“Sorry!” I said in a rush, taking a step back from the tall man who was not from Torma.

He had dark skin and eyes and looked to be of Asian descent. He could be an alpha or beta from any number of the packs, though, and since I’d taken no time to really learn about the other leaders, I was going to have to try to figure it out by chatting with him.

“Apologies,” he said in a deep, pleasant voice. “I don’t speak English.”

I just stared at him. “You speak perfect English, actually,” I said, arching my eyebrows at this peculiar conversation. “I would have guessed you were a native speaker.”

His eyes widened, and there was a wariness in the depths as I felt his wolf shifting in his energy. I’d clearly said something to alarm him. “What game are you playing?” he finally bit out.

Now it was my turn to be on the defensive, but unlike him, my lethargic wolf was barely noticeable. “I’m playing no games, sir. Just merely commenting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m in search of a moment alone.”

I turned and walked off, glancing back just one time to see him staring after me, his face creased in suspicion. Seriously, that had been some of the weirdest shit ever, but I already had too much to deal with to worry about it any longer.

“Mera!”

The shout stopped me before I made it into the trees, and I gritted my teeth, unable to keep up a fake smile any longer. Turning, I waited for Jaxson to interrupt me for the second time that day.

“Did I just see you talking to Alpha Dai?” he asked as he hurried up.

My eyes flicked around him to where the other man had been. “Alpha Dai?”

Jaxson nodded. “Yeah, he’s from the Tokyo pack, visiting America with some of his members. I just thought it odd because he doesn’t speak English, and I know you failed out of Japanese in school.”

My eyes narrowed on him as I sorted through my confusion. “He spoke perfect English. If this is a joke between the two of you, it’s a really fucking bad one.”

Jaxson didn’t smile or laugh, and I could have sworn he was as confused as I was. “No joke, Meers. He requires a translator whenever he comes to these things.”

He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before the alpha dossier appeared on the screen. Scrolling through the many packs and various details about their members, he finally stopped at the International contingent. Sure enough, right there in black and white was Alpha Dai, requires full translator.