Chapter 9 - Memorial

Ashton was worried all the way to the school. He did not think this through when he exposed himself last night. Was his secret finally out? Will he need to leave again? That's all he could think of. 

At the school he saw everyone whispering around strangely. He could sense everyone was scared and anxious. He tried focusing his hearing on what the other kids were talking about. 

"Did you hear about James last night."

"I can't believe someone did that to him".

"He was a rotten kid, good riddance".

"Poor James, who could have done that to him".

"Why did someone kill him"?

Wait, someone died last night? Who was this James they were talking about, was he popular or something? Ashton saw flowers and cards arranged in a beautiful manner in the hallway. 

Ashton approached it further to get a clearer view when he saw the dead boy's face. He was shocked to his inner core, 'Was he dead? Did I kill him?' That's all Ahston could think about at the moment. He remembers knocking them out, but that wasn't strong enough to kill someone right? For a human that may prove life threatening, but a wolf would be as fine as they get within an hour. 

He started feeling bad for a moment when he suddenly recalled his actions much more clearly. Last night he let his scent out. If the dead bodies were found, so was his scent along with it. Did that make him the primary suspect?

He was in his deep trance when he was walking when he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you are going"! It was Matt. He saw his friend Caleb approach him. He knew Caleb had a position of authority, so he listened to their conversation intently as he tried to figure out the situation. He pretended to look in his locker for stuffs.

"Did you go there last night"? Matt asked.

"Hm"

"So, is it true, a pure blooded Alpha is here"? He asked him cautiously and with a whisper. He lowered his voice so much that even the wolves won't be able to hear them. Ashton could still hear them, but he had to focus really hard.

"Unclear, I don't really think that Alpha did it though". Caleb told his friend.

"Why?"

"I have my reason. I saw the scene, I will tell you later" 

"Must have been terrible. I have heard that they have a really burning smell". Matt told his friend.

"Depends on who is smelling. For you it's burning, for an omega it's sweet smelling". He told Matt.

"How do you know that"? Matt asked him skeptically

"I have heard of it as well" Caleb said and left for his class.

They were going to hold a short memorial service for James, as he was a student in this school. Ashton did not mind the funeral, but he was worried what kind of comments he was going to get. If they were assuming that the Alpha, ergo him, was the one to kill him, they will sure badmouth him.

Throughout the day he heard many speculations related to him. Most of them were rubbish, but he can imagine where they were coming from.

"I heard he will hunt all of us"

"I think he wants to kill the current lead Alpha and take over him".

"I heard he is very dangerous, and will kill anyone that came in his path".

And all this. Given that he was indeed one of  the strongest wolves in existence, it made sense people were terrified of him. But he did not choose to be a pureblood blood Alpha. He lost his birth family because of that, his blood status brought him nothing but misery, why would he want to rule any pack.

He hated how people in his last school treated him differently. Even his best friend who turned out to be a wolf was scared of him once he found out what Ashton was. To this day the only people who did not push him away because of his blood status was his family, but that only made things harder for his family.  

He knew coming here was a mistake. They moved here because they thought it will be nicer for his sisters to stay in protection of this wolf pack. The head Alpha knew what his mother and sisters were, but he was not informed of Ashton's blood status. All his mother told the leader was that he was adopted. They assumed by themselves that Ashton was a human, but they never bothered rectifying it.

(At the memorial)

Their principal decided to address a few words in respect to the deceased. It was his sister's turn to go next. Ashton tried to determine what was her blood status, but he couldn't. 

"As you all know my brother was brutally murdered last night". She began her speech. "Whoever killed him, we will bring him to justice". Justice? He knew what that meant. Common people were a bit confused by her statement. They thought it was an animal attack, what justice did she mean?

He spent the whole day looking out for anything that could prove to be a threat to him. For example any witness who saw him, or any footage that shows him nearby. Luckily nothing came up. Most of the wolves who had heard about the rumors talked amongst themselves, they were either scared of him or wanted the Alpha to drop dead. He had heard those kind of hurtful comments before, both behind his back and to his face. To say he was used to it won't be lying, but it did not mean that they did not hurt at all. What was his fault? Being born this way? This is why he prefers having no friends. Once they found out what he was they would leave anyways.

At home his mother stopped in when he proceeded to go to his room after coming back from the school.

"The twins told me someone killed a friend of yours"? His mother asked him.

"He was not my friend. He was a junior, and yes he is dead". He told his mother.

"Tell me the truth were you there or not"? His mother asked him sternly.

"If I tell you, will you believe me"? He counter questioned his mother.

"Then why would I ask"? His mother sighed and continued with a softer tone "I know hardly anyone will trust you, but I am your mother. I know what kind of person you are. Why don't you try telling me"?

So he told everything to his mother, from the kidnapping to the threats. She listened to him intently and nodded slowly when he was done. "I understand why you did what you did, but if they find out it was your scent, are you ready to deal with it's consequences"? She asked his son.

After a careful thought he replied "I don't know". 

"It's alright, for now go freshen up. I will put the dinner on the table" and she dismissed him.