I knew this day would arrive. I knew that Caleb would be dead. But I didn’t know that I would be alive to witness his funeral.
Poor Caleb, he thought he knew everything. But what he didn’t know was that Albert and Alexander are actually brothers. What their father had done to their mom was absolutely intolerable.
The funeral is over now. Caleb is buried under the ground. People have left. Uncle, aunt, mom and I are left standing by Caleb’s grave.3
The cries of Caleb’s parents have stopped but not their tears. They continue to look at the grave.
When they have made peace with the truth that Caleb isn’t going to return to them, we all head to our pack.
When we walk towards uncle’s house, people stare at us. They only know that Caleb was killed because of wolfsbane. Only few people know the whole and complete truth.
The four of us get inside the house. Mom makes uncle and aunt sit. I go to the kitchen and return with water. I hand one glass to aunt and another one to uncle. Mom and I urge them to drink.
“It’s all because of me,” Uncle says in a quiet voice. “I killed my own son.” He looks at his hands. “With these hands.” He breaks the glass and hurts his hand. Aunt and mom quickly take out the pieces that pierced his skin.
I grab a hold of his shoulders and urge him to look at me. “It’s not your fault. It was an accident.”
It takes me a while to convince him. When he has collected himself, mom accompanies him and aunt to their room so that they can get some rest. When mom returns to me, I tell her to watch over uncle and aunt.
I leave the house to go to meet Lance and Steve. When I enter the living room, Lance asks me, “How are Caleb’s parents?”
“They would need counselling,” I say. Lance and Steve are one of those few people who know the whole and complete truth.
“After Caleb’s funeral, Albert came here. He was asking questions,” Lance informs me.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that you will answer all his questions.”
I palm my face, “I don’t know how he’ll react.”
“Don’t worry, the worst has passed,” Steve says just to comfort me.
“Has it?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” He questions back.
“Caleb’s words are still ringing in my ears, especially the words he said about Albert’s former Alpha,” I say as I go down the memory lane. “When Albert had told me that his former Alpha trained him to kill, I didn’t think much about it. Maybe because Albert’s pain overwhelmed me. Maybe I thought that justice was served. I was going through so much at that point in my life that I didn’t question his Alpha’s decision.” I pause. “Who trains their ten year old kid to kill someone?”5
Lance puts a hand on my shoulder, “You’re letting Caleb’s words get to you.”
I turn to him. “Just answer me honestly. Was it right for him to train a ten year old boy to kill?”2
“No,” he answers. “What do you think?”
“You know what I think. If I thought that he was right then we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” I say. “I need to talk to him before I talk to Albert.” I head for the door.
Lance grabs my arm to stop me. “Just answer me honestly. Would you have gone to him if Caleb was alive?”
I think about it. Hard. But I can’t come up with an answer. I just don’t know.
Lance grabs my shoulders. “Caleb’s death is affecting you. And that’s why you can’t let go of all the things he said. You can’t let go of all the possibilities that he told you. I just feel that you are targeting the former Alpha.”
“No, I’m not,” I say while shaking my head.
“Yes, you are. You know that his decision affected so many lives. And now, you want to hold him accountable for it. And that’s fine with me. I want you to have a talk with him but I don’t want you to be accusatory. Try to know his side of the story before coming to any conclusion.”
“That’s what I’m going to do.” And with that, I leave the pack house and walk towards the Genesis Alpha pack.6
I knock at the door. The front door is answered by the former Alpha’s wife. She invites me inside. We exchange the usual greetings before the Alpha arrives in the living room.
“Hello, Elizabeth. My condolences,” he says.
“I need to talk to you in private,” I tell him.
“Okay, we’ll go in my study,” he suggests and leads the way.
After closing the door behind me, I face him, “I don’t know how to go about it.”
“What’s the first thing that comes to your mind?”
“A decision that you look more than a decade ago.”