Blood on His Bed
1245 Words
Diko froze.
“Blood?”
Nobody moved.
For a few seconds, the entire room seemed to hold its breath.
Then Marcus pushed past everyone and ran upstairs.
Diko followed.
His mother grabbed his arm.
“Diko, wait.”
He turned.
Her face had gone pale.
“What?”
“Don't go in there.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“Because that room belongs to your father.”
Diko stared at her.
“I know.”
“No.” Her voice dropped. “You don't understand.”
Marcus shouted from upstairs.
“Diko!”
He pulled his arm free and ran.
His mother followed behind him.
When Diko entered the room, Marcus was standing beside the bed.
There was blood on the white sheets.
A lot of it.
Diko's stomach tightened.
“Who was here?”
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
He was staring at the window.
It was open.
The curtains moved gently with the cold night wind.
Diko walked closer to the bed.
“Is that my father's blood?”
Marcus looked at him.
“We don't know.”
“Then whose is it?”
“I don't know that either.”
Diko clenched his fists.
“So somebody came into my father's room, left blood on his bed, and nobody knows anything?”
Nobody answered.
Elder Rowan stepped into the room.
His eyes went straight to the blood.
“This is not possible.”
Diko turned toward him.
“What isn't possible?”
Rowan swallowed.
“The room has been locked for years.”
Diko looked at the door.
“Then how did someone get inside?”
“That is what we need to find out.”
Diko walked toward the window.
He looked outside.
The ground below was covered with grass and small bushes.
No one was there.
“How high is this window?”
Marcus came beside him.
“Second floor.”
“So whoever entered had to climb?”
“Unless they were already inside.”
Diko turned sharply.
“Already inside?”
Marcus's expression changed.
Before he could answer, a voice came from behind them.
“Everyone leave the room.”
Alpha Victor.
Diko turned.
Victor stood in the doorway with two guards behind him.
His eyes were fixed on the blood.
“Why?” Diko asked.
Victor looked at him.
“Because this is now a pack matter.”
Diko didn't move.
“This is my father's room.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“And this is my pack.”
The room went silent.
Diko stared at him.
For the first time since returning to Blackridge, he felt something clearly.
Victor wasn't happy that he was here.
Not even a little.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Alpha Victor, Diko is the rightful heir.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“I know exactly who he is.”
Diko noticed the way he said it.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
As if he had been expecting him.
Diko took a step forward.
“You knew I was coming.”
Victor didn't answer.
“You knew I was alive.”
Still nothing.
Diko's voice became colder.
“Did you know my father was going to die?”
The guards exchanged looks.
Victor stared at him.
“Be careful with your questions.”
Diko laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“I've spent my entire life not knowing who my father was. Now I've finally found out he was an Alpha, that he was murdered, and that the person responsible is still here.”
He pointed at the bloodstained bed.
“And now someone enters his room the same night I return.”
His eyes locked with Victor's.
“You expect me to stay quiet?”
Victor's face remained unreadable.
“You should learn how things work in Blackridge before you start making accusations.”
“Then teach me.”
Diko stepped closer.
“Who killed my father?”
Victor's eyes flickered.
Just for a second.
But Diko saw it.
Marcus saw it too.
Victor turned away.
“Search the grounds.”
The guards immediately left.
Diko watched him.
“You didn't answer me.”
Victor stopped at the doorway.
“Because you are not ready for the answer.”
Then he walked away.
Diko stared after him.
Marcus exhaled slowly.
“That was a mistake.”
“What?”
“Confronting Victor.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at the closed door.
“Because Victor was one of the last people who saw your father alive.”
Diko's chest tightened.
“And you never told me?”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
Marcus looked at him.
“When we knew who we could trust.”
Diko laughed bitterly.
“You've been saying that since you brought me here.”
His mother stepped into the room.
“Diko…”
He turned toward her.
“Mom.”
She stopped.
“Did you know Alpha Victor?”
She looked at Marcus.
Then at the blood.
Then back at Diko.
“Yes.”
Diko's eyes narrowed.
“How well?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom.”
Her lips trembled.
“Your father trusted him.”
Diko's heart sank.
“Then why are you afraid of him?”
His mother looked toward the doorway.
“I never said I was afraid of him.”
“You don't have to.”
Silence.
Then something moved beneath the bed.
Diko froze.
Marcus noticed.
“What was that?”
Diko raised one hand.
Everyone became still.
There was another sound.
A soft scratch.
Something was underneath the bed.
Marcus reached for the dagger at his waist.
“Stay behind me.”
Diko ignored him.
He crouched.
“Diko, don't.”
He reached beneath the bed.
His fingers touched something cold.
Metal.
He pulled it out.
A small silver pendant.
Diko stared at it.
His mother gasped.
“No…”
Diko looked at her.
“You know this?”
She covered her mouth.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Give it to me.”
Diko didn't.
The pendant had a symbol engraved on it.
A black wolf surrounded by a broken circle.
Diko had never seen it before.
But his mother had.
She was shaking.
“Where did you get that?”
Diko frowned.
“It was under the bed.”
His mother stared at the pendant as if it were something that should have stayed buried forever.
Then she whispered—
“That belonged to the man who killed your father.”
Diko's blood ran cold.
Marcus looked at her.
“You're sure?”
She nodded.
“I saw it that night.”
Diko looked down at the pendant.
His fingers tightened around it.
“Who is he?”
His mother didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“The man who killed your father…”
She stopped.
A loud howl suddenly came from outside.
Every wolf in the pack answered.
Diko's body stiffened.
Something inside him reacted.
His
heartbeat became violent.
His ears rang.
And for the first time, he heard a voice inside his head.
Run.
Diko staggered backward.
Marcus caught him.
“Diko!”
Diko looked around wildly.
“What was that?”
“What?”
Diko pressed a hand against his chest.
“I heard someone.”
His mother stared at him.
She knew.
She knew exactly what was happening.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“Your wolf has awakened.”
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