Blood on Sacred Ground
1271 Words
✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ CHAPTER 2 ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
AIDEN CROWL
He did it!
The scent hit me first. Metallic. Sharp. Fresh, but masked beneath layers of pine, sweat, and ash. It clung to the corner of the pack’s training ground like a ghost that didn’t want to leave.
Elias.
I crouched beside the fencepost, pressing my hand into the dirt. Still warm from the morning sun. But not warm enough to cover what had happened here two nights ago. The claw marks in the bark didn’t lie. Neither did the bloodstains.
I’d been wrong.
I wanted to believe I wasn’t. Wanted to believe Liora had jumped to conclusions, that she just wanted someone to blame. I’d looked her in the eye and told her I wasn’t guilty. But someone was. And that someone wore the same badge I did.
My stomach twisted.
“Alpha,” came a voice behind me.
I turned.
Jace it was.
Tall, broad, shaved head and eyes like frozen steel. He wasn’t technically second-in-command, but he acted like it. Always louder than necessary. Always the first to swing, last to think.
He crossed his arms. “You’ve been sniffing around here all morning.”
“I’ve got reason to,” I said.
He smirked. “That so?”
“I found something.” I stood up, facing him. “Elias didn’t die in the woods. He died here. On pack grounds.”
Jace’s smirk didn’t move. “Maybe he wandered too close.”
“His throat was torn out.”
“So?”
My fists clenched. “So you know what that means.”
He shrugged. “Sounds like he had it coming.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“You heard me.”
I blinked once, twice. Slowly. “Say that again.”
He stepped closer. “I said he had it coming. Vampire trash like him. Wandering around like he owns the city. Always watching us. Always sneering like he’s better.”
“Doesn’t mean he deserved to die.”
“Oh, grow a pair, Crowl,” he snapped. “You’re next in line. Start acting like it.”
I stared at him, and something clicked in the back of my mind.
“You did it,” I said.
He didn't say a word.
The wind stirred between us.
“You killed him.”
His lip curled. “He crossed a line.”
“No, you did.” My voice was steel now. “You crossed it the moment you spilled blood on sacred ground.”
“I was protecting the Pack.”
“From what?”
“From the leech spying on us.”
“You don’t get to make that call.”
Jace took a step forward, eyes glowing faint gold. “You weren’t there, Aiden. You didn’t see him lurking near the ridge. I did what had to be done.”
“You butchered a student. A kid.”
“He was a vampire. Doesn’t matter how old he was.”
“It does if we’re trying to avoid war!”
Jace scoffed. “War is coming whether you like it or not. You’re just too soft to admit it.”
“You think I’m soft?” I growled.
He didn’t even blink. “I think you’ve forgotten what it means to be wolf.”
By now, the others had gathered. Luca, Tyler, Remy… all of them… standing in a half-circle like we were about to hold some twisted trial. Their expressions were a mix of curiosity and challenge.
“Problem?” Luca asked, arching a brow.
“Jace killed Elias,” I said. “On Pack ground.”
“I did what I had to do,” Jace said, again. This time louder.
Tyler nodded. “He was poking around where he didn’t belong.”
Remy crossed his arms. “So what? He got what he deserved.”
I looked around, heart pounding. “Is this really who we are now?”
No one spoke.
Then Jace said, “No. This is who you are now. Running around sniffing after vampires. Defending them.”
“I’m not”
“Don’t lie,” Luca cut in. “We saw you talking to her. The DeVoss girl.”
My breath caught. “I was warning her.”
“Looked friendly to me,” Remy said.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tyler chuckled. “You sure about that? Because from where we stood, it looked like you were ready to roll over and bare your throat.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I snapped.
“Then give us proof,” Jace said.
I turned to him. “Proof?”
“That you’re still one of us.”
Luca’s eyes gleamed. “Kill her.”
The words dropped like a bomb.
“What?” I said, voice low.
“You heard him,” Jace said. “Kill her. The DeVoss girl. Liora.”
“That’s insane.”
“No,” Tyler said. “It’s justice.”
Remy added, “It’s loyalty.”
Luca smiled. “It’s leadership.”
“She’s not the enemy,” I argued. “She didn’t kill Elias.”
“But she’s one of them,” Jace said. “And they’ll all come for us. You know they will. Better to strike first.”
“No,” I said. “This isn’t the way.”
“Then what is?” Tyler demanded. “You want to wait until they’re at our door? Until your father’s blood stains the floor? Until the tunnels burn with silver fire?”
“I’m not going to start a war to prove I belong,” I said.
“Then maybe you don’t belong,” Jace growled.
“You want me to kill a girl who hasn’t done anything wrong?” I asked. “Just to show I’m still one of the pack?”
“No,” Luca said. “We want you to kill your feelings for her.”
“I don’t have feelings for her.”
They all stared.
“Sure,” Remy said slowly. “And I don’t grow fangs every full moon.”
“I don’t,” I snapped. “She’s a DeVoss. She’s the enemy.”
“Then prove it,” Jace said again. “Kill her. Or you’re not one of us.”
My heart thundered in my chest.
“I don’t take orders from you,” I said.
“No,” he sneered. “But you will take them from the Pack. And right now, we’re the Pack.”
“You want me to murder a girl in cold blood,” I said. “A girl who hasn’t raised a hand against us. Who’s grieving her friend.”
“Her friend was a spy,” Tyler said.
“Her friend is dead,” I shouted. “And that wasn’t your call!”
The air was thick and tense.
“You hesitate now, Crowl,” Jace said, stepping closer, “and you’ll lose everything. Respect. Power. Legacy.”
“I’m not killing her.”
“Then maybe you’re in love with her.”
The words froze me.
And for a second, just one, I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m not,” I finally said, voice sharp.
“Then prove it,” Luca repeated. “Next full moon. Bring her to the ridge. Do what must be done.”
I turned away, fists clenched.
I didn’t look at them as I walked off.
But I felt their eyes on my back.
Burning…
Watching…
Waiting…
- Writer
