Page 54 of Hidden Nature

“That’s it? No surname?”

I dropped my gaze as I thought over if this was something I should answer. “I don’t know who my parents are, and they never told me my last name or where I was raised. It wasn’t needed.”

“So mysterious, positively delightful! Now I’ve asked two, so you may do the same,” Ayla pointed out as she bounced on her toes, waiting for my question.

Not wanting to waste any questions, I thought about what I really wanted to know. “How long were you following us? I caught onto the sense someone was following us at the zoo, but I’m curious if you’d been watching longer.”

“Well, I caught onto your magic signal when you claimed the woods around your pack and into the mountain. I didn’t lay eyes on you until you got to the zoo, so you caught wind of me right away. That, dear Finley, is rather remarkable because I am the best at cloaking magic in my clan. For you to notice me at all is telling how powerful you are, but I don’t think that’s all it is,” Ayla mused.

“I still have one more question before you get your turn again,” I reminded and she motioned for me to continue.

“You mentioned your clan,” I raised a hand to stop her from speaking. “I’m not going to ask where it is. All I want to know is if they have noticed me as well, or are you yourself, someone who is rather strong?”

Ayla clapped her hands and gave me a wink. “You, my lovely, are fascinating and incredibly quick to draw conclusions from hardly any real information. My clan is aware of you, but only because I told them about sensing you. In my clan, there are only two others stronger than me, and they are our elders, but I have no wish to be an elder. I choose to be a warrior like yourself.”

That statement caught me by surprise. I suppose as an assassin, I would be considered a warrior but not in the pure sense of the meaning. I didn’t go out and fight battles for my leaders. I hid in the shadows and removed obstacles for the real warriors to do their work.

“I just have one more question for you. We elves keep our ears open for anything of note that might affect our way of life or ability to hide, so don’t be surprised when I ask you this.” Ayla leaned in so we were almost touching noses. “Can I join you in your fight to take down the Dark Ring and, in the process, the Senate?”

My jaw dropped at her question and she kindly brought her hand up to shut it again for me. “I told you not to be surprised,” she teased as she booped me on the nose. “Now, I suppose I should tell you my skills so you know I’ll be an asset. While I am a skilled fighter, I’m also a spy, skilled in gathering information anywhere at any time with my magic. I already know how hard this is going to be and have a list of key players in the Dark Ring that would be smart to go after that will cripple it.”

“Why? Why do you even want to do this?” I challenged. “This is a suicide mission that we have a small hope of being able to win. I don’t have an option to back out of this. I have a sworn agreement with someone forcing me onto this path. Why would you willingly choose to go after the two most powerful groups in our world right now?”

Ayla took a step back and turned away from me, wrapping her arms around herself. “They took everything from me, my clan, my entire family, my home, my freedom, and a male that I’d hoped to mate with when we got the approval of our clan. It’s all gone and I can’t stand back and watch them do it to anyone else when I have the chance to step up and do something about it.”

“You mentioned your freedom…” Rath interjected but drifted off before asking what he really wanted to know.

She looked over her shoulder at him, giving him a sad smile showing a small shadow of the pain that was hidden behind her playful mask. “I was their toy for fifteen years before I was able to escape and I’ve been hunting them down ever since.”

Taking a deep breath, I spoke the truth I knew in my heart. “I know you said you have a clan you’re living with now, and I hope to one day meet them, but I would gladly welcome you into my pack if you so choose. Beyond the fact that you would be an asset to our fight, I think if we survive this, we could be family. All of these men understand what it means to survive at any cost and have been victims of the Senate or the Dark Ring at some point in their lives. I know the idea of creating a combined werewolf and elf pack sounds crazy, but it’s what I feel is the future for our people. One day I hope all the elves can come out of hiding and live amongst the world again with the help and protection of a pack. I think it can happen.”

Ayla spun around and flung her arms out wide, wrapping me up in a tight hug. “It would be my honor to join the queen’s pack and assist her in any way that I can, whether it be as your soldier or as your friend. You have a loyal servant in me.”

I patted her on the back awkwardly, finding it completely different to receive affection from someone other than my mates. “I’m not your queen, Ayla, not even close. I’m an assassin who got bit by an omega and found out weeks ago I was never human but really an elf. All I want is to make the world safe for the people I love and taking down the Senate and the Dark Ring is the only way to do it.”

She pulled back and gave me a knowing look, quickly followed by a smirk. “That is exactly why you’re going to be the best queen the elves have ever seen, but first, we need to cause some chaos and turn this world as we know it on its rear. It’s gonna be a sight to see and they will have no idea what’s coming next.”

“We don’t even know what’s coming next,” I said with a huff.

Ayla twisted me around so I was facing the guys and she whispered in my ear, “Look at them. What do you think they see when they look at you?”

“Their mate,” I answered, not following where she was going with this.

“Err, wrong,” Ayla countered. “Who wants to tell her?”

To my surprise, Zander was the one who spoke up. “You, little dove, are the shadow they never saw coming. The omega who is going to change everything.”

To be concluded in Perfect Nature