Claiming His Love {manxman}

Epilogue.

Trace Alexei Kedyanin

Flying to Moscow, Russia was no joke.

But it was something that Lyev wanted to do. He wanted to go back and relinquish our hold here as we were starting somewhere. He wanted to say goodbye. We had driven to see his old house and I could smell of all of the angst and pain burning into each of the walls as I touched them. Even though he said it was okay, I was responsible for it and I was going to fix it every day.

Then we went for a walk in the forest.

'You can't catch me,' Lance mocked as he tore through the woods of Moscow, enticing a growl from my wolf, Hades. 'Is that a challenge, dear mate?' I closed my eyes and my purple, white and black wolf tore through, all of my senses heightening. Hades took off like the wind, blue lightning zinging off his figure as he dashed through the woods, the scent of his met enticing him. Like this, my Chosen Wolf felt free to let go of his control as the wind slapped his face, the sound of paws pounding against the ground.

We were in the central forest where everything citywide was nearby. This area was prone to wolves, but today, it was just Lyev and I. My sharp vision spotted the blue and white fur of my precious omega not too far from a clearing and I pounced immediately. 'Caught you, Lance.' Hades linked to his fellow wolf as they fell down to the grass with a playful growl. 'Maybe I let you catch me.' Nikolai's wolf stared blatantly at me, mischief written in his eyes as the owner took over, fur shedding to fair skin and unblemished beauty, blue eyes merging into one blue and one silver and that wolfish grin morphing into a small smile upon pink lips.

"Hey, Hades," Nikolai bent down in a pair of jeans with a red shirt as he rubbed my wolf's head, a purr vibrating to his hand. "Let me see Trace. There's something I want him to see." His voice was calm but authoritative and my wolf was no idiot as he allowed me to come forth. Once I was back in my tall stature, donned with clothing, I turned my mate as we studied the places within. "What is it?" I asked, running a hand through my curls as I stared at Lyev.

"There's somewhere I want to take you," There was this faraway tone in his voice and I nodded, motioning for him to lead me to wherever he was taking me. Our car was somewhere in the parking lot not too far from where we were, and I had the feeling that he was leading me closer to it. Not long after a walk, we entered a cold and gray cemetery. He held my hand as he padded along to a spot that I knew all too well. I knew he could feel me stiffening up, but it was because I hadn't been to this place in a long time.

When I heard that my parents died and all fingers were pointed at the one person I trusted the most, I couldn't help but fall in line as well. I was blinded by rage, grief, and sorrow, too much to think clearly.

But ever since that night, I did not think about them.

I did not speak at their funeral. I did not say a word about them to anyone. I simply removed their memories from my mind, even if I knew that there was no way they would leave for good. I had thought that when Nikolai was banished, those memories would follow suit.

"In loving memory of Tatia and Miron Kedyanin," Lyev whispered softly, crouching down to wipe the dirt from their stone. "I can't believe it's been almost eight years since I have last seen you," I could hear the grief in his tone and my hands clenched as I stared down at the stone, their pictures looking me deep in my soul. I knew that I was a terrible son for not offering my goodbye, but I didn't want to believe that they were gone. I wanted to believe that it was just a cruel joke that they were planning and that I would turn around and see them with a big birthday cake, telling me that it was just for fun.

But it wasn't.

My parents were gone and there was not a thing that anyone could do.

"I still remember how you held my hand that night, Tatia," Lyev reminisced, tears filling his eyes as he sighed. "I'm sorry that I didn't do more to save you." Somewhere in that mind of his, I knew he blamed himself. "But at least we brought justice to you. The person that did this is dead." He said and I shook my head, staring up into the clouds. It was funny how Drew was the first one to point the finger and we all believed it, despite knowing that it couldn't have been true.