Page 112 of Alpha's Revenge Luna
“I wanted to,” he admits.“But I was afraid they’d hand me over to the council.And I hoped my mother would come back, or that I’d find her.Plus, I never really fit in anywhere, even with the rogues, so I kept looking, hoping I would find someone else like me or that she would come back for me.”
“So the closest thing you got to a family was your pack of rogues and Anastasia?”I ask gently.
Dion nods, pain clouding his eyes.“Does it upset you, knowing about Anastasia?”he asks.
I shake my head, resting my chin on his chest.“No, it saddens me.You almost got your family, only to lose it again.”
He swallows thickly, the weight of the past heavy between us.At this moment, I see him not as the powerful Hybrid Alpha who kidnapped me, but as a man desperate to be accepted, desperate for love, for family.
“What happened to Anastasia after… Where is she buried?”I ask quietly, wondering if the burial grounds of those they lost are here or elsewhere; Dion seems like the type of Alpha who would have their own private cemetery.
“Not far from here...I can show you,” he whispers.I sit up, peering around.
“Near home, Emery.I didn’t want animals digging them up,” he tells me, and I rise to my feet.He stares at me for a second, cautiously.
“You want me to show you?”he asks, like he can’t seem to fathom why I would want to see the woman and mother of his child.But as much as he says he didn’t truly love her, I can tell he cared deeply for her.Maybe he didn’t love her like a mate bond, but in his own way, I can tell he loved her.Even if he would rather not admit it to himself.
Dion leads me through the dim forest to a graveyard.We emerge into a smaller clearing with a cluster of headstones, their names and dates etched into the stone.Among them, one grave stands out, adorned with a small teddy bear sitting on top.
“Anastasia?”I whisper, pointing to the headstone with the teddy bear.
“That’s her,” Dion confirms, solemnly leading me over to it.He picks up the teddy bear and I feel a rush of emotions running through him as he stares at the weathered teddy.“No one really comes back here, they’re safe here,” Dion murmurs, and I hear the sadness before I feel his guilt at not being able to save his pack members.Guilt nags at me.
“And my father is the reason all of them are here,” I askhim.
Dion glances at me.“Yes, Trinity warned us her father would retaliate when he learned she betrayed him, but after her death.We thought that was it, nothing happened even after I took to the council what I found.It’s how I know so many of the council members are corrupt.Elder Eric and I tried everything to get them to listen.Instead, he had his life threatened, and the pack was threatened.We were told to drop it.Then the rogue attack,” he tells me.I chew my lip, taking in what he is saying.Yet, I feel no deceit through the bond, so I know he speaks the truth, but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear.
Yet despite his words, and I don’t doubt him, it’s just Trinity, I couldn’t see my father killing her.Sure they were at each other’s throats, constantly fighting over her sneaking out.But despite locking us in the vault or cupboard and a smack here and there, he wasn’t overly violent.Half the time he and Mom fought over her leaving, but it was mostly Dad defending her before he ever punished her.
Not only that, when I heard him scream the day she was killed, it was like his soul leaving him.After she was gone, he became even colder, less forgiving.I’d sometimes catch him sitting on her bed, refusing to let anyone remove her stuff.Mom, and Dad fought all the time.Mom was convinced he made her room into his own personal shrine.
I remain silent for a moment, feeling the truth of his words, how it seeps into me, all these people here are dead because of my father, but for what reason?
I wander away, glancing at the other gravestones.“Emery?”Dion calls as I start looking for flowers.
“Where are you going, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I scoff at his words.
I’m not upset, not for me anyway but for everyone here, for who Dion lost.“I’m not upset, come help me,” I yell back, finding a patch of lavender and dandelions.It’s not much when Elara speaks before I start plucking them.
“Dig it out, move the lavender; she’ll have flowers all thetime, then,” Elara tells me and I drop to my knees.
“What are you doing?”Dion chuckles, coming to stand next to me.I look up at him.“Digging this plant out,”
“I can see that, but you’re naked, digging in dirt?”he chuckles.
“No one can see me,” I remind him.“Well, except you, you can help me wash it off, but first flowers, gravestones should have flowers,” I tell him, digging my fingers into the dirt while pulling on the huge lavender bush.Dion sighs.“This isn’t necessary, she is surrounded by plants,”
“No, she is surrounded by gravestones.You just be quiet.You pick those dandelions then for the other graves,” I order him.
“I don’t know if I like this bossy side of you,” he mutters but bends down, plucking dandelions.
While gathering flowers, I pull the oversized lavender bush out before separating it and approaching Anastasia’s grave to place them on either side of her headstone.
“Hopefully, they don’t get root shock,” I mutter, patting the dirt down.
“The ground is pretty damp here, they’ll be fine, but I will come out later and water them for you if you want?”Dion tells me.
