His Revenge

11.

We feel what we make ourselves believe we can carry, then bury and hide away the dark emotions that haunt us, if only we learnt to embrace those darkened emotions.

~|•

Carter.

"Its a true tragedy indeed, we are so sorry for your loss." It was the first thing I heard as I got out of my car, the gathered wolves all giving and passing their condolences, I knew who they were here for, I just shut off the emotions from everyone else because I knew grief was hard to handle, being bombarded by it from all sides was not something I wanted, walking up the walkway with my bag of books tightly held I put on my façade, I wasn't apologetic for what happened, I was sympathetic for Tai who had lived with the monster as a mother, thats all. As I passed each wolf they sized me up, some looked away, others judged me with their stares and disgust, any other wolf would shrink away and hide, but their attempts were too pathetic, I merely walked by without a care.

Walking inside was easier since most of the wolves were leaving, and since everyone had come here it just held more depth to the fact that this wasn't my home anymore, nor my grandmother's, we were just passing visitors. "Cherry." Tori rushed over to me slamming her body into mine, luckily I was steady, and I held her as she cried, I didn't know Irina in any other way but I couldn't take away the fact that to Tori she was someone different, someone she could mourn, so I let her. "Hey, hey, its gonna be okay." I soothed her as I led her away from the wolves who occupied most of the lounge and the dining room, we walked upstairs to my room and I locked the door as we got in, she had calmed down enough but the sniffling remained.

"Im so glad youre okay." She whispered and I nodded but a question came to mind. "Why wouldn't I be?" I answered and she sighed. "Cherry, I don't know what's happening but I'm sure Irina killing herself like that wasn't her own doing, it was so brutal, so much blood, as if she wanted to ca—." Before she finished she broke, began crying again, Irina must have meant something to Tori if she were crying like this, I was somewhat moved but not my conviction and never my intent. "Im sorry she died, I didn't know her well, but I believe the goddess has her will and you along with Tai will be okay." I assured Tori and she nodded whilst wiping her tears away. "You're right, her death has impacted Tai more and I don't know if he'll recover from this." She exclaimed and I nudged her. "Then I think you better go to him, be with him, he needs you the most right now, dont you think?" I asserted and Tori nodded. "You coming?" She asked and I nodded. "Let me change and I will be down soon." I mumbled and she didnt argue, just a fleeting look of uncertainty before walking out.

I decided to wear loose blue sweatpants, a plain grey tee, and let my hair down, I knew it was going to be a war of egos and theories down there, I needed to be comfortable, putting away the books safely, I made my way downstairs most of the wolves were gone, only alpha Harrison, his son, the former beta, Tai, Tori and the head warrior Torrez were still there, and like I had predicted, they were showing each other their fangs. "My wife wouldn't just kill herself!" Former pack beta Seth argued as he looked at Torrez. "Yeah well what do you  suppose she did, there are no signs of coercion, we asked everyone who was present at the scene and each witness told the same story, she came out of the restaurant bleeding, continuously stabbing herself with a knife, the patrons inside said she picked up the knife on her own and began stabbing herself with it, there was no one else there who could be responsible." Enzo retaliated and this deflated the former beta.

"So that's it, my mother stabbed herself to death and committed suicide by finishing it with getting herself run over by a truck, what kind of a twisted plot is that." Tai finally spoke after his long period of silence, after he did so he pushed himself up and stormed out of the room toward the back yard. "Tai, please, Tai!" Tori tried to call out but he was too far gone in grief and anger. "Let him cool off." Torrez asserted as Tori was about to go after him, I silently watched from the safety of the dining room entrance. "So the funeral—." Alpha Harrison began then paused to sigh, how hard this must have been for him, they were close. "Is the day after tomorrow, Krill and Lorren will be here tomorrow, so will her sisters, they need to say goodbye." Beta Seth, Irina's husband finished before walking out, and with a slight bang he was out of the house.

"Nothing to say Carter, you always had wild theories when it came to deaths in the pack." Torrez taunted, I knew his statement meant more than what it seemed to be, he was goading me in which I wouldn't allow. So I sighed and turned away. "That was uncalled for Torrez." Enzo spat toward the warrior but I didn't care, him defending me was his choice and also I used to have some wild theories and each time grandma proved them right but no one ever knew, we just kept it to ourselves, seeing as there was another dick measuring contest between alpha and warrior, I walked away, I found myself by the door of the backyard, a run would be good for my wolf, so I stripped cautiously and leapt into the air shifting as I did so, dark ash grey coat, like thunderclouds, that's what my wolf looked like. A sudden gasp made me turn back and look at the door. "Carter." Alpha Enzo mumbled looking at me in pure awe just as I turned around and broke into a sprint into the woods, a howl echoed in the wind, he was giving chase, but he would never find me, evasion was my speciality.

Deeper into the pack woods I went, avoiding any living being, until I came upon a cliff, with the moon rising past it, it was beautiful to see, as the moon rose into the sky, I knew I wasn't alone, from the trees Tai emerged in his wolf form, a large white wolf with splashes of grey all over his body. I stood there in my own wolf until he recognized me, I didn't miss the surprise in his eyes, I was unusually large in wolf form, I knew that. As he came closer he brushed his snout against my neck with a whine escaping his jaws, he was looking for comfort and I would give it, if only for a fleeting moment. We bumped heads and I reciprocated his actions before I flopped down to the grassy plain of the small cliff clearing, he sat next to me and like a child saught my warmth, it was an innocent action and grieving wolves were exempt from being expected to reign in their wolves, it was in their nature, so I let him be, if this was the reprieve I could give him for his pain, I would, but I wasn't apologetic either, his mother had to die.

The night slowly became chilly, time was slow aswell it felt like an eternity as we sat there, but I didn't mind, we only had to get back or Tori would worry. I gently nudged the sleeping beta next to me, it was time to get back, he sighed in his own wolf way as I got up, before he got up, he whined and I knew he didn't want to face the world, I didn't need to read his emotions, I just knew, but either way, he had to, so I nudged him again and he got up, we had to get back, so slowly we began our journey back to what was now his home, that was for sure, past the pack house and the closest homes to the pack house we went until we got home, just as we walked past the tree line the two alphas and Tori showed up in the backyard. "Where the hell have you been, we were worried!" Tori yells and I wish I could roll my eyes, so I merely walked past her, grabbed my clothes in my jaw and further went into the house, I wasn't shifting and giving any of them a free show.

Quickly I shifted in the house, wore my clothes and made my way up to my room, I had a lot to do and a lot of reading to digest and make a plan of action, but before any of that my phone vibrated, oh how I missed my husband. "This is married to a handsome man, Carter Defray Lynn speaking." I teased as his voice made my body vibrate. "Well hello sugar."

+++

Saint_Jay