16| Criminal Activities

He gaped at me in disbelief before glancing at Ash.

"Alpha, don't you think she is a bit too weak for that? Her tolerance for auras aside, she's still an omega."

"And she is different. Quite smart too. Nobody would suspect her. We could just arrange a physically powerful partner for her," I said through the mindlink, listing out the advantages for hiring her.

I had been thinking about it since the moment I learnt about her tolerance for auras. Ryker and Darren agreed, too. Now all I had to do was to convince Daniel to sweet talk her into taking the job in case she refused.

"She's a kid." He said.

"She's nineteen. Barely a year younger than you." Daniel frowned.

"You want me to convince her to take the job because she likes me better than you guys, don't you?"

I didn't even bother hiding it.

"Yes."

He shrugged.

"Okay, but only because she's nice."

…I sometimes felt like I gave this kid a little too much freedom. Ash, who was looking at us boredly the whole time, finally snapped.

"Can you guys make it any less obvious that you are mindlinking? And did no one tell you that speaking ill of someone right in front of them is bad manners?"

I scoffed at that.

"You are talking about manners?" Daniel asked.

She went silent. Daniel furrowed his eyebrows. I didn't want to lose my composure in front of these two idiots. I ignored him and turned to Ash.

"Lead the way to where you live. I need those notes, and we only have fifty minutes until the ceremony starts."

"Yeah, sure," she said and started to walk. I followed her while Daniel stood there in confusion.

"You can go back to the girl you were sucking faces with earlier," I informed without turning to look at him. It was not a pleasant vision for me, so I was still salty about it. I could feel his embarrassment as Ash turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I- I'm just gonna go," He said and walked away quickly.

We both walked towards the gate, a comfortable silence between us. I did not want to start an active conversation with her, since she was too perceptive.

"Alpha Zak, you need to learn to be less blunt," Ash said as we reached the gates. I gave her a tiny shrug.

The guards were nowhere to be found. Alpha Wilbur really needed to tighten his security. I couldn't believe he was so careless, even when his pack was at the brink of war. Ash noticed it too and took out something black the size of her palm, which was in the shape of a stick

She stuck it right into the gate, where the magic signature identifier was. The gates clicked open immediately. My eyebrows rose at this.

"Impressive. Did you make it too?" I asked curiously. Ash looked at me with suspicion in her eyes.

"Are you really an Alpha Superior? You do know what I just did is a crime, right? And that's all you have to say? Impressive?" She asked in disbelief.

Ash was partly right in her observations. I was definitely not supposed to be reacting like this, but since I was planning on hiring her to spy on other packs, all the skills she was exhibiting were just a part of her future job. She just needed a bit of training as she was already a natural.

Perfect to spy on the Royal Family of Lycans.

ASH'S POV

Zak didn't say anything after I broke us out of the ceremony and walked towards my place. He just observed me with that cold and calculating gaze of his. This Alpha was just… Confusing. I honestly didn't get why the other three Lycans were so afraid of him.

Sure, he had a very intimidating presence, but he actually seemed more level-headed than any Alpha or Alpha Superior that I'd ever met. Not like I had met a lot, but I've had my fair share. I turned to look behind me. He was mindlinking someone as his eyes were glazed over.

"Who were you mindlinking?"

He caught up to me in three strides. I was envious of his god given physique that towered over me. An extremely handsome face and even more attractive body. Also the most powerful man, only second to royalty and the richest in the continent.

The absolute opposite of everything that I was. Why did Cerne, the lunar deity, mate him to someone like me?

"My Chief Warrior," He replied.

"Pack stuff or Jared stuff?"

"I was asking her to start making preparations for a new member."

That stopped me in my tracks.

Eternal Frost was a deadly pack and super exclusive. They only picked ten shifters out of a hundred thousand applicants once every year, and they were all Lycans. Talk about discrimination.

Then again, that was also the reason that Eternal Frost was the most powerful pack in the whole of the Lyanith continent, second only to the Imperial Pack. Though the only reason the Imperials were more powerful was because they were led by the Royal Lycans, who could manipulate elements freely.

To say that I was jealous of whoever this Lycan was would be an understatement. I didn't really care much about pack dynamics, but his pack was really secretive. I would sell my soul to know more.

Too bad I wouldn't even tick a single box on that application form even if I trained for a hundred years. Hell, I wouldn't even be alive in a decade. I laughed out loud at that.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing," I replied and started to walk. I reminded myself that I was never going to meet him again. The thought itself was painful, like a dagger to my heart, but it was the truth. Looking at my somber mood, he didn't question me again. We just walked in comfortable silence.

I didn't know how he was managing all this cold while wearing just a suit.

"How are you not cold?" I asked curiously, wondering if his suit had magic spells cast on it. But I couldn't sense any magic.

"I'm the Alpha of Eternal Frost. We are immune to the cold. But are you really asking me that?" He asked, pointing at my thin black hoodie and black leggings. I shrugged.