The Alpha: Claiming His Enemy's Daughter
Chapter 508: THE NIGHT OF THE FUNERAL (2)

Chapter 508: THE NIGHT OF THE FUNERAL (2)

Once Iris stepped out of the bedroom, she could see how dark it was in the corridor, while the only source of light was from the candles that two of the warriors held and the pale light from the moon in the dark sky.

The two warriors were not part of the seven warriors that were supposed to follow her. She had seen the two of them a few times before, but Iris said nothing, it was not an important matter in her mind right now.

The two warriors handed one of the candles in their hands to Iris and Cane, this little light reminded her of the light she created to calm the souls of the fallen warrior when they were in the Goffa mountain. She felt so bad.

"Thank you," Iris murmured, as she received the candle and Cane took her hand, as he led the way.

Outside the pack house, people had gathered together, as they held little candles in their hands. They cried silently, as they chanted a song about a long journey. Their voices echoed softly under the dark sky, while the moon watched them from above, which made the funeral feel even more sacred.

The atmosphere was warm and the wind was not chilly, but one could feel the tension and serenity, the sadness and the relief, the helplessness and the hopefulness at the same time.

Amee had told her that the candles were to guide the souls of the dead, so they could go to the afterlife. It was a comfort to their souls, so they could leave this world in peace.

Iris wondered if the idea had any relation to the way she calmed the souls of the fallen warriors.

Thankfully, during one of their conversations, Cane explained to her about what they needed to do as the Alpha and the Luna to lead the ceremony. Since she couldn’t shift into a beast like the other shifters, there was nothing much she could do, except for standing next to Cane.

The Alpha walked his mate toward the river. They were outside of the pack house and on the west side of the pack, where you could see a river, their only source of water in this pack. It was the same river that flowed in the Goffa mountain.

Not too far from them, Iris could see Haco with a young girl, around the age of ten or twelve, who kept sobbing, while chanting the song. She clutched onto Haco’s cloak, holding the candles so tightly.

They had dug a big pit to bury the fallen warriors. It would be their final resting place. Because their number was too huge and their pack tomb wouldn’t be able to accommodate them all, Cane dedicated this area for them, as a reminder of their bravery and how they lost their lives in order to protect their pack and their people.

This was the least he could do. They would start the burial soon after it hit midnight, which was in less than ten minutes.

Iris grabbed Cane’s hand tightly when she saw a woman fall to the ground and weep, but she didn’t let her candles go off, she protected the little light, as if it was her lifeline and Iris recognized that woman.

She was Avid’s mate. The warrior always looked happy when he talked about his mate. It was not often and he did it only in passing, but Iris could see how his eyes softened every time just at the mention of her.

Probably because Iris stared at her for too long, the woman lifted her head and caught sight of Iris. She immediately rushed toward her, which caught Iris off guard.

The look on her face was so intense and this made Iris want to scurry away. Was she angry?

Iris was about to use Cane as a shield, but the Alpha agilely stepped aside to expose her mate and to Iris’ surprise, Avid’s mate hugged her so tightly, as if she was going to squeeze the air out of her lungs.

"Easy, Renee, she is still recovering," Cane said in a firm tone, which made the woman named Renee loosen up a little bit.

"Thank you, Luna. Thank you so much for bringing my mate back." Renee was trying so hard to make her voice coherent, but then, as if she forgot something, she immediately released Iris’ body and looked at her face to repeat the same thing.

She heard their luna could read lips really great to offset her inability to hear, thus you need to face her whenever you want to talk with her. That was what Aliana told Renee when she also informed her how they found Avid’s body.

"I know, Avid is right... he is right when he said, you are the perfect luna for this pack." Renee tried so hard not to tremble when she spoke, so Iris could get what she was saying, but it was so hard when it pained her to be reminded that Avid was gone. "He is... right..."

Iris couldn’t hold back her tears anymore, as she hugged Renee and offered her her condolences, but then she felt it. It was so mild and faint, but it was there. She could feel and see Renee spirit, but she also sensed a new one.

"Take care of your baby..." Iris whispered softly into her ear, which made Renee jolt as she released her body.

"Wh- what? What did you say, Luna?" Renee stammered when she heard that.

Iris smiled softly at her and then placed her hand over her flat stomach. "This baby will be the joy of your life," she said with certainty. She was sure of what she was saying.

For a moment, Renee didn’t know what to say, she was too speechless to say anything, as she stared at Iris dumbfoundedly, but before she could recover from her shock, Cane pulled Iris away.

"It’s about to start."

And with that, the Alpha and the Luna walked through the people toward the front of the crowd and he stuck his candle on the ground, followed by the others before the Alpha shifted into his beast and howled to the moon, and the rest of the pack did the same.

This howling of the pack of wolves sounded so sad. You could feel how much they mourned their pack members.

Meanwhile, some of the warriors started to bury the dead bodies... the funeral would end when they had buried all of them properly.

The howling stopped and the quiet night returned.

It was also a quiet day until the second day, when they received news from the capital city about the aftermath of the death of the King.

To say there was a riot there would be an understatement, the war for the throne was a vicious one and somehow, Koda managed to get the Winter Moon pack on board to help them.

The Winter Moon pack was Leane’s former pack, before she went to the Howling Wolf pack as soon as she found her destined mate, which was no other than Cane.

They had been lying low all these years, thus to hear they went out to wreak havoc in the capital city in order to help the Red Claw pack to seize the throne was surprising news for Cane.

"How are the other princes?" Cane asked, he furrowed his brows at the mention of Leane’s former pack joining this fray.

"They have been having a hard time relaying the information because of the conditions there. Our spies couldn’t send us information right away, because they were shooting down all the hawks that carried the messages. The capital city was closed off with half part of it being managed by the Red Claw and the Winter Moon packs while the other half was under the royal family with the support of the Golden Light pack," Jace reported everything to Cane.

It was only two days after the night of the funeral and right now, Cane was inside his study room, spending his time brainstorming with his beta and gamma, but at this time, there was another additional person there. It was Iris.

The Luna sat next to the Alpha, listening to the report, too.

"What about Lady Cyan?"

Ethan shook his head. "There is no news from our people about her. With the chaos in the palace, no one seems to care about her at all. Oh, and about the head royal sorcerer you mentioned before, there are two pieces of news about him. One, our people said he led all the sorcerers to defend the palace and the second is the opposite. Our informant said he went to the Celestial Moon pack with Alan."

"Is there any news from the Celestial Moon pack?"

"No." Jace grimaced. "It seems the monster’s attack is still their main problem and without any help from the capital city, Alpha Derick’s hands were tied to do anything, aside from defending his own territory."

Cane fell silent, something that he used to do whenever he was deep in thought and usually, Jace and Ethan would wait for whatever decision he would make.

But this time, it was Iris, who finally spoke, after she heard all the information. "What do you think you are going to do?"

Ethan and Jace wanted to tell her not to bother asking, because the Alpha wouldn’t answer her, but to their surprise, Cane actually explained what was in his mind.

"I can’t believe this," Ethan mumbled sorrowfully to the Beta. "Why do I feel like the Alpha is playing favorites with us now?"