Chapter 10: The Cemetery

Azia was restless that night as she tried to sleep. She tossed and turned on her mattress, replaying Zeke's words in her mind. She wrestled with her sheets, imagining what would have happened in the conference room if he had tried to kiss her.

Not that she had WANTED him to do that. Oh no...But for some inexplicable and annoying reason, the thought kept replaying in her head, robbing her of precious sleep.

She felt like a zombie the following morning, dragging herself from task to task, immersed in a layer of fog. Azia began daydreaming about her bed by late morning, internally cursing Zeke, his good looks, and his romantic perspective about their wedding day, to boot. Thoughts of him seemed to permeate everything, and it made her grit her teeth.

By lunch, Azia had abandoned all hope of being productive for the day. While most Bronson wolves flocked to the cafeteria, Azia found herself meandering through the compound, and out the entrance doors. Perhaps the chilly, autumn air would clear her head.

A brisk wind whipped its way around the compound, bringing with it the threat of pending winter. The Maple trees that dotted the perimeter, and were scattered throughout the forest had already shed themselves of their yellow and red leaves, but the area still remained a sea of Douglas Firs. The large, needle-clad trees were a large part of the reason the Bronson pack had settled into the Seattle area a century before. Wolves could disappear into the dense forest year round, far from the eyes of curious humans.

Azia made her way around the eastern side of the building, tightening her jacket against a sudden gust. Despite her desperate need for a distraction, she regretted coming outside. Nobody sane was.

She looked up from the cold ground, and saw she was actually not alone. A small cemetery, tucked between the southern wall of the compound and the forest, was occupied by a solitary figure. Azia hesitated for a moment, before slowly making her way over.

Lowell, Vivian's cousin and Beta, stood hunched in the center of the small cemetery, staring down at a well-worn tombstone. Azia approached noisily, so as not to startle him as she came close. She didn't need to read the etched, dark gray marble to know who lay to rest there.

Azia softly cleared her throat and laced her hands together. "Hey there, Lowell," she murmured.

Lowell's shoulder length black hair whipped across his face as he turned to acknowledge her. "Hello, Azia," he said faintly.

"I can't believe another year has passed," Azia said, dipping her head towards the grave. "We all miss your father very much."

Lowell nodded, closing his brown eyes as he did so. "Sometimes it feels like a decade has passed and other times it feels like it's been less than a month. I just miss him that much."

Azia swallowed hard, then smiled weakly. "I remember being at my dad's funeral and thinking that the one positive thing to come from his death was that he was finally reunited with your father. My dad was a wreck once he passed."

Lowell chuckled softly as he wiped tears off his face. "Peas in a pod, those two," he said. "I think my mom was always a little jealous, to be honest with you."

Azia laughed quietly. "I think my mom was too."

Lowell peered down at his father's name as his smile faltered. "I think part of the reason I come out here so often is because I've gotten it into my head that dad will somehow provide me with clues from beyond the grave," he said. "I still wonder every day what happened to him. Who attacked him? Why? The man never had an enemy, apart from--"

He quickly cut himself off. Lowell shifted awkwardly on his feet.

"Apart from the Knowles pack," Azia finished for him quietly.

Lowell was quick to voice his uncertainty. "Nothing was ever confirmed," he insisted. "And I promise I'm not trying to make trouble."

Azia politely cut him off with a quick gesture. "It's speculation, I know," she replied. "You have every right to wonder--and to know the truth."

Lowell nodded in agreement, his lips disappearing into a thin, white line. "You're right, I do," he said, with a hint of steel in his voice.

He twisted to look at Azia and smiled slightly again. "Thanks for coming over to talk. I'm going to the library. Perhaps a book will take my mind off things."

Lowell ventured out of the cemetery, and made his way around the dark wood building. Azia watched his figure grow slightly smaller before disappearing around the corner. All of the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck began to stand on end. Lowell's father had been beloved in the compound by everyone. It had been a terrible shock to everyone, especially Azia's father, when he had been found murdered in the woods, not more than a mile from home.

The attack had been so sudden, so random. A few people at the time had speculated that the Knowles wolves had something to do with it, but most Bronson wolves were quick to reject that theory, including Azia's parents. Fights between the two packs over shared territory in the city had been a long standing point of contention, but it had never escalated to murder. The death of Lowell's father had crossed a line.

Azia's father had spent day and night searching for evidence, searching for information. It never came to anything, and the years began to creep by. She could understand full well how this would eat away at Lowell...but was the Bronson Beta really convinced that the Knowles had something to do with it? And had Lowell taken matters into his own hands?

Azia wrapped her jacket around her even more tightly as she made her way out of the cemetery. The thought of Lowell being their potential spy filled her with a coldness far more intense than the weather could muster.