Chapter 58
The funeral was solemn and quiet as everyone attended the last viewing of Mario, the guard before they buried him.
Lauren stood behind the family of Mario, hearing and seeing the sorrow and sadness that filled them. She clenched her fist. She was the last person who was with the guard. She could have done something to save the man.
We couldn’t do anything. The vampire was too fast
Lauren looked down as her wolf consoled her. She too, could feel the guilt eating them up as they watched the grieving family of the guard. He had a mate and one son. Lauren could already imagine the pain that the mate was already feeling
“Hey,” Lauren looked to her side when she felt a hand gripping her shoulder for comfort. She watched Declan as he stood beside her. His face was cold as usual, but there was a hint of sadness and grief in those eyes. As Alpha, he was the closest one who could feel the family’s loss,
Lauren couldn’t imagine how heavy it must be for him to feel all of these as the ruler of this land and pack.
“I’ll just go to them.” he said. Lauren nodded and watched him as he made his way to Mario’s mate, still sobbing as her son hugged her. Lauren clutched her chest. She might have experienced loss, but she didn’t know Declan was her mate back then. It must be soul shattering for
“We’re all here for you, Cina. We’re all here.” She heard Declan whisper. Gina hugged him on the side as Declan also caressed their son’s back. She saw how the little boy held his position as he did his best to act strong as his mother cried.
ey all watched his body lowered to the ground. The
Declan finally commanded the burial of Mario. He held Gina and the boy tighter to him as they boy finally sobbed as hard as his mother.
“It’s not easy losing your mate” Lauren clutched her chest, imagining her Damon and Dahlia crying like t tapped her shoulder, seeing how emotional she was getting
that
at if ever they lose one of them. Harry
“It’s not easy losing a loved one. But we are
are all here to support them and help them cope and move on. That is what a pack is all about.” Lauren continued watching as Declan comforted the bereaved family. Her heart warmed with gratitude that Gina and the boy won’t be alone. “I just wish we could take away their sadness and grief as quickly as possible. I couldn’t imagine the pain they must be going through,” she mumbled.
Harry put an arm on her shoulder. She instinctively leaned a little at the man she treated as her father.
“There’s a reason we couldn’t One must go through it to learn how to navigate through it.” She looked at him and saw sorrow also in his dark blue
“Pain is necessary. It might be awful but necessary for all of us to learn strength.
he was in his thoughts. “No joy if there is no sorrow t
no sorrow or grief.”
“There is no strength if there is no weakness” Lauren could almost feel how deep
“It must have been hard losing Theresa,” she whispered, seeing how much Harry could relate to the situation when he also lost his wife early to an illness.
But the older man just smiled a bit. It didn’t shake off the sorrow in his deep eyes, though.
“It was. But it taught me to love my son better than I ever did. It taught me to be a better leader in this pack. And it taught me how a love like that couldn’t just be found by anyone and with anyone. I was blessed to luve found my Theresa and created a family with her. I was glad we didn’t waste our opportunity to love each other while we could”
Harry met Lauren’s observing eyes and smiled at her. “I hope you do the same. Death teaches us to cherish every moment while we still have it. It gives us the courage to act on and not waste time.”
ways both Declan and her have managed their relationship for the past couple of
Lauren felt the words sink in her heart. She reflected it on the wa years.
They were so different from what they were before. As if they were not the same Declan and Lauren from 7 years ago.
She was about to speak when the latter walked towards them.
“Let’s give them some privacy.”
Both Lauren and Harry nodded as the rest of the crowd dispersed into the pack villages again. The usually busy vibe of the pack was slightly slower. Everyone could feel how they lost a parkmate through their wolves.
Lauren walked side by side with Declan. Harry was quick to move along with the crowd. She knew he was going back to his home or their old library to work on something. They were still getting ready for the choosing of the king of this new kingdom they were going to set up. And since
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Chapter 58
Declan was part of the choices, he couldn’t be directly involved in every decision the Council was going to make.
But as they walked. Lauren couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere between them.
“Uhmm,” she started. “When are the other Alphas coming?” she asked.
Declan, with his long yet steady strides answered. “Today. At least the ones from the west and east. I’m not sure about Jasper.” He glanced at her.
But Lauren frowned a bit. “Must this really happen in the middle of this chaos?”
Declan stopped walking as she also did. She watched for his facial expression to change–Lauren didn’t really know what she was looking for. But she honestly didn’t want this choosing who’s more worthy as king‘ to happen right now.
“I know, I also didn’t want this. But the people need a king. And we need this union now more than anything”
Declan sighed, sounding almost as exhausted as she was of all of these dreadful events. There was still this thing about her weird trip and her worry about that tall vampire coming back to harm her children again.
But Declan suddenly asked her. “Would you pick me as king?”
