Unrelenting Destiny

12. Magical Interference

Jasper Orion Deveraux

Ivan sat on the floor of the basement cell, curled with his head in his hands. He drifted between long stretches of silence, spurts of sobbing, and explosions of distraught screaming to be let out. Jasper stood down there with Doctor Bea and Elder Elroy, Fighter Wilson guarding the door.

"Ivan, you need to tell us what you remember. It's the only way for you to clear your name." Jasper urged him. The two older wolves had spent the last hour trying to get something out of him to no avail. But Jasper's newfound Alpha voice certainly helped persuade him.

The male grumbled into his chest, his voice almost a whine, "I-I don't know. I don't remember."

"You need to dig deep, I." Jasper sighed, sitting on the floor just outside the cell bars, "We can't get you out of there if you let everyone believe you intended to hurt Sara and the pups."

"I would never!" Ivan erupted again, raising his head to show a red, tear-streaked face. It truly was the worst condition Jasper had ever seen Ivan in, "You know I would never do that. Not to Sara...not to the pups. Oh, Ilyana...my baby..."

Jasper pressed, "I know that, Ivan. Deep down, we all know that. But we can't get you released if you don't try to help us out here."

Ivan finally stopped visibly shaking, trying to steady his breath. He closed his eyes, straining to think, "I remember going to bed. I had fed Yana just after midnight. I...I just remember going to sleep and when I woke up, I was...standing over them." He lost it again, sobs taking hold of his throat.

Doctor Bea murmured to Jasper, "That could mean anything, Alpha. He could just be suppressing his consciousness out of trauma. It doesn't prove he was influenced in any way."

Elder Elroy added, "If that's true, perhaps we could unlock his memory better with...some magical interference."

Jasper looked to the Elder skeptically, "You want to bring a witch in?"

"It would certainly connect a few dots if he could remember anything but..." Doctor Bea pursed her lips, "Making him relive it may break him completely. He might lose his mind."

"We could at least try and see if magic was involved in influencing his actions." Elder Elroy insisted, "Wouldn't that be enough evidence that he was not solely responsible if we could at least prove that?"

He made a good point. Jasper nodded, dispatching the Elder to fetch one of the witches. There was a very small community of them in the pack, she-wolves who could not turn that practiced magic to earn their place. In their time of reduced numbers, any wolf was worth keeping in their ranks.

Arriving a bit later, Elder Elroy emerged with a she-wolf called Diana. She carried a small bag of things at her hip as she greeted them, "Alpha Jasper, Doctor Bea, I came as soon as Elder Elroy asked."

"Thank you for coming, Diana." Jasper got to his feet to shake her hand, looking to the now-silent Ivan as he whispered to her, "Is there any way to see if magic was involved with this? He doesn't remember anything before last night so we think he's suppressing his memories."

"But you don't want him to relive killing his family." Diana nodded understandingly, "If I can get a blood sample from him, I could test it for any magical properties. I won't be able to extract what kind of magic without looking into his suppressed memories but it's a start."

Jasper nodded in agreement as Doctor Bea produced a vial of his blood. She had drawn it earlier as part of basic assessments. Diana opened the vial, pouring the dark liquid on the floor. She dragged two fingers of each hand through the thick puddle, drawing a glyph in the ground and murmuring in an undetectable language. She continued tracing the glyph, repeating the chant until the blood began to fizzle like it was being heated up.