Page 75 of Silent Noise

Fine, send the bastard in.

Copy that, Ray. Although I might suggest you use another title to address him by.

Don’t. Push. Me.

Gunnar chuckled, but instantly, I heard footsteps and muffled voices in the hallway. My eyes remained fixed on the column of mist as I moved between it and the door. I didn’t know anything about it. Didn’t know if it could hear things the way we did, think the way we did. I wouldn't take any chances and I sure as hell wasn’t letting it get away again.

Using my body as a barrier, I stood guard and listened to what was happening outside. There was a shuffle in the hallway as doors and windows were closed and sealed off. I waited. The mist pulsed, probably listening too.

Silence. A heavy, saturated silence.Then, two loud knocks on the door behind me.

“Alpha Raiden, we have secured the area. Permission to enter?” A deep male voice said.

Although unfamiliar with the voice, I immediately hated the sound of it. Alpha Mathew, then. Unlocking the door from the inside, I opened it a slither, keeping my back towards him and my front facing the entity. Never turning away, and never letting it out of sight.

“It’s okay, Alpha. We have the area sealed off, it can’t go anywhere, you can open up.”

How the hell would he know that? For all I knew it could move through doors, walls and even ceilings. I glanced at the room I was supposably keeping it in and realised if that was in fact the case, then it would have moved off a long time ago already.

A warm, heavy hand landed on my shoulder. One I was familiar with. Grew up with. Trained with. Gunnar.

“Ray,” he said, “it’s okay. Open up so we can explain.” I didn’t move an inch. “There's someone here that could help us,” he leaned closer, whispering, “a witch.”

Something changed inside of me. Tugged at me. Hope. Desperate, blind hope, because I was out of ideas. I was lost and didn’t know what my next move was. This witch was my only option, even if I hated the idea of using Alpha Mathew’s help again.

Reluctantly letting go of the door, I let Gunnar push it open, revealing himself, Alpha Mathew, my Delta, and a middle-aged woman. I scanned them over quickly, my eyes lingering on the woman. As I studied her, a strong gust of air shoved me back, flying past us, roughly exiting the room. I fell backwards, crashing into the wall, but Gunnar was there, gripping my arm to keep me from falling completely.

“It has nowhere to go, we’ve sealed off the entire corridor,” Alpha Mathew assured while I found my footing again and straightened up.

Stepping into the hall and looking around, I noticed he was right. All of the windows and doors had been sealed, some of them boarded shut.

“How do you know it’ll keep it in?” I asked, spinning around, giving the Alpha a pointed look.

A sweet feminine voice spoke behind me. “I know, because I know what he is.”

I turned, seeing the middle-aged woman grinning up from where I towered over her.

“Evening, Alpha,” she said, bowing at the waist.

I shifted my gaze back to Mathew. “She’s a witch, Raiden,” he said, “You can trust her, she’s one of us. Been with my pack for years.”

The woman smiled warmly at Mathew and gave him a single nod.

“We’re here to help,” Mathew said.

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