Word Count: 1567

~Jada

I took me a moment to process that.

Here for me? That doesn't make any sense. I mean, Blue looks familiar, but I know for a fact I don't have any surviving family. No one has reached out to me since, and no one has expressed any care for my position. So staring at Blue, hearing him say that to me fills me with a strange sense of anger.

He seems to notice my expression morphing to personify my emotions, jumping to explain himself further. "It might not make sense now, but there's little I can say. If anyone hears, we might both get in trouble."

"Look, no one is going to hear," I tell him, shaking my head at him, motioning across the abandoned field. I'm not even sure if anyone is here anymore.

Blue looks skeptical. "Kael is busy with someone else."

Swallowing uncomfortably, my insistent words don't seem to get through to him. He looks over his shoulder, and when he looks back at me, I can tell he is acknowledging how there is no way I'm letting him leave here without being honest with me. I knew I was right, and I want to hear from him why. Why he's here for me.

"You have to be quiet, okay?" Blue insists, still looking anywhere but me trying to ensure no one could be listening in. "You have to understand how bad it is if someone hears and tells Kael. Maybe he would pity you, but there is no way he would pity me."

I click my finger impatiently. "Okay, get to the point."

"I know your family. Well I know you. Or knew you, at least. From our childhood," Blue explains to me. I blink a few times, unsure whether that makes much sense to me. There's little I can remember from childhood considering the trauma of having my family taken from me.

"I still can't remember you," I say, seeking more information. It feels as though it's at the tip of my tongue, however, it hasn't come to me yet. The more he looks at me with those eyes, though, I can feel it getting closer.

"Our families were close before everything went down. I'm older so I went away two years before you were taken. When I learnt of what had happened to our close family friends I knew I had to do something," Blue explains.

I loosen a short breath, a vision of a boy in my young life suddenly appearing, although I can put my finger on it.

"You have to remember," Blue says suddenly, grabbing my shoulder tightly. "It's me. Axel."

Oh.

It was as if the utter of his name suddenly brought back memories that were once concealed within the depths of my mind, hidden to handle the trauma and pain I've been through in my early life. Axel, my blue eyed friend who left me so young for school. For the law. Mourning him leaving, his mother convinced my own to hide me. To keep me from the inevitable nature of Kael''s boarding school.

Now that I look at him, I feel almost foolish for not knowing it was him sooner. Of course he's changed drastically, but he still has those brilliant blue eyes. The same as Axel, the boy I once knew so well before he was ripped from us all. I remember being sad that day, but I can't remember anything past that.

"What are you doing here then?" I question, my voice becoming hushed now that I know the weight behind his admission.

"It's a long story that's dangerous to talk about here. But I came for you. To protect you. I never knew you'd be apart of the competition, but I wanted to use my position to help you. I thought you were in prison," Blue tells me.

I shake my head, confused. "No. I was put into boarding school."

I'm assuming he's confused since if I were taken in to be punished for defying the law, I would be put in jail rather than facing the death penalty because of my age. Maybe if I were a few years older I would have suffered the fate of rotting under the depths of the city, knowing no other life.

Blue breathes in deeply, closing his eyes. He looks relieved, as if years of worrying suddenly became all for nothing. Now I'm left wondering what the relationship between us is meant to be. We don't feel like friends or family. I just feel like I owe him.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you're safe," Blue says, smiling warmly for the first time I've known him here. "I missed you."

Looking at him only brings back memories of my family, and unwarranted tears begin to form in my eyes. I try to blink them away, but they only make them spill out down my cheeks. Why am I crying? Yes I remember him, but the feelings I have toward him are blurred.

Before either of us could say anymore, Blue suddenly notices a figure across the field, flinching at the sight of it.

He turns back to me. "We can't talk about this no more."

Glancing over his shoulder, I see it's actually two figures approaching. Both Kael and another figure. Immediately I begin to freak out, and I'm not sure why. Axel and I haven't done anything bad that they know about, but it seems illegal to be standing on this field right now.

"It's okay, I was assessing you," Axel reassures me as they get closer. When I look over his shoulder again I can see Kael is with Ace. He won...Oh great.

Both Axel and I turn to face the Alpha as he approaches.

"Blue," Kael greets, reminding me Axel's name according to these Silent's and the Alpha is different to the childhood friend that I once knew. "Jada. What is going on here?"

Kael's gaze brushes over both of us, before they land on my face, concern suddenly coming across his face. At that moment I realised he was looking at the tears that are beginning to dry on my face. Quickly I swipe them away, hoping he would dismiss it as emotions from winning this competition.

"I was just assessing Jada's physical abilities," Axel says lightly, swallowing uncomfortably. Kael narrows his eyes on him and he quickly jumps in to defend himself. "I wanted to see her level of fitness and how she is sparring. She has a good punch."

"Right," Kael says slowly.

We all stand there for a moment, tension between us able to be cut with a knife. I glance at Ace who stands right next to Kael. He doesn't look as surprised or confused as I am. In fact, he looks bored, almost. When I look at him I see a younger, slightly more scarred but much less intimidating version of Kael. Maybe that's why he was selected.

"Well, Ace is the male winner," Kael announces. "Blue, why don't you take him back and show him the training facilities. I'm sure the other Silent's would like to meet him."

Axel nods, glancing at me. In his eyes, a warning, almost. Don't tell him anything.

Ace and Axel walk away together, leaving both me and Kael standing there. I let him speak first. I work for him now. He was always my leader, but now I'm here, ready for die for him if it came to that.

"Were those tears I saw earlier?" Kael questions, tone almost accusatory, dark eyebrows furrowed. "Did Blue do something to you?"

I shake my head. "No, Alpha."

Maybe he noticed how begrudging I am to speak about it, so he seems to drop it. It's a relief. I've lied to Kael enough. Now, I have so many secrets kept from him, and the guilt is building up within me bad enough at this point.

"I'm sorry I brought this upon you so suddenly. I didn't mean to frighten you. I know you're capable of this with some more training," Kael says, his tone softening. "We won't throw you into anything for a few months yet."

I pretend to be relieved, but that's not what I'm concerned about. "Thanks, Alpha."

When I think I should walk away, assuming the conversation is over, Kael clears his throat to speak up again. I'm surprised he is paying me more attention than he has time for right now.

"I really do care about you, Jada," he says suddenly, making me startle. "Believe it or not, I want you to be safe. And I can help you find somewhere safer to have a normal life if you truly want that over this. I'm sure I can find someone else for the position if it's not for you."

My Alpha is truly attractive. I know that. More than attractive. He's sexy and totally unattainable. I've had these feelings sprout before when I've been around them. Bad, illegal feelings. Hearing him tell me he cares about me causes dangerous warmth to bloom within me.

This isn't good. I can't fall for him.

🖤••💚

If you guys want more of Kael, the rest is on Radish. Check it out! (:

Also, I've released the second to last book in the Alpha series on Radish!!

Hope you enjoy!

🌷••🌷

Instagram: Sophie_Midika

~Midika 💜🐼