Fang

His Mark

A chill swept through my body. The sun had retreated from the sky, which I was deeply grateful for. My body ached and it had been a long day; I wanted to sleep and forget today ever happened.

Pack members were already beginning to gather, but they kept a reasonable distance from me. Everything had been prepared for the funerals, my duty as gamma was done. But my body refused to cooperate. I couldn't move.

Laying on a pyre that I had made, Nash's body taunted me. My eyes were glued to the hole in his heart I had made. His body needed to be posed, but I couldn't bring myself to touch him.

At least his eyelids were closed, but I knew that underneath they were still looking at the sky. His lips were turned up into his everlasting smile he had given me, still smiling at me from beyond the grave.

My heart clenched as I thought about his death. He was barely older than me, disgraced despite not deserving it. Would the moon take him? I hoped so, but I didn't want to be here to see the answer.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I finally took a step closer to him, gently reaching out for his arm. His skin was cool to the touch, the warmth of life far gone.

Tearing my eyes from his chest, I instead focused on posing his arms, crossing them over his chest. I tried to avoid looking at my finger, where his blood was still crusted underneath my fingernail.

Satisfied, I quickly stepped away. Everything that could be done was already done, but I couldn't help the feeling in my chest that I needed to do more.

Death wasn't a stranger to me. I had seen much of it, killed my fair share of wolves. It was part of life. But to kill out of mercy? Nash was the first.

"Gamma?" A soft feminine voice called out from behind me. Half turning to see who it was, my heart sunk at the sight. It was the mother. "Are you alright?" She murmured.

"I'm okay, thank you." I didn't offer her a smile, it wouldn't ease the pain she was feeling. "I was about to leave."

"Where are you going?" Her eyes lit with panic.

I couldn't tell her that it was because I didn't want to see if their souls were rejected. Struggling to think of something, the silence only made the situation worse. Finally coming up with something, I turned my whole body to her so she could see the blood still seeping through my shirt.

"I asked the Gamma to help me with something," someone swiftly stepped in before I could speak. Surprisingly, it was Alistair.

"Oh," the woman responded, nodding her head in understanding. "Alright." She backed off, but her eyes swept between the two of us in curiosity.

The beta had come out of seemingly nowhere. Giving him a quick stare down from the corner of my eye, I dipped my head to the woman and turned away, heading for the pack house. Alistair was hot on my tail, following behind me in the slow pace I created.

My teeth hurt from the way I was clenching them so hard, but I couldn't stop. The ache had only gotten worse throughout the day, and it was now a throbbing sharp pain in my side.

Alistair didn't stop following even after I entered the pack house. As quickly as I could before he could follow me in, I closed the door to my room and waited. Only silence met my ears, but I knew he was standing outside.

After a moment of waiting, I growled under my breath and turned away. "Don't you have somewhere to be besides in front of the Gamma's door?"

I eyed my door, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. "Fine then, Beta. Stand outside my door all you wish."