A6. The Murder

Marina jolted from her sleep with a start. She did not know what happened but something tells her that something was wrong inside the cottage. She turned on her night lamp before she was looking outside the window.

It was dark, which means it was night.

She waited for her grandfather to return but she was too tired to wait for him so she went to bed early tonight. She never felt so exhausted before but right now, she was gulping the lump in her throat.

She slipped out of the cover before she was putting on the robe that was near her bed. She slipped that one before she was making her way to the bedroom door that was closed at the moment.

The thunder was heard in the night sky before the lightning was splashing across it. She was holding her breath before she turned the doorknob. She heard the door squeaked before she went out into the long hallway.

It was dark, and nothing seems to be out of place. She took a deep breath before she was making her way to the stairs. The portraits were hanging on the wall and when the lightning strikes, they all seem to be glaring at her.

She took a deep breath before she was walking down the stairs. She hoped that she carried something in her hands like a bat or a crowbar but she was clutching her hand to her chest to stop it from beating too loud.

Please let it be a burglar. I could take them on, she prayed before she was walking at the bottom of the stairs. She heard the TV was speaking incoherently in Greek, noting that her grandfather was home.

Marina sighed a relief before she went to greet her grandfather in the living room. She was smiling happily before she was walking into the living room. Then, her eyes turned wide when she was looking at the blood that was spat on the walls and the condition of her grandfather.

His blue eyes were staring at him lifelessly and she soon heard someone was screaming.

*****

The red and blue lights of the police siren were filling the area of the cottage. Caleb was looking through from the forest as he was sitting in the dark, feeling satisfied when he sensed the mind l**k that was brushing into his head. He opened it up and his mother’s voice was coming into his mind.

‘Come home now. Your fiancée was waiting for you. Do not make your father be angry with you now,’ his mother said before Caleb turned toward the forest and ran to the packhouse as quickly as possible.

He changed behind the big tree before he went to pick dark pants and put them on. Then, he was running into the packhouse as he was making his way to his father’s study. But he encountered his mother instead.

“Where have you been?” she asked him before she took a sniff and she grimaced at her son.

“Did you kill something again?” she asked him before Caleb was rubbing his neck.

“I was on the hunt. I need to get Cavier some running before he drives me insane,” he said as his mother was narrowing his eyes at him.

‘Gee, thanks for that, bastard,’ his wolf replied before he pushed away from the thought as he was smiling at her mother. She sighed before she instructed him to get freshen up before he went to meet Diana, Xavier’s little sister.

It was his father’s Beta’s idea, their father, to put Caleb and Diana under the same roof and married them. It was meant to provide the Alpha the worthy bride for his Luna. But Caleb disagreed. He disagreed then and he disagreed now when he finally found his mate.

Marina.

His wolf purred at the name before Caleb was putting on the clothes that his mother left out for him and went to his father’s study. He stood outside before he took a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Then, he knocked on the door.

“Come,” his father’s booming voice was coming from the inside before Caleb turned the doorknob and walked into the room. He saw that his father was talking to his Beta while Diana was sipping on the tea on the couch.

She turned to look at him before he was nodding at her. She did the same thing as well.

“You wish to see me, father?” he asked before he was taking a step forward as he was nodding at the Beta as well. He smiled at Caleb before his father spoke.

“Yes, it has been a while now since you go out with Diana. I was hoping that today you might be welcoming her to go around the town?” his father asked before the Beta was smirking. He covered it so well that Caleb has to resist himself to clench his hands into fists.

“I don’t know if I have the time to do that. I have to meet with Sebastian—“

“Nonsense. He can meet you tomorrow if the important stuff can wait,” the Beta said before Caleb was facing him.

“And this cannot wait? The marriage that you wanted to—“

“Now, now, Caleb. I think it would be lovely if you would show Diana around town during the folk festival this weekend. It would give you some time to get to know each other,” his father said before Caleb was sighing inwardly.

“Yes, of course, father,” he said before he heard a shuffle behind him. Diana was always a little sister to him and right now, he cannot think of Marina who might be finding this arrangement…a little offensive if he was to ask her later to be his wife.

In truth.

“We get going then, Alpha. Father,” Diana’s sweet voice was filling the room before she hooked her arm around Caleb and pulled him out of the tensed room. He was breathing heavily before Diana led him outside to the backyard of the packhouse.

“Do you have to be like that?” Diana asked him before Caleb was looking at her. He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Like what?”

“Like overly mated werewolf that was about to pounce whenever someone talks about his mate,” she said as she was looking at him. Caleb snorted before he looked away.

“If you’re thinking it was meant for you—“

“No, I know it was not for me. Believe me, this was the last thing that I wanted to get myself into,” she said as she was eyeing Caleb up and down.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re gorgeous but not my type and certainly not my mate,” Diana said before she sighed. Caleb turned to look at her, calculating the emotions on her face. Diana steeled herself before Caleb can see anything.

“Well, shall we get going? We know they will have someone spy on us and I don’t want to be the receiving end of my father later on,” she said before she was moving away from Caleb. He caught up to her.

“Receiving end? What does that mean?” Caleb asked Diana before she turned to look at him. She shrugged before they were moving far away from the packhouse. Then, Diana turned to look at him. She was biting on her lower lips and Caleb knew something was wrong.

“Diana, what are you not telling me?” he asked before Diana was looking at him with her grey orbs, just like her brother, Xavier.

“I know why you’re acting like that in the room. You have finally found her, didn’t you?” Diana asked him before Caleb was shocked to know that she knew. He blinked his eyes before her.

“How do you—does Xavier told you? I swear I’m going to kill him,” Caleb said under his breath before Diana laughed. She shook her head before she turned to smile at Caleb. Like a little sister would.

“No, that was not it. I know how you feel because…I have been feeling the same way for 2 years,” she said quietly before Caleb was blinking his eyes at her. Did she just…I think she did, Caleb mused before he was clearing his throat.

“Who was he?” he asked before Diana was blushing. He never saw her blushed before.

“Well, that’s the thing. He is someone that my father…would not approve,” she said before Caleb was putting his hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. If you ever need support, I will back you up. You don’t deserve someone less than your mate, Dee. You know that,” Caleb said before Diana turned to look at him. She smiled and for the first time that night, he felt his heart lightened up from the burden that was pushing him down.

*****

“How do you feel?” the detective asked Marina before she was given the blanket and hot chocolate. She did not want to think right now and with everything that was happening around her—the siren of the police, the red and blue lights, the bloodstains—it was unbearable.

“Barely breathing,” she said before she was sipping on the hot chocolate. At least it calmed her nerves a bit.

“Where were you before you saw the body?” the detective asked before Marina was taking a deep breath. They wanted answers and she will give them to her. she has nothing to hide anyway and that was her grandfather. They would not be thinking that she killed him, right?

“I was asleep upstairs in my bedroom when I heard a ruckus downstairs. I went to investigate and I heard the television in the living room. I thought my grandpa was asleep and I wanted to wake him up so that he can sleep in his bed and then when I walked into the room…” she was unable to finish.

Marina couldn’t.

The detective seems to get the idea before they nodded at her. Then, they turned to look at the police force and informed that they got nothing. It was not a suicide so they ruled it as a homicide.

“Do not worry, Ms. Kasun. We will bring justice to your grandfather,” the detective said before they went on and Marina nodded at them.

She was shaking pretty bad. She never has been when she was fighting battles before but the sight of her grandfather undid her. she wanted comfort but she had no one. Marina Kasun just realized that in this world, she was all alone.