Nearly Caught - I

A sword?” she whispered, mesmerized by the weapon. “The Relic is a sword,” Jade said to herself, not being able to take her eyes off its beauty.

The hilt of the sword was covered with heavy metal and had markings of silver and gold on it. There was a stone embedded on the guards of the sword and it twinkled under the light. It was big and might be the size of her thumb but that was not all.

The sword looked like it was a being of its own.

Diamonds were surrounded by gold wires which entangled together, making it look like the veins of the sword. Pearls were placed on the golden veins as if they were droplets of water and Jade blinked at the small diamond that twinkled beside the pearls.

Her eyes trailed the designs moving to the tip of the sword. The blade looked rough, no longer shiny like what many craved or heard it to be. Yet, the sword could disappear masses into thin air.

“It’s… magnificent,” she whispered, mesmerised by the sight of it.

“It is,” Malfrid agreed and stood in front of her, effectively blocking the view of the relic. “We should leave now, though.”

Jade stared at his hardened face. This was unfamiliar territory for him. He was not supposed to tell her about the relic, much less tell her where it was. He should not have.

After all, even though she was his mate, she was still a stranger who knew not of the laws of his land.

She nodded and stepped back to turn around and then walked out of the room. Malfrid walked behind her.

Heading out of the room, Jade scrutinized everything. She watched the men with stone-cold expressions on their faces and their tensed muscles, ready to attack anyone who presented a threat. Fighting them would be a little difficult but nothing that she couldn’t do.

Her master had trained her to do better.

As they walked out of the building, she stopped until Malfrid fell into step with her. She passed him a smile which he returned, and they started walking together. They headed together, side by side into the celebration held for the alpha's mate.

While many people came over to pass their good wishes and blessings, she paid them little to no attention. Her mind was on the relic and what she had to do tonight.

*****

Wolves definitely loved celebrations, dancing, and eating together.

Any reason was enough for them to come out of their houses to celebrate with everyone, so naturally, when they found out that the Alpha had found his mate, the celebration went on until the early hours of the morning.

It was Ida who had once again walked her to Alpha's house. Ida smiled at her one last time before walking away and she closed her door.

Jade pressed her ear against the door and listened to her steps as she walked away and out of the house. The doors closed with a loud thudding voice. Only then did she step away from the door and pick up her bundle.

Now was the time to act.

Her knives were her everlasting companions which had to be brought with her. Without a second thought, she took off her dress. Jade changed into something with more folds that would make it easier for her to cover long distances while running.

Buttoning the dress in a hurry, she then attached her knives to her boots and then placed the other one into the waistband of her dress before wearing a coat over it. The coat had pockets, making it easier for her to slip her brass knuckles in. They had poisoned metal thorns on the top of them, which could further injure her opponents, turning the fight in her favor.

She huffed slightly, impatient. She had to wait a bit more.

Jade glanced at the watch. It was three past fifteen in the morning. The wolves had just gone to sleep but it would be better to wait a little longer just to be safe.

There was nothing she hated more than the waiting game.

******

Jade waited until four.

For the past forty-five minutes, she had been sitting still on her bed with her breathing under control. The Alpha mate of hers had arrived in the room next to her and she knew that he would be making sure that she had slept before he did.

Just as she found his heart beating at a steady pace and his breathing pattern slowing down, she knew he was fast asleep.

If the Alpha was asleep then so was the pack. Now the only people left for her to tackle were the guards patrolling around the house and the guards in the building where the relic was.

Jade glanced at the outline of the small vessel around her wrist inside her sleeves. It was an empty vessel, tiny and cylindrical in shape. It might look harmless to anyone but it shot out darts that could kill someone within seconds.

There was a window in her room, one that was small but enough to fit her small form for entrance and exit easily. It was her source of entrance and exit.

Throwing down the light rope that she had brought with her, she made sure that it made no sound while hitting the ground. The grass below helped her in deafening the impact of it.

Wolves could wake up, if it already had not alerted the guards. She had to be careful.

Gripping the rope tightly, she shifted out of the room but did not let go of the sill before she was stable enough. Jade then held on to the rope with one hand before tugging on it, testing if it was firm enough and it was.

She climbed down to the ground carefully and slowly, and made sure that her shoes did not make a sound when she landed.

Jade had to cross the lanes of houses where the majority of the wolves resided and the best way to do that was by climbing her way through the trees.

She jumped on top of one and the leaves did a great job of covering her figure. The branches connected and entangled themselves into one another, making it easier for her to step onto the tree and cross the lines of houses without having any one wolf come out of check.

"What's that noise, Mommy?"

She stilled at the sound.

Her ears tuned out everything as she focused in the direction the little wolf was talking from.

"What, my love? You should be asleep now," the adult, his mother, spoke.

"But I think there's a kitty there!"

It was no wonder to her that the child must be pointing at one of the trees, hopefully not the one she was hiding in, because she did not move around to check. If she moved, it would cause the branches to rattle.

"Really?" the woman sounded amused.

Jade’s eyelids twitched in irritation. Could she not take her child away already?

“Alright, off to bed, little one.”

She tilted her head to the side when she finally heard them walking away. The footsteps grew faint with the passing moment. Only then did Jade let out the breath she held.

Stepping onto another branch, she continued her journey before she could see the building containing the relic in front of her.

Four guards stood at the entrance, two more at the corners of the building and she knew that there were even more men patrolling on the sides of the building. Inside, it was a different story altogether for sure.

Jade licked her lip as her eyes moved to the roof and then to the windows on the third floor. That was her easy ticket in.

She grabbed onto the trunk of the tree and climbed her way up. Being a fox helped a lot more than she gave it credit for. While the werewolves were stronger, werefoxes were much more agile. That was a trait that served her well over the years.

Just as she moved to the roof, her blood ran still when the sound of barking echoed into the night.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The vicious barking of the dog stilled her completely. It was telling them something because the barks grew rough and more aggressive. This time, she forgot to breathe all together.

“No!” she whispered, trying to shush the dog but to no avail.

The guards had heard the dog’s barks.

"Intruders!" a yell rang out in the forest.

Her blood ran cold.