40: Mayday

The house looked to have seen better days. It was riddled with holes that looked like perfect havens for pests. Aaron saw those holes on his way in and thought of his own situation. He was also a menace to the general population and constantly looked for similar holes to hide. Aaron and Sophie sat at the table with the elders of the werewolves. The room was too dark to fully make out the lay out of it. Sophie could see a large book shelf wall to her right but it was too dark to read any of the titles. Emotions were over the top at the table. Elders looked at Aaron with a hint of relief and admiration in their eyes yet Aaron stared back at them with utter contempt. All of them were present at the park yet they had refrained from making contact. The elders hadn’t expected a sincere hug from their Alpha after what they had put him through. He had been a bit worried about their reaction on his disclosure with Sophie but his emotions had shifted after seeing how his elders wished to control his love life. Sophie was being ignored by both. No words were spoken. All seemed to wait for something. The door opened again and more senior citizens joined them in the room. The newcomers found their chairs at the table across Aaron and Sophie. The elders could sense the anger brewing up inside Aaron so they took their time. To Sophie, they were the immortal council of watchers of the underworld, so being in their presence kicked the wind out of her. There was a long awkward silence.

“How’re you holding up?”, one of the elders asked with a salesman-ish smile. Even the one who asked it didn’t know what he was expecting. The question acted as gasoline on Aaron’s fury.

“That’s the best you’ve got?!”, Aaron furiously fired back and glared at them. The elders were not accustomed to such tone but they understood. They had failed him. His anger was justified. “How about you ask me what’s left from getting fucked? I assure you the answer’s gonna be short!”, he added. The elders were avoiding eye contact. “And why the fuck didn’t you talk in the park?!”, he angrily inquired further.

“We decided that it was too risky”, one of the elders spoke. It didn’t help. They had ordered the Alpha to come out in the open and had ghosted him. That was riskier. Anybody in the park could have been anybody.

“For god’s sake!”, Aaron uttered and placed his hand on his face as he shook his head in dissatisfaction. One of the women among the elders was getting fed up with Aaron’s attitude.

“If only you had listened to us, things would have been different!”, she admonished with a stern look on her face. Aaron was having none of it.

“I have left established lives in an hour’s notice, have survived with the junkies, drove hundreds of miles in one night, killed people and spent years living in seclusion like a goddamn fugitive! All after listening to you! Should I have done more?!”, Aaron responded with venom, waiting for an answer. The woman couldn’t speak the words as she knew that the answer was off limits. She just glared at Sophie with contempt. Aaron was fuming with rage as soon as he got the hint. The rest of the elders winced at what she had just done. They had obviously planned to keep the girl out of it. They knew how Aaron would have reacted. Their expectations weren’t too far off. Aaron slowly exhaled and vented out his anger.

“Do tell me! How was Manjeet’s death Sophie’s fault?!”, Aaron calmly asked the stern woman. The woman looked away as she didn’t have the answer to that question. “Yeah! That’s what I thought?!”, Aaron added. The last remark didn’t go too well with the woman. She frowned and was ready to take the argument to the next level. The most respected among the elders, the man who had disguised himself as a hobo at the park, decided to step in. He was definitely the one in charge.

“Madison please!”, the man abruptly intervened and she immediately sheathed her profanities. The man turned to Aaron. “Although I do agree that looking after one person is easier”, he calmly told Aaron.

“I was alone in Manjeet’s place, weren’t I?”, Aaron responded with equal calmness. The man was speechless. “And did you find out how my location at Minnesota was compromised?”, he fired.

“Why must you drag that in here?”, the elder spoke, trying to evade it.

“That’s where it all started, didn’t it?”, Aaron added relentlessly.

“Alright! Alright! We admit it. We have failed you on multiple counts! Some threats were underestimated by us and you paid the price”, the elder conceded. “But you must accept that we need to work together to make this work”, he continued. The general aim of the elders was to take Aaron in confidence. The last thing they needed was their Alpha going rogue on them.

“Did you know that it was Rick Hudson?”, Aaron asked calmly in almost a whisper. The elder sighed.

“We had our doubts but we didn’t know that he knew” the elder responded. Aaron was silent. The fact that Sam Hudson had died by Aaron’s hands shouldn’t have been known to Hudson. Sam and Aaron were alone when that happened. “We owe an apology to Edward for our lack of disclosure in that matter”, he added. The secrecy had been an issue.

“Since your father passed, the underworld has been up for grabs. The elders of us wolves and vampires are the only thing that stands between the bad ones among the two races and the mankind”, another elder spoke. “The vampires have made their elders disappear with threats to their lives but we still stand. Once you gain your powers, you can have a platform to tell them your side of the story”, he continued.

“The demons? Are they a problem?”, Aaron asked somberly. Sophie stared at him with confusion.

“They wont risk it. They know that if they set foot in our dimension, so will the angels”, an elder spoke. Sophie was in a shock. Aaron hadn’t told her about the biblical creatures.

“So, what now?”, Aaron asked. The elders looked to each other.

“One step at a time. We think that we should curtail the risks”, an elder said and subtly motioned towards Sophie. Aaron was getting agitated again. “You’re not the one in risk. You are trained in martial arts and handling fire arms but she is in grave danger if she stays near you”, he added and motioned to Sophie’s hand. She lifted her hand and found the faded scar on the palm. Aaron was in deep thought. The old guy was making sense. The only reason Aaron had showed her his werewolf form, was to make sure that she stays in his watch. But if she had a way out, Aaron would gladly sign up to it. Sophie stared at Aaron.

“Do you have something for her?”, Aaron asked the elders. Sophie wasn’t pleased.

“Don’t tell me you’re really agreeing to this!”, she blurted. Aaron winced. “How long are you gonna run for? Hudson is too close. We should fight back. Enough of the running”, she added and looked around for any takers. Nobody concurred with her. Aaron seemed budged but he decided to stop taking risks.

“Please Soph, staying close to me is bad for your health”, Aaron defeatedly spoke to her. Sophie couldn’t believe it. “What’ve you got”, he asked the elders.

“We have a way out for her, if you are fine with it”, one of the elders put forward as soon as he saw the opportunity. Sophie was ready to shout a ‘No’ in response but Aaron gently held her hand. She looked at him and found him with a look of crippling desperation on his face. She discarded her harsh response.