ONYX MOON

F O U R

ZEPHYR 

My boots crunched on the graveled pathway leading up to the private Mausoleum that was hidden behind the town's cemetery. 

I stopped a few feet away from the immense Mausoleum carved in a mixture of different marbles that should have made it look tacky but somehow ended up making it a perfect blend of light and darkness. 

The irony was not lost on me. 

Carved into the marble pillars on the entrance borders were intricately designed Wolf prints that could have easily been mistaken as small flowers to the human eye. 

That is, if the person looking at the designs didn't recognize how the wolf prints began to slowly morph into human foot prints the farther the designs curved up the columns. 

My heart jumped into my throat when I spotted a head of dark curls walking out of the Mausoleum. 

She was clutching old dead flowers in one hand and a tissue in the other, her eyes swollen, bloodshot, and gaze downcast towards the floor. 

Before I could hide behind the large oak tree a few feet away from me, the woman lifted her gaze and locked eyes with mine. 

Eyes that were once smiling and happy were now gaunt and shrouded in coldness. 

Of all the times I've been to the private Mausoleum, I've managed to avoid the Matthews family like clockwork, knowing which family member would visit on which day and at which time. 

I was never wrong, going as far as spending the first agonizing month avoiding the mausoleum (which was utter torture) and mourning over my mate in order to figure out the grieving patterns of the Matthews clan in order to prevent this exact moment. 

The moment where one of Serenity's family members would recognize me and look at me with utter hatred in their eyes and hearts and ban me from spending time at my Mate's final resting place. 

This was the exact moment I've tried to avoid for the last six months. 

"YOU!" Skylar Matthews spat at me, her color turning from a ghastly white color to a burning shade of red "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" 

I bowed my head at her harsh tone, my heart galloping in my chest at the inevitable confrontation I knew I would have had to have had eventually. 

This confrontation, however, was with the last person I wanted to have it with. 

Especially with how Serenity looked so much like her mother...I felt that every deserving word Mrs. Matthews spat at me, I couldn't help imagining Serenity saying those words to me too. 

"You have some nerve coming here!" she snarled at me "Especially since you're the reason my daughter is dead!"