The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 159

Madison POV

‘Morning Madison, did you sleep well?’ Jacob asked. His voice was softer and much deeper than I had expected, and I was surprised that I did not mind the sound of his voice or the kind tone he had used.

‘As well as one could be, in an unfamiliar bed, and a booming head from whatever that jab had in it, I am still a little foggy and have a low-grade headache from it.’ I tried to be as pleasant as possible, even if that was the last thing I wanted to do.

‘I am sorry to hear that you are still unwell, your reaction to the drug was unexpected. I can see if we have something for your headache if you need it?’ he had sat at the table, looking down at the unfinished breakfast tray.

‘No thank you, I have had enough drugs in me at the moment. I will wait for it to clear on its own, but thank you for the offer.’ I am not sure how much he believes me; I can’t get a read on him yet, he had an uncanny way of keeping his face in a smile, and his eyes did not show much at all. It was as if his wolf was on the surface watching it all. Could he be allowing his wolf to run his life? What an eerie thought.

‘I see you have been reading about our area. It is beautiful, is it not?’ he asked, flipping through the booklet I had left on the table.

‘Yes, it is. I saw out the window, the young ones skating on the ice. Is that a river they are skating on and is it safe?’ I asked, genuinely interested.

‘Yes, it is known as the Dark River. That is where the Dark River pack got its name. The river is quite long, it starts high up the mountains, and with us, living higher up in the mountain range. The river is frozen on the surface every winter, we do have a few thin ice parts that the children know not to go to certain places, we rarely have any incidents on the ice.’ Jacob seemed to be very chatty and not the least worried. I would tell anyone, their belief that a room full of wolfsbane would be enough to subdue me and keep my wolf from trying to link with the outside world.

A knock on the door and Jacob got up and strode over to the door and opened it, and stood to one side to let the person at the door enter. I was not concerned that Jacob took it upon himself to answer the door. I was a prisoner after all. Opening up the door, it revealed it was only Linda, come to take my tray away. When she reached the table, she frowned at what was still on the tray and flicked a quick look at me. As she picked up the tray, shaking her head ever so slightly at me, I did not understand what she was shaking her head at. Was she warning me of something? Or was she shaking her head in annoyance that I had not eaten all that was on the tray.

‘Linda, did Madison eat her dinner last night?’ Jacob asked, as if he was concerned. If I was not a prisoner, I would think he really cared.

‘Only the soup, sir.’ Linda did not look at Jacob, keeping her eyes on the tray and if I had not been watching the interaction closely, I may have missed the very brief, almost non-existent curtsy. Linda scurried out the door quickly and Jacob closed it softly behind her and returned to the seat he had taken earlier at the table.

‘Are you not eating?’ Jacob asked, in a way that made it more of a statement than a question.

I did not want to tell him I did not trust the food, so I lied again, and I felt I was getting better at lying.

‘As I mentioned earlier, I have a throbbing headache and feel drowsy and a little dizzy, I don’t think I could stomach too much to eat just yet.’ Jacob nodded at my answer, he was in deep thought and I was glad I did not eat much last night, as it supported my current lie.

‘Sorry that your stay so far has been uncomfortable. I hope you will adjust quickly to our home. We are simple people and I think you would start to enjoy being here once your head is not so foggy. I would like to get to know you and spend more time with you, but as you are not up to par at the moment, I will leave you to rest some more.’ With that, Jacob stood up and came to me, and kissed my cheek before leaving the room. I stood there for a little while after he left in shock. He kissed my cheek. That was not what you do to prisoners.

What is going on here, and do I really want to know?

I walked over to the bed and laid down. My head was now not so happy, my wolf was growling inside my head and making it pound, as she did not like Jacob kissing my cheek. It was taking liberties and I feared something was going on. Were they trying to get me to like being here for some reason? Surely, they can see I am already mated. Or was that the point, to keep me away from Zane? I had loads of questions floating around my head and I was not pleased with any of the answers I came up with.

Can they mark and mate with me over the top of Zane’s mark? Would they even try to do that?

Either thought almost made me sick.