A deafening silence embraced us until I finally heard the Alpha let out a sigh. “Your father is actually my father’s best friend, you know,” he said to which I immediately looked at him.
“What?” I asked, confused.
He smiled. I felt like the whole world had just stopped when I saw him smiling. If the situation was casual now, I bet my heart was already beating wildly, but now I was just hollow inside.
“They were good friends despite the feud. Both of our fathers negotiated to end the chaos that the Crest Moon has brought upon the realm. That was what the supposed meeting was about. But Miguel was angry because of that. He didn’t like it. The meeting didn’t end well…Miguel… killed them both.”
I felt my muscles shaking at the mention of that again. My hands trembled in the mixture of grief and fury.
“Celine…your father was a good man.”
“And he was killed for being good, Lucas.”
Chapter Forty
Silence reigned as I continued quietly sobbing. No one dared to talk for a few minutes… as if the silence, itself, would be able to console us from the pains of our past.
I sniffed again, wiping the tears streaming down my face harshly. I heard him sighing.
“He may have been killed. But I assure you that his honorable actions were recognized boy our pack,” he said, finally breaking the silence between us. I immediately looked at him. Our gazes met. His serious and dark set of blue eyes were staring at me intensely.
His hand reached for my hand on my lap, making me feel the volts of electricity all over my body. I bit my lip and avoided his gaze. I just looked at the empty wall again. Tears started falling for the nth time as I remembered the last day I spent with my father.
My blood boiled upon remembering that. My breathing went heavy as I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. “I want to bring them down. I want to lash their throats to death,” I said through gritted teeth.
I felt his grip on my hand tighten. “And we will do it together, Celine,” I almost jumped in my seat when he reached for my chin and made me face him. I bit my lip upon seeing his eyes. “Now, I’m just more motivated to bring them down. I’ll make sure that we will defeat them, Celine. I will make sure of that,” he said like he was swearing on his life. I
Slowly, he pulled me closer to him until I was finally resting on his chest. I had no strength to pull away or even have the time to think about my feelings for him. All I know is that I felt comforted in his presence. For once, I felt at ease and at peace. It’s somehow soothing to know that finally, I have someone who understands the things that I’ve been through. Someone who cared…other than my parents. I have never felt this kind of tranquility ever since my father died.
I closed my eyes and didn’t think of anything. What was important was that I was under his arms; nothing else could ever matter. I hugged him back and buried my face in his chest. I felt him caressing my back.
“It’s alright, Celine, it’s alright. I know you’re full of anger right now. But don’t let that emotion devour you. This would be a tough fight, Celine. Miguel’s family won’t back down that easily. It will be a long battle, but I’ll make sure that we’ll win in the end.”
***
After my talk with Lucas, it was like the puzzle I had been trying to solve was finally completed. What my father said that day of the ambush finally made sense. It all made sense. All the things that Lucas said and what those two warriors said to me coincided. I finally found the truth after spending most of my life in lies.
Crest Moon is the true antagonist here. All along, my father and Lucas’ pack had been working towards peace for the realm, but they didn’t want it. They are selfish wolves who think nothing else but their greed for power. They are scheming and cunning werewolves. Their wickedness is so boundless that they have shed innocent blood to satiate their thirst for dominance. They are the worst breed of evil.
My hands fisted, and my jaw clenched. Lucas is right. Despite everything, despite being fucking angry, I should not let this emotion overpower me. I shouldn’t be swallowed by anger. Instead, I should be more focused on my training. I need to be stronger and more skillful because, as Lucas said, it will not be that easy.
We can’t afford to fail just like the last time. This will be a bloody battle. We need to be fucking ready for it.
“Leila, can I go now? I still need to be in the training ground,” I said to Leila while washing my hands in the sink. She immediately turned to me and raised a brow.
“You look different. Something must have happened again, huh?” she commented all of a sudden.
I just shrugged. “We’re in the middle of a battle, Leila. Everyone needs to change, especially me,” I wiped my hands with the towel before turning to Leila again so I could give her a small smile before walking out of the kitchen.
That has been my routine for the last two days already. After cooking and preparing the Alpha’s food, I would immediately go to train with the other pack warriors. It was still silent within the vicinity, but there had been news about small and intermittent attacks from far away villages. We have no idea of the Crest Moon’s whereabouts since that last battle because the spies said the pack was slowly being abandoned. It seemed that the leaders and the high-ranking officials of the Crest Moon never returned after they fled during that battle. Only the ordinary werewolves and some omegas were left in the pack, but as days passed, some of them started to leave, too.
Lucas suspects that they might have been following the Crest Moon leaders, but I doubt that, especially when a spy said that they had seen other members of the pack with some rogues while the others were seen with other packs. Aside from that, our trackers have been tracing the whereabouts of the Crest Moon pack members and the packs and villages they have been destroying. It seemed that they were getting themselves some allies. So Alpha Lucas was right. It would be better if we continued to train. We shouldn’t stop. We should be ready all the time.
“Celine, combat training,” I nodded at the warrior I saw while heading to the training room. I watched him go to the field before I walked straight to the training room. I grabbed my bow and arrow before going back outside.
A lot of warriors had already gathered in the field, so I decided to join them.
“Hey, Cel!” some of them greeted me. I just nodded and went to find Kallie, my sparring partner.