Chapter Twenty

Jasmine’s POV

Exactly five days after the warriors had returned from their attack on Blackmoon Pack, I woke up to yet another unusual day.

However, unlike before, I knew exactly why the day was unusual.

The previous day, Lena had told me that it was the day of the memorial.

The memorial for the members of the Midnight Wolves pack that had died during the massacre.

When she had told me about it, I had been unable to resist pulling her into a hug at the look of sorrow on her face.

She had also explained that it was an important day to for their pack to mourn and remember their fallen members.

So when I had finally made my way down to the kitchen without encountering anyone, I had not been the least surprised.

It seemed even the weather was determined to carry the somber mood because it was unusually chilly.

Hoping it would help, I made a hot cup of milk and decided to take it up to Lena.

When I arrived in front of her room door, I hesitated before knocking softly then waiting for a response.

After a short while, I heard a reply from within and took it as permission to enter.

Unlike the other times I had entered into her room, I wasn’t greeted by her usual warm smile. Instead, I opened the door and entered to see my dearest friend curled up into a ball, in the middle of her bed.

“Oh Lena”, I called softly, immediately moving towards the bed and placing the warm cup of milk on a small table before climbing onto her bed and pulling her into my arms.

She started to sob immediately my arms were wrapped around her and I held her tightly, mumbling soft words of comfort and rubbing soothing circles on her back as she did to me whenever I was upset.

I had never seen her so upset and it broke my heart in a way I never expected it too.

After consoling her for a while, her sobs finally died down.

She made no move to withdraw from my embrace and I was quite content to remain in that position.

“Would you perhaps like to talk about it”, I asked, tucking her head beneath my chin.

She was quite for a while before she started to speak.

“I know I’m not the only one who lost someone that day”, she began, her voice raspy from having cried so much. “Frankly, I know some people lost a lot more than I did. I had been many years but it still feels like yesterday”, she said. “I don’t remember so much about that day but I remember that I had gone with my sister to pick some flowers for our mother”, she said.

Though surprised at the revelation that Lena once had a sister, I refrained from making any comment any let her continue, knowing how much she needed this.

“We had visitors who had left the day before and my mother had given the flowers we had picked for her to one of the she wolves who had admired it, so we thought to get her some more”, she went on.

“I still remember laughing with my sister”, she said. “Gina, that was her name”, she paused in recollection. “She was so beautiful with her strawberry blonde hair and angelic smile. Everyone adored her and I wanted to be just like her. She was kind too, always ready to help in anyway she could. Gina was perfect”, she reminisced.

“We were just getting back when we heard the screams. We didn’t have our wolves yet so we didn’t realize what was happening until we were caught in it”, her voice caught for a second. “There was blood everywhere, Jasmine, so much blood. And screams. Gina pulled me away to hide somewhere, I don’t even remember where. Nana found us there and told us to stay put while she went to find the rest of our family”, I could hear the tears of pain in her voice. “She came back with Luke not too long after. When we asked about Regan, she told us to stay put and left again to find him.

I remember being scared and crying over Regan. Gina could not stand doing nothing to help, she was always like that. So she told Luke to watch over me while she went to help Nana find Regan and the rest of our family. She was older than us so we believed her when she said she would be right back.”

A sob escaped her.

“She never came back”, she cried. “Her, my parents, Luke’s parents, Regan’s parents. None of them came back”, she sobbed and I held her closer.

“I know I should be grateful since I still have Nana and Luke”, she got out. “Unlike some who lost their entire family”, she said. “Like Regan”, she added and began to sob again. “To loose his entire family and his mate all in one night. My heart breaks for him”.

Unconsciously, I froze at her statement as she continued to sob.

Every part of me longed to get her to repeat what she just said and tell me everything, but I knew it wasn’t the right time.

So Alpha Regan had not only lost his family but his mate as well?

I heard he had been quite young at the time so how had he found his mate so early?

And who was his mate?

The questions burned on my tongue but never made it out.

My heart suddenly broke for him.

To have found his mate early just to have her taken from him suddenly.

And alongside his family no less.

I couldn’t possibly imagine the pain he must have gone through.

And to think he would remember it all again due to the memorial.

Lena finally managed to pull herself together after a while.

Though the hot cup of milk I had gotten her had turned cold, she drank it all anyway and went to clean herself up.

I helped her wear the black dress she had chosen and helped braid her hair into a single neat braid before we finally made our way out of her room and down to the kitchen.

There, we met Nana.

And even though it was clear for anyone to see that she was in a sober mood, she still bestowed her kisses on both our heads dutifully.

Together, we made a simple breakfast of bread and eggs for the four other occupants.

Only three of those occupants made it down to join us for a quiet breakfast.

Alpha Regan was absent.

After breakfast, we made our way to the pack house to help with preparations for the memorial ceremony and throughout the entire process, I didn’t catch sight of him. Not once.

A part of me wanted to go looking for him, just to catch even a glimpse of him in order to be sure that he was alright. But I knew it was all wishful thinking.

I had no right.

Especially with the new found knowledge I had gained on him.

He once had a mate.

For some reason, I had never thought about the possibility of him having a mate. I suppose I had just concluded that he had not found her yet, though the thought that his mate was somewhere out there just waiting for him to find her never sat well with me for some reason.

I suddenly felt very guilty for ever wishing that he would not find his mate soon.

Knowing the truth made me feel undeniably awful.

I went about my chores like everyone else throughout the day, working hard until the Sun went to sleep and the full moon emerged in its full glow.

Everyone had gathered before a huge bonfire. All dressed in black and some even crying.

Everyone was present, even the pups.

They sang songs of sorrow that I had never heard and traded stories of the loved ones they had lost.

And still, there was no sign of Alpha Regan.

At a point during the story telling, Luke had joined the pack, quietly sneaking in almost undetected, but I had noticed.

His usual playful look was missing, replaced by a stony look that was impossible to read.

For the first time since I had become a part of the pack, I suddenly remembered the how he had seemed when I had first met him.

The night he had abducted me from the Blackmoon pack.

Remembering Blackmoon brought a sudden rush of anger.

To think that such an undeserving pack had caused such pain and sorrow in such a great pack was exasperating.

The Midnight Wolves did not deserve the hand they were dealt.

And Blackmoon was not worthy enough to cause such a profound loss.

I had stopped thinking of myself as being associated to Blackmoon pack in any way and had stopped feeling guilty for the crimes they committed that I took no part in.

Holding onto Lena’s arm that was linked with mine, I broke away from my thoughts when I finally caught sight of the werewolf I had been dying to see.

As Alpha Regan made his way closer, the circle of werewolves parted to let him through to the center.

He didn’t say anything at first.

He simply looked into the flames of the large bonfire before turning to address his pack.

“The day has come once again for us to remember our fallen”, he said loudly, his voice resonating with power. “Our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, our sisters, our pups”, he paused for a moment before continuing. “Our mates”, he said.

“They will never be forgotten”, he said and the pack members nodded their heads in agreement.

“They will be avenged”, he vowed earning howls from the pack. “We will not rest until those that dared bring us pain experience pain like never before”, howls and shouts of agreement followed. “We will rip off their heads, tear them apart and bring their hearts as evidence before the Moon Goddess to show that we have avenged our fallen!”

Cheers and howls erupted loudly, even the pups joined it.

He let them cheer for a while before lifting a hand and bringing everything to an instant halt.

“But for now, we remember”, he said. “Those who were dear to us, those whose loyalty and love were without question”, he said. “We let go not to forget, but to remember, that even as we move on, they live on with us”, he said before pulling out three different items from his pocket.

I watched as everyone else started to do the same.

He dropped one of the three items into the bonfire, then dropped another before finally dropping the last item.

After doing so, he stepped back and came to stand beside Nana.

Nana moved towards the bonfire to do the same, and soon, one by one, every member of the pack copied their actions.

I watched in awe as every member of the pack moved to throw at least one thing into the bonfire.

That meant that every member of the Midnight Wolves pack had lost someone to the Blackmoon massacre.

I shiver rolled down my spine at the realization of the enormity of such loss.

I waited patiently with everyone until the last werewolf - a young pup- had thrown his items into the bonfire.

As the pup went back to its mother, Regan once more made his way to the center.

“We pray to the Moon Goddess to grant peace to our fallen and ease the burden of sorrow in our hearts”, he said and the pack nodded once in unison.

A young werewolf came suddenly appeared with a goblet of what I figured was wine.

“Tonight”, Alpha Regan continued, taking the goblet from the young wolf. “We drink to our fallen. May they live on in our hearts”, he said lifting the goblet to the sky before bringing it to his lips to take a big gulp, then pouring the rest into the fire.

A cup was suddenly pushed into my hands and alongside the rest of the pack, i mimicked his actions.

After the toast to the dead, he took what looked like a plate of charcoal in his hands and dipped four of his fingers into it.

He smeared the charcoal on one of his fingers on his forehead and moved to Nana, Luke and Lena, smearing the ones on his other three fingers across their foreheads.

Nana mimicked his action and I could see others in the pack doing the same.

“What does that mean?” I asked Lena immediately she returned to my side.

“You are to smear the charcoal on the foreheads of people you are related to”, she said.

“But you are not really related to Alpha Regan”, I said, slightly confused.

“Not by blood, no”, she said and continued at my look of confusion. “But we are related in another way”.

When I continued to look even more confused, she turned to face me.

“Regan’s mate that died”, she said. “Was my sister, Gina”.

I froze.

The possibility that I had heard wrong was unlikely and I slipped into a state of shock.

Moving away to receive another charcoal mark on her head, Lena was oblivious to the sea of torment she had thrown me into as she left me standing there, staring at the retreating back of her late sister’s mate as he left the gathering.