The Wolf In Me novel Chapter 17

Part 1 The mourning

"We have gathered all here concerning our dead. To mourn our lost brother, sister, father, mother and mates. They have all fought with courage knowing that the world without vampires around would give us not just freedom, but also peace of mind. Now, in the old days, our kind had a tradition called the candle mourn day. It has not been celebrated since 1937. I believe that due to this circumstance, it would be a great opportunity to organise it this coming weekend, honouring the dead for their bravery. Let's have a moment of silence before we start the burials".

I walked down the temporary wooden steps that were placed for me to stand on for the short speech and placed it aside, walking back amongst the crowd of wolves.

Silence filled the newly built cemetery a few meters away from the largest packhouse in the world. I was thinking about the previous two days. The few days I had the chance to be with my father, yet I needed to forget my ego and be a responsible King to my kind. I miss him so much and knowing that I gave him only a little bit of my attention filled me with guilt.

"It's time," I told the undertakers.

They all placed the fifty-four coffins beneath the ground and covered them neatly, placing a memorial message on each and every one of the graves.

I hid for a while to have some time alone under the shade of a large tree right opposite the large packhouse, looking at its scene contemplating if I should organise a ceremony to make this place the official packhouse of the sixty-eight existing packs. It would be used for large gathering activities that I am planning to organise once every few months to help make every pack more united than ever. Flicking the zipper, I looked down at the cigar I had on my right hand thinking of the last time I had time for this sh*t. I smiled by myself remembering the first time I tasted one. It was back when I was sixteen and I was out with some human friends of mine. We stayed in touch till a month ago, but since then I was too busy planning and plotting the best possible way to get rid of those pesky vamps. I lit the cigar and as I closed my eyes I inhaled, filling my lungs with its wonders. The silence outside gave me the time to appreciate the sound of nature, birds, bees and the light breeze hitting the trees, dropping some leaves to the ground. With my wolf's good sense of hearing, I could listen to even the slightest of movement. My moment was interrupted by something moving in the bushes behind me. I stood up and turned around facing the forest. Sure enough, I see a pair of eyes peeping from behind a bunch of leaves and my instinct kicked in. Tearing off my clothes I turned into wolf form and got myself ready, growling and angling myself forward. Suddenly what was hiding in the forest emerged and landed on my back, rolling me down. It was Nala, trying to play tricks on her mate. She covered herself with mud, hiding her sweet scent from me.

"Oh no you don't," I said telepathically, "not after making me tear my favourite shirt for the third time."

I leapt on her as we both turned into human form laughing and giggling feeling the soft grass on our backs as we looked at the sky.

"Look. My belly popped. I look like I have eaten a whole dear all by myself," she said giggling.

I smiled and lifted myself slightly to reach her belly to kiss it.

"You are so beautiful. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you by my side." I gazed at her for a while enjoying the moment.

"I'll help you prepare for the candle mourn day. I think that you have made the right decision for the occasion " Mei said staring at the sky.

I looked at her smiling, then shifted my gaze at the shapes of the white clouds forming above us. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination but I could have sworn that I saw my father's face looking down at me. I sat down and stared at him for a few moments in silence.

"Luka...Are you ok?" Mei asked, shaking me off my glaring.

"Uhm.." I turned my attention on Mei.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I said looking back at the sky.

His apparition was now sadly gone but I couldn't get the image of him off my mind.

Mei's POV

"Steph, please don't forget to order everything for tomorrow. It will be too chaotic to fix any problems by then."

I took my last bite off an apple and threw it in the bin before exiting the kitchen.

"I will not disappoint you my Luna," she teased back whilst looking through the list and checking everything.

I rushed to the hall knowing that I would find the witches there.