Page 81 of Taming the Alpha's Daughter

The pack gathers by the river, a serene spot where the gentle cascade of the waterfall merges with the steady flow of the river—Malik’s sanctuary. He’d sit here for hours, lost in thought. Today, it’s where we lay him to rest, amidst the elements he so loved, but the beauty of the locale is lost, overshadowed by grief's oppressive air.

As Andrei takes charge of the ceremony, his voice, usually strong and commanding, is now a fragile, broken whisper. This makes me truly realize how much Malik means to everyone here. I can feel everyone's grief and sadness in the air. Malik's absence is a reminder of how precious life is and how fleeting it can be. As Andrei speaks, each word breaks his own resolve further.

Eventually, Dominic steps forward and takes over, and suddenly, a calm rushes over Andrei. The air ripples and changes for a second, just a flicker, a hint of a change. At first, I think it's Dominic using magic, but as I peer around, I notice Kat's hand on Andrei's shoulder, the soft glow giving away her influence.

When my turn comes, the reality of the moment crashes into me with crippling intensity as everyone pays their respects and places a rose atop his coffin. Lia has to pull her mother away, I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose a mate, being rejected by one was crippling enough. I place a hand on the cold, hard surface of the coffin. It’s too final, too cruel.

Tears blur my vision. Each drop for a man who helped shape me. It's hard to believe a man I saw as greater than life growing up is now reduced to a wooden box and soon ashes. When Lia steps closer, her hand brushes mine, making me glance at her. “Mom can't do it,” she whispers, and I swallow. Turning to glance at her over my shoulder, she is racked with grief, and Clara too.

For generations, Andrei's pack has believed in burning away the physical bodies of their deceased as a way of releasing their souls and any karma they may be carrying. Andrei's father initiated this tradition, and it has been carried on ever since. The ritual involves burning the body in a deep hole in the ground and then burying the ashes and remains. This is believed to ensure that the spirit can be free to reincarnate, without being bound to the physical body. This feels fitting now that I know Kat, and we know where the Lycanthrope genes came from because we are merely but a vessel for our wolves.

Before Andrei lost Angie and Sage came along, Andrei lived his life by karma and was a bit of a hippy like Anthony. However, when he lost Angie, he became karma for rogues who crossed his path.

And man, did he make the rogues pay threefold for the things they did wrong. Some part of me believes Sage was his karma, though. She broke him and rebuilt him, as he did her. Which I find funny, given Kat is a Moon Goddess, how similar Andrei and Kat are yet also so different.

“Please,” Lia whispers, and I take the lighter before she passes me the torch. I swallow, lighting it with my shaking hands when the torch suddenly catches alight.

Eziah makes me jump off to the side in surprise, and I know he must have used the sun's heat when he noticed me struggling with the lighter. I tilt my head to him, and he returns the gesture before I set the wood beneath the coffin on fire. I wait for the coffin to lower into the ground and the straps are tossed in.

Then I drop the flaming torch in with him and step back as the flames instantly lick at the box that holds his body. We watch it burn for a bit before everyone turns and leaves, the waterfall's spray keeping the ground around it moist. I see Andrei speak with one of his men who will keep watch before later tonight, Andrei will close it with the dirt.

I know this was one thing he hated about Angie's funeral. She was not close by and buried alongside her ancestors, where the rest of her family lay at the cemetery in Ezra's pack.

ChapterFifty-Nine

Casen

My chest tightens, and Rose's guilt pierces through me as I notice Casey asking her why we burned Uncle Malik. Survivor's guilt is thick throughout the bond. She blames herself for Malik's death. Believing wholeheartedly that if everyone hadn’t been preoccupied with trying to save her, Vince wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill Malik.

As we get back to the packhouse, I notice Heidi approaching Kat. I hold my breath, waiting to see if she'll blame Kat. Heidi cries hysterically, and Kat reaches a hand toward her. I see Ezra move, attempting to grab her hand, but he's too late and Kat's hand rests against her cheek, cupping her face. However, I had noticed Kat during the service; how she remained calm and serene while everyone else cried.

Suddenly, Heidi jolts, the air around Katya seems to ripple, and her eyes bleed white. The next minute, Heidi throws herself into Kat's arms, making me wonder what Kat did when Dominic speaks. “It must be hard for Ezra not to keep her hidden and locked away,” Dominic muses. I glance at him.

“How she does not go insane living between realms, constantly between life and death, continues to baffle me. Even though I considered the shadow world to be bad, it was as real to me as the real world, yet imagine living in limbo constantly, not belonging to either world,” he sighs heavily.

“I guess that is why she was blessed by Seline because she is suited for it,” I tell him, and Dominic laughs.

“I understand your perspective, Casen. I see how you might think that. Power is not just a blessing, but a curse. With power comes expectation, greed, decisions the mundane never have to make.” My eyebrows furrow. “It is easy to blame those who have power, but think about being the one who knows that they are ready to take you apart for having it. Judging and expecting, and then receiving their blame and hatred when you fail. It is impossible for me to imagine how that eats away at her. Furthermore, my own family's curse is a blessing in one sense. Because no one ever expected anything good to come from it, so there was never a world of judgment against me. Those that assumed expected rule, order, and an iron hand.” He looks at Katya briefly.

“Whereas with Kat, they expect her to change the world, to stop death while maintaining life. How do you decide between your loved ones and someone else? How will you set aside your grief, which will mirror theirs, if you choose incorrectly?” he asks before wandering off.

Rose is quiet, and her guilt radiates through the bond loudly as we attend the wake. Midway through, the walls close in, suffocating me, and I find escape by heading out the back for a smoke. The quiet is both a relief and haunting.

Sitting on the back step, I draw back on the smoke when movement catches out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I find it is Kat. Only at this moment, she is not the moon goddess, not the calm inside the mournful crowd, but a woman, broken and gasping for air.

“Kat?” I ask.

She freezes like she has been caught doing something she shouldn't and is embarrassed. As quickly as her composure shatters, it rebuilds. With a shaky breath, the goddess reassembles, sealing cracks in her façade. But I see them. I see her break, if only for an instant. And at that moment of vulnerability, I understand the unbearable weight of her existence that Dominic mentioned.

The sliding door opens, and Mateo steps out. His eyes, marred by burns and haunted by shadows, fixate on Kat. She’s slipping through his fingers, a goddess overwhelmed by her mortality. She excuses herself, retreating into the confines of the packhouse.

“Kat, are you okay?” I ask, eventually catching up with her.

It's like a veil falls over her. One minute, she is breaking. The next, it's as if I didn't see her nearly falling apart.

“I'm fine. It's a little stuffy in there,” she murmurs, only the slight shake of her voice indicating that what I saw had been real.

We stand there awkwardly for a second, both caught out. Eventually, she moves toward me, climbing the steps. “I should probably get ready to leave; I know everyone is eager to learn about Satish, but I can't do that from here,” she laughs.

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