Chapter 141: Chapter 35

LEXI

A cold breeze blows across my lap, and I wake with a start. Dad’s wolf is wandering back and forth between some trees in front of me.

I try not to wake anyone as I move to be with him.

“Dad,” I softly whisper.

His wolf whimpers, then boops my hand.

“What can I do to help you?”

He shakes out his fur, then slides his head under my hand.

I pet and scratch him like I would a puppy.

“I’m sorry for the pain you’re in. I’m sorry that Mom suffered so much.”

I sniffle, and Dad whimpers.

I kneel down and hug his wolf.

He cuddles up closer, then, after some time, he licks my face.

“Ew! Yuck, Dad.”

His wolf makes a sound like a barking chuckle, if you can call it that.

“Should we go back?”

I turn around to see Cole’s wolf watching us.

Ethan and, I assume, Rosalie are behind him waiting.

Cole steps up to me, and I scratch his head.

He basks in the feeling for a moment, then turns around so I can ride on his back again.

The other wolves are already waiting for us.

The run back is quicker than I thought it would be, and Cole stops in front of his rental truck.

I get to my feet and turn around so he can shift.

“One of these days it’s not going to be a big deal anymore. You’ll get used to nudity,” he says as his arms wrap around me and he kisses my cheek.

I close my eyes and hum as he sniffs up my neck.

“I’ve missed you, Cole,” I admit.

He hums.

“I’ve missed you. Go inside and shower. I’ll be at the pack house when you’re ready.”

I turn around in his arms.

“What about my dad?”

“He’ll be all right. He made it through the hardest part. He’s probably taking a shower now or sleeping. The bond breaking takes a lot out of a wolf.”

I nod, then kiss his cheek.

“I’ll meet you at the pack house.”

My shower takes longer than I planned, but I need my muscles to relax.

Cole is chatting with Uncle Cooper and Aunt Rebecca.

“It’ll be a week, maybe two. She’ll be perfectly safe and protected.”

Dad walks in behind me.

“I’ll stay with her, Coop. She can’t stay in her wolf forever, and you two are running this pack. She has to learn to control it.”

“Are you sure, Wyatt? I mean…”

“It’ll give me something to do. Where are you sending her, Alpha James?”

“The Weston Pack. My aunt was a Starlight Sister. Realta volunteered to do the training of the new group that Dara has blessed. Her daughter Natalie trained the last group.”

“A Starlight Sister is your aunt?” Aunt Rebecca asks, astonished.

“This is incredible. I mean you grow up knowing about the Moon Goddess and the Starlight Sisters, but you never think you’ll ever see them.”

Cole smiles sweetly at Aunt Rebecca. “Yes, it’s quite humbling. Aunt Realta gave up her immortality to be with my Uncle Ryan. She still has her powers.”

“All right, Wyatt. I’ll send Jane with you,” Uncle Cooper confirms, and the plan is set for Jane to fly back with us, then Dad will take her to the Weston Pack.

Ethan and Rosalie will drive the car back, and Cole, Uncle Cooper, and I will go make the arrangements for my mom.

She will be cremated in two days, after which we will all depart.

Dealing with the hospital is taxing, but the two alphas make everything go pretty smooth.

Aunt Rebecca and I dress my mom in a white gown with a crown of local flowers in preparation for the service.

I’m finishing up getting ready when I’m overcome with emotion, and I sob into the sink.

“I am sorry about your mother.” I startle at Dara’s voice.

“I could not give her more energy, she would not accept it. Her body was too weak.”

I nod at her in the mirror. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family. I am truly honored to know you, even with our circumstances as they are.”

“Yes, our circumstances,” she says as she sits on the ledge of the bathtub.

“Are you all right, Dara?”

She shakes her head.

“I do not know how much longer I can wait. Colton has always been so special to me. I do love him, however, I do not think he feels the same. At first I was not worried, and I thought he would choose to be with me right away. Then I see the way he is with you.”

“Is he different with me?” I ask as I sit on the lid of the toilet.

“Sometimes. Sometimes no. Is it possible to love two people at the same time? I am learning mortal ways, however, for this question I have not learned an answer.”

“You mean can Cole love both of us? He certainly is trying.”

“I agree he is. I believe he is trying too hard instead of letting himself feel what is right. I feel he is more Cole with you and more Alpha Colton with me. After all, I was there when he was born, I have always felt a connection to him, and he to me. We never knew what that connection was until he found you. In this instance though, I was not speaking of him.”

Dara’s emerald eyes look up innocently at me.

I’m not sure I’m hearing her right.

“Do you love someone other than Cole?”

“I should not have said anything. I am sorry to have bothered you. I will be at the services.” Dara stands to leave.

“Wait.”

She stops at the door.

“I won’t say anything to Cole. That’s between the two of you.”

Dara turns to face me once more.

“I thank you, Alexis.”

“Um, Dara…? I’ve never been to a werewolf funeral. How do they work?” I ask off-chance.

“I am not sure other than werewolves are cremated. I do know that the grieved wear white along with the deceased. I must go.”

I nod to her, and she leaves the room.

I have to finish getting ready, so I look through the bag that Haley packed for me and find a simple white dress with a lace overlay.

In my toiletry bag is a flower headdress that looks like it matches the dress, so I adorn it and look for the matching white sandals.

I shake my head, knowing Haley knew exactly what I would need.

She really is incredible. I’ll have to thank her for all she’s done for me.

I stand beside my father in front of a waist-high pyre surrounded by blue-tinted white stone.

I look at them curiously.

“Moonstones,” Ethan whispers to me.

He is dressed in all white with Rosalie hanging on his arm.

“They’re beautiful,” I whisper back.

“You have one hanging from your neck. Is it blessed too?”

I squint my brows. “What do you mean blessed?”

“The one I touched to Mom’s forehead was blessed by Realta and Haley so she could see the men that hurt her are all dead.”

“Oh, that’s what that was. I’m glad she got some peace of mind before she passed.”

Ethan gives me a half smile. “How has it been with Wyatt?”

“Enlightening. Our family is really nice, but seeing everything that Dad has done for us from the sidelines... I have no words.”

Dara steps up beside me. Ethan and Rosalie exchange tight-lipped looks.

“Relax. I already know,” I whisper to them.

Cole, Uncle Cooper, Grandpa Riley, and Dad carry Mom’s body on their shoulders. She’s lying on a board with a bouquet of blue hyacinths in her hands. She looks beautiful, but more importantly, she looks at peace.

They set her body atop the pyre then step back. Rosalie gives me a bouquet similar to the one in Mom’s hands. She and all of Dad’s female relatives place their bouquets around her body.

I follow suit and lay my bouquet above her head. The females all step back and the four men that carried her set the wood on fire.

I gasp and turn into Ethan’s chest, having never seen anything like this. I can’t catch my breath no matter how hard he’s trying to calm me down.

Cole’s strong hands grip my arms and he spins me into his chest. He makes a soothing noise and breathes into my neck. “Breathe with me, Lexi. Focus on my breath.”

I begin to breathe with him and slowly start to calm down.

“This is a beautiful funeral. Your uncle is kind enough to treat her as part of the pack. Dara is honoring her. Look.”

I turn to see the flames dancing and shifting into wolves. “Wow, that’s incredible.”

I’m focusing on the shapes in the fire to avoid watching my mother’s body burn to ash. My dad holds one of my hands.

“Thank you for being here, Princess. I know this isn’t quite what you’re used to. I’m thankful the Starlight Sister is here. This usually takes much longer. When this is over, I’ll escort you around the ashes.”

I nod and continue to watch the flames. Dad offers me his elbow. We begin our walk followed by Ethan and Rosalie, then my grandparents and the rest of the family.

Cole escorts Dara. Once everyone has made the circle twice, each of the family members picks up a moonstone and returns it to an ornate coffer. The service is complete.

Her ashes will later be scooped into an ornate box by someone in the pack to be given to my dad.

“What happens now?” I ask Dad as he escorts me to the back of the pack house.

“Now we feast in her honor by eating all of her favorite foods.”

“There will be no zucchini here tonight then?”

Mom and I share the hatred of the vegetable that tastes like shit and green. Dad softly smiles at me. “Not one.”

The feast is more of a drunken party and it’s so much fun. Cole and Dara dance with me with beers in our hands while the music thumps into the surrounding woods.

Even Dara is smiling, minus the beer. “Are all werewolf funerals like this?” I shout to be heard over the music.

Cole gets closer to my ear to answer. “Honorable ones, yes. When it’s a couple, the pair is laid in the pyre together with their hands connected.”

“And what happens if it’s dishonorable?”

“It’s still a cremation. Sometimes it’s a mass pile depending on the situation. I had to take the lives of twenty-five people at one pack just before coming here. They were corrupt and their wolves were corrupted by them. They will all just be laid in a pit to burn and their ashes mixed then scattered by the breeze.”

My stomach turns at the thought of so many people killed by Cole. He notices my face.

“Lexi, they were all evil. I don’t just kill people. The Goddess takes their lives.”

“It is true. His power is only present when doing the work of the Goddess. My mother made sure of it,” Dara confirms.

“Do you kill people too, Dara?” I ask, but honestly, I’m afraid to know.

She holds up her hand and her palms hold a blue glowing orb. “I can and I have. It is more common for me to subdue than to kill.”

I swallow, thinking that this dainty, tiny Goddess can and has killed at will. Dara gives me a subtle wink, then gets back to partying.

Cole pulls me closer to him. “Come on, Lexi. We still have a few hours before sunrise. Let’s dance.”