#Jayde is a take direct action kinda gal

[imogenkol]

— WIP WEDNESDAY

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It’s Wednesday my dudes. have a snippet of this OG thing I’ve been freshening up. I might post the rest of it within the next couple weeks, but for now enjoy the girls having a totally normal coffee date :)

“So, Jay,” Nadya said coyly, lifting her steaming mug of coffee up to her lips for a quick sip, “Is this a date?”

Jayde released an amused breath as she scanned the humble cafe before settling back on her with a crooked grin. “What else would it be?”

The irresistible warmth of her brown eyes reflected the string lights that hung in the window they sat by, adding a twinkle to her next lighthearted words. “Well, you did try to pass it off as a stakeout, but I’m not so sure it is.”

Nadya only teased to relieve some of the tension. They were on a stakeout. Jayde had received word of hunter activity a mere few towns away from The Lodge. Far too close for comfort. If it were up to her, Jayde would have come by herself and dealt with the situation before it got out of hand, but even she knew when to approach a problem a little more tactfully. Besides, she would draw too much attention on her own. Two young women enjoying coffee together? Couldn’t get more normal and inconspicuous than that. 

Which was why the two of them had been there all morning, seated by the window with the best view of the main street. Though, Jayde also kept a very watchful eye on every customer that came and went. Anyone could be an enemy.

Nadya didn’t serve only as cover. Stakeouts could take days and Jayde could hardly stand being separated from her for hours. Surely it wasn’t so bad to utilize some of the downtime to enjoy her company.

“You caught me,” Jayde replied with a smooth sarcastic timbre, crossing her arms on the table and leaning in. “I made up the hunters so I could drag you to a random coffee shop an hour and a half away. Figured you were bored with the one at home.”

Nadya leaned in, too, and matched the wolf’s smirk. “You’re so romantic.”

Jayde eyed the display case of freshly made pastries and various other baked goods by the front counter, the scents of which were almost nauseatingly sweet, but no less enticing. “How about I buy you a piece of pie to make up for it?”

One of Nadya’s brows shot up in intrigue. “You really know your way to a woman’s heart, Jayde Thatcher.”

“Proud to say that I know yours very well,” she replied with a wink and got up.

Jayde made her way to the counter and returned the barista’s warm smile and greeting. She had learned enough not to have to rely on her heightened senses in order to tell if a stranger was genuine or not, but Jayde always found it more difficult to discern when it came to customer service workers. It impressed her. If Jayde had to deal with ill mannered stupidity every day for hours on end, she would not have the patience to maintain a happy-go-lucky act in the slightest. 

The boy manning the espresso machine behind the woman taking her order didn’t seem to have that particular talent, either. He grumbled profanities under his breath and hit every visible button, but the machine only stuttered and grumbled in response.

Jayde ignored it and motioned to the display case as she fished a few bills out of her pocket. “I’ll take a slice of the pecan pie.”

The barista accepted the money, her grin still present even when another coworker groaned loudly as they swooped in to save the — no doubt expensive — espresso machine from further abuse. “We could warm it up for you, if you’d like?”

“Sure, sounds great,” Jayde answered, dropping her change in the tip jar and returning to her table.

“What’s the plan if we find hunters?” Nadya asked as soon as Jayde sat back down.

The blonde shrugged and took a swig from her mug. “Depends on how many there are. If it’s only a few, I can take care of it. If it turns out to be a big group, we’ll have to go back to The Lodge and figure out a plan to lead them away.”

The human’s expression grew a bit dark. “By take care of it, you mean…”

“Nadya, you know I can’t let hunters be this close to us.”

“I know,” she said quickly and gripped her mug in both hands. “And I know what these people do. I’m not trying to argue against it.” 

“You don’t have to be involved,” Jayde assured her. 

“I already am,” Nadya said quietly.

Jayde didn’t realize until that moment that Nadya was right. The concept hadn’t even crossed her mind. Killing hunters had become second nature to her after so many years of survival. Jayde hated them. She hated the constant threat they posed to her family. Wiping a hunter out of existence was just as easy as getting rid of any pest. But regardless of how she felt about it, the truth was it was still taking a life. Nadya preserved life. It went against her nature to cause harm. Jayde loved her for that. The fact that she unintentionally made her complicit felt like a worse offense than murder, and it hadn’t been the first time.

Jayde shook her head and stared down at the contents of her mug in shame. She felt so selfish for taking her human girlfriend on such an endeavor instead of Toby or even Skye. “Fuck, I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you with me.”

“No, no,” Nadya said quickly and rested her hand on Jayde’s. “I chose to come. I want to help keep home safe – keep you safe, I just… I guess I’m still trying to accept everything that comes along with that.”

A very brief smile tugged at the corner of Jayde’s mouth. She appreciated the bravery it took for someone like her to be a part of this, but also understood the grim reality that Nadya must come to terms with about the life she now had to live. Half of Jayde was shocked it hadn’t scared the human away from her yet.

“I know,” Jayde said solemnly. 

“Here’s your pie,” a young male voice interrupted. 

Jayde looked up to see the boy who struggled with the espresso machine place a plate down between them, along with utensils and napkins. He seemed in better spirits now, but he still avoided their gazes with a reddish tint to his soft features. Jayde heard the thrum of his heartbeat and felt a small measure of pity for his embarrassment. 

“Thank you,” Nadya said warmly with a grateful smile. The boy nodded and walked away. Then she addressed Jayde. “Let’s pause the morality talk for some pie, yeah?”

Jayde laughed at the lighthearted suggestion and the playful look on Nadya’s features as the girl dug in. “Pie beats morality every time.”

Nadya chuckled and shook her head, but still shrugged in agreement. She speared another bite onto her fork before she even finished chewing the first. “You want some of this? It’s pretty good.”

“Sure,” Jayde accepted and reached for her own fork.

As soon as her fingers made contact, a violent burst of white-hot pain assaulted her skin. It shocked her enough that she dropped the fork unceremoniously and sent it clattering against the ceramic plate and onto the wood table with a few loud clangs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw startled heads snap in their direction from around the entire cafe. Nadya jumped a bit in surprise, too, and stared at Jayde in question.

The werewolf had about half a beat to understand and react. The fork was silver. It had been intentionally placed as a trap to expose her. There were no doubts within her mind. Somewhere in the shop, a hunter had their eyes on her. 

Jayde would not give them the satisfaction. The encounter had to be on her terms. She needed to pretend the slip up had been a regular case of mundane clumsiness. 

With a shake of her head and a light laugh, Jayde met Nadya’s confused gaze and forced herself to pick up the fork again.

Agony flared across her entire hand as if she had reached into a furnace to pull the utensil out. Jayde dealt with silver fairly often, but never so voluntarily. No matter how many times she endured direct contact, she just never got used to the unique burn of it. Seconds ticked by like minutes as it felt like her skin was being flayed off with a molten knife. It took all of her willpower to keep a calm expression. 

“It’s okay,” she told Nadya quietly through clenched teeth, trying to keep her hand from trembling as she speared a bite of the pie. “It’s silver.”

Nadya’s eyes widened as she glanced down at her hand in alarm. “What are you –?”

“Relax,” Jayde instructed. She placed the bite in her mouth, careful not to come in direct contact with the silver more than she had to, and set the fork back down. The relief was so immense after she let go that she almost slumped in her chair with a heavy sigh. “What coffee shop has genuine silver utensils?”

Jayde saw Nadya’s swift thought process put it together in hardly a second. She put on a calm façade just as quickly and casually took another bite, though the sudden scent of her fear caused the wolf in Jayde to stir protectively. “What do we do?”

“Just finish our stuff,” Jayde answered plainly and tried to hide her injured hand. “Then we’ll take a walk and see if anyone follows us.”

“Your hand,” she said and reached across the table. Her fingers gently wrapped around Jayde’s wrist and subtly twisted her palm upwards to inspect the damage with a glance. In an effort to pass it off as flirtation, she caressed all the way up Jayde’s forearm and picked off a loose thread from her jacket. It wasn’t all an act. Jayde felt the underlying effects of her genuine comfort.

Jayde flashed an easygoing smile and shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

A quick grimace of concern came across Nadya’s face and Jayde guessed it wasn’t only for her hand. The stakeout suddenly became very real. Jayde’s own fear for her beloved human’s safety gripped her heart in a vice, but she pushed it aside in order to stay focused. 

The two of them continued on as if nothing was wrong, hoping to throw the hunters off. Jayde still felt a deep unease at the back of her mind that grew steadily by the minute. It told her they definitely hadn’t gone unnoticed or completely diffused suspicion. Eyes were on them and it took more than a little self control not to look.

Once they finished up, Jayde nodded and they casually headed towards the exit. Again, she felt those eyes on her back, scrutinizing their every movement. Her spine prickled.

She pulled Nadya close and instructed her quietly, “Do not leave my side unless I tell you to.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” the human replied and laced their fingers together.