Chapter 268

268 Rain and Gloom

Katie stared into the mirror before her, passively taking in her appearance. Her mind worked at keeping her in the present. Her body had healed a lot with Cole’s help and thankfully without getting him into his weakened state. By forcing him to stop using his ability when it got too much for him, she was able to keep him from falling ill.

She felt sore in so many places and barely had the energy to walk. Heavy rain pelted the glass panes of the windows in a rhythmic tone that gave the girl peace of silence. The occasional waves of heat swept through her as her body adjusted to the cold temperature.

The door to her room opened admitting a majestic-looking woman dressed in a black beautiful gown. The queen walked up to the girl who’d barely spared her a glance and stood behind her. In the mirror, she looked like a porcelain doll, having applied just the right amount of makeup to bring her face to perfection. Beneath all the looks, she was a mess waiting to be fixed, “It’s time, Katie.” The queen spoke, placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

Katie’s eyes blinked twice as she came to reality. She was in Cole’s room... His room in the palace in Lycaon. While the two of them had spent a while in Katie’s room, moving into his room had been a whole different experience. Everything in the room was covered in the alpha’s scent that the girl, along with her wolf, Ashley could barely find the ability to focus while enveloped in it, “Yeah... I’ll be there in a minute,” her reply sounded distant.

The queen looked into the mirror, watching the girl’s bright blue eyes, “Well, that’s what you said a solid ten minutes ago to the maid I sent to get you,” the woman replied.

Katie thought back and got the faint memory of someone talking to her earlier. She hadn’t even thought about her reply at the moment. She could barely focus on what was in front of her. Ever since that day... it hadn’t been the same for her. She’d not been able to move on her own unless someone pushed her in the right direction. ‘Oh yeah, someone did come for me...’

The will to move her body was nearly at zero. She spent all the time she could resting. When she was visited, she paid attention to only those she cared about and even then, they could tell she was pushing herself. As a result of this, the burial of the king had happened without her and a memorial was set for a later date when the Luna would be able to attend.

Thinking back on Cole’s words to hold the ceremony in her presence, her mind began to clear a little bit, “Would you walk with me?” the girl asked, speaking in a tone so low the queen wouldn’t have heard if it wasn’t for her werewolf hearing.

Smiling at the beautiful girl in the mirror, the queen replied, “Of course, dear... Just come with me.” She took her hand and led her out of the prince’s chambers. It had been like this for the past few days. To be more specific, it had been a week.

.....

Cole, who had seemed more broken than her at first, had started picking up the slack, while she only fell into a more reserved state confining herself to their room, partly because she didn’t have the strength to move about, however, she wasn’t sure it would have been any different if she had been strong enough.

Katie walked through the halls with the queen avoiding eye contact with anyone as much as possible. The marble floors seemed more interesting than anything else and she gazed at the mesmerizing patterns that swirled within them until they reached the main doors where she stopped for a moment. The queen pushed open the doors open, letting in a cold breeze from the exterior of the palace that sent shivers through the girl’s body, “It’s been like this since that day, hasn’t it?” Katie asked the queen... “...the rain?”

The queen sighed, looking into the clouds in the sky that were always present, “Yes, Katie. It has been like this for a little over a week. We haven’t seen the sun since the day the king escaped. It’s not just here in Lycaon though... It’s been happening in Sirius too.”

“Is it why my sister cannot make it to the ceremony?” Katie asked.

“Your sister and father won’t be able to attend for that reason indeed. I would have asked that they drive all the way here, but that would be risking their lives and the journey is not the shortest. The rogue king is still out there and we’ve heard the reports about how powerful he is. You certainly...” the woman stopped when the princess’s eyes flashed a bright blue.

She was falling deeper into her daze than she’d intended, “Katie...”

The girl held her hand up to stop the apology that was coming her way, “No, it’s fine. Let’s... just get to the ceremony.” The queen silently cursed for having made a mistake. Katie fell into a daze every time she was reminded of the reason that had brought her to Lycaon in the first place.

The queen beckoned for the servants to bring them umbrellas to shield them from the rain while they went to the car. The queen and princess boarded the car that had been waiting for them and were both driven away...

The burial grounds were filled with hunters and civilians from all over Lycaon and the surrounding areas. Many of them had come to attend the memorial for the king while others had come to pay visits to those they had lost in the battle a week before. As it had turned out, more hunters had been lost during the fighting than they had initially thought which made the week of mourning that much depressing. Most of the ones that were in the castle had survived with minor injuries, but the ones that had been at the front lines barely had anyone standing.

The werewolves had lost many of their own as well... and most of them had been buried in this same cemetery out of respect for their service to the empire. The black car carrying the two Lunas was opened to release the two ladies. The two royals walked elegantly into the cemetery, holding hands and making their way through the crowds to the gathering a little into the scattered woodsy part of the cemetery. While most of it was covered by short grass, there was a part that had trees that provided shade to the graves below

The part of the cemetery had been reserved for royalty and beta alphas of the past. Katie’s eyes, which had barely done much in the past days, scanned through the scores of people as they parted ways for her to pass. She was looking for her friends... People she knew, but most of all, she was looking for the only other person that reminded her she was alive.

The one person whose presence was the equivalent of a pinch to check if someone wasn’t dreaming. His scent was harder to pick up in the rain, but as they got closer to what she thought was their destination, she finally picked up the man’s sweet scent as well as the depressing mood he tried to cover up.

Three tombstones stood at the centre of the gathering the people had made. Katie could make out the names of the deceased king, Trevor Lycaon. Cole’s eyes shot open when he picked up on the faint scent of his mate and darted in her direction as she approached him.

On both sides of the king’s tombstone were his beta alphas, Duncan and Cross. Katie hadn’t known how risky the life of a beta alpha was until the moment they told her of their passing. The two of them had offered to fight on the front lines to keep their rogues at bay and had even made it through the worst of it, but with the king’s last breath came their passing as well since their lives were directly linked to his.

The hand of the widow at her side got tighter the closer they got to the tombstones. Looking at the three tombstones, Katie was only now realizing that the woman had not lost only her husband, but three close friends as well, ‘Makes me wonder if I’ve been a brat this past week,’ the girl thought to herself, almost forgetting the weakness that wouldn’t leave her body.

In front of Duncan’s tombstone stood a woman with a girl in front of her. The girl had her face covered with her palms, but the sobs were still clear to the werewolves that were near. Even in the rhythmic sound of the rain against leaves and black umbrellas, they could be heard.

Katie looked around at the solemn looks on the people’s faces, expressions she’d worked so hard to get rid of. Her dream had never felt so far from her like it did now. It felt almost unattainable... and her ironclad will to keep pushing forward faltered.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Cole’s whispered into her ears, snapping her back to reality. Cole stood in front of her, his scent invading her personal space, but warming her at the same time. She felt his loss more than anyone in the vicinity. The mate bond they shared ensured it. She couldn’t smile as brightly unless he was able to as well...

“I had to,” she replied, pulling the man into a hug, “I said I would.” Evelyn was by the queen’s side without anyone noticing. The queen, however, seemed to have expected it and hugged her friend before turning back to face the tombstones before them.

‘Where does one even start?’ a question echoed in Katie’s mind as she stared at the tombstones of the very people that had held the empire before Cole’s time as king.

‘Well, there is the part that the public gets to hear,’ Cole said to her through the mind link.

‘And the other part?’ the girl asked her, looking him in the eyes.

‘Well, the other part is the one I’ll tell you when we get back home,’ Cole responded, before turning to the gathering. As the next king, there was no one of higher ranking at the ceremony other than him, “Now that my Luna and the queen have arrived, there is no reason for us to wait any longer. The ceremony shall now begin,” he announced calmly.

As soon as he’d said that, someone came from the crowd. Katie’s senses tried to pick up something from him, but in her state, she could only tell that she should have known him. Yet another thing she’d painfully started getting used to since that day. The toll her body took to interpret messages that were coming from her senses. Her senses were much more muffled than they used to and even when she did interpret them, her solution was barely close to a favourable answer. She had completely shut them off as they took more effort than her morale allowed.

“My name is Thorrin Chase. I asked the future king to allow me to speak first. Hopefully to ease up the tension, but also so I would get the chance to say everything I knew of King Trevor Lycaon. You all know me more as the Perfect Warrior, but on this day, I am Thorrin. A man that has come to bid heroes farewell. Today... We... We celebrate the life of Trevor Lycaon and his beta alphas, Duncan and Cross.”