Choice

“Everything doesn’t seem right,” Jasper muttered to himself. He was sitting on the floor of a small room in what had once been his home—a single room with no windows or furniture but for a bed and table that he'd found in the basement. The place smelled like mold and mildew, though it hadn't always. It smelled like life, until everything went wrong. He was cold and angry; the only happiness he could think of was that of Lyra’s.

The thoughts of her filled him with warmth, which helped to banish some of his anger. But that didn't help much when there was a knock on the door. He walked to the door and found a member of his pack lying at the foot of the door. He opened the door widely and sighed. "Don't get up."

"I should have died," she said, her voice weak. She tried to sit up but couldn't manage more than a few inches.

Jasper didn't answer; he just watched her.

She coughed. "You need to tell me what happened." He said. 

She shook her head. "Not yet." He stood for some time and then walked away from the door. 

“Some members of our pack was attacked,” she said suddenly.

"What?" He turned back to face her. "Where are they now? What's going on?"

"They're dead." She said as if it were nothing. Jasper felt sick and started shaking his head.

"You can't be serious. Who did this and why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sorry, Jasper, but we've got a lot of work to do."

"But who would want to kill them?"

"Who cares about who killed them? We need to find out where they were and how many came by so we can prepare for whatever comes next."

"Whatever comes next?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, Alpha Jasper. You need to help us figure out what might come next. If you won't help, then a lot of members might leave out of fear."

He took a step forward and grabbed her arm.

“No one is leaving! I will get to the root of this matter,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

She looked around nervously. "Are you sure?"

His grip tightened. "Never been more sure!"

She seemed satisfied with that. "Well then, let's go."

***

The sun was high in the sky when Jasper finally reached the site of the attack.

It was the first time he'd seen anything outside of the mountains since the his dad was alive. The ground was mostly flat, covered with grass and dirt. There were trees dotted here and there, but most of them were bare or had lost their leaves. The hills were too far off to see. All in all, it was a very pleasant day to take a walk.

He was surprised to see people mourning about on top of the hill. They were dressed in black and held each other as they cried.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

One of the men pointed towards his dead son, lying lifeless on the bare floor. "We think Callum is behind this,” he said.

A woman screamed, and Jasper stepped towards her.

"Why would he do this?" she asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, but I’m not sure he is the one," Jasper answered.

The man nodded and turned toward his wife. "Honey, I'm sorry."

She sobbed into her husband's chest.

Jasper looked down at his feet as his stomach churned. He wanted to throw up, but he couldn't. His mind was racing and he thought of Lyra.

There was a distant sound of thunder and then the sky darkened. A low rumble shook the ground and everyone began to scream and run.

Jasper knew something was wrong from the moment he came to the site of the incident. The sky was dark, and it was almost like an eclipse had occurred.

The wind picked up and blew through the area, bringing with it the smell of burnt flesh. The air grew hot and dry. When the wind shifted, a terrible stench followed.

Jasper and the group stood in the middle of the clearing. Everyone was looking at one another with confusion and fear.

They all looked up to Jasper for protection and he could feel the pressure from their fierce looking eyes.

"What's happening?" someone shouted.

Jasper didn't have any answers for them. He was too confused himself. He stared into the sky, hoping to see something that would explain what had just happened.

“Everyone, retreat to your homes,” he commanded as they kept staring up at him.

Slowly, they started making their way through the crowd, heading to their respective homes.

***

“Do you really think Callum is behind the death of some members of our pack?” Benjamin asked Jasper over a cup of tea.

"I don't know, and I'm willing to find out, but i doubt so," Jasper said. 

“Do you know that Lyra’s choice of a mate would drift to your advantage if she finds out Callum is behind the murder of some of our pack members?” Benjamin said. 

“But that isn’t true. To be honest, those injuries on the dead victims don’t even look like werewolf bites, they seem really strange and Callum wouldn’t do such.”

“But if she thinks he did?” Benjamin reiterated. 

Jasper caressed his hair for some seconds and immediately bought Benjamin’s idea.

“I’m going to accuse Callum of this misfortune, then I’d win Lyra over to myself alone,” Jasper said as he smiled a cunning smile.