The crowd hushed as Evander cleared his throat, the sound slightly mixed with his wolf's call.
"New moon pack!"
Everywhere fell silent and Evander took the cue.
"Your alpha stands before you today, with a heavy heart, to announce to you, that i have found my mate, the supposed to be Luna of our proud pack."
He said and let the information sink in. The crowd assimilated, before the cheers started, ripping through the grand hall. He let them cheer for a minute, she deserves that cheer, even though she had tried to run from them. The cheers died down as he cleared his throat again.
"But, as fate would have it,"
he said and pointed to the body, before he continued.
"She died. She died before we could properly introduce her to you. Her loyal subjects.”
The crowd hushed, before someone started a morning bowl, and everybody else joined in, Except Evander. She didn’t deserve his howl and he wouldn’t give it. He let them howl all they wanted, and as he turned to relax his posture, his eyes caught a flash of gold. He turned his head to get a better view and standing there, was Isabella. The one woman who made the mate bond he shared with the corpse lying down seem insignificant.
She was peeking in, a bit uncertain. He stared, and somehow all the howls went away. All the wolfs in the hall seemed nonexistent. Everything seemed distant and only she felt close. She turned and her dazzling green eyes met his, her lips fell slightly open. The world stopped for him and for her. She mouthed the words.
"You need me here?"
He read her lips and it took some effort to tear his gaze away from them. He nodded.
"Yes...I need you."
She raised her eyebrows, before he caught himself and added
"here".
She nodded, and he closed his eyes, turned to the audience and cleared his throat.
"I trust you all know the importance of a Luna."
He looked at her again, but this time, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do this just yet. There were so many other things...
"we'll give our deceased Luna a befitting burial at the full moon. Everyone, please endeavor to attend in order to give her the last respects."
He said. She was staring at him now, unsure why he had asked her to come. Jake moved close to him and nudged him before whispering.
"Introduce her, will you?"
"No, Jake. I don’t want her sharing the stage with someone else."
And with that, he got off and went out, holding her arm and leading her away.
She was walking slowly, her heels in her hands, staring down at the grass, enjoying the feel on her feet. Evander walked beside her, just as slowly, gazing down at her.
" this place is beautiful."
She said. He nodded.
"Its where my parents were buried."
He said simply. She looked up at him and he gave a small smile.
"It used to be my dad's garden. He loved it so much. He used to say that he met mum in here, when she was sitting on the grass, reading a book. Her smell had drawn him and he had found his mate in her."
He said and kicked a small pebble.
"Are we going to see them now?"
"Yes",
he nodded.
“Its been too long. I have to see them now."
She nodded in understanding, arching her back slightly.
"Let's sit here."
He said, pointing to a bench under a giant tree. She looked at him.
"I thought we were going to your parents."
"We are. I just need to prepare myself mentally."
He said, giving a small smile. She nodded, sitting and he sat after her, maintaining a bit of a distance.
"So...."
She said when the silence became awkward.
"So....?"
He asked her, playing the safe oblivion, but he knew she was the type to say what she wanted.
"Am I forgiven?"
Her shoe was suddenly a very interesting circus as she didn't look up from it even for a second, even as she felt him staring at her.
"I'm not sure....why'd you do that to me?"
She looked up at him, made eye contact, before dropping her head back.
"Its just that....I was scared.”
she said, biting her tongue. When he didn’t say anything, she continued.
"I was scared of how you made me feel. You treated me like i meant a lot to you, and I am just not used to it. What I did was extreme, and my excuses flimsy, but I’m sorry. I just keep thinking....if you didn't have that gift..everyone.."
"Shh..."
He stopped her, placing a long slender, carefully manicured finger on her lips.
"They are not and that's what's important. You did that, yeah, and it was wrong, but you gave me myself back. You taught me who I was and honestly, I don't regret meeting you."
Her eyes were teary, his determined, yet consoling. They fell into comfortable silence as he took her hand in his, entwining their fingers. She looked up, surprised by the gesture but he smiled warmly.
"I've missed the warmth of your hand.".
"How can you be so forgiving?"
He smiled.
"How can you be so perfect?"
"You know I’m not. I'm way less than that, you're just..."
But then his attention wasn't with her anymore. He was focusing on a silhouette through the trees, walking towards the direction they would have gone if they had gone to his parents grave. He stood up, attempting to follow the silhouette, but she Stood in front of him.
"Shh.. Lets go."
He chuckled a bit.
"Is this not a bit too reversed, like..."
"Shh....."
He kept quiet and followed her, smiling to himself despite the impending danger. They arrived at the graves that were side by side, and the person they'd seen was standing in front of it, his back to them. Without the slightest sound, she turned him roughly and held him at the end of her small dagger.
"Who are you?"
She said, her eyes squinted. Evander started to laugh behind her, and the man joined in.
"Is this really funny?"
Evander shook his head, letting out a small chuckle and turned to the man.
"When did you get here?"
The man moved a bit, avoiding her dagger.
"A while ago."
He looked at her, who was still standing with her dagger, positioned.
"Did you get a bodyguard, brother?"