"I wouldn't go in there just yet."

     I paused at the threshold of the Pack House, wondering why Tatum was idly perched on the rail of the porch, sipping on a cup of steaming coffee that was clasped between his hands. He jerked his head to the door, as if to clarify what he was talking about like I was a dimwit.

     It wouldn't be the first time he'd done it. If I squinted hard enough, I was sure he rolled his eyes when I only responded with a raised brow, but I couldn't be too sure when it came to the man.

     He was enigmatic to the core.

     Today, he was wearing a light blue dress shirt with some dark charcoal pants that seemed to have been heavily ironed. A thin leather belt adorned his trim hips and his feet were covered in the dark leather loafers he liked so much. I wondered if ever he and Seamus got over their dislike for each other, would the two find that they had similar tastes in dress?

     "It sounds messy in there." He added, taking another long sip of his hot brew as he watched me over the rim of the ceramic.

     I blinked. Aella had told me to come to the house to meet up before we began training. I hadn't thought much about it when I rolled out of bed this morning. Plus, I had something I wanted to share with the Alpha. I fiddled with the chip I had in my pocket, feeling the grooves on it. It was a tracking chip. I wanted to share my idea with both Jude and Aella. I was sure they'd lend an ear. It wasn't a stupid idea but it was a novel one in the current circumstance we had with the red eyed changelings.

      "What's happening?" I asked, trying to listen.

      "You'll soon see it-"

      On cue, the front door opened with a slam. It rattled heavily against the exterior of the house. A woman rushed by, her wheat-coloured hair fluttering behind her like buttery silk. Some part of my brain deemed her familiar, but I couldn't quite attach a name or place to her face as she ran down the stairs.

     I barely dodged the edge of the door as it opened again, revealing Alexei who looked annoyed. I didn't make a single sound as the man watched the woman jump into a baby blue car parked crookedly on the gravel driveway. I hadn't even noticed it there since I had been tapping away on my phone. The vehicle rumbled to life.

     From the front seat, she defiantly raised her two middle fingers, jamming it right to the screen so Alexei wouldn't miss the lewd gesture. I heard Tatum snort as the woman fiddled with the gears and sped off, leaving black track marks along the grass.

     Jude barged out of the door seconds later, "You're going to fix that shit up." He pointed to his marred lawn, aiming a glare at Alexei.

     "Will do Alpha." Alexei responded.

     "You know how to pick them." I spoke, watching the car disappear behind a thick line of trees. I wasn't even going to acknowledge the sudden emotion that reared its ugly head within me.

     Alexei's gaze snapped to mine. He couldn't even hide the slight widening of his eyes when he noticed my presence. It wasn't like I was hiding from the guy. He had been too occupied with runaway Barbie to notice me.

     "How long have you been standing there?" He asked warily, peering into the distance before focusing his attention back on me.

     "Not long."

     His brows furrowed but he didn't say more.

     "She looked angry." Tatum intercepted, "What did you do to the poor woman?" The man approached us, nosy and unashamed.

     "Nothing that concerns you."

     "It does if she was the reason I woke up this morning with her screaming like a fucking banshee. She could easily become an opera singer with a pair of those lungs."

     She was here since the morning?

     Hmm.

     "She isn't important. Let's drop this line of conversation." Alexei's jaw tightened in warning. 

     I bit my tongue to avoid speaking. In fact, I wanted to usher Alexei to the Alpha's office so I could do a full-on interrogation, demanding why there was a woman screaming her head off at him. The only reason I didn't pull him by the ear was because I had some pride. I didn't want to look like I cared. There wasn't anything between Alexei and I. He could do whatever he wanted. I had no say in his life as much as he did on mine.

     "What are you doing here?" Alexei asked.

     "I'm going to train with Aella for a little bit."

     He nodded, "Good. You could use a bit of refinement in combat."

     That was it. I was going to murder this man in his sleep. If he wanted to see 'refinement', I would gladly show him how much help Aella was giving me.

     "Woah kids, let me just excuse myself from this tension." Tatum slipped by, holding his cup of coffee close to his wide chest as if he thought we'd spill it.

      "We'll train on Friday." Alexei informed me as the other man left, leaving us on the porch. Alone. "Have you practised trying to let your wolf out?"

     "You know I haven't been successful."

     "Keep trying."

     "Aye aye Captain."

     "That mouth of yours will get you into trouble one day." His gaze dropped to the said mouth in question. I stifled an eye-roll.

     "Alright Sensei, if we're done here-"

     "Sensei?" He stopped me by holding onto my wrist. There was a hint of laughter dancing in his eyes. I ignored the warmth of his touch as he examined my hand, "How long have you been wanting to say that to me?"

     "For that question to be further inspected, one would assume that I think about you a lot."

     His fingers slowly stroked along the sensitive skin of my wrist, "So I don't occupy your thoughts?"

     "Not in the slightest." I retracted my hand before he began to get other ideas. I wasn't going to risk his face hovering too close to my hand.

     "I'll see you on Friday Penelope."

     "Stop calling me Penelope. It's Pen." I corrected to his retreating back as he disappeared inside the Pack House.

     When he was out of sight, Aella came through the front door with a big, wide grin. Her lips were noticeably red, taking on a bee-stung effect. "You ready to go?"

     "Looks like you got some something something this morning." I raised an amused brow.

     "Don't even start Pen." Aella flushed, "It's too early in the morning."

     "Just kidding. Let's go kick some ass."

     By the time our training session ended, I had already forgotten about the chip in my pocket until I fished it out at home when I prepared for a shower. I groaned in frustration, squeezing it in my palm. "You had one job Pen. One job." I palmed my forehead with a helpless groan.

***

     Kian and I waited until it was midnight.

     We had memorised the schedules for each Enforcer on duty guarding the borders tonight.

     "Are you sure you want to come?" Kian asked quietly, tracing the point beyond the Pack with keen eyes. "We might get caught and they might do something about our positions in the Elite Syndicate."

     "What have I told you about asking dumb questions Kian?"

     "'Dumb questions deserve dumb answers'" He mimicked my supposedly high-pitched voice.

     He barely dodged a fist to his chest.

     "And this is why you're still single." I pinched his thigh when he moved closer, so we had a better vantage point of the path we were going to take towards the Blue Cave Pack.

     "You're single." Kian retorted.

     Damn. Shots fired.

     "Ugh, don't remind me." I grimaced. I wasn't actively looking for someone to entertain me. I already erased the possibility. I simply wasn't interested in anyone enough to pursue that path. Despite Aella nudging me to the single males in the Pack, I hadn't taken the bait on any wolf in particular.

     I adjusted the hem of my sweater and shifted on my feet, feeling pins and needles along my legs from crouching too long in the same position. We had exchanged our E.S skins for our normal wear. It was Kian's idea since he didn't want anyone recognising our uniforms. We decided we would change back into our combat wear once we returned to the border so if anyone stumbled across us, we would look less suspicious hovering near the borders.

     As soon as Kian appeared at my front door, I was surprised to feel a wave of nostalgia. I had a brief flashback of pre-Enforcer Kian, the one who had been more wary than I was when we had been scouted and gathered into the Shadow Hunters like lambs to the slaughter. He had donned his faded jeans and grey shirt that he paired with his usual boots and leather jacket. He squeezed on a beanie that completely hid all his hair. One quick glance at me and he raised a dark brow, "You sure you want to wear that?" He stared pointedly at the pair of denim shorts I was currently sporting like it was the peak of summer.

     "I know it's cold. Don't judge."

     "It's fucking freezing but if you want to wear that, I'm not going to stop you."

     "Good. I'm glad you have chosen to live."

     Kian huffed out a long-suffering sigh.

     We remained silent, waiting for the figures near the border to complete their sweep of the area. They would leave in a few minutes and that would be our cue to slip by.

     "Three...two...one..." Kian whispered just as one of the Enforcers nodded, signalling an end of their patrol. They ambled out of sight. We waited for a few beats before slowly surveying the perimeter again. They would come back soon enough. I wouldn't be too surprised if we got caught. We were still amateurs, but we'd taken as many precautions as we could think of.

     "Let's go." I held the strap of my bag closer to my body.

     The journey would take a few hours. If we were lucky, we would be back before the first light of sunrise graced the top of the cone trees in a golden halo. We packed our E.S skins for our return trip in a single knapsack I wore strapped across my shoulder.

     Kian and I dashed for the border, moving on silent but swift feet.

     We passed the border and ran a few miles further without rest.

     "We can shift once we hit that foliage." Kian instructed on even breath. He didn't look affected by the speed we were travelling.

     "I'll just run." I flung him a strained smile. Now was so not the time to confess my little secret. Kian didn't reply but he moved faster, almost resembling a spear sailing through the wind.

     I clenched my teeth, focusing on the path in front of us and hastened my pace.

***

     "Where is everyone?" I asked.

     We surveyed the empty Pack house for the third time, wary.

     The minute we made it into the heart of the Pack, it wasn't difficult to detect that not a single soul resided in the Blue Cave Territory.

     We caught sight of a few of Tatum's men taking inspection of the boundary lines when we drew closer to the Pack. The only reason we hadn't been caught was based on the fact that Kian had led us into the Pack through an underground route. Big hollow cylinders ran below the Pack. Kian had discovered the tunnels when he stumbled across it as a kid, keen on hiding if from daddy dearest. 

     Not a single light illuminated the narrow network that ran secretly below the Pack. As soon as Kian shifted a big boulder to the side and pointed to a dark hole dug in the ground with wildflowers surrounding it, I had been surprised and thrilled there was something like this. "Does Aella know about this?"

     "Fuck no. This is the only opening I know of. I haven't told a single soul until you. I'm not sure who in the Pack knows about this but I'm sure it's not many. That, I am sure of. Aella had no clue what I was talking about when I hinted it one day to her. I planned on telling her, but I just haven't gotten around to it just yet." He grunted, crouching low to get a peek inside the darkness. He tossed a few pebbles and sticks inside. They made a small amount of noise as they slammed the bottom. The single sound caused ripples of noise to echo off the walls. "There's a metal ladder in here. Once you place your feet inside, you'll feel it. I'll go first."

     "There's not a lot of insects in there, right?" I asked, half contemplating the urge to run off.

     "No, only big gigantic rats." Kian drawled.

     "Uh, nice." I watched as he lowered himself bit by bit. I heard the moment the hard soles of his boots made contact with one of the rungs of the ladder. The metal groaned under his weight as he went lower into the ground.

     I scanned our surroundings as Kian cleared the way. There wasn't anyone close by that I could detect. I clung tightly to the rungs of the ladder as I descended. Each step elicited a small, rusty creak. When I couldn't feel any more rungs for my feet to land on, Kian grabbed my ankle, "Just jump down. You're not too far off from the ground." When he stepped back, I released my clasp on the ladder.

     "It smells like vomit in here." I almost gagged. There was no light to lead the way. Kian was a mere dark outline in the murky shadows, I could barely discern him. "Which way now?"

     "Not too far from here." He replied, "I haven't been down here in a long time."

     "How long are we speaking?"

     "Five years. Give or take."

     "Kian! Are you sure you even know where you're going?"

     "Just chill out. I know this place." He began walking. I followed the sound of his boots as we moved to the right. The ground was solid cement. There were fans somewhere because I could hear its soft whirring in the distance.

     I kept count of how long we continued. When we hit seven minutes and thirty-five seconds, Kian abruptly stopped. I almost walked right into him if I hadn't caught myself in time.

     "There should be ladder here somewhere." He whispered pensively. I extended my hand in the air, feeling around until my knuckles brushed cold metal. I latched onto the high hanging rung, feeling the aged rust along the sides.

     "You found it?"

     "Yeah, here." I felt around for his hand. His felt like ice as I gripped it, leading it to where my other hand was placed. "Looks like you still remember."

     "Of course. I have incredible memory." He sounded so affronted, I wanted to laugh but I was too cautious to raise the octave of my voice. I wasn't going to take any chances. If anyone came running at us, I was sure Kian would use me as bait. I'd like to think he had grown a soft spot for me but Kian was still a puzzling mystery I hadn't yet figured out.

     Kian effortlessly hauled himself up.

     Iheard the noisy clanks of his boots and the rungs whine. A few seconds later, atiny spear of light shot me in the eye. I flinched as Kian lifted one arm andmoved the object obscuring the exit hole. He glanced down at me, wiggling abrow. "Looks like we made it."