CHAPTER 3 - The Burial

Heavy rain poured down mercilessly as well as thunderous claps from the thick gray clouds above sounded, replicating the atmosphere now at The Night Howlers territory.

The five days of mourning have been completed for their great grand Luna. The pack members had all gathered at the burning site for the last ritual for the dead and watched with mournful eyes as Clayton walked towards the body of his grandmother, who is placed on a high constructed branches of twigs with a white cloth covering her entire body except for her face and clasped hands that are on top of her stomach.

All alphas and lunas of the allies they had made over the years attended the last rite, giving their last respect to the woman, who they cherished and treasured. Even the Lycan King, himself, King Atticus the Fourth, and his family came and the sorrow on his face could not be hidden. He had considered Catherine as one of his closest friends back when they were still young.

White flowers were arranged around the body while one Lunar Flower has been included in her clasped hands. The flower is said to be a guiding light in seeking Paradise.

They watched as Clayton touched his grandmother’s forehead, caressing it ever so gently and lovingly before he finally bent down and kissed her on the cheek for a long while. He then stepped aside as the remaining members of the family gave their last goodbye.

Lastly, when Clayton was the last one who had finally step back down on the ground. He took the flamed torch Liam handed to him and then reached for his father’s hand. Together, they finally lit the branches to fire. They stepped back and watched as the flames started to burn up until it finally reaches the dead body.    

It took almost five hours for the flame to finally subsided and Clayton never left. He stayed and watched as the assigned Omega pack members started gathering the ashes to be placed inside a marble box.

Clayton suddenly looked up when he heard a long and sorrowful howl in the air.

He knew that howl by heart with his eyes closed even from thousand of miles apart.

Conrad.

He closed his eyes and let the tears that he has been holding fall on his face. He listened the entire time to his elder brother’s sorrowful howl. He knew why. Despite all the damaging, undesirable and destructive things Conrad has done, their grandmother showed nothing but love for him.

If there was one person who can control Conrad, Catherine was the one who could do it.

“Clayton.”

He turned at the voice of Liam. He stood a few feet away from him with Lily, who is still sobbing quietly beside her brother.

“Conrad must have heard,” Clayton said when he took one look on his face. He run his one hand over his face and watched as the omegas finally lowered down the box on the excavated ground and put the earth back. He looked up after the last, long howl was finished. “Regardless of how he became, he always cherished grandma and loved her in his own way.”

“Grandma Cat has always been a compassionate person,” Lily said hoarsely. She walked towards the ground where the box was buried and laid down some flowers. “I saw Conrad one time. I saw the way his face softened at the mere mentioned of her name. She will always have a special place in his heart as well as you.”

“She told me to look for him,” Clayton finally revealed.

“What?!”

Clayton started walking back towards the common grounds, nodding at the greetings his members had given as they go back to their normal day to day activities. He stopped and helped an elderly man stacked some boxes inside his studio and patted him on the back when he gave thanks.

When they finally reached the confines of his office in the Main House, Liam looked at him intently.

“Did I hear you correctly?” He asked. “Did you just say that your grandmother asked you to look for Conrad? Whatever for?”

Clayton sat behind his desk and looked at Lily.

“Lily, the story that you always love to talk about,” he started calmly. “Do you know everything behind it? Like where it came from? How it started?”

Lily looked at him.

“I’ve been telling you, boys that it’s not just an ordinary story,” she pointed out firmly. She looked at Liam for a while before turning back to him. “Why are you asking me about that? You always viewed this topic as insignificant ever since. You’re just letting me be because you’re being a good friend.”

“What’s going on, Clay?” Liam asked.

“Grandma said that it’s a prophecy,” Clayton answered patiently. “She said that it was foretold more than fifty years ago. Do you know about this, Lily? Forgive me for asking this, but I know that you had been so engrossed on the story that you might have an idea.”

“I read somewhere about it being called a prophecy,” she said softly. “But I really didn’t delve into it seeing that there’s no development on it for so long. I guess it has just been considered as that. A prophecy.”

Clayton remained silent for a while.

“Can I ask you a favor?” He questioned. “Please keep it to yourself for now. I need you to investigate this prophecy carefully. Get any details, even if it’s small that has something to do about it. I’ll ask my folks about this also. Grandma told me, too.”

“Why are we doing this?” Lily asked.

“Grandma requested me several things to do before she passed,” Clayton answered seriously. “Number one is to know about the story or prophecy of the wolfless child. Second is to find her and help her. She told me to protect her with my life. Third is to find Conrad and help him as well. She said that’s it’s the way to help me and prophecy. I don’t even understand what she means by that.”

“The first and third requests are easier to do, Clay,” Liam commented seriously. He thought for a while before cocking his head to one side. “But, what about the second one? How do we find her? How will we know that she’s the one being described in the prophecy?”

“Perhaps, the research I will be doing will have an answer to that,” Lily stated. “But, it’s going to be a long shot. There’s not much about it being mentioned. It means, that it might have not yet even started.”

“Or if ever it did, someone kept quiet about it?” Liam supplied.

Clayton abruptly stood up at Liam’s comment.

“Now, it makes sense,” he said loudly.

The twins looked at each other, perplexed before they turned their identical brown eyes at him.

“What makes sense, Clay?” Liam asked.

“There’s a Sigma! There is one living in our midst,” Clayton said firmly. “Grandma mentioned about a Sigma but was not able continue because grandpa has arrived.”

“That’s impossible!” Liam reacted loudly. “No one has seen one for a very long time! You know how one is. It’s impossible to even track one!”

Clayton nodded.

“I know,” he agreed. “But, it gives me a place to start.”