508: THE NIGHT OF THE FUNERAL (2)

THE NIGHT OF THE FUNERAL (2)

0Once Iris stepped out of the bedroom, you could see how dark it was in the corridor, while the only source of light was the candles that two of the warriors held and the pale light of the moon in the dark sky. 

The two warriors were not the seven warriors that supposed to be with her, she had seen the two of them a few times before, but Iris said nothing, it was not an important matter in her mind right now. 

The two warriors handed one of the candles in their hand for Iris and Cane, this little light reminded her of the light she created to calm the soul of the fallen warrior when they were in the Goffa mountain. She felt so bad. 

"Thank you," Iris murmured, as she received the candle and Cane took her hand, as he led the way. 

Outside of the pack house, people had gathered, as they held little candles in their hands, they cried silently, as they chanted a song about a long journey, their voice echoed softly under the dark sky, while the moon watched them from above, which made the funeral became even more sacred. 

The atmosphere was warm and the wind was not chilly, but one would feel the tension and serenity, the sadness and heartfelt, the helplessness and the hopefulness at the same time.

Amee had told her that the candles were to guide the soul of the dead, so they could go to the afterlife. It was a comfort for their soul, so they could leave this world in peace. 

Iris wondered, if the idea had any relation with the way she calmed those souls of the fallen warrior. 

Thankfully, during their talk, Cane explained to her about what they needed to do as the alpha and the luna to lead the ceremony, since she couldn't shift into a beast, like the other shifter, there was nothing much she could do, but stood next to Cane. 

The alpha walked his mate toward the river. They were outside of the pack house and was on the west side of the pack, where you could find a river there, their only source of water in this pack. It was the same river from the Goffa mountain. 

Not too far from them, Iris could see Haco with a young girl, around the age of ten or twelve, who kept sobbing, while chanting the song, she clutched on Haco's cloak, holding the candles so tightly. 

They had created a big hole for the fallen warrior, where it would be their final resting place. Because their number was too many and their pack tomb wouldn't be able to accommodate it, thus Cane dedicated this area for them, as a reminder of their bravery and how they lost their lives in order to protect their pack and the people. 

This was the least he could do. They would start the burial soon after they hit the midnight, which was less than ten minutes more. 

Iris grabbed Cane's hand tightly when she saw a woman fell on the ground and weep, but she didn't let her candles to go off, she protected the little light, as if it was her lifeline and Iris recognized that woman. 

It was Avid's mate. The warrior always looked happy whenever he talked about his mate, which was not often and he did it only by passing, but Iris could see how his eyes softened with the mention of her. 

Probably because Iris stared at her for too long, she could sense it, the woman lifted her head and caught the sight of Iris and immediately rushed toward her, which caught Iris out of guard. 

The look on her face was so intense and this made Iris wanted to scurry away. Was she angry? 

Iris was about to use Cane as a shield, but the alpha agilely stepped aside to expose her mate and for Iris's surprised, Avid's mate hugged her so tightly, as if she was going to squeeze the air out of her lungs. 

"Easy, Renee, she is still recovering," Cane said in firm tone, which made the woman named Renee loosened up a little bit. 

"Thank you, luna. Thank you so much for bringing my mate back." Renee was trying so hard to make her voice coherent, but then, as if she forgot something, she immediately released Iris's body and looked at her face to repeat the same thing. 

She heard their luna could read lips really great in offset of her inability to hear, thus you need to face her whenever you wanted to talk with her, that was what Aliana told Renee when she also informed her how they found Avid's body. 

"I know, Avid is right… he is right when he said, you are the perfect luna for this pack." Renee tried so hard not to tremble when she spoke, so Iris could get what she was saying, but it was so hard when it pained her to be reminded that Avid had gone. "He is… right…"

Iris couldn't hold back her tears as well, as she hugged Renee and offered her condolence, but then she felt it. It was so mild and faint, but it was there. She could feel and see Renee spirit, but she also sensed the new one. 

"Take care of your baby…" Iris said softly to her ear, which made Renee jolted and released her body. 

"Wh- what? What did you say, luna?" Renee stammered when she heard that. 

Iris smiled softly at her and then put her hand over her flat stomach. "This baby will be the joy of your life," she said with certainty. She was sure with what she was saying. 

For a moment, Renee didn't know what to say, she was too speechless to say anything, as she stared at Iris dumbfoundedly, but before she could recover from her shock, Cane had taken Iris away. 

"It's about to start."

And with that, the alpha and the luna walked among the people toward the head of the crowd and he stuck the candle on the ground, which followed by the other before the alpha shifted into his beast and howled to the moon, the rest of the pack did the same. 

The howling of a pack of wolf sounded so sad. You could feel how much they mourned their pack member. 

Meanwhile, some of the warriors started to burry the dead bodies… the funeral ended when they had buried them properly. 

The howling stopped and the quiet night returned. 

It was also a quiet day until the second day they received news from the capital city and the aftermath of the news of the dead of the king. 

To say there was a riot there, was an understatement, the war for the throne was a vicious one and somehow, Koda managed to get Winter Moon pack on board to help them. 

Winter Moon pack was Leane's former pack, before she went to the Howling Wolf pack as soon as she found her destined mate, which no other than Cane. 

They had been lay low all these years, thus to hear they went out to wreck havoc in the capital city in order to help the Red Claw pack to sit on the throne was a surprised news for Cane. 

"How are the other princes?" Cane asked, he furrowed his brows with the mention of Leane's former pack to join in this fray.

"They have been having a hard time to relay the information because of the condition there, our spies couldn't give us information right away, because they would shoot down all the hawk that carried the message. The capital city was closed off with half part of it managed to be under the Red Claw and Winter Moon pack and the other half was the royal family with the support of the Golden Light pack," Jace reported everything to Cane. 

It was only two days after the night of the funeral and right now, Cane was inside his study room, spending his time with his beta and gamma, but at this time, there was another additional person there. It was Iris. 

The luna sat next to the alpha, listening to the report too. 

"What about lady Cyan?"

Ethan shook his head. "There is no news from our people about her. With the chaos in the palace, no one cared about her either. Oh, and for the head royal sorcerer you mentioned before, there are two news about him. One, our people said, he led all the sorcerer to defend the palace and the second is the opposite. Our informant said, he went to the Celestial Moon pack with Alan."

"Is there any news from the Celestial Moon pack?" 

"No." Jace grimaced. "It seems the monsters attack is still their main problem and without any help from the capital city, alpha Derick's hands were tied to do anything, aside from defending his territory." 

Cane was silence, something that he used to do whenever he was deep in thought and usually, Jace and Ethan would wait for whatever decision he would make. 

But this time, it was Iris, who finally spoke, after she heard all the information. "What do you think you are going to do."

Ethan and Jace wanted to tell her not to bother to ask, because the alpha wouldn't answer her, but to their surprised, Cane actually explained what was in his mind. 

"I can't believe this," Ethan mumbled sorrowfully to the beta. "Why I feel like the alpha is playing favorite with us now?"

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