Word Count: 1860

~Avia

Isaiah is already standing at the cell when I enter the room.

Sure enough, Kadrick is behind the bars, glancing up at me when I rush in. He exposes nothing through his expression, having been expertly trained by Malin and I for if something like this happened. Part of me wants to lurch forward and slap him for being foolish enough to fall into a trap and get himself caught, but I know I have to act as though I only know him as Isaiah's ex personal guard.

"Kenna, you shouldn't be here," Isaiah mutters. That can only mean one thing.

Isaiah appears far angrier than I thought he could be capable of. His expression doesn't reveal it, but his eyes do, an icy storm gathering in his irises. If allowed, he's going to hurt Kadrick, and there won't be anything I can do to stop it.

"I want to hear your interrogation," I say, folding my arms over my chest. In other words, I want to make sure Isaiah doesn't kill Kadrick in cold blood.

Isaiah shakes his head. "Trust me, it will be better if you aren't here."

The firmness in his tone makes me realise he isn't going to let up on this. So I give Kadrick a lasting look, trying to convey to him that I'm going to be listening in, and I'm not going to let Isaiah hurt him if it comes down to that.

Zire passes by me as I walk out. I narrow my eyes on him, and he nods curtly. He knows what he has to do.

I don't go far, lingering near the stairs within air shot.

"So I'm going to go out on a limb and say your rebel group killed one of my guards so you could take their place?" Isaiah questions. My blood goes cold. How much will Kadrick say? He may have been trained, but he could hate me right now, want me to pay for breaking up with him. If that is the case, I should be fleeing now.

Kadrick doesn't after him, the silence heavy and laden with anger and hatred.

"What was your intention?" Zire growls, playing his role. From what I've gathered, Zire hates the rebellion, he just doesn't hate it as much as he hates the idea of his identity getting revealed, or anything personal about him.

"To get information," Kadrick mumbles in response.

"And did you get any?" Isaiah asks. I chew on the edge of my fingernail, tapping my foot worriedly. Kadrick better not blow this. All he has to do is end the conversation so Zire can get him out of there.

"No. You fired me, remember?" The seething tone Kadrick adopts doesn't have to be faked.

"Were you going to hurt Kenna?" I can almost see Isaiah's expression when he asks that. Recently he has been so much more protective over me, as if he can sense the beginnings of our mating bond. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who knows about it, therefore I should be the only one feeling the major symptoms of it.

"No."

"So why seduce her?" I let my head fall into my hands. I can't believe Isaiah has a member of a rebellious group, and he's using that time to question him about his intentions with me.

I can hear the shrug in Kadrick's voice. "She's pretty."

"People are going to want me to kill you," Isaiah growls. He's right, the moment the public find out who is in his custody, they will expect him to be killed. Especially if Kit or one of the families find out. "Give me one reason I shouldn't."

"I didn't do anything. I just associate with rebels," Kadrick. He's trying to talk down the importance of his position, like we instructed him. He's no leader, but he was also someone we called on a lot for missions. Now he has been compromised, he will no longer be able to participate in any other missions.

In fact, if he gets out of this alive, he may as well be sent off to live his life in another Pack.

"Tomorrow we move him to the prisons," I Zire mutter. He's trying to push Isaiah away from asking anymore questions, or from threatening his life. "We won' have to deal with him again."

"Fine. But I should get a moment in that cell with him," Isaiah growls.

"Why?" Zire demands.

"For Kenna."

I wince. Kadrick will be keenly absorbing this information to feed it back to Malin. I'm going to have to make it seem like I'm doing my job well, and that's it. Not the fact that Isaiah is actually my mate, and the way he feels about me likely goes deeper than what either of us have admitted to each other at this point.

I can hear Zire push Isaiah back a little bit, as if the Alpha has advanced on the cell again. "She isn't yours, Isaiah. Don't forget that."

"Its my fault I allowed him near her," he mutters.

"Forget it, we move him tomorrow, that's it," Zire tells him sharply. I'm grateful Isaiah listen to his second-in-command. "No point angering whatever group he is from."

Pushing up off the stair I sit on, I rush back upstairs, assuming they are about to emerge any moment.

Kadrick may be alive this time, but who knows if it's going to last.

***

The moment night falls, I make my way to Isaiah's office, knowing I need to speak to him before he makes any rash decisions.

"Where is he?" I ask immediately upon entering.

Isaiah looks up from where he is hunched over his desk, head in his hands. He looks utterly wrecked, the sight of it making my stomach turn painfully. The reality that I'm secretly manipulating my mate is starting to catch up with me. I wish there wasn't such high stakes, that I could just make him understand where I'm coming from.

But he's the Alpha, and I can't do that.

"Zire has taken him to the prisons," he mumbles. His eyes are dark and stormy as he looks up at me, laden with meaning. He's not angry at me. In his mind, Kadrick put me in danger, and he has to pay for that.

"Are you going to kill him?" I ask gently.

Isaiah leans back in his seat, monitoring me. "Considering it."

I try not to let my panic overwhelm me. Isaiah may kill Kadrick due to his twisted understanding of the situation. At some point, I may have to come clean, to tell him I'm in the rebellion, and that he should kill me for everything I have put him through before he so much as touches Kadrick.

"It will only anger people," I remind him. If Kadrick dies, it will not only flare up the rebellious group I am in, but also the countless others that are about. Isaiah may not be aware of what people would be willing to do to see him burn.

He drums his fingers against the surface of the desk incessantly. "It will sate my anger."

"Are you angered that he betrayed you?" I question. At the time, it appeared that Isaiah had his own reservations about having Kadrick around that had nothing to do with me.

"No, I'm angered that I allowed a member of the rebellion to be so close to you. To put you in danger like that," he mutters, staring me down with that cruel look in his eyes. I want to tell him that I was never in danger around Kadrick, but it's impossible to express that without admitting it's because he is a member of the rebellion.

I approach his desk. "I'm fine...I was fine."

"He could have hurt you," he breathes. His voice breaks slightly, making my heart crack. How would he react if he knew Kadrick was actually my lover at the time? Something tells me it would be similar to how he is acting now.

"He didn't."

He exhales through his nose, standing to brace his hands against his desk, looking at me. "Did you have sex with him?"

"What? No, of course not," I say quickly, shaking my head. I hope I didn't just make it too obvious. Kadrick and I stopped being intimate with each other a long time ago, since the mission started. It felt wrong, when I was feeling so conflicted about Isaiah. In hindsight, I'm glad I made that decision, considering who my mate is.

Isaiah doesn't even bother hiding his relief, eyes fluttering closed. "You made it seem like you did."

"I didn't, I assure you," I tell him smoothly.

"The thought of any other man having their hands on you causes me immense amounts of anger," he murmurs, rounding the desk. I stay where I'm standing, trying not to flinch, although anticipation flares up within me.

"You shouldn't feel that way," I remind him.

He stands so close to me, his scent enveloping me, making it so much harder for me to resist him. "You're mine."

"I'm not yours." I'm shaking my head, but in reality, I know this isn't something trivial. We are both feeling this way because nature is drawing us to each other. To Isaiah, us having to avoid being near each other is the fault of his position as Alpha, and because he has to marry Elise. To me, almost everything is pushing each other apart.

He looks as though he's tempted to reach out and touch me, so I remain alert, knowing I'll have to step back quickly if he does. "Then you should be mine."

I realise by what I smell on his breath why he's being so bold right now. "You've been drinking."

"I'm only saying what I mean. Drinking or not, you know it's the truth," he comments seriously, not taking his eyes off mine. I shiver, perfectly aware of what Isaiah wants, and that he's right, he believes everything he is saying.

I remember suddenly why I'm here, what I'm trying to achieve, and it's not to end up in Isaiah's bed tonight, even if we both want that. "Your people will react poorly if you kill him. Keep him in the prisons for now."

Isaiah closes his eyes, bowing his head. "You're probably right."

"Everything will be okay, Isaiah," I assure him, summoning a breath. "We will take down the Rebellion."

💚••💚

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***

I have a brand new story called IMMORTAL PRINCE now available on Radish, and soon on Wattpad (:

"Tomorrow, we don't have to speak of this again." I hardly know what I'm asking. I just know I want whatever it is.

He watches me with an intensity that I know only he is capable of. "Put my hand where you want me to touch you."

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~Midika 💜🐼