Chapter Four

“Whatever you say doesn’t matter. I am not leaving my child and she should know that by now” Jared said

“Maybe she does but right now, you are acting like the one thing that should be kept away from a child. What would your child think if you if you keep acting this way about every situation? Jared, be a father, not a monster because something about children is that they never forget and once they can’t forget, they can’t forgive” Xavier said to him

He got up from where he was sitting and headed out the living room

“Where are you going?” Jared asked

“I don’t know, to gather the people like you’ve asked. The time you would address them is set for five in the evening. Please, don’t be late” Xavier said, as he looked back at him, smiling.

He headed out the door, leaving Jared to think on his own. He ribbed his forehead when he heard 

“Stressful day?” 

“Lilith, I didn’t know you were still around. How did you get in here?” he asked her

“I actually came by for a few days and I decided to stop by and say hi before I run off again and one of the maids let me in. I hope that is not an issue, considering all that we shared once. I didn’t see the need to call too” she said

“I think you should have called either ways. I am not what I used to be or who I used to be now. You can’t drop by as you wish. I have someone now” Jared said

Lilith, the woman he used to run to when things went down. She was his comfort and she was always ready to solve his sexual needs. He and Lilith never had an official relationship but she was definitely his sex partner. What Jared found amusing was that she never complained about his womanizing even though they were having unprotected sex. Well, Jared was always having unprotected sex with anybody. As the alpha of crimson pack, he got whatever he wanted. Being the alpha of one of the strongest pack and the leader of the most peaceful and prosperous valley, it came with some benefits. Every girl wanted to be with him, not only because he was extremely wealthy, but because he was equally handsome. 

Getting a girl has never been an issue for him and more times than not, he always had girls at his disposal. He didn’t need to compel them or order them to sleep with him. They were willing to sleep with him and have a good time with him, hoping they would get pregnant by him and maybe he would get to Marty one of them but Jared never made that mistake. He never got any of them pregnant, never.

“Oh, the little slut that can’t even access her wolf side. That is interesting really. I didn’t think she would last that long. She must be stronger than I thought. I didn’t even know she could handle your sex drive” Lilith said to him 

“Mind your language, Lilith. She is my mate and you should respect that regardless of what we had. She is the Luna of this pack and she has a purpose. There is a reason for everything. Don’t you dare speak of her in such manner!” he said

“I don’t know what to think of you! Is this an act? Oh, us she around? Well I don’t care because the both of us know that you still love me! We both know that you still want me and you always will. Because she is here doesn’t change the fact that you would still come back to me!” Lilith said

“What is she doing here?” Jared heard

He looked up and saw Alice on the stairs. Lilith scoffed and rolled her eyes

“She was just leaving” 

“Are you sending me away because of her? Seriously, Jared! Can’t you even realize that she is not a wolf? Or has she bewitched you too?” Lilith said

“Lilith, leave” he said calmly

“I will not leave!”

“I said leave!” he yelled at her and his eyes glowed

She knew she had hit a nerve. She gave him the meanest look she had before turning around and heading towards the door. They heard the front door slam shut and he looked at her. He didn’t know how much of the conversation she had heard but his mind told him that she must have heard all of it. 

“Alice…”

“Don’t” she said as she turned and headed back to their bedroom

He sighed. He couldn’t just stop messing things up. He was so good at it. It was either his present or his past, coming back to haunt him. He had lunch on his own. He could hear her crying from where she was sitting. He was about to meet her and apologize for Lilith’s little drama when Xavier walked into the house. Jared picked up his phone to take a look at the time. It was almost five. He could have sworn that it was still noon some minutes ago. He could hear Xavier mumbling under his breath and he knew what came next, another lecture for his tardiness. 

“I literally told you to be ready for five!” Xavier said

“I got caught up in some drama. Lilith was here and it was bad. She said a lot of things to Alice and it hurt. Now, Alice won’t speak to me” he said

“Oh, that is bad but right now, you’ve got the whole community waiting for you at the town hall. You have to fix that mess then come and fix this mess” Xavier said

Jared looked at him and nodded in agreement. He picked up his jacket and they left together. They got to the town hall. The place because filled with murmurs immediately he walked in. He walked to the podium and Xavier stood by him

“Good day, it is disheartening that we have maintained peace for so many years and now, we have been pulled back into the blood bath of our ancestors. For some reason, somebody has decided to kill children even after the rule that ‘no child must be involved in any blood shed’ that we have put in place. At first, Eddie went missing, then we found him at the gate of the blue moon valley. Not only is it disheartening but it is also inhumane. I assure you that I and my entire courtyard are looking into this and we are pouring every resource we have into this case. The death of the two boys shall not go unavenged. We will find who this killer is and we would do unto him what he has done unto others. We advice you to be patient and peaceful as you have always been. We know that it is hard to lose someone you love and that is why we will not rest until we bring the killer to justice” Jared said

“Why can’t we attack back and kill them too?” someone asked from the crowd

“Yes! We are all wolves. I’d they can do it, so can we!” another person agreed with the first commentator

“We can’t do that! If we go down that path, everything we have worked for over the years, the peace, the love, the harmony, the prosperity. It will be taken from us, all of it. If we attack their own kids, how different are we from the killers? At the end of it all, how different are we? Why should we think that the solution to solving evil is to be evil?” Jared asked

“Well, we can’t sit back and fold our arms, doing nothing” someone said

“Right now, that is what I am asking you to do. As your alpha, I need you to sit down, fold your hands and do nothing. I and Xavier would head down to the blue moon valley tomorrow and we would speak with their alpha. If he refuses then we would fall back on our initial plan which is to attack. This would mean a war between the two packs, a war between the two valleys. If and when it gets to that point, the civilians would be moved to a disclosed site for their safety while the warriors would wait and fight. We are really hoping it doesn’t come to that but we have no control over this situation as we would only respond with force if they don’t turn in their killer. We should remember that force is our last resort and would only be used when we have run out of options” he said

“Can we just skip the whole talking thing? The blue moon pack did this!” someone said

“And how sure are you?” Xavier asked

“For all we know, it could have been anybody. We don’t know for certain that they did this and this is an act of just one person. As I said earlier, Xavier and I would head down there tomorrow to find out what exactly is going on” Jared said

Murmurs of disagreement filled the air and he could sense their tension. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they started to act out so he put a warning in place

“You have been advised to sit still and let us handle it. Whoever goes against this law is considered to be disobedient and would not be backed up by the pack if things get messy. The person would also face the full consequence of his or her action. We are not to retaliate until we get orders. Xavier and I would do out findings and get back to you on whatever it is that we find” Jared said 

He got down from the podium and headed out the door with Xavier.

“What do you think?” Jared asked him as they walked to the car

“I don’t know. It would keep them in place but that is just for a while. They are getting restless and the only thing they want is revenge. I don’t know how long they would stay idle” Xavier said

“I don’t need them to be idle forever. I just need them to be idle for a while, until we can get to blue moon valley and find out what the hell is going on with them” Jared said as he entered the car

They drove home and he dropped Xavier off at his house before heading home. He got in and tossed his keys on the dining table

“Alice?” he called out but got no reply

He called her name a couple of times and still didn’t get a reply. He grabbed his jacket and headed up to the room they shared. He opened the door gently and saw that she was asleep, at the foot of the bed. He dropped his jacket beside her before picking her up and dropping her gently on the bed. He covered her up and sat beside her, taking a good look at her. He had to admit, she was beautiful. She had bright blue eyes than pierced into the soul and a very beautiful smile. Even on her bad days, she still looked amazing. Jared rubbed his forehead. He didn’t want to let her go but what choice did he have? He didn’t have any choice! There was no choice. For the first time in his life, he cared about someone else’s happiness. He wanted her to be happy and he couldn’t even explain why he did. He was always after his own happiness but now, it was different. A part of him genuinely cared about Alice and he was going to do all that he could to make sure she was happy, when if that meant letting her go. His heart broke at the thought of that happening but he had to do what he had to do. He kissed her forehead and watched her readjust to the comfort of the kiss. He got up and headed to the bathroom, took a cold shower and laid beside her.