The Wayward Mate

Epilogue

I sat numb on a chair someone had placed beside the stone, cold slabs between my brother and my mate. I stared at Rory, turning the letter in my hands over. Her long, neat writing was as impersonal as the female in question.

She looked like a fallen angel, though she’d always held ethereal beauty. Her beautiful smooth skin that was once tanned and sun kissed was pale, deathly pale.  Her once ruby red lips were white like the very clouds above ground. The beautiful eyes that I fell so in love with, so blue it always reminded me of the ocean would never see the light of day again. A tear fell out of the corner of my eye as I looked down at the beautiful black gown covering her body, something she never would have worn alive.  

I looked down at the stark white envelope, contemplating. Did I really want to know what her final words toward me were? What if she cursed me out and said she hated me? I don’t think I could handle that, I’d rather live thinking that she loved me, even if it was misguided. I heard footsteps outside the door and wiped my tears just as Matthias and Marti strode in with two beautiful bundles.

I breathed in the scent of baby powder as Marti stood next to me smiling sadly. Matthias held Hansel, my godchild, while Marti held the only thing keeping me alive; my beautiful baby girl. “Open it.” She said nodding towards the letter.

My hands shook, my throat was dry. It was like my tongue with stuck to the roof of my mouth. I shook my head and handed it to Marti, shaking my head. “After the burial.” I was a coward, I could protect my mate and I couldn’t even open her letter to me.

Marti nodded as eight of our finest warriors walked in, all dressed in ancient armour. The hundreds of men that had lain down their lives in the battle had all been honoured in a ceremony the week following the conflict and now it was time to lay Alpha Nickolas Aaron Knight and Aurora Adela Tannin to rest. We had flown the bodies back to the pack house hidden in the Austrian Alps and now Rory and Nick would join our ancestors in the graveyard. It was a sacred place for our race where the alphas that had died in battle were buried.

They rested the four corners of the slabs Rory and Nick lay on, on their shoulders and slowly walked towards a gravel mountain path. The path was lined with wolves of all different sized and colours, ethnics and origins. The path sloped down into a remote bowl in the mountains, hidden unless you knew exactly where to look.

The moon shone down upon the valley, making it look like a peaceful haven with a stream running through the hills. I swallowed my tears and looked back at Marti who held my salvation, making sure that she was safe.

As our species was immortal, there were only eleven graves; one for each alpha who had fought and died in battle. Rory would be the first female to be buried under the shade of the mountains. Two stone coffins were waiting opened underneath a giant fir tree that had stood for centuries, blessed by a witch who had been saved by the first alpha to be buried here.

The warriors began slowly lowing Rory and Nick into their final resting place as the men gathered around.  The multitudes of wolves sat on their haunches, watching the procession with sad gazes. The moon shone bright and full upon the sanctuary, bathing it in ethereal light.

Rory had saved the lives of hundreds, thousands of wolves. Through her bravery and sacrifice, she saved us all.  Many had been lost but many more had been saved and her contribution and sacrifice would be remembered for millennia.

The wolves raised their snouts to the moon and began howling; a beautiful symphony of pure mourning and grief that echoed throughout the mountain side. Soon, more howls joined our symphony and over the mountain came the other packs that Rory had saved.

The lids were pulled over their heads and my tears began to fall. The tombs were sealed and the soil was shovelled onto the top. Marti came to stand beside me as the packs retreated and mine returned home. Howls could be heard echoing throughout the alps.

Marti stood next to me with Matthias holding Hansel, while I held Jenna. I cradled my beautiful daughter to my chest and began rocking back and forth gently. Marti held the envelope with shaking hands, gently opening the letter and unfolding it. I held my breath as she began reading.

Dear Alex,

If you’re reading this then I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m not going to be there to see Jenna grow up. She’s better without me though. I only bring death and pain to those I love and I would never be a good mother to her.

Sitting here, I don’t know what else to say except that I’m sorry, something I seem to be saying a lot of, that I’ve caused you nothing but pain and inconvenience. I’d been trained since I was ten to distance people and I know that I’ve hurt everyone around me by doing just that. I just want you to know, that I never hated you; yes you frustrated me to no end but I never hated you. You and Alex, Marti and Matthias, Yiannis and Hunter, Jenna and Tyson made me feel again and for that I will love you all forever.

I can’t say that I regret what I did. Rieker would have hurt you all if I hadn’t stopped him. I’m not sorry for killing the son of a bitch who made my life hell for seven centuries. I will never let him live even if it costs me my life; which obviously it did.

I’m sorry that you have to go through the pain of losing a mate and I can only hope that by having Jenna and your pack, you will find the strength to go on without me. I hope that you and Nick can find happiness again. I only ask that you move on someday and give Jenna the mother she deserves. Please don’t mourn me; I’ve caused so much pain and grief that I know I will not be missed, at least not by anyone but you and Nick.

Tell Marti that I do love Jenna and that no one could ever understand the pain that I felt in knowing that I couldn’t see her no matter how desperately I wanted to; I never would have gone through with it. I would’ve left and Rieker would still be alive.

Punch Matthias for me and tell him that he’s a bastard and he better look after Marti and the baby, otherwise I’ll come back and finish what he started in the Piedra de la Luna pack house. It only feels like a couple months ago I got caught by him, for the first time in centuries; you being the first. You should know that I still have that scar from when you tried to kill me; something so many have tried to do since then. I don’t know how you didn’t realise that I was your mate back then, obviously you got a bit smarter over the centuries.

Now that I think about it, I should have tried writing a letter to both of them, if you could even call this a letter, more like a note. While I’m at it, you may as well tell Hunter that I want him to be Jenna’s godfather since I never got around to asking him. Keep Hunter close to Jenna; he’ll be good for her, a good role model, protector and friend. Keep Jenna safe; she is the only girl left and my enemies will come for her.

I’ll love you all forever,

Rory.

My vision was blurry as I looked down at Jenna; my world. She watched me with bright blue eyes; Rory’s eyes. Jenna was a mirror image of Rory and it was both painful and happy reminder of my mate.

I would protect my little girl until my last breath; she would never get hurt, never know the terrors of the world.

Nothing would ever hurt my little girl.

                                                                                       -FIN-