Realizations

Court just shook his head at everything and turned to face Logan instead. " Have you gotten anything from him yet?"

Logan moved his gaze from Jake and shook his head from side to side in the negative. " I don't think there's need for torture..."

Hearing this, Jake couldn't help but flinch. He couldn't help but curse at himself. If only he'd realized sooner that the two guys were the ones Logan was meeting up with, he wouldn't have had to put himself in so much trouble.

" As a matter of fact, we can do more..." Logan alluded, causing Jake to raise his gaze in disbelief. He looked at Logan with an incredulous gaze, his head banging as though a toll of doom would soon befall him.

" What do you mean?" Jamie asked with a frown.

Logan shot Jamie a glance as he slowly recounted. " After catching this one, he begged and pleaded to spare his life and promised heaven and earth to me. He promised to be of use to me" He looked at Jake with a disappointed expression.

' Who knew the cold hunter had such a soft spot?' Jamie lampooned but his serious expression didn't waver for a second. ' More importantly, to threaten such a being to such state. Just how powerful in combat is this man?' Jamie shared the same thoughts with Court who couldn't help but resize Logan.

' Definitely courting death' Jamie added as he exchanged a glance with Court, as though he were communicating telepathically with him.

Jake couldn't help but lower his gaze knowing Logan was speaking to him indirectly. He has failed to keep his own promise to Logan while the latter kept his end of the bargain. Jake couldn't help but feel that he had dug a grave for himself now.

" I had spared his life for a reason. And that's to spy at his own kind. " The hunter continued after the long pause.

" So what do we do now?" Court asked in a serious tone. He didn't like that they were wasting time talking about irrelevant stuff. He wanted quick and rapid action.

There has been increasing reports in the city of Portico, relating to the likes of Werewolves rampantly attacking people and threatening their lives. Of course, he only didn't mention it because he believed the hunter must have been privy to such information and therefore didn't need to go into such details to remind him.

" Well isn't it just simple? We're gonna have to put our spy out in the streets to sniff the others out now, won't we?" Logan said with a wide grin as he shot a glance at Jake who instantly shuddered. Both Jamie and Court also moved their gaze towards Jake and creased their eyes at him.

' M-me?' Jake was left speechless and shocked. He only realized now the kind of work that the hunter has in store for him. It was a job that hit at his pride as a werewolf. A thing that not even the lowest and weakest of his kind would stoop so low to do.

The hunter was basically asking him to betray his kind in return for sparing his life!

Jake would rather die. However, thinking about Erik, he thought about the matter again and decided... He'd rather not die.

...

Darren returned to the room with a tray in hand. After he'd taken Kyley back inside from the short trip outside, he had left her to prepare some meal.

Darren placed the tray on the table by the bedside and said to Kyley. " Here you go. Enjoy" he turned around to leave but then he remembered something. Kyley couldn't move around too much.

Kyley who struggled before finally being able to sit up in bed couldn't help but look up at Darren when he stopped on his way out and walked back. ' perhaps he forgot something?' however, she frowned when he sat by the bedside and picked up the lid with which he covered the meal, revealing a dazzling cuisine of braised short ribs. A delicious aroma filled the air instantly and Kyley couldn't help but swallow at the sight of the food. It smelled and seemed delicious, so much that she instinctively felt her stomach rumble in an earnest yearn for the food.

Darren picked up the fork and the knife by the tray and cut some to feed to Kyley. As he took the first cut into the braised short ribs, the knife effortlessly glided through the succulent meat, revealing the rich, flavorful layers of the tender meat.

At first, she thought he wanted to have a taste and didn't mind. However, she couldn't help but frown when she saw him place the piece he cut to her mouth and say, " Eat up."

Kyley frowned and stared with contempt at Darren. After a while, he smiled wryly and brought to piece to his lips to eat it. Kyley became even more confused. However, Darren just calmly cut another piece.

" Look at your hands, you can't use them to eat properly without being in pain. So please, let me feed you." He said as he brought the piece to her mouth. Kyley after hearing his words found it quite reasonable, however, that didn't mean that she'd still allow him to feed her just like that. But what excuse does she have to decline? Kyley knew Darren wouldn't let down easily.

He even tasted the food himself before him so as to confirm that there was nothing wrong with it.

" Hehe. I'm only trying to help you. It's not that big of a deal, you have no reason to decline. Unless you're shy..." Darren said and chuckled teasingly.

Kyley couldn't help but frown at him. He hated how damn right he was! The only reason Kyley wouldn't let him feed her was that it would leave her shy and embarrassed. However, it would be even more embarrassing if Darren came to realize this. So Kyley toughened up to prove him wrong. She could be shy and embarrassed but that didn't mean she couldn't hide her embarrassment as well.

Kyley batted her eyelid severally and slowly pushed her head forward. She opened her mouth slightly to take the piece of tender meat that Darren had cut for her. As she took the first bite of the braised short rib, a juicy flavor exploded in Kyley's mouth!

The tender and juicy meat tasted rich, and the savory sauce only served to enhance the taste even more as it filled her mouth. Kyley couldn't help but release her frown and express delight at the taste of the short rib.

" Delicious right?" Darren asked with a proud smile. Kyley looked at him and nodded her head, but quickly looked away. She still couldn't look him in the eye while being fed by him. It felt so... Awkward and strange. However, she didn't stop him from feeding her. A bashful redness filling her face as she took another piece that Darren fed her. The latter has a serious expression.

Kyley expected that Darren would tease him again but he didn't. Instead he wore a serious expression on his face, which made it a bit better and less awkward for Kyley.

Piece after piece, Darren fed Kyley the meal in silence until the plate was clean. ' That was delicious!' she couldn't help but acknowledge internally as she swallowed the last bit. " Here" Darren helped Kyley with the glass of water, placing the edge by her lips. Kyley slowly drank and moved away when she was satisfied. " Thank you. I'm okay now" she said as she reclined on the head board of the bed, her voice as timid as a fly's.

Kyley hid her face away from Darren. Although it wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be, she was still embarrassed about Darren feeding her. But now that it was over, she didn't want to speak about it and expected Darren to leave.

However, to her surprise, Darren reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Kyley raised her gaze to meet Darren's, hear heart shaken by him reaching his hands forward towards her face. Kyley stared dumbfounded as Darren wiped the corners of her mouth with the handkerchief. " There, there." He smiled warmly.

However, Kyley instantly raised her hands and snatched the handkerchief from his hands, her hands brushing against his. Although, her hands hurt really badly after that, she decided to bare with the pain than suffer so much embarrassment. If Kyley could look in a mirror, she would certainly mistake her head for an apple, how red it was.

Darren was surprised, not at her actions but the way she raised her hands so swiftly. However, seeing that she was unhurt, he smiled wryly and said. " You're welcome, but you could have just told me to stop. You need to give those hands a break" Darren looked at her arms as he warned. However, Kyley just looked away without responding. He didn't know what she was thinking but he could tell that she wouldn't be speaking to him anymore no matter what he said for now. " Never mind. Haah!" Darren sighed with a shake of his head.

He stood up and turned around to leave without saying anything else. However, just as he opened the door and was about to step out, he stopped and turned halfway to face Kyley as he remembered something.

" Kyley" he called out.

Kyley instinctively looked at him, but looked at the floor board right after. Seeing that he had her attention however, Darren continued with what he had to say to her. " You can walk around however you like. All around the house and even outside, once you're healed enough to do so." Darren said seriously. " As long as you don't go crashing all over my stairs and staining my floor with blood." Darren added with a wry smile.

Without waiting for Kyley's response, he walked out the door and shut it behind him.

Kyley's gaze contorted from shock to frustration, and then to shock again. Did Darren just say she could do whatever she liked in his home? She never expected him to... Say that.

It was a shocking realization for Kyley.

' Could it be that I'm wrong in my perception of him?' For once, Kyley began to see Darren in a new light and couldn't help but rethink the fact that perhaps, she had been wrong about Darren. He really might not mean her any harm...