of training from what I understand.”

There really is no point in pretending anymore, so I open my eyes and try to take in the room around me. But it’s bright, and my head hurts a little. It hurts even worse once I start to move, trying to sit myself up, though it’s not until the woman rushes over to help that I get very far with that. I’m nauseous too. I’d completely believe it if she told me we were on a boat or something. This feels like what I imagine seasickness might feel like.

“You’re safe now,” she assures me, making a point of looking me in the eye when she does.

The expression of concern on her face is almost motherly, and as much as I don’t want to, I can’t help feeling a little comforted by just having her here. She’s warm and kind, and truth be told, I like that she’s a woman. It makes the fact that she’s a stranger to me less difficult to accept.

And she’s pretty. She kind of reminds me of Aspen, though not quite as pale, but with just as much auburn hair and fire in her eyes. Her incredibly green eyes, warm and friendly ones. Smiling at me.

I’d almost think she was a fox shifter if not for her height. Their hair tends to be reddish, and their eyes, though almost always brown or maybe even amber-colored if they’re really lucky, can occasionally be blue or green, like hers. I’ve never seen a female as tall as her, though. She’s quite a few inches taller than me, even, not that I’m all that tall, but female fox-shifters tend to be shorter than me.

And yet, she was the one who could sense that I was awake. She knew when I was panicking. She could hear me, even through all the noise the men with her were making. She really might be a fox.

“I’m Lita,” she introduces herself, despite my lack of response so far. “And I can tell that you’re trying to figure me out, so I’ll just tell you. I’m a fox-shifter, though my mother was human.”

“How –” I start to ask in disbelief, knowing that it’s impossible for an unturned human to reproduce with a shifter, and foxes can’t even turn them. They just can’t mate with humans, plain and simple, not in the procreative sense anyway.

“It’s a crazy story,” she chuckles, giving me a questioning look as she gestures toward the bed I’m on, asking my permission for her to join.

I nod my agreement, and she settles in next to me.

“It stems from something that happened to my grandmother before my mother even existed,” she begins to explain. “She fell ill from a dark witch’s curse and went to a healer for help. Though she was cured of the ailment, her fox did not survive, which essentially made her human, and all her offspring were born human, fathered by another human. And yet, somehow, perhaps because of some latent genetics from my grandmother or something, I exist, a fox-shifter born to a human mother. That was a shock to my mother when I came of age, but thankfully, my grandmother knew what to do with me, and now here I am, all caught up on the whole wide world of supernaturals out there, and even living and working amongst them.”

“That is kind of crazy,” I agree, laughing with her when she seems to find that humorous, though I’m still feeling weird about this whole thing.

Because first off, am I still in trouble, or are these my rescuers? And secondly, is what she’s saying even possible, or is it some tall tale she’s feeding me for some reason I can’t even fathom? I suppose that part doesn’t really even matter, though. I don’t care what she is. All I care about is when I can go home.

“So, I’m confused,” I admit, deciding to take a chance on just asking her outright about my situation. “Do you work for Grayson?”

“No way,” she scoffs. “But we did steal you from him. I won’t lie to you and claim that we’re your friends, because we’re not, but we’re also not going to hurt you. We were hired to retrieve you from the warlock and bring you back to Alpha Miles safely, so that’s what we’re gonna do. And we’re being paid well for it, so rest assured that even the lowlifes among us won’t bother you.”

“I heard that,” one of the men outside the door grumbles at her, though I’m pretty sure he’s laughing about it.

“Yep, that’s the one,” she says, chuckling and shaking her head. “But don’t worry about him. He may look like a thug, but he’s alright. And he’s my mate, for now at least. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

“Heard that too,” he mock complains through the door.

Though it kind of makes me want to smile to hear them teasing and playing around with each other the same way that my parents do with each other, I’m still not entirely convinced that I’m safe. At least she’s being honest about them not exactly being my friends, but I also still don’t know what it does mean for me. Who even is this Alpha Miles? I’ve never heard of him, and I have no idea why he would want me.

“Who is Alpha Miles?” I decide to push my luck and question her again.

“Oh, sweetie,” she coos, her face falling into an expression of pity. “You poor thing. Okay, so Alpha Miles is the wolf in charge of the Riptide territories, and I guess he and your mom are tight. I assume, anyway. From what I understand, he’s stepped in to retrieve you from the warlock on her behalf, because someone like your mom has no business being in this city. It wouldn’t be good for her or you if she came herself, regardless of what relationship she might have with the Alpha. She’s the sort of woman who tends to stir up trouble just by existing.”

She glances over at me, shooting me an apologetic smile, and reaches out her hand as if she means to touch me. She pulls back before she does, though, seeming to reconsider.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way,” she clarifies. “I admire her. I’m that sort of woman too.”

Riptide is a name I remember, a pack name, I think. In Las Vegas. I remember Tian and Rowan talking about it, though I also remember them telling me how dangerous it is there. I suppose that makes sense.

When he first showed up, Grayson was talking about how Bria and the hunters were trespassing in his territory, and now that I think of it, Alpha Miles was the name that Bria gave when she said who they were working for. He must be a law-abiding Alpha if he’s working with The Council and their satellite agencies, so despite the danger of a place like Riptide, at least there’s that.

“Okay, I can accept that,” I tell Lita agreeably, though I know better than to assume that everything is fine just because what she is telling me makes sense. “Although, I do find it kind of weird that Alpha Miles hired people to go get me instead of sending his pack warriors or something.”

“That’s because you grew up in a different sort of pack, sweetheart.”

She says it gently and without patronizing or condescending me for my ignorance, the way that Grayson would have done, so I suppose I appreciate that too. I’m not stupid, but she is asking for a lot if she expects me not to be suspicious of her and the guys with her.

“He can’t let himself be officially tied to this, both because of Grayson being involved and because the person he’s helping is your mom,” she goes on explaining. “Alpha Miles may respect her, but she isn’t well-loved in the rest of the region, and he plays a careful game of keeping all the right people happy, greasing certain palms, and staying away from getting involved in things that will upset his neighbors too much. That’s why he unofficially keeps people like us on his payroll, to deal with doing all the things that need doing but can’t have his name attached.”

I nod, beginning to understand, and she smiles back at me approvingly.

“Besides, it’s not so dissimilar to the way that Black Moon does things,” she adds, reaching for me again so she can pick up a lock of my hair and twirl it around her finger. “Your mother calls people like us ‘scouts’ instead of ‘mercenaries’ is the only difference.”

I suppose I can accept that too. Pete might have a few words to say in disagreement, but even Adam has said things quite similar to what she just insinuated. Scouts are just spies and mercenaries who happen to wear the uniform, or something like that. Though he’s never meant anything bad by it. Scouts also have important jobs that are just as necessary for pack safety as the warriors are.

But I also know that “unofficial” tends to mean “not quite sanctioned or legal,” which is what probably sets Lita and her crew apart from the Black Moon scouts. There are laws and a strict code of ethics that our guys must follow, and I’m not convinced that the same could be said of these guys. Otherwise, they’d be made official.

And that makes me wonder if my previous assessment of Alpha Miles being law-abiding was premature. Perhaps he only appears that way because of everything that he keeps off the book, and that isn’t a comforting thought.

“So, what happens tomorrow?” I feel a need to ask, remembering one of the guys making mention of letting me sleep until then.

“You are a perceptive one,” she compliments me. I think. “Tomorrow is when we hand you off to Alpha Miles. You’ll stay in whatever secure location he has arranged for you until such time that you can safely be returned to your family, but I don’t know any of those details. All I do know is that you’d better know someone who can get that thing off your neck, because we couldn’t find the key for it.”

“No, I think Grayson kept it on him,” I answer glumly, the realization that the collar is here to stay for awhile sinking in. “Or at least he said he did. I didn’t really get a chance to find out.”

“That’s what we figured. He’d be a fool not to,” she agrees, giving me a sympathetic look as she studies the collar. “Although, he was a fool to leave you alone in that motel room too. We knew better than to try taking him on directly, but as soon as he was out of the picture, we pounced on the opportunity. Our warlock wouldn’t have been able to duel him, but he was beyond capable of disabling his wards. Lucky us.”

“Lucky me,” I add in agreement. “That place was disgusting, and so was he. I’ve never met a more infuriating man.”

“You say that now, but you haven’t met your mate yet,” she jests, chuckling with amusement.

“Don’t make me take you over my knee, woman,” her own mate chimes in from outside the door.

That only seems to make her laugh harder, and I can’t help smiling along with her. These people may be off-the-book criminals, but at least she seems nice. It’s weird that he’s right out there listening, but I suppose that’s also a good reminder for me that we’re not actually alone in here, nor is she my friend despite how friendly she is being, and I need to be careful what I say. They haven’t asked my name directly yet, and I don’t plan to give it.

“I find it encouraging that your only complaint about your former captor so far seems to be that he’s infuriating,” Lita comments thoughtfully. “You don’t seem particularly traumatized, which is good.”

“No, not really,” I agree, sighing. “I mean, I haven’t enjoyed being his prisoner, but he never hurt me or anything. Mostly I just had to sit there and listen to him stroking his own ego, bragging about himself and all that he’s capable of. He doesn’t like backtalk, though. I learned that the first day.”

“Really, wow. You don’t strike me as the sort of girl to backtalk your captor, but I suppose I’m also not surprised,” she says, smiling as she gently cups my cheek with her hand. “You are your mother’s daughter, after all.”

Verbally, I agree with her about that, but inwardly, it’s the rest of what she said that troubles me. She’s right. I’m not the sort to backtalk, especially not to someone threatening my life and person. What was I even thinking? I guess I’ll have to chalk it up to stress, or perhaps temporary insanity. It was so unlike me, and even now, I find it unsettling that I did something so stupid. He could have killed me, if he’d wanted to.

Eventually, she must decide that I’ve calmed down enough, and she invites the others back into the room. There were four, as it turns out, though the rest aren’t as forthcoming with their personal information as she has been. I’m not even all that certain of what types of shifters or supernaturals they are, other than her mate is probably a fox like her. I think I know which one is the warlock too, judging by his eyes and the strange aura he has about him.

I also discover that it’s one of their safehouses that we’re in, though it’s a tiny one, an apartment to be more accurate. Only one bedroom, which I’m strongly advised against leaving. I can’t help but feel like I’m still kind of a captive, though hopefully it will be better tomorrow, after they’ve delivered me to Alpha Miles.

Although my better sense tells me that I’m still not going to be allowed to roam around freely, and I’m not even sure that I’d want to, if what I’ve heard about this place is true. But if the Alpha has gone to the trouble of hiring people to retrieve me just so that his connection to my pack can remain under the radar, then I doubt he’s going to want me walking about while wearing my mother’s face.

I’m not looking forward to more time as a collared witch confined to one single room and relying on other people for food and bathroom breaks, but at least Lita is nice, and the guys with her are keeping their distance. I can only hope that it will be as minimally unpleasant once I get to Alpha Miles’s custody, and that it won’t take long for him to get me home.

Homesick doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now. Home-starved is more like it. I can’t wait to get back to Black Moon to see my family, every last one of them. I can't wait for all the hugs, kisses, and annoying sibling spats I've been missing out on, and you'd better believe that once I’m finally back there, I’m never leaving again.