Kintsukuroi_ Chapter-17

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Chapter-17

“Coming of age ceremony?” Jayna repeated, heart clenching in sudden terror at the ominous word.

“Of course, he’s ready to step into adulthood... do you not commemorate that in the city?” The omega asked even as she explained with a puzzled expression.

“Right,” Jayna agreed, dazed.

“Gre-” The older omega didn’t finish the word, turning as someone summoned her, excusing herself as she went to where she was called.

Jayna turned to Janardan, eyes big and pleading, “You knew about this?”

Janardan gulped guiltily, “I had forgotten. I’m sorry.”

“Great!” Jayna hissed; pacing two tight circuits of the room before coming to stop in front of Janardan again, “Alright, so hit me with it. What does this ‘ceremony’ involve?”

“It’s basically shikaar,” The warrior explained, “The young alpha proves himself capable of supporting his family and his pack by procuring food- in this case, meat from a hunt.” [Shikaar= hunt]

“Ben doesn’t know how to hunt.” Jayna objected. “Maybe the alpha children in the pack are encouraged to hunt, but Ben doesn’t know anything about it.”

“I shall assist him,”

“Right,” Jayna hissed angrily, “You think it’s okay to let a child spill blood?”

“It’s what would be expected of Master Ben, Maalik.” Janardan murmured; eye lowered beseechingly even as he bared his throat to the furious omega subserviently. [Maalik= Master]

Jayna flinched at the submissive gesture, hating that Janardan had fallen back to addressing her as ‘Maalik’ ever since they had arrived here. She could see the alpha’s fingers curled into fists and his biceps trembling with effort as he reigned in his instincts and yielded to an omega; and her heart hurt at this fresh display of how different things were over here. After all, it was not like she and Janardan hadn’t gotten into arguments back home, but the alpha had gone toe-to-toe with her back then; never threatening- not even raising his voice, but obviously more than capable of getting his point across and eloquently at that. If Jayna got too worked up (like she was now, she realized in despair), Janardan simply pulled her in and guided her face in the hollow of his neck; initially forcing- and then merely allowing- the omega to inhale his scent as she was held securely in the protective cage of the alpha’s muscular arms till she calmed. He couldn’t do that now, Jayna realized. If Janardan grabbed her like that out here, chances were he would be punished, which explained the reluctant show of submission she had just witnessed.

Exhaling noisily, she approached the man again; resolutely ignoring her hurt as she watched Janardan’s fists curl tighter as the man held onto his submissive stance. “Janardan...”

Green eyes jumped to her face, expression wary but eyes filled with a mixture of worry and hope.

“We need to get out of here, Janardan. And quickly, before tomor-”

But the alpha was shaking his head even before she finished the sentence. She watched the man eye their surroundings warily before leaning forward the barest inch, his voice no more than a soft exhale as he murmured, “Let’s talk in our room.”

Jayna nodded, suddenly feeling foolish for discussing their plans like this in her Om-in-law’s quarters. Nodding her acknowledgement, she called Ben back from where he was poring over a book, sprawled on the elder omega’s bed and moved with determined strides towards their room.

“Mama, did you hear?” The boy chattered happily as he matched pace, “I’m going to get a chance to hunt!”

“Not now, Ben.” She growled, scowling.

The boy’s face fell and he scowled briefly as he fell back, not matching his pace to Jayna’s furious stride but walking next to the diligently following warrior. “Da?”

Jayna watched the alpha spare a smile for the child.

“Yes, Chchote- Maalik?” [Chchote- Maalik= Little master]

Ben grimaced at the newly acquired nick-name, obviously uncomfortable with what it meant but didn’t protest its use, choosing instead to focus on his original query, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Janardan smiled at him; glancing around quickly before ruffling the boy’s hair affectionately. “How are you? Any trouble while we weren’t here?”

“Nope!” The boy responded easily, “I finished with Fantastic beasts^# and have started the Hobbit^#. You said you liked that one, right?”

“Yeah, I loved that series,” Janardan agreed, “Have you reached the part with the trolls yet?”

“Trolls?!” The boy squealed, clearly excited. “Like the one Harry fought in his first year?”

“Uhm... mountain trolls are slightly different,” Janardan demurred, “But yeah, they could be related.”

“Cool!”

Jayna shook her head as she slowed her steps slightly to eavesdrop on the conversation happening behind. She couldn’t help the warmth that filled her every time she watched Janardan interact with her son.

“Anyway, guess what I found?!” The boy continued.

“What?” Janardan enquired, clearly playing along. “Did you find an actual Bowtruckle^# or Niffler^# of your own?”

“Oh please, what do you think I am- a baby?!” The child objected with a happy laugh- clearly pleased that his guardian was so familiar with his favourite book of the moment. “No, I found some of Dad’s things from when he was my age!”

Jayna watched Janardan’s expression slip for the fraction of a moment before falling back into his happy smile- if she had not noticed the slight slip, she-or anyone, for that matter- would have never known that Janardan was anything but genuinely happy for the boy trotting alongside him. “And...?”

“He’s got this set- The Deer hunting books... They’re so cool! Did Dad know how to hunt?”

They had reached their destination by then and Janardan’s eyes flew to Jayna’s at the query, before returning to Ben’s eager face as he answered unwillingly, “Yes, your father knew how to hunt.”

“That’s SO wicked!” The boy gushed, clearly excited. “Thakurda says I can learn too.”

“No,” Jayna interrupted, her voice cold with anger, “You’re not going hunting.” She regretted her tone immediately, but shrugged it off in favour of making her point.

“But Tha-”

“I said no, Ben!” Jayna snapped.

Janardan crossed to her immediately, his tone holding a warning. “Jayna,”

“We’re leaving. I’ll not- I-... I can’t-”

“Hush...” Janardan shushed, reaching out to lightly grab her shoulders and ground her, “Look at me, Jayna,”

When she shook his head, the alpha sighed and leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together as he repeated his request, “Look at me, Omega-Heir, please.”

She peered up through her bangs reluctantly.

“We cannot leave, alright?” The alpha repeated, “I get why you want that... and yes, it would be better if we did; but we can’t, okay?”

“Because you’ll be punished if we’re caught?”

“I will be punished, yes” Janardan agreed without rancour, “But that’s fine. I can handle it. I’m used to it, in fact... so no, that’s not the issue. There’s absolutely no hope of us sneaking away, ‘Mega... if there was the slimmest chance that I could ferret you away without discovery, I would; but there isn’t, alright? We will be caught if we try, and yes; I might have to face the consequences of that. But that’s an acceptable risk. ... What worries me is that Alpha might forbid contact between you and Ben or me from helping Ben with the ritual and I don’t think its- ... the others won’t shield Ben. They’ll expect him to complete the ritual without help. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“He’ll take away Ben from me?”

“If he thinks you threaten his chances of moulding Ben into his heir, then yes. He might.”

Jayna swallowed down her horror with difficulty and nodded despondently, “You’ll protect him?”

“Of course. I don’t want this for him anymore than you.”

“But I don’t need your help!” The boy spoke up, “I want to be like Daddy! Did you know he hunted down two deer when it had been his turn? Besides, you’re hurt, Da... You should rest.”

Jayna sighed tiredly, wondering just what her in-laws were telling her son that he wanted to become a hunter now. She looked at Janardan helplessly- she had not known about this side of Adam and truthfully, it made her uncomfortable.

“Do you know how track deer, Li’l Master?” Janardan asked.

“No,” Ben returned, “But I can learn.”

“And who do you want to learn it from?”

The boy faltered, “You?”

“Well, there you have it.” Jayna interjected.

“You know how to hunt?” The boy asked the warrior, eyes shining with excitement as he disregarded his mother’s interruption.

“Of course,”

“Oh!” He seemed to think it over then: “Will you be able to teach me? I mean, I’m only asking because you’re hurt...” He hurried to clarify, clearly not wanting to offend the older alpha.

Jayna lowered her head, wondering what it said about her that her son- her Harry Potter loving twelve year old son- was showing more concern than him about Janardan’s whip induced injuries and a frisson of guilt curled up her spine as she thought of her carelessness.

“I’m fine, Kiddo,” Janardan smiled, his gaze warm.

“Promise, Da?” The boy asked, taking advantage of the locked door of their quarters to wrap his thin arms around the alpha’s waist and burying his face against the man’s chest.

A protective palm cupped the back of his shaggy head, dry lips planting a chaste kiss on the tousled locks as the warrior enveloped him in his arms readily, “We’re good, Benny. I promise.”

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The next day dawned far before Jayna wanted it to and she watched- lips bitten raw in an effort to silence his protests- as her two alphas headed off for the forests surrounding the packlands. Janardan had informed her that the hunt could be completed before sundown or stretch for a full week for the ritual, but that he would wrap it up by the three days at the most. When she had protested and demanded that he return with Ben by sundown, the warrior had explained that given it wasn’t ‘hunting season’, prey was going to be harder to locate and while he would try to wrap it up as fast as possible, three days was the best he could offer.

Life was boring without her work to keep her occupied or without the company of her son and ... just what was Janardan? Friend? - But that sounded too small for everything the alpha meant to them... Co-parent... Confidant... She sighed, there was no neat little box she could slot Janardan into... The man had somehow slipped into and filled Adam’s spot in her life without them noticing. And yet, Janardan was not her mate.

“Bored?”

She glanced up at the deep, gravelly voice and found herself looking into the blue-est eyes she’s seen (at least naturally; because contacts were available in all sorts of colours these days.)

“Hello,” She greeted Adam’s step-brother. Barring the deep blue of his eyes in contrast to Adam’s pale blues, the man resembled her dead mate enough to make her heart clench painfully.

“What’re you thinking about?” Edmund enquired cordially, pulling up a chair next to her without waiting for Jayna’s permission to join her.

She shrugged as she shuffled away, “Nothing.”

“Right,” The man grinned easily, revealing deep crinkles around his eyes that inexplicably reminded her of Janardan. “Shouldn’t you be in the safety of your room?”

Jayna curved up a brow in challenge, “Are you saying that I’m unsafe out here?”

“Not at all...” The man raised his hands, palms out in surrender, “Its just... don’t be too trusting, okay? Not everyone has your best interests at heart.”

“Are you threatening me?” Jayna shot back, eyes narrowed.

“No,” The man sighed, chuckling lightly, “Honestly, I can’t see what Adam saw in you. You’re far too argumentative for an omega!”

“Wow,” Jayna murmured, laughing at the gall of this man to insult her to her face.

“It’s refreshing,” Edmund admitted with a shrug, “But you won’t find many people appreciating it as much as I do. So be careful, okay?”

“As you say,” She snarked back.

“I’m not joking, Omega.” Edmund returned, abruptly serious. “You disregard our rules, sooner or later its going to end up costing you,”

“Yeah, well I think your rules su-” Jayna countered, amending her language at the last second, “- are dumb.”

“Dumb?” The blue-eyed alpha gasped, taken aback by her fearless observation.

“Yeah. I mean... you guys treat your Guard like shit despite them protecting your borders. If you ask me, you keep treating them the way you do? Well, you are going to have rebellion on your hands. And soon.”

Edmund laughed, “You think the way we treat Janardan is how we treat our guard?”

“Isn't it?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you,” She argued, curious despite herself. “Are they allowed to eat with you?”

“No, but they have their own dining hall just next to ours,” The alpha explained. “And they have shifts so that they are not left hungry. Food is the same as what we consume and it gives them an opportunity to unwind without bothering about tedious etiquette.”

“But Janardan?”

“What about Janardan?”

“Why does everyone treat him so... harshly?”

“Because we can?” Adam’s step-brother shrugged easily- apparently the feelings of an ang-rakshak were beneath him to dwell upon.

“It’s wrong!” Jayna burst out, “I mean, try treating your body-guard the way you treat Janardan and you’ll figure out what I mean.”

“I know that. Besides, you’re mistaken if you think everyone is like Janardan.” Edmund deflected.

“And what do you know about my ang-rakshak?” Jayna asked, curious and jumping at this chance to find out more about the enigmatic warrior.

“Not much. Just that he’s a rare man...” The blue eyed man murmured, an odd sense of admiration threading his words.

“Rare...?”

“What? You think everyone is so genuinely protective of their owner’s spouse and brat?”

Ice flooded her veins as Jayna stammered, “Owne-...owner?”

“Owner,” Edmund repeated firmly.

“Janardan is a slave?!”

“Used to be,” The man shrugged carelessly.

“Adam set him free,” Jayna surmised with relief.

“Adam died.”

“I don’t- I don’t understand,”

“As you must be knowing, Abba and Ammi never got married... but even then Abba didn’t want me to be raised elsewhere-” [Abba=father. Ammi= Mother]

Jayna nodded, well aware that Edmund was Adam’s illegitimate step-brother, an unexpected surprise baby borne out of his father’s relation with a omega from the pack. Even though the Alpha had never married Edmund’s mother, she was part of the Fahlmer household and afforded just as much respect as Adam’s own Om. The two omegas rarely saw eye-to-eye on any issue, but heaven help the person who mistook their arguments to be a genuine reflection of their relation and tried complaining about one to the other. Edmund had a few years on Adam, but though the brothers were not exactly ‘close’, they were friendly enough with each other- enough that Edmund was the only person to have couriered gifts to them when they had gotten married. Jayna was never quite sure if Adam’s parents hadn’t known about their wedding till Ben’s birth or knew and didn’t approve or didn’t believe in material gifts...

“Things were not always great between me and Adam,” The alpha admitted, his words breaking Jayna’s reminiscing. “Though I was- am- older than both Adam and Paul, the two delighted in tormenting me, Paul more so than Adam; but I was a kid myself and let’s just say it wasn’t great. ... I was ten-near about- when Abba got Janardan-”

“When you say ‘got’, you mean-?”

“Purchased,”

Jayna frowned.

“Janardan’s father was a member of the guard-”

“About that... how is that even possible?! I mean, don’t the Guard undergo mandatory vasectomy?”

Edmund’s brows furrowed like he couldn’t believe that Jayna didn’t know, “His Om died giving birth to him. He joined the Guard after that.”

“Oh,”

“Yeah, anyway... so he died. Orphanage was only too happy to be rid of another one of the snot-nosed bastards.”

“He adopted Janardan.” Jayna nodded, privately wondering why Janardan had never revealed that he was actually Adam’s adoptive brother.

“No, when I said purchased, I meant purchased. The money was to remove his records from the system.”

“Does Janardan know?”

Edmund nodded, “Of course. The first thing Abba did after he came home with Janardan was to sit the boy down and explain the rules to him.”

Jayna swallowed, thinking about that six-year old child who had lost both his parents.

“He was used as Adam’s whipping boy,” Jayna murmured, hoping to show that she did know a little of the warrior’s history.

Edmund nodded, “Adam was not cruel by nature,”

Jayna smiled tremulously, grateful for the words- the first she’d heard in Adam’s defence from the man.

“But he was a kid, and Paul was never a good influence.”

“I noticed how he treats Janardan,” Jayna admitted, frowning.

“I’m ashamed to say I did not stop those two from bullying Janardan... I was far too relieved that they had a new target for their cruel barbs.”

Jayna looked away, unable to face the blue eyes.

“To his credit, Adam convinced Abba to let Janardan join the Guard early in their teens. ... maybe he figured that it was the best he could do for the man, I don’t know.” He shrugged, “I don’t think the duo ever spoke after Janardan left for the barracks.”

It made sense, Jayna thought. Adam had never mentioned Janardan and she hadn’t seen the warrior during her last visit to the pack before her Alpha-in-law had assigned him as her and Ben’s ang-rakshak. ... Janardan too never spoke of Adam if he could help it. A complicated history between the two men would explain it.

“He never sp-”

Before he could finish, someone called the other man and Edmund rose, turning at the door to glance at Jayna, “What were you saying?”

She shook her head, “It’s nothing.”

“No, you said he never- you mean Janardan?”

Jayna nodded, “Yeah. He never speaks ill of Adam,”

“You’re his mate,” Edmund shrugged, “Besides; I think he was genuinely fond of my brother.”

Jayna nodded and the alpha slipped out of the room, leaving Jayna with her thoughts once again.

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When she thought about it later, Jayna figured that her long hours of isolation and her consequential boredom must have played a part in making her accept Paul’s offer when the man said he’d show Jayna the traditional jobs held by omegas in the pack.

She felt the first frisson of unease when their car took them to the outskirts of the pack instead of the central square or anywhere familiar, her worry compounding when she realized that Paul had actually brought her to a house of ill repute. Far from any available help and nervous about her surroundings, Jayna reluctantly followed her late-mate’s cousin inside the building. Paul exchanged a few rapid words with the Omega who seemed to be running the joint in the native dialect and Jayna had difficulty keeping up with what was being said. The omega kept throwing her curious looks and Jayna had never been happier to have anyone’s attention removed from her than right then as a loud ruckus coming from outside the door effectively diverted everyone’s attention. She figured it to be an argument between a ‘client’ and one of the ‘workers’ and was surprised when the voices got louder instead of fading away- jumping when the room’s door suddenly rattled on its hinges. Terrified at this unexpected turn of events, she quickly plastered herself against the large wooden cabinet by the wall- close enough that she could keep an eye on the goings on, but far enough that she would have at least a few seconds to escape if the threat approached.

The door shook on its hinges a few more times before the region around the latch splintered with a resounding crackle. The door slammed inwards in the next second, bouncing off the wall and leaving behind a sizable dent on the plaster from the force of the opening.

Jayna was ready to defend herself (if possible; or run away while everyone else’ attention was otherwise occupied from the irate individual responsible for the open door), but gasped when a furious Janardan stormed inside. A quick look around and then the warrior was grasping Paul by his collar and slamming him mercilessly against the wall, the collar of his dress-shirt yanked tight in a chokehold.

“Wha- What’re you doing?!” The rotund alpha stammered, clearly terrified by the furious glint in the viridian eyes of the furious warrior but hoping to intimidate still: “I’ll have you whipped for laying a hand on me.”

“Shut. Up.” Janardan responded, slamming him hard against the wall between his words and watching the man slump to the ground with a satisfied expression the minute he let go.

He glanced at Jayna once, eyes quickly sweeping over the omega to ascertain that she didn’t require assistance – before turning to the Omega Paul had been conversing with. Once again, Jayna was unable to follow the hurried exchange, but watched as the ‘Madame’ nodded reluctantly. Then Janardan returned to Paul and pulled him up, dragging him to the car like a rag doll.

“You idiots!” Paul growled the moment he caught sight of his security team, “Five of you and you couldn’t stop one man?”

“Paul,” Janardan interrupted, “Shut up.”

“Do something!” Paul yelled and Jayna bit back her laughter when his security’s only response was to open the car’s door for Janardan. She hurriedly joined the two alphas and shrank back in her seat as Paul attempted to join her. To her relief (and vindictive satisfaction), Janardan quickly put an end to the man’s attempt by slamming him to the floor and holding him crouched down in a painfully awkward position.

“Ben?” She asked, once she was sure that whatever threat Paul posed had been neutralized.

“Safe.” Janardan returned curtly, not bothering to expand. The muscles of his arm rippled as he tightened his hold on the wriggling man and Jayna fell silent, not wanting to distract and risk Paul getting free.

Once they reached the house, Janardan unceremoniously dragged Paul out of the car and into the house- part marching, part dragging him till they reached the large, official looking room where Jayna had first met Janardan all those years ago. She watched as her father-in-law climbed to his feet at their dramatic entry and had to force back a chuckle when Janardan tossed Paul face-first towards the Pack-alpha’s feet.

“Janardan! What is the meaning of this?!”

“He disrespected Alpha-heir Adam’s memory!” Janardan returned, eyes still blazing with fury, but tone controlled. “He took Omega-Heir to a brothel and tried to-”

“He’s lying, Alpha!” Paul snivelled. “I caught the Omega-Heir and him in a compromising position so they beat me up together and now they’re trying to spin lies, Uncle!”

Jayna’s eyes widened at the blatant lie and she could see Janardan reeling from the same shock next to him. She opened her mouth to protest, realizing that Janardan was too surprised to speak at the moment when slow clapping interrupted them. She turned to watch Edmund strolling in, lips twisted in a smirk as he continued to clap.

“I must say, you should get your tongue checked for silver, Cousin; the way you weave lies... simply marvellous!”

“You think I’m lying?” Paul screeched, his expression so genuinely heartbroken that Jayna found herself fearing punishment for a crime she never committed.

“I know you’re lying,” Edmund countered easily. “Because to think anything else would mean believing that Janardan acted inappropriately and I think we all know by now that that man is incapable of doing something that would hurt Alpha or his trust. I mean come on, he’s the most loyal of any of us... besides, I can prove that you’re lying. Janardan might not know how much of a weasel you are, Paul; but I definitely do. So I brought witnesses with me.”

And Jayna watched with satisfaction as Paul blanched. She glanced behind her to see who had entered to make the man’s face drain like that and felt herself jerk in surprise as she identified the Madame from the brothel. The omega curtsied and then gave a mostly faithful rendering of the afternoon’s events- adding that Paul had actually offered to sell Jayna to her.

“She lies!” Paul protested, “Edmund paid her off, Uncl-”

“Call me Alpha, Paul.” The pack alpha corrected, eyes blazing with fury.

Edmund was unperturbed, and faced his former-tormentor with a crooked smirk. “Fine, I paid her off... but would you say I paid off your Ang-rakshaks as well?”

And Paul’s bodyguards entered and in a few short sentences corroborated the Madame’s version of events. ... But Jayna was stuck on the honorific they used for Janardan –‘Commander’. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that the man had indeed held the rank of Commander in the Guard before taking his assignment baby-sitting Jayna and Ben, and felt renewed shame at the way she had treated the warrior during the initial days of their acquaintance.

“You will be scourged at dawn,” The Alpha handed the sentence once he’d heard all the evidence, “Forty lashes.”

‘Forty’ didn’t seem all that many to Jayna but given the way Paul dissolved into snivelling pleas and warbled apologies- not to mention Janardan and Edmund’s widened eyes- she suspected it was going to be a severe punishment.

Janardan dragged her to their room immediately after, not even giving her time to thank Edmund for his help. Jayna wanted to argue, but figured she would have to hold her tongue till Ben was busy elsewhere. Fortunately, Ben was not the room and a quick enquiry confirmed that he was with his grandmothers. Deciding to make the most of the opportunity, Jayna turned to Janardan, “You should have at least let me thank Edmund. He did help us.”

“He should thank us.” Janardan returned, busily rummaging through his bags for fresh clothes.

Jayna remembered then that the alpha had returned from the hunt and possibly not even had time to clean-up before he’d set out to rescue her. “Why? Also, how did the shikar go?”

“Hunt was good,” Janardan nodded, “Got Benny two rabbits and some berries. Also, six reasonably sized fish. Should establish his status sufficiently.”

“He killed rabbits?”

“I did.” Janardan returned, eyes snapping to Jayna’s in silent reprimand, “I made him look away. I told you I wasn’t going to get blood on his hands. Figuratively,”

“Figuratively?”

“Made him practice with a bow and arrow so it wouldn’t be all a lie. He scratched his finger while trying.”

Jayna grinned, “Thanks.”

Janardan nodded, before resuming his search- ostensibly for clean underpants.

“You’ve got to tell me why you think Edmund should thank us and not the other way ‘round,”

“What, you think he was acting altruistically?”

“Wasn’t he?”

Janardan straightened with a sigh and turned to look her in the eye, “Edmund’s third in line for the position of pack Alpha after Benny and Paul. He just cleared his way today, bumping himself up to the second position.”

“What do you mean cleared his way? Paul’ll take his punishment tomorrow and then he’ll be free-”

Janardan was shaking his head before Jayna finished, “First off, forty lashes can kill a person if applied properly. Even if he doesn’t die, he’s never going to be the same. But most importantly, the fact that he’s going to be whipped means he can no longer be in the running for pack alpha- I mean, who is going to be able to trust and agree to follow an alpha who needed such extensive correction? It's a mark on his character and anyone with such questionable character cannot be considered for a position with requires an immaculate character.”

Jayna felt sorry for Paul as Janardan explained and immediately berated herself for being so soft- after all; the man had been trying to sell her.

“And coming to Edmund, the man is a thinker. I’ll not be surprised if he was the one who’d put the idea to take you there in Paul’s mind in the first place. Paul may be cruel, but he’s an idiot... Edmund on the other hand... be careful of him, understand?”

Jayna nodded, “Can’t trust anyone here, can I?”

“You can trust Alpha- he may be traditional, but he’s fair. And your Om-in-law... She doesn’t understand all these mechanisations, so she can be duped easily; but she genuinely cares for you and Ben and will never harm you knowingly.”

“R-i-g-h-t,” Jayna blew out a breath, dragging the word as she exhaled. “God, I can’t wait till we leave.”

“About that, we’re leaving tomorrow morning,” Janardan responded.

“What?” Jayna blinked in surprise, “It’s just the sixth day today-... our flight tickets are not for another three days!”

Janardan just grinned enigmatically, “I know.”

“Are you telling me you changed our return dates?”

“Something like that,” The warrior smirked, mischief making his eyes glint in the room’s low-light. “Trust me, okay? And no need to tell anyone else.”

And that was how Jayna and Ben found themselves whisked off to a forest resort nestled in the mountains the next afternoon. Similar to their trip all those years ago, a car from the pack dropped them off at the nearest town’s car-rental shop from where they were supposed to take a cab to the air-port. However, instead of heading to the airport, they drove in the opposite direction.

The three-nights, four days spent in the picturesque resort was everything a vacation was supposed to be- filled with laughter and fun and miraculously free of the stress that had bogged them back at the pack. At a higher elevation than the packlands, the every room at the resort had views of snow-capped peaks. Overlooking a tranquil lake, the location itself soothed something in Jayna. After much prodding, Janardan explained that he had read about the tourist spot in the flight magazine on their way to the pack and had been intrigued. A few discrete enquiries and some covert planning later, he had managed to successfully book them a room at the resort for this surprise ‘holiday’. He refused to let Jayna pay for anything, insisting that his police salary and savings were enough for whatever they needed. Confident and relaxed, it was a different side to the usually sober warrior, and Jayna decided that she liked this version of Janardan a lot more than the beaten down man she had seen back on the pack-lands.

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Chapter-18

MasterPost

Earlier Parts: Prologue- Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter-3- Chapter 4- Chapter 5 - Chapter 6-

Chapter 7- Chapter 8- Chapter 9 - Chapter-10 - Chapter-11- Chapter-12- Chapter-13- Chapter-14 - Chapter-15 - Chapter- 16