Alpha Kael ✔️

Chapter Twenty Four

Word Count: 1507

~Jada

I'm mortified.

There's a smile on Kael's face, but it's subtle. I'm ashamed the answer came out like that, as a lie. Within the depths of me, I knew the answer would come out as a lie, however, I was hoping it wouldn't come through. This is quite the technology. I bet Alpha Alden of the Wisdom Pack is proud of this one.

"Ask another question," I say quickly, staring down at my knuckles rather than Kael's face. I can feel his eyes looking down at me, waiting for the reaction that he is looking for. Little does he know he won't get it. "Actually, ask that question again."

Kael pauses for a moment, considering my proposition. "Are you sure? This is excellent technology. It's virtually impossible to evade it."

I nod. "I'm sure."

With keen hearing, I listen to him reset the machine with a few clicks. With luck, I can outsmart the machine, and prove him wrong. If he thinks I'm attracted to him, there is no way he will want me by his side at a Silent. He will assume I'll be distracted the entire time. He won't trust me...

"Again, are you attracted to me?" he questions, his voice deep and probing, wanting me to fail.

My eyes close, and I picture Kael in my head, starting to manipulate my favourite features of him. I turn those two beautiful dark eyes into one, twist his full lips around, vanish his dark locks of thick black hair. Slowly he morphs into another creature entirely, which I imagine when I answer the question.

"No."

There's a silence following after, however, I don't stop thinking about the distorted version of Kael until he next speaks. It becomes so ingrained in my mind, that when I look up, I assume he would look that way. When he doesn't, it almost startles me.

He's looking down at the machine, studying it carefully. "It's a lie, again. Like I said, you can't escape the nature of the machine. Of the test."

I wince, that was not what I was wanting. Shamefully, I look up at him, and this time he isn't smiling at me. He is staring intently, as if he is trying to search past my expression and right into my mind. And with nothing to decipher in Kael's cold black eyes, I'm left unsure of what to think.

"You can't escape truth. It follows you everywhere," Kael says softly. "Attraction isn't always surface level. It's deeper than just what someone looks like."

I swallow. "So what? I'm kicked out now?"

Kael raises an eyebrow at me. He isn't revealing his motive which isn't helping my situation. What I want is to protect myself. To predict what Kael is going to do and say next. This attentive expression on his face paired with those searching eyes send hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I can't figure it out.

"That's not what I said," Kael tells me, resetting the machine. "I'm going to ask you a few more questions. The first question was just a little fun on my part. These, however, will be more serious."

Slowly, I take in a deep breath, steadying myself. Part of me wants to ask whether he is going to ask anyone else that question, but the other doesn't want to know.

I keep my mouth shut.

"Myself and my team selected you for this competition knowing your family rebelled against the rules of this Pack," Kael tells me, to which I have to refrain from scowling at him out of anger. I was hoping my parents wouldn't be brought up. "Actually, that's one of the main reasons we chose you."

My eyes widen. I've been wondering this entire time they would chose me, when there were plenty of girls back at the school that would have excelled here. Now everything suddenly makes sense.