Chapter 21

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Which do you choose?

Chapter 9 + 10

"Why am I up so early?"

"You missed the pack meeting."

"Why the hell was there a pack meeting at 5 in the morning, anyways! I'm a werewolf, not a vampire. I need sleep."

"If you don't wake up right now, I swear to god I'll-"

"You'll what?" At the sudden mention of a threat, I spring up from my bed.

"Doesn't matter, you're up." A smirk formed on Hunter's full lips, his eyes staring down on mine.

Truthfully, I didn't want to hear the end of that threat. I know Hunter's on this pledge to being a better mate, but when he wants something done, there is nothing that can stand in his way.

"Now get dressed, I need to tell you something important."

"What, are you pregnant?" I laugh at the horrid expression on Hunter's face.

"I'm a man. I didn't expect for you to listen in class, but it's basic knowledge that men don't get pregnant."

I would say it's odd to see a person go from humor to serious so fast, but this is Hunter we're talking about. His emotions are worse than a females when their on their period. One second he's laughing and having a good time, the next, he's staring at you with those cold eyes and a knife in his hand.

Well.. not literally a knife, but his hands are just at slick.

"Relax, it was a joke. I forgot you had alexithymia."  I brush past Hunter to my bathroom.

"I don't have- Right." Hunter's words dropped from his mouth when he saw the amusement on my face.

"Just meet me downstairs in a minutes. Or make that two, make sure to brush your teeth."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" My question was heard on deaf ears as Hunter was already half way down the stairs. Although, he still technically heard me.

In records time, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Rather than changing my whole clothes, I throw on a sweater over my t-shirt, and keep wearing my pajama pants.

Before I even entered the family room, Hunter's voice called out, "I thought I told you to get changed."

"I am."

"Oh for the love of god, your covered in antlers."

Staring down at my pajama bottoms covered with mooses, I guess he had a point.

"I'm from Canada, we... like animals."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Really? Have you even heard yourself speak?" Hunter gives me a mock smile before carrying two mugs over towards the table.

"Oh thanks," He hands me one of the mugs.

"It's tea."

After taking a sip, I break the silence.

" So, what's so important that you dragged the whole pack out of their beds?" I joke.

Hunter didn't find it amusing, rather his expression was focused down to the floor.

"What happened?" I ask more alarmed.

"It's getting worse. There was two more found dead this morning."

"How is that possible? You have the biggest pack, with the best protection, how can a murderer get through?"

"That's what we don't know. Our warriors are of the best, and the whole territory is covered. We don't think the problem is from the outside."

Hunter's phone starts beeping

"You think it's one of us?" I question.

"It looks like this. Hold on, Jaxon's calling. Hello?"

Of course It is someone from the inside. It's Greg. I already know it's him.

Why does it feel like i'm still trying to convince myself? I saw the blood. I saw the girl. I saw her die.

"Hunter, I have to tell you something." I can't hide this. I can't lie anymore. He needs to know.

It didn't look like Hunter even heard me. His breathing became short and quick, his hands in fists.

"I'm on my way." Hunter gets up in a flash and is nearly at the door before I could even understand whats going on.

"Where are you going? I have to tell you something. Hunter? Are you even listening to me right now?"

"I need to go. I have to- I have to go." Hunter kept muttering words that made absolutely no sense.

"Hunter Greg is the killer!" I shout.

He still doesn't stop. He wears his shoes in seconds and is out the door a second after.

"Why aren't you listening to me? What's going on with you?"

Hunter had his car door open, his keys in the ignition.

"Hunter? Hunter stop moving. Tell me what's happening." By this point, I was attempting to stop Hunter by grabbing on to his arms.

"Hunter?" I ask one last time.

"My mother just died."

I was far too shocked to reply. Hunter easily got out of my grip and started driving away.

I know I shouldn't have let him go. At least not alone.

I should have said something.

I should have done something.

But it's too late. He already left.

Going back into the house, I take a seat.

All this time, I assumed Hunter's parents had already passed. No one ever spoke of them. He didn't even talk about them.

Plus, I would have assumed that since Hunter is the Alpha, and his father is not, that he was the only one.

I really don't know that much about my mate.

A startling noise met my ears. It was footsteps from outside. At this time, I didn't even have the energy to be scared.

I just feel so emotionless. It's like every mistake, and every lie I've ever made is flashing through my head.

I'm a horrible human being.

"You know if I was a murderer, you'd be dead right now." Glancing up, my eyes meet the Beta's.

"Well are you?"

"Am I what?"

"A murderer?"

"Course not." Jaxon took a seat across from me.

"If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here?"

"I, am here to make sure no one else kills you. In other words, I'm your babysitter."

"I don't need a babysitter." I would sound offended if my voice wasn't so monotone.

"Maybe, maybe not. However, Hunter's mother was just murdered. He's not taking any chances with his mate."

At the mention of Hunter's mother, I became more intrigued.

"How come no one ever spoke of Hunter's parents?" I ask.

"Well, there's not much to tell." Jaxon didn't seem like he wanted to share.

"Please, Jaxon, I need to know."

"Okay, fine. It's not this big story. It's simple really. Hunter's father died years ago in a battle. Hunter was young, old enough to be affected by it, but still young."

"How come he's Alpha? Shouldn't his mother have been in charge of the pack?"

"Her mate had just died, it might sound harsh, but she didn't care about the pack."

"What about her son?" I couldn't help my self from asking all these questions. Jaxon knows so much.

"She always cared about her son. She cared so much, she gave him the pack. All of it. All the power, all the decisions, and most importantly, the position of Alpha."

"If she cared, shouldn't she have taken the responsibility?"

"Hunter wanted to do it. He wanted to be Alpha. Ms Rivered is too nice anyways. "

"Is Hunter-"

"He's going to go see.. her."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Yes. But I don't think I should go into detail."

"Please Jaxon, I need to know. How else can I help Hunter?"

"Hunter wouldn't want me to tell you everything."

"If it was up to Hunter, I wouldn't know anything. Just one more question, please. Just tell me how it happened." I looked at Jaxon with hopeful eyes.

"Alright, alright. But this is the last question."

"I promise."

"Well, Ms Rivered lives about a two hour drive away-"

Another question popped into my head, and if you know me, you know I have very little self control.

"Why does she like so- right. No more questions. Carry on." Jaxon gave me an annoyed look, but other than that still continued.

"She lives in a small town two hours away, and she hasn't left it for two years. She had little to no contact to the pack life. Other than the few calls to Hunter, she was just like an ordinary human."

Jaxon took a pause as if he was thinking about something.

"She was odd like that. A werewolf who would rather be a human." I guess for anyone else, that would sound weird, but I understood that desire.

There's too many complications and struggles to being a werewolf. At least if your a mundane, you can start fresh any where you'd life. Live anywhere, do anything legal.

I mean, as a werewolf, you can't even go off living alone. Not only would you be counted as a rouge, but everyone you've ever known and loved would disown you.

"She wasn't a part of the pack, but everyone knew that she wasn't a threat. She lived far from any packs, I think she even had a job. However, this morning she was found just outside the borders. Dead. Murdered." My eyes widened and my mouth fell open.

"We're not too sure how she got here, like I said, she never leaves her town. Who ever.. killed her.. must have brought her body all the way here. They were trying to prove a point."

Would Greg really do that? Sweet old Greg who got nervous on first dates? Why couldn't Greg have an evil twin. That would explain so much.

"We also found a student dead."

I don't know why, but Jaxon's words still shocked me.

"And you guys think who ever killed that student also killed Hunters mother?"

"100 percent," Jaxon nodded in assurance.

"In that case, I know who did it." Jaxon froze from midway changing his position. After a few seconds, he finally spoke.

"How would you know? Unless..." When his eyes met mine, I knew exactly who he was referring to.

"It's Greg."

Jaxon rubbed the side of his mouth, his eyes elsewhere.

"I-I always thought there was something weird about that guy, still I never would have thought he would do something like this. Even when Hunter had pinned the previous murderers on him, I assumed it was only out of anger because of your feelings for him."

It was my turn to look away, out of embarrassment.

"Are you sure?" Jaxon's eyes searched mine, looking for a fault in my words.

"I saw him. In the library, I saw him, and the girl, but it was too late! I wanted to help her, I really did. I just froze. I didn't know what to do. Oh my god. Someone died and it's my fault." I was in hysterics from all that has happened.

"Hey, hey calm down. Relax, it's okay. What's done is done. What happened was horrible, but everything happens for a reason. When it's someone's time to go, it doesn't matter how old or young they are. Life can suck like that but it's not something you can change. All we can do now is find Greg before he kills anyone else."

"I need to go tell Hunter, I'm gonna call him, are you okay now?"

I nod, "Yeah. You do know that you're a werewolf, you don't need to use a phone to communicate."

Smiling, he replies, "Hunter's going through a lot. There's no doubt he's blocked everyone out of his head."

"Oh."

Jaxon leaves but returns minutes later with a distressed expression.

Standing up, I ask, "What's wrong?"

"I need to go help Hunter."

"I'll come with you," I suggest eagerly.

"No, if you come you will only distract him. His wolf needs to be on alert, if you're around, he'll be more concerned about you."

"Okay, I guess I understand. Can you tell me what's wrong though? And don't say nothing. Something happened, I can see it in your face."

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but on behalf of keeping you safe, I'll tell you. Greg is missing."

"What do you mean by missing?" His words felt like a punch in the stomach.

"He is no where to be found, His family has no idea where he is, and his house has already been searched. Our first priority right now is finding him."

"There's two people on their way here, don't get freaked out if you see them. They wont come in, they're just guarding the house."

"What, why are they guarding the house?"

"You know how Hunter can be. Just go along with what he wants for the time being. He really is going through a lot. He may never have mentioned family but it's only because it means so much to him."

Jaxon already had his shoes on, his hand reaching out for the door. His hand twitched towards the nob, but froze for a moment before actually opening it.

Just when I thought Jaxon was going to shut the door, he turned back towards me.

"Rose, you don't happen to know where Greg is, right?"

I felt offended that Jaxon had to ask.

"If I did, I would tell you. But I don't."

"Fair enough," Jaxon finally left.

My stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me of my hunger.

Going to the kitchen, I decide to make eggs.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was, or how late it got. The clock flashed 1pm.

I guess schools out of the question. Especially with the death of a student, that will take a few days or even weeks to resolve.

As soon as my food was ready, it was gone. I was so hungry, I didn't care how much of a pig I looked. I pigged in.

*        *        *

I guess It shouldn't have been a surprise that when I open a door, the possibilities of what can be behind it is endless.

I mean, there could be a giant pink pony with a glitter tiara and I wouldn't be surprised.

However, contrary to my words, my whole body froze, I couldn't even breathe.

When I opened my bedroom door, my first thought was, 'when did I close it?'.

The man sitting on my bed surly answered that question.

I don't know how Greg got passed the guards, or even past Hunter. Yet, there he was sitting there.

Looking all normal aside from the anguish expression on his face. He didn't look up when I entered making me believe he never saw me yet.

Unfortunately, he started talking.

"Rose," Greg said with a velvety voice.

"W-what are y-you doing here?" On the other hand, my voice was all shaky.

"Rose, I miss you."

"G-get out. How did you even get in here?" I could barely understand the words that I spoke, all I knew is that I wanted him out.

Greg's sudden motion to stand up made me stumble towards the door.

"S-stop moving," I demand harshly.

Greg wore innocently normal clothes. He looked different than the last time I saw him. Considering that last time I did see him, he was all covered in blood.

The mental image flashed in my mind, boosting the aspiration to getting away from Greg.

Greg noticed my expression, and he became angry.

He started shaking his head side to side, his hands in fists, shaking.

"Rose, Rose I did something bad." Suddenly he stopped moving all together. His shoulders square with mine.

"Yes, you killed innocent people. Get out of my house. Get out!" I scream loudly in hopes that someone would hear.

"No, but I might as well have." Greg began pacing back and forth, his feet stomping loudly against the hardwood floor.

Hunter, I whisper in my mind.

Hunter, help me.

Only, if only Hunter opens his mind. Just for a second. Just to hear my pleas.

Greg's motions becomes more aggressive.

"It's not my fault. Things just happened so fast and before I know it, bam!"

Greg's fist hits the wall creating a hole. The vigorous action made me yelp in fear.

There's no doubt that Greg is stronger than me. There's doubt that he might actually hurt me.

"They're all dead. Dead! I couldn't even bring them back if I wanted to." His breathing became louder, almost as if he was panting between words.

"You were right, Rosalyn. I didn't realize it until this morning. When one more died. It's all my fault. I am the monster."

I wanted to run away and scream, but my body wouldn't listen.

Hunter. Hunter I'm scared. Help me.

"But it's not just me. Everyone's got a bit of madness in them. Only some of them are willing to show it."

Hunter.

" Except you. You're purely innocent."

Help.

"You would never hurt anyone."

Me.

"Rosalyn," I didn't know when it happened, but somehow Greg got closer and closer to me.

"You don't think I'm all bad, right? I wasn't the one who killed those people. At least not literally."

I pressed my body firm against the wall, but it was no use.

Greg was already to close. Looking into his eyes, there was glint in them.

Greg's mouth was now at my ear, his breath tickling it slightly.

"Rose," He starts with the same velvet voice.

"I think I've gone mad."

Hunter, I whisper one last time.

----------------------------------------------------------

TO BE CONTINUED

Please VOTE--->

What did you think?

Do you think Rose is making the right decisions?

XOXO-Jada

❤Happy Valentines Day❤