My Super Depressing Story About How I Became The First One

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I watched the people I love mourn for a life I did not know. It was a strange feeling being on the other side. Dare I say it was a little awkward? I stood by the boiling jug, waiting for it to finish. I was on tea making duty. Alodie still laid on the table, with Evelyn and Julian manning their post. Grief was rearing its ugly head. No one was ready to move. No one was ready to start planning. They still sat there, unable to make sense of what had just happened.

You never truly stop grieving. I still do every day. The thing is, sometimes, you forget that they are gone. That they would come through that door any second. Then it hits you and you grieve all over again. It becomes a viscous cycle the never really stops.

Frost made his way over to me as I stared absently at the teapot. "You ok?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

I nodded. "Yea, just unsure about what I should do."

"There's nothing you can do, you know that."

I sighed. He was right there was nothing that I could do. "I feel useless. Maybe I could help with the funeral arrangements?" Now that, I know how to do. Could probably give you a name of a guy I know.

"There will not be a funeral," said Frost.

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"Alodie may not have been a Werewolf, but she is Evelyn's pup. She is part of our pack regardless. And we do not bury nor burn our dead, we wait for the next full moon, where we all gather together under it and change," he hesitated. "We then eat the deceased."

Whoa what? Back up the crazy bus, did I just hear right? "You eat them?" I asked, trying to hold back the shock on my face. But I was failing, miserably.

"Yes, I know it may sound crazy to you, but it is how it has always been. If a Lycaon dies, wolves from all over the world come to pay tribute. It's a sign of respect and love in our culture," he said seriously, looking at me with his pale eyes.

"I get it, but would it be an insult if I didn't watch. I don't know how well I could handle seeing someone being eaten." I forced myself not to shudder at the thought. "There is one thing that has been confusing me."

"What's that?" asked Frost. He leant back against the kitchen bench, crossing his arms.

"How is Alodie not a Werewolf, if Evelyn is?"

"I was attacked not long after Alodie's first birthday," Evelyn said behind me, making me jump a little. Her big brown eyes, red and watery.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey. I was just curious, that's all."

She waved it away "No, no, Varnie, it is ok. It happened near thirty years ago and I have accepted the curse I have been given."

"Isn't illegal for a werewolf to attack a human?" I asked.

"It is, but this was a new wolf. Very new. Andrew was Lycaon at the time had stopped her in time, before she killed me, but the damage was already done and I was infected." She sighed. "Alodie's father left me after he learned of what I had become, taking her with him. I joined the pack and moved into the manor, where I have been ever since."

"He took Alodie away from you?" I asked, a little confused.

"It was the best and safest option for her. He didn't stop me seeing her, but the visits were few and far between. Come her eighteenth birthday, I finally told her the full story. I will always be surprised at how well she handled it. She was so calm and understanding. She always was." Evelyn pulled out a handkerchief, dabbing away the new tears that rolled down her cheeks. "My biggest regret, was not being there for her more."