Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Three things made Alpha Oliver reach out to touch the softest surface he had ever felt. 

Firstly, it was the insane high need of his wolf to feel her that made him reach out to her. Secondly, she looked so restless while she slept and he thought of offering some form of solace. Thirdly, it was because out of everything he felt and didn't feel; saw and didn't see; smelt and didn't smell, one important thing seemed to be missing. It was her lack of scent. Although, in her many layers of clothes, he could make out the dips and angles of her body.  

It was unnatural that Oliver couldn't pick up a scent from her even with his heightened sense of smell and that had never happened. Even witches could never hide their scents from her, no matter the sort of magic they concocted. It was one of the many gifts that came with the title Alpha King. The ability to scent out every being and identify them. It was weird that the girl had no scent at all on her. 

Or did she? 

The thought stirred slowly in his mind and in a few seconds it was being fanned to life. Maybe she had a faint scent and he would only be able to catch it if he moved closer to her frame. It didn't exactly make a lot of sense, because he should be able to catch her scent from wherever she was standing as long as she was in the same vicinity he was. 

Just as he moved closer to her frame, almost touching her. He watched as she flipped open her eyes once more. This time it felt like there was actually something that was responsible for waking her up and he watched as she blinked rapidly. Either trying to drive away the last bit of sleep from her eyes or trying to find the source that had woken her up in the first place. 

Oliver knew she couldn't see him. It was much too dark within the room to permit that, but he knew she could feel his presence, especially since he was in such close proximity with her. Even in the darkness of the room he could see the paleness of her skin and he itched to feel her skin against his fingers. 

So he did.

Without thinking, he reached out and brushed his fingers lightly against her skin, shivering slightly at the coldness of her skin against my fingers. He was about to do it again when she let out an ear piercing scream that seemed to shatter his drums for a moment. He stumbled back a little recoiling from her like the scream had burnt him. She continued to scream and struggle against the chains that held her tightly in place but all it achieved to do was put her in more dismay. 

"Shh…" he pleaded to her, reaching his hands out to touch her skin again just to make sure she knew that he didn't intend to hurt her and to stop her from hurting herself. It didn't seem to be working as great as he wanted as she only struggled harder. He walked towards the door again and flipped on the light switch on the wall. 

Light flooded the room and he heard Nalani  hiss in reaction to the blinding light. Oliver moved in her direction again and proceeded to let her out of the chains that bound her in place. He had sort of confirmed that she had not killed the person that she had been found hunched over in the woods, so that took out the punishment of death and left him with other options. 

He still couldn't let her go because there were some loose ends that he needed to tie up. Questions that he needed answers to. And until he could satisfactorily find all of these, she had to remain where he could see her. 

And that meant within his home.

Nalani  was calmer now. Especially since she had recovered from the burn of the light in her eyes and the chains that had strung her in a painful and uncomfortable position were off her. 

With a last look her way, he dropped the chains that he had been holding on the floor beside her. She flinched in reaction as though they might be a threat to her again. He ignored her and walked towards the door pulling it open and exiting the room once more.

Nalani sat on the cold tiled ground of the cell room. The events from the last couple of minutes still spun confusion within my mind. 

Why had the Alpha been watching her from such close proximity? And running his hands through her face? She couldn't wrap her head around why he had decided to do that. The temperature in the room felt like it had dropped a little bit and she hugged her legs to herself and buried her face within it. 

Tears threatened to roll out of her eyes but she blinked them back. This path, whatever it was, wasn't something she chose for herself, so why was she suffering for it? For the umpteenth time, she wondered why Cordelia hadn't come to get her out yet. She had been gone too long for her to not realize. The thought that she was truly alone in the world wasn't one that was foreign to her. It had a way of creeping into her mind and leaving a wake of sadness in its stead. 

Cordelia was a good guardian. She provided the basic things of life and she was a wonderful teacher, especially when it came to healing. But one thing the older woman lacked was love. She wasn't stoic or nonchalant. She just had a way that she showed care that wasn't exactly the most ideal and it definitely did not fill the void within her. 

She had lived most of her life in isolation due to her  perceived weird habits- and loneliness. She had no friends, she wasn't entirely sure she even understood the entire concept of love, since she had never truly been exposed to it. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway again and she pricked up at attention. 

Was the Alpha coming back again? 

As soon as the thought came in, she was drawn to the sound again.

It was light.

Too light to be the Alpha's.

The lock clicked out of place and the door opened to reveal a girl. 

She looked to be about Nalani's age.

"Come with me." 

She simply said and turned back around to exit the room.