Chapter 8

JAX:

That was close...

How in the world was she able to realize I was standing there? I can't believe I almost got caught out by an ordinary human girl when I was very good at masking my presence.

Something was not right. If she could have easily sensed my presence, then she must have turned. If that's the situation, why can't feel I the new bond?

I couldn't even dwell on that for too long because as I stood there, I realized the abnormal rate of my heartbeat. It was clear that it happened right after I saw her for the very first time since that night. Even before I hid myself from view.

I have no idea why seeing her made me this unsettled. It was almost like I couldn't control myself. But it shouldn't be right, should it?

I wish I could tell what put her in her present position. The fact that I even had to trace her down to a hospital was damning. Manuel has a lot of explanations to do once I find him. I can't be left in the dark anymore about an issue as vital as this.

I manage to put my heart in check so I could get a proper feel of the environment. It was apparently not safe to be seen around here... Makes it seem like I was a stalker.

The human girl was safe. But what about Manuel? Where in the world is he? And how come I can't find him anywhere around here when he should be closely watching over the human girl?

I didn't want to be consumed with the idea of knowing that my right-hand man was not exactly doing a good job. This wasn't what we agreed on. And knowing this might result in my implication was an even worse feeling.

The sudden footsteps I heard put me on alert. I was quick to find the direction of where it was coming from and it wasn't where I expected.

Before I could be sighted, I was out of where I was standing, seeking cover behind a car parked a distance away from the window side of the ward I found the human girl in. All that took me a few seconds.

In my new hiding spot, I watched as the windows of where I stood initially were flung open, revealing the face of the girl. She looked pale, as if she was going through a lot of stress. But her skin was still as great as that night.

Her eyes lingered around as she seemed to look for something. I was sure it was me and that was confirmed when she muttered to herself, "I'm sure someone was here,"

The distance from where I was to her location was a bit much but I was able to hear her say those words like she was standing right beside me. That was thanks to my hyper hearing, one of the key factors to being an extraordinary being like me.

She gave up on her search and shut the windows close after. Seeing her leave left me with questions that shouldn't be surfacing just yet.

_____

I didn't like that I was sneaking back into the building that I call my own. But to not raise questions about my whereabouts, it was best I took this step.

Climbing in through the window of my chamber was a piece of cake despite the distance of it being from the ground floor to the top floor. Normally I should be worried about breaking a leg but that was never something I consider a hindrance for me.

I gently slide the window open before focusing on the shutters which I push aside with one hand while balancing with the other hand. I was able to get down after that, landing like I was already used to after similar situations.

"One would think you were a thief in your own apartment."

That voice almost made me lose my footing. Because trust me I was unable to detect any presence inside the room the instant I landed in it.

If I wasn't already used to being shocked by a lot of things in my life, I would have surely been shocked by that. But that didn't stop me from going through a well of disappointment for not knowing that there was someone with me.

I was face-to-face with the supposed intruder. And the first thing I say with a hard glare mounted on my face is, "What are you doing here? Is this where you're supposed to be?"

The look on the face of my right-hand man was neutral. I couldn't even read through what he was reflecting on his face. How could I even establish anything at the moment when it was clear that I was mad at him?

"I came to see you, Jax," he says.

"See me for what?" I demand to know. "I gave you an assignment to look after that human. But I came back and realized you have been doing nothing about it. And worst of all, you were unreachable," I pause for a little while. "Is this what you told me when you agreed to monitor her as planned?"

"I did wrong and I know that. There's nothing that can justify that I messed up. Not even the urgent business I had to attend to. So I'm sorry."

I could read through what he was trying to do. And it was amusing because it made it feel like he was intentionally trying to test my patience. Obviously, the patience I have no more.

"Are you really trying to bring up your excuse in between an apology?"

He gives a skeptical look almost nonchalantly. "Am I?" he asks.

"Don't play dumb, Manuel. I know what you were trying to do. Thank your stars I do not have it in me to vent my aggression on you after what you did. Now you had better have a good excuse or you and I are going to have some serious issues."

His hands were inside his pockets all along as he stood. And I don't know why I was being wary all of a sudden. I mean, I should be trusting him but it felt to me like he was being shady. Until I get a decent explanation from him, I was going to have my guard up.

Perhaps he noticed the cautious look I was giving him because he starts to stare at me weirdly. I totally ignore his weird look as I await his full response to my question.

"You might not believe this," he starts to say, "but what I had to look into in place of the task you gave to me was more worrisome. I had to go through length and breadth just to get it done,"

"Just explain what happened. I'm not in the mood to hear about how serious it was or not." I counter him.

"A little patience will do, Jax. I was going to get there."

I hum at that before he began with his detailed explanation of what took his time away from the assignment I gave to him. And hearing about it, I realized it involved the pack. The same pack I just came back from.

He told me there were some complications with my involvement in the pack and that the pack's Beta had to summon him just to get it sorted out. I was a bit bothered at first because I thought for a second that it involved the issue I'm trying to deal with at hand.

My question to him after all that explanation was: "Why didn't you reach me during all of this?"

"Because he told me not to until he was done with me," Manuel stated. "Don't worry yourself, though. You're not in any trouble of any sort,"

"Well, you wouldn't be saying that if you saw what I saw today,"

"And what did you see?"

"The human girl... I went to check on her discreetly and I think she might have detected my presence even though I was in hiding."

For a long time, Manuel stays quiet. I used that chance to leave the window side as I head to my walk-in closet.

I haven't even handled the knob of the door into it when Manuel says, "How is that possible? She hasn't gone through the change yet, has she?"

I halt my movement that way as I reflect on the question. I still couldn't feel a new connection that would let me know if there was indeed a new breed among my kind. This is why I find it strange to believe that the human girl has gone through any change yet.

"Who knows?" I say. And this time, I successfully push the doors open, walking into the closet where I was met with the different collections of wears I have in there.

"Shouldn't we do anything about it yet?" I hear him ask from outside the closet.

I shut my eyes close, shaking my head at the same time. "Not yet," I say. "We'll only do anything when it's certain that we can't manage the situation anymore. But for now, we wait."