ARGON
The horrifying news of Jerome’s death went wild within few hours. Everyone panicked over my former Beta’s horrible death, curious to know who murdered him.
The press even carried this up, believing the people of Wolf Crest must have unleashed their hatred on Jerome after the judgement I passed.
And due to their silly assumptions, my people almost picked a fight with one another, refusing to accept such allegations.
“I know if I was the one who saw the Beta, I would have beaten him to a pulp for all his evil deeds. But come on! Did you see his mutilated body?! Only a psychopath would carry such a thing out!” Someone shared with the press on a live interview.
I was in my car, listening to the news on my phone while driving back to the mansion. This shocking news has left everyone panicking and fighting. But I know for a fact that the culprit is dwelling in our midst, hiding in the dark.
“It could have been a rival pack who did this to send a warning to our Alpha. Maybe it was Alpha Deron. That old man must have gotten mad because of what happened, so he chose to end the Beta’s life, ” Another had said, pinning Deron to Jerome’s death.
I got tired of hearing this disturbing news about Jerome’s death, that I turned my phone off, heading for the mansion.
When I arrived back at my place, I saw Tania and Brielle at the entrance, looking worried, mostly my Luna. She stared at me with fear, while I drove into the compound.
Their face expression was a sign that they saw the news about Jerome and couldn’t take it out of their systems. This is what I was afraid of. Just look at how troubled my Brielle is.
Stepping out of the car, I carefully walked up to meet my Luna, who immediately rushed into my arms, hugging me tightly.
“Brielle,” I called, gently stroking her hair.
“Argon… The news… Jerome…” She stammered, lifting her head to look into my eyes. I could see her fear. She was trembling, and it made me worried about her.
“Jerome is dead. We saw his… His body! Oh Goddess!” She buried herself right on my chest, shaking.
“Brielle, relax, ” I said, comforting her. “Don’t think about it too much. Just take it out of your head.” I wrapped my arms around her body and took her back into the mansion with Tania following.
“Take it out? Argon, I can’t unsee what I have seen! That was Jerome on the screen! His head was…”
“Brielle!” I cupped her face in my palm, stopping her from talking any further about the incident. If she keeps on thinking about the dead body, she might lose it.
“I know you’re terrified, but you have to pull yourself together! Yes, that was Jerome. He’s gone. We have to accept the truth and learn to move on. I don’t want to see you getting yourself worked out because of this. Please, ” I pleaded, still comforting her.
She shivered, staring into my eyes, only to break down into tears, hugging me again. “Argon!” She cried out, squeezing me closely. “I know Jerome did us wrong, but… But I never wanted him to die. I never wished for this treatment.”
Her voice ached my heart deeply. She’s just too innocent for this world. I feel so bad that she had to learn about Jerome’s death and see his dead body. It has creeped my Luna out.
But I can’t reverse what has been done. She just needs to accept this bitter truth and move on.
Holding my Luna, I lifted my eyes at Tania, who stared at us with sadness in her eyes. She was shaken by the news as well, but chose to stay strong for Brielle’s sake.
“Tania, please take her to her room,” I said, gently pulling Brielle out of my hold and into Tania’s. “Stay with her.”
“No problem, Alpha, ” Tania assured me, guiding Brielle up the stairs.
I followed them with my gaze, until they were out of sight. Once they were gone, I gave out a big sigh, wiping my face with my palms. “We have to find this person,” I said, making my way to the living room.
There I sat, thinking of the past moments with Jerome. From the first day he was made the Beta, till now. He was like a brother and my best friend. We did so many things together.
“I know he wronged Brielle and I by siding with Estelle and Deron, but… I still feel hurt knowing he was murdered brutally. His body…” I flashed to his cold body at the hospital. It’s still fresh in my head.
“Pull yourself together, Argon. You can’t allow this to weaken you,” I encouraged myself, rubbing my face. “Once that culprit is caught, you’ll punish him for all the past crimes committed, and for Jerome’s death, ” I decided, planning the killer’s fate.
Such a being can’t be allowed to live. He has to go.
.
Towards the evening, I was on a call with the authorities, who were still struggling to look for this mysterious killer.
They couldn’t pick the scent from the truck like I did. And I know if I go back there to try once again, the scent would have faded.
“I don’t know how we’ll do it, Alpha. Unless this culprit strikes again, that’s when we can get our hand on the scent and try to trace him,” The head officer said, sharing his thought on the matter. But I wasn’t pleased with the report.
“There has to be a way. We need to gather suspects and start testing them. The killer has to be someone hiding in our midst, ” I pointed out, getting a bit impatient.
As we were talking, Tania came into the study room, looking troubled. On seeing her, I had to end the call with the head officer, so as to listen to Tania.
“What’s it? ” I asked.
That’s when she pointed out and said, “The councils are here.”
“The councils?” I’m sure they are here to talk about Jerome’s death. “Go and welcome them. Let them know I’ll be there shortly,” I instructed Tania, but she didn’t move.
I thought she didn’t hear me, not until she said, ” They aren’t the only ones here. Alpha Deron and Estelle are also here to see you.”
“Deron and Estelle? What do they want?” That got to me in an instant, leaving me mad.
“They just showed up and began to call out to you. Now they are picking a fight with the councils. You have to come, ” She said, hurrying off quickly.
Hearing this, I immediately followed Tania to the entrance of the mansion, where I saw Brielle looking outside, watching the drama coming from there.
I could hear Deron’s voice. He was shouting like a maniac, arguing with the council members like Tania had said. And when I stepped closer, pulling Brielle back a bit, I saw Deron, Estelle and the councils raging at one another.
“You brought this on yourself, Deron! You and your daughter have no right to step into our pack after all the nonsense you’ve caused!” The councils sparked, pointing accusing fingers at them.
Deron groaned and yelled back, ” Does that give your people the right to blame me for that fool’s death?! Just like every other person, we are shocked as well!”
I saw how he held Estelle close, like she’s a little girl. In fact, I couldn’t recognize Estelle anymore. She was acting like a child, clinging herself to Deron while trying to fight with the councils. “Stop accusing us! We didn’t do anything!” She shouted.
“Argon, do something,” Brielle said, holding me arm.
Knowing well that I had to intervene, I immediately walked up to them and yelled out, “Enough of this!” That ended the fight, sending all their attentions on me.
“It’s good that you’re here, Alpha. Kindly send this people out! They are not welcome,” One of the elderly men said, pointing at Deron and Estelle.
“They need to leave! Wolf Crest doesn’t need you and your daughter to come and defend yourself to us. You can go and do it in your pack. Oh, I forgot, your people don’t care about you two,” The elderly lady fired, provoking Deron the more.
Mad, Deron said, looking at me, ” You can all say whatever you want, but I’m not leaving until you stop these people from blaming us for something we didn’t do. They think my daughter and I conspired to attack Jerome, but we didn’t! The last time I spoke with Jerome was last night. He called from a phone booth claiming there was a major situation, and I didn’t give him a listening ear.”
“Wait, he called you last night?” I was surprised to hear this from Deron. That’s when I realized that a strange number had called me as well, but went dead in an instant. The line was also from a phone booth!
“Yes, he said there was a situation. He sounded so scared, but I ignored his call and ended it, ” Deron shared on.
Hearing this, it was clear that Jerome was being chased by his killer last night. “That means I was right. He wasn’t alone.”
“What do you mean? ” The councils asked on noticing how calm I was, instead of doing what they wanted.
With this information on ground, I ended up inviting everyone inside the mansion to have a meeting. “It’s really important,” I said, leading the way into my home.
They all followed me, even though my councils weren’t pleased with the fact that Deron and Estelle were allowed into my home despite everything that happened. But I don’t care about those two. I only need everyone’s head in this matter.
Together, we all sat in the living room, with Brielle sitting by my side. Her presence made Estelle uncomfortable. She stared at us with anger, trying to look elsewhere but found it hard.
“What is so important that you had to invite these two into your home again?” The second elderly man asked, glaring at Deron and Estelle.
Even Deron gave them a groan, asking me, ” What is so important that you allowed us to sit with them, Argon?” He directed his eyes on the councils.
That’s when I spoke, talking about Jerome and last night’s call. “Someone had also called me from a phone booth last night. But before the person could speak, the call went dead. I think… I think that was Jerome. He was trying to reach me while being attacked by his killer.”
“You mean by the people, right? I mean, you threatened to kill Jerome if he ever steps back into your pack. Your people must have seen and massacred him like a pig, ” Deron said, pinning the blame on my people.
That made me frown at him, but it made the councils angry with them. “You think Wolf Crest is like you and your daughter? No, we are nothing like you two.”
“My daughter and I are…”
“Can you stop this?!” I raised my voice, silencing their fight once again.
“This is a very serious matter! We aren’t just looking at Jerome’s case but the fact that this culprit has been attacking in the past and we haven’t been serious with it!” I said, hinting on the office incident and Damien’s men.
“When I was at the scene, I picked a scent from there. That scent, I recognized it during the period I was struggling to get back on my feet. The strange creature that attacked King Damien’s men had the same scent.”
“What creature are you talking about, Alpha?” The councils had asked, looking confused.
Just when I wanted to speak, Brielle chipped in, taking over for me. “The night Damien’s men had come over to ruin Argon’s goods, someone had attacked those men in the bushes. The authorities believed it was a wild animal and decided to investigate. But since then, they didn’t see any link to this beast,” She explained, surprising the councils.
“And that same creature had the scent with the killer that went after Jerome last night. I can’t forget a scent once I pick it. I know what I’m saying,” I said, backing Brielle’s words.
“This is strange.”
“I’m surprised. Why didn’t the authorities tell us about that case then?”
“I know I heard about the incident, but I didn’t know it went to that extent.” The councils discussed, still amused to hear this.
Deron, who was listening to us, hummed and asked, “So, is it just the scent you know? No description of how this being looks?”
“I haven’t seen this creature before. How am I supposed to…” I paused, remembering something Jerome had shared with me back then.
“Wait, that day…” I said, rising to my feet, recalling all that my late Beta had shared. “At the company, we found the place messed up. There were wolf marks around, large claw marks. And… And the lift was damaged in a strange and unimaginable way.” I looked at them, still trying to explain myself.
“Jerome had described this creature to me. He said he came face to face with it at the office and it almost killed him that day.”
“Really?” My councils stared in amusement, curious to hear more about this being.
“Yes. Um… He said something about green eyes. Yes, green eyes. The creature had bright green eyes and… What else?”
“Hold it, Green eyes? ” I noticed how the elderly lady looked in surprise, looking at the others, who were as amused as she was.
Who wouldn’t be stunned to hear that tale? A wolf with green eyes? It’s too hard to believe.
When I looked at Estelle, who was now shaking on hearing me mention the creature’s eyes, I immediately snapped my finger and pointed at her, “Estelle, yes!”
“What?!” She panicked, holding her father close.
“What are you doing? Are you calling my daughter the killer?” Deron’s fatherly instinct kicked in, as he defended his daughter.
“No! I mean Estelle knows what I’m talking about! She’s the first person to come across this creature before Jerome. She should have a good description of the being more than me, ” I explained, signalling to Estelle to speak up.
My councils, who didn’t like both father and daughter’s presence at first, now wanted to hear from Estelle. “Can you describe this creature to us? ” They requested.
Estelle didn’t look pleased with this, but she gave in and began to describe the beast. “It… It has green eyes, black furs and… It can change its size from a normal wolf to a werewolf. Way larger than a werewolf!” She said, describing with her hands. “It… It can even mimick one’s voice and…”
“Wait, an IVY?!” The councils chorused loudly, cutting Estelle immediately. They sounded horrified when they mentioned that name.
An Ivy? What’s that?