Chapter 26: _Secrets Lurking

Chapter 26: _Secrets Lurking A villain’s POV ***** All right, all right... This was all turning into something exciting for him. He knew the pack members would turn the whole situation with the dead maid into something dramatic, but he never guessed that Kaelos would use the opportunity to force Odessa to undergo a ’trial’. Telling her to find out more about what happened to the maid? Hmph... she might as well give up now. How did he know about all this? That’s probably the question going through your head, right? Well, it’s pretty easy. He’s the Beta of the Blood Oak pack. Beta Marcellus, the Alpha king’s best friend and the one assigned to Odessa to be her ’guide’ in the pack. With these people at the tip of his fingers, controlling the events of the pack from the inside was a piece of cake. The Blood Oak pack was the home pack of the Alpha king himself. If anything big happens in this pack, it would have a domino effect and spill to other packs. "Do you need help with anything?" Beta Marcellus asked Odessa when the other members of the Alpha council had left Elder Davina’s compound. Elder Davina herself had gone upstairs, leaving the backyard free for Odessa to carry out her investigation. An investigation that Marcellus was bent on making futile while gauging Odessa and seeing if there was anything new to discover about her. Ever since he discovered the mate bond between Kaelos and Odessa, he’s been extra interested in her, trying to see if there was anything more to her. He didn’t buy the bullshit of the moon goddess toying with her children’s lives or trying to use Odessa and Kaelos as pawns for ’peace’. There was something more to Odessa and he’s going to find out what it was, one way or the other. Anyway, Odessa, who squatted beside the dead body of the maid while holding her aunt’s grimoire, glanced at the Beta, a wry smile curling up the corner of her lips. "Honestly, Beta, the only thing I wish you could do right now is go to my stuck-up husband and tell him that this whole thing is a wild goose chase," Odessa muttered bitterly, closing the grimoire abruptly before she stood up, dusting her clothes. Marcellus scanned his gaze down her body, his senses picking up the lingering scent of sex from her. Well, well, well... It seems Kaelos and the little witch have been getting active. Marcellus saw the relationship between the Alpha king and Odessa as a potential tool and was already thinking of lots of ways to use it to his advantage. "Despite how harsh he is, Kaelos is doing this for your own good, Dessa," Marcellus remarked, stepping forward with his arms placed behind his back. "The other members of the Alpha council already suspect that you’re behind the murder, especially that stone-headed Gamma." He gazed into Odessa’s violet eyes and saw the way they softened. Picking up vulnerabilities from his victims and those he monitors was a specialty. It helps him know when he could get close to someone and use their ’closeness’ to his advantage. Currently, he could tell that Odessa placed some level of trust in him, probably more than any other werewolf. Perfect! Anyway, Odessa’s soft gaze soon morphed into a scowl as she shook her head repeatedly. "No offense, Marcellus, but I couldn’t care less. I’m a powerless Witch, incapable of even properly casting a basic fire spell. You don’t believe me?" She remarked. Marcellus parted his lips and was about to say something but Odessa backed away from him, opening the grimoire in her hands again. She turned the pages repeatedly until her gaze landed on a page that caught her attention. Her eyes lit up anxiously as she stretched her hand forward, causing Marcellus to tilt his head curiously. Suddenly, after closing her eyes, Odessa opened them and began chanting a spell from the grimoire. The spell was in Latin, but Marcellus was able to understand its purpose quite easily. It was a spell meant to force flowers to wither. Marcellus had a few things to say but decided to keep silent. He’s supposed to be a ’werewolf’ without any knowledge of witchcraft after all. Anyway, after she was done with chanting, Odessa clenched her right fist at a flower in front of her, her eyes fixed on it intensely. "Come on..." She muttered, sounding a bit desperate. Now THAT, Marcellus didn’t get. Why was she desperate when all she was trying to do was show a demonstration of how bad at magic she was? She isn’t supposed to be successful in it... Right? Suddenly, something quite surprising happened. Odessa’s lush blonde hair which was tied into a ponytail, blew into the air, some strands getting into her eyes. Marcellus could feel the wind picking up, causing some cool breeze to touch his skin. His hair stood on end as he fixed his gaze on the flower, wondering if the spell would work. Unfortunately for Odessa, and amusingly for him, nothing happened and the breeze stopped blowing, causing Odessa to drop her hand with a sigh. "And there you have it," Odessa muttered with a wry smile, lowering her gaze as she closed the grimoire. Marcellus stared at her keenly, stepping forward and stretching his right hand forward. He held her shoulder, forcing her to raise her head. "My dear, you don’t need magic to be a great thinker or to come out on top of this investigation. Your intelligence alone should suffice." He remarked, flashing a smile at her. Odessa blinked at him speechlessly but her face heated up with a blush as she looked away from him. "T– Thank you, Beta." She muttered, parting aside some strands of her hair before she squatted to inspect the maid’s body again. "So, whoever killed this maid took her life force for a reason. But what I’m trying to decipher is what could that reason be?" She remained silent, rubbing her chin with her fingers with a thoughtful gaze. Meanwhile, Marcellus stood behind her, staring at her curiously and wondering if she’d be able to actually discover something. Suddenly, her body stiffened and she got up abruptly. "Wait, I just thought of something!" She exclaimed, swerving her head to Marcellus and seeming excited. Oh...? Marcellus tilted his head, watching as Odessa paced around while pondering something. "Lifeforce. The killer absorbed the life force of the victim." She remarked, her eyes diverting around like she was trying to imagine what exactly happened here. Marcellus wanted to scoff so hard but held himself back, instead staring at her curiously and trying to urge her to continue with a nod. "Yeah, that has been established already." He stated casually, dimming his eyes. "Your point?" Odessa brought out her aunt’s grimoire again just then and opened the pages erratically, causing Marcellus to squint his eyes even more. This aunt of hers was an elder of the Luminari coven. Meaning that whatever she wrote down in that grimoire was probably rich with knowledge of witchcraft. Meaning... Something he wouldn’t mind getting his hands on. A sly smirk curled up the corners of Marcellus’ lips as he watched Odessa finally turn to a page of the grimoire where she pointed at a section. "Absorbing life force with magic can be used for various reasons, but basically, it revolves around elongating the lifespan of something." She explained, glancing up at Marcellus. Marcellus glanced back at her, nodding his head even though he was getting bored out of his wits. He had far better things to attend to and was honestly just sticking around to gather more Intel on Odessa and see if there was something peculiar about her. So far... There didn’t seem to be anything, but for some reason, he found her intriguing. ’Looks like I’ll be sticking around here longer.’ He thought to himself, a smirk curling up his lips as he awaited the rest of Odessa’s explanation. "I remember this from a lecture my aunt gave me." Odessa continued, pointing at the passage of the grimoire again. "I didn’t think it would be within the grimoire. But anyway, usually, when a witch absorbs life force from a victim, they do so to increase the period of a spell. The spell in question could be one for an increased life span, or... Increased power of sorts." Marcellus tensed up just then, staring warily at Odessa. Oh, she was good. She’s still a powerless Witch... But good nonetheless. Anyway, he cleared his throat and spoke up. "Well, even if that’s true, it doesn’t really give us a clue of who the culprit is now, does it?" Odessa clicked her tongue when she heard that but shook her head slowly. "Nope, it doesn’t. But it does give us an idea of what the culprit is up to. They have a motive, and it wasn’t a simple crime or a beef between them and the victim." She remarked solemnly, closing her aunt’s grimoire yet again. Marcellus stared at her with an arched eyebrow as she fixed her gaze on the dead body before squatting once again and sealing it back with the black cloth. "This killer is most likely going to kill more people. And if that’s the case... Then they are hiding within this pack, blending in among us." She said finally. How quaint...