Warmth ✔

Chapter 8

The day when I came out of coma, Matt had told me that Alarick had killed Kurt. I thought best to return to my pack since I saw no future with Alarick.

The next day, I learned from my pack members about Kurt's funeral and decided that I would attend it...

I look at my reflection in the mirror. This is the second time that I'll be attending a funeral. The first time that I attended a funeral was of my father's and from that day onwards, I hated funerals. I never attended another one until today.

I need to go to Kurt's funeral.

While I'm flattening the creases on my dress, Matt enters my room and looks at me. "Where are you going?"

I look at him and know at once that he knows where I'm going. He just wants to hear it from me.

"I'm going to Kurt's funeral."

After hearing me, he's outraged. "You are going for the funeral of that person who almost killed you?"

"Matt, he was my enemy when he was alive. Now, he's dead. And we shouldn't hold grudges against the dead," I say.

I pass him by and head towards the front door. Before I can leave the house, Matt stops me. "I'm coming with you."

*

We are now in the parking space near the churchyard.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Matt asks.

I nod.

We both exit the car and head towards the church. By the time we enter, most of the people are already settled. When the members of the Silver Moonstone Pack see me, they start talking in hush voices. They are probably wondering why I'm here at my murderer's funeral. Matt and I ignore them and occupy the vacant seats.

Lucy and her mother are sitting in the front row. When Lucy hears the whispers around her, she turns around and looks at me. Her eyes seems a little blurry. We share a brief look before she returns her gaze back to Kurt's coffin.

The priest starts the funeral by quoting verses from the Bible. Then, he invites people to say a few words about Kurt. After that, we all head to the burial ground outside to bury Kurt.

After Kurt is buried six feet under the ground, people start returning to the church until Lucy and I are left standing near the grave. I come near her and stand beside her. She continues to look at her brother's grave.

"You know, my father's death had a great impact on Kurt's life as well as mine. Mom had refused to tell us the reason behind Dad's death. She didn't want to talk about it but Kurt was so insistent that Mom ended up confessing that Alarick had killed our father. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. There was so much anger and so much hate in my brother's eyes for Alarick. I guess that was the day I lost my brother.

As the years went by, I started noticing changes in him. I could see the fire within him. He wanted to avenge his father's death. I should've known that he would end up choosing the wrong path. But before I could stop him, it was already too late.

When he came to know that Alarick's mate belonged to your pack, he made a plan to attack and kill all the females in your pack since he didn't know exactly who was Alarick's mate. Derek and I tried to convince him not to go ahead with his plan and that killing people won't bring Dad back but he didn't listen. He and his followers who were blinded by their hate attacked your pack. But they weren't strong enough as they were outnumbered by Alarick's men.

Alarick could've killed my brother if it weren't for my mother who got there on time and begged for Kurt's life to be spared. She simply couldn't let her son die. Surprisingly, Alarick listened to Mom and just put Kurt and his men into the prison.

At first, Mom used to find it hard to live with the fact that Kurt was in the prison but somehow she convinced herself that it was for the best. We tried to go on with our lives as if nothing happened.

But when Kurt escaped from prison a few months back, I knew that he would do something which would get him killed. And that's what happened.

When Derek brought Kurt's dead body to us, Mom broke down and that's when she told me the truth about my Dad. I felt disgusted at my Dad's action. If Kurt knew the truth then he wouldn't have attacked your pack and he would be alive today."

She faces me, "I am ashamed of my father and for what he did. I am ashamed to be his daughter and I don't want to be associated with him. You must be thinking why I'm confessing all this to you. I just wanted to get this off my chest. This burden was too much for me to carry."

"Truth is really hard to deal with," I state.

She nods. Then she looks at me, "I want to apologize for what my brother did to you and your pack. He was just misguided. Truth was always concealed from him. He believed what was given to him and never questioned or thought the reasons behind why things were the way they were just because he was blinded by hatred. Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive him?"

"I forgave him the moment you told me the truth," I say.

"Can I ask you something?"

I nod.

"What made you come here to attend Kurt's funeral?"