Ayla: Always an Alpha

Chapter 4 - Predilection for Unconventional Manners

~Ayla~

If he was surprised, Killian was very good at hiding it. After I had patched up my neck and before I went to the prison, I had done some searching in the alpha database about his assassin rogue group. Killian's name was tied to quite a few events of the past, but I hadn't been surprised. His whole aura screamed dark and dangerous. Yet, when he reacted the way he did after he'd accidentally pushed the knife deeper into my throat, I knew he wouldn't ever kill me. He may have been trying to pretend that he was willing to hurt me, but I saw past the facade.

"I assume you probably did some research on me as well," I told him. "You can call me Ayla."

He didn't respond in words but instead made some kind of animalistic grumbling noise. I could tell he was wild in more ways than that one, and the raw, unbridled maleness of him piqued my interest in a way no man had ever before.

His hair fell around his shoulders, and while he had pulled it into a low bun, most of it had fallen out over the course of the past few hours. The look in his dark brown eyes was almost predatory, and the way he held himself was so instinctively confident. Even underneath the fading scent of whatever he had done to make him smell similar to my pack, I could detect an underlying, naturally-masculine, musky smell.

"Do you know who wants me killed?" I asked him, wanting to get to the point yet knowing he probably didn't have the answer. Hell, even I had no idea. There were a lot of people out there who hated me and the idea of me.

"No," he said curtly. Then, he added, "Only our boss knows the names of all the clients."

"I see. How much are they paying?"

He locked his eyes with mine. "300 grand."

I sucked in a breath at the price but retained my composure. "So I can definitely expect more people to come knocking."

I allowed myself some time for that to sink in. Lifting my sweater, I placed my knife back into my holster and tucked everything in as best as I could. I liked to appear clean-cut, and my style helped me maintain some semblance of confidence in even the most anxiety-inducing situations. I needed as much respect as I could from my male colleagues, so my attire always bordered on business casual unless I was training. However, I liked that it was still subtly feminine, almost as if to say "I can do the same things as any male, and I can even do them with heels (albeit short and adaptable ones) on."

I looked up to find Killian watching me. Since I didn't have any other relevant questions, I got straight to the point. "The warriors stationed here have unfortunately already alerted their alpha, so you don't have a lot of time before the warrior alpha comes for you. Way too many witnesses saw you being led here, so I can't deny much of anything. This situation will be out of my hands. You need to leave now, and I'll make it look like you escaped. Since Alpha Cox is so keen on letting me know I'm incompetent, he'll believe it. You can trust the people that are outside not to say anything, that is if they even see you. Please try to be discrete anyway."

I was taking a risk with this and practically betting on the fact that Alpha Cox's misogyny would win over his ability to discern fact from fiction, but the risk was necessary. I was not going to let Alpha Cox, the warrior alpha, hand Killian over to the national council so that Killian could be tortured for information on the assassin group. For the things I'd seen in Killian's file, the council would have no mercy.

Resigned now, he nodded.

Signalling for him to get going, I gestured to the open jail door.

Instead of going straight through it, however, Killian stopped in front of me. "I'd recommend exchanging that knife for something silver."