When the Sun meets the Moon

39.

"Today we mourn the people we lost.

Because they went before their time.

Today we remember the brave men and women,

The great beasts who fought to protect us all.

Today we weep for what was taken from us.

We remember our loved ones, our cherished friends." Nate's deep voice echos in the silence, breaking at the end.

I clench my fists drilling a hole in the ground with my glare as if, if I try hard enough I'll be able to get across, to the other side of the world. People are sniffling and crying around me and my skin burns in disgust.

What the hell am I doing here ?

I feel Leila reach to squeeze my hand and it feels as if she electrocuted me, I fight to stay put and not pull my arm away. When I lift my gaze to look at her her lips are trembling, her eyes full of tears as she watches me waiting for any kind of reaction.

After I broke down yesterday when the battle ended I put everything into getting a hold of my emotions, bottling them up and waiting. Waiting to be alone. Waiting for time the pass, waiting for the pain to fade. Waiting to get out of this place. Leila convinced me to come to the memorial they were holding. At first I didn't intend to come, but then I thought it might be a good idea.

It wasn't.

And the scared looks thrown my way, the angry hisses and curses at my name made me hesitate.

Ogon curls up its head in my neck and I caress absentmindedly its smooth golden feathers.

I came for him.

And for Marty.

We discovered his body hidden in a room one of the traitors occupied. The only thing that made it easier to breath by an inch was the fact that he didn't seem to have suffered. Lincoln clearly heard the preposterous convictions of his son during the fight and even though he apologized countless times I can't forgive him. He is the one responsible for his son's actions. He should have known better. I taught him better. How could he let him believe those insane stories ? Why didn't he stop him ? I have been debating with myself for hours now and I still can't make my anger subside.

For Leah.

She died protecting a younger fighter as two wolves and a vampire teamed up against him. They were about to lend the finishing blow when she interposed herself between them,successfully killing one of the wolves. She fought bravely but the two other opponents were too strong against her alone. No one had the time to reach them to help her before they killed her. But the young man she gave her life to protect survived.

For Ben.

I was shocked to learn that his mate actually killed him before Rob could do anything to protect him. The young vampire kept putting himself in between the two fighters, trying to protect her from harm's way but as the fight went on he got careless and she didn't wait to sever his head from his body, attacking him from behind. I didn't even realize I ended up killing her in my rage while I was in my wolf's form. Good. Riddance.

For Takeshi.

The man was killed by another of the traitors around the same time as Jared and as a few others I didn't really know when the men that sneaked into our ranks showed their true natures.

"They made a difference." The alpha solemnly continues and I grit my teeth.

Next thing you know he'll start to say that they are still with us somehow.