à¼Chapter 69 Iâve barely caught any sleep. Worry for Elena keeps me awake at night, knowing she is not coping with
the loss of her mother. All week she has done nothing but work, leaving before I wake and coming hom e only to crawl into bed. I miss her terribly, and so do the boys, but I know all too well what this sort of l oss feels like, so I let her go. Although Khan wants me to step in, he doesnât like how much she is working. It has almost become an addiction to her . I just hope after today, things can go back to normal. Today is their funeral, and when I feel her move
and roll out of bed, I reach for her before sighing when my hands only manage to grab air.
âWe have to be at the funeral home by ten. Service is at 1030,â Elena reminds me like she is reminding me to grab milk on the way home. Sighing, I climb out of bed.
I help her pack the few items she needs for today and take a deep breath. We drive in silence to the fu neral home, none of us are ready for this, yet it is something that must be done, and because Sondraâs
funeral was supposed to be the day after the explosion, we have decided to join them. So today, we lay two to rest, though one I donât know how to feel about. Derrick had done so many wrongs, yet he was
still her father and Lukeâs. I could feel Elena wanted to hate him, wanted to be angry, but no matter the things he had done, she still loved him.
Reaching over, I try to grab her hand, but she is quick to move it away. âElena?â I murmur, pulling into t he car park.
âI know what youâre doing and donât. Tears wonât bring them back,â she says, staring vacantly out the wi ndow.
âThere is nothing wrong with being emotional, Elena. You donât need to be strong for everyone â
I tell her looking in the mirror, I peer at Luke, his headphones in as he stares vacantly out the window. K yan is banging his rattle against the side of his car seat trying to get his attention.
âStrong is all I got left right now, Axton. My pack has had their entire lives turned upside down, and they donât need another crying pack member. They need an alpha,â Elen a snaps before shoving the door open and climbing out of the car.
Elena moves to the trunk to pull out the stroller, and I move to help her before getting the boys out. Mic helle pulls up beside us and instantly jumps out to help, and takes the stroller.
However, Luke doesnât climb out of the car, and Elena looks around for him to find him sitting between t he two car seats staring out the window. Elena leans in and waves him forward, and he climbs over the seats, falling into the passenger seat, but still, he refuses to climb out. Elena looks at me, and I step forward, trying to co ax him out of the car When he still refuses to get out, Elena crouches beside him, fixing his tie and butt oning up his suit jacket.
âWe canât stay out here with you, Luke. I have to go in âI will just wait in the car,â Luke says, and Elena glances at me over her shoulder. I shrug, not understa nding why he doesnât want to go in, and she sighs heavily, turning back to face him.
âDonât you want to say goodbye? If you donât want to go in, I wonât force you, but I think youâll regret it if you d onât,â she tells him.
âItâs not that I donât want to say goodbye. Itâs that everyone will have nice things to say about Mom, but
what about Dad? I donât want to listen to them speak badly about him. He wasnât perfect, but he was still ours,â Luke says, breaking do wn. Watching Elena, her lip quivers, and she nods, rubbing his back in understanding.
âNobody will speak badly about him, I promise,â Elena assures. Luke looks up at her. His eyes are puffy with the surrounding rings from crying.
âI wonât let them, okay,â she tells him.
âYou promise?â Luke asks her, and she nods, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his head. When she stands, she offers him her hand, and Luke reluctantly takes it, allowing her to pull him to his feet. Locking the car, I place my hand on Elenaâs back as we walk atmosphere is somber, yet there is a sense of peace in the room We are welcomed by familiar faces of t funeral service people, and I can tell Elena is trying to take comfort in that as they discuss the service, a I swallow, watching as the woman in charge of the service appears confused before understanding cros link, I open it to our pack while blocking out Lukeâs link, warning them if they havenât got anything nice to Knowing this, I used to wonder sometimes if my funeral one day would match my fatherâs, or if people w doubt now thatâll make up for my failures because no failure is bigger for me than not being there for Ele mate can forgive me, I can live with everything else bad Iâve done because her opinion of me is the only While we wait for everyone to arrive, I watch Elena as she stands alone next to the casket, her eyes dar Luke makes his way over to her, and I notice her eyes flick down toward him, tears threatening to spill, but I know she wonât let them. She is str headed and will not let her emotions show, even though she is in immense pain. She is trying to stay co Luke, and is showing the courage it takes to do so.