Page 2 of The Alpha King's Fate

Diedre walked onto the stage dressed in her colourful ceremonial robes. As the pack witch, she was also their shaman. As the strongest witch in all the territories in which he was King, she was the one who led all the other witches. Diedre wasn't part of any coven, but if she had been, she would have been their High Priestess.

Diedre started to speak. Her voice was strong and washed over all of them. She didn’t raise her voice because every ear could pick up even her softest words. She invited all of them to say the names of the people they lost. Younger drummers, also in ceremonial garb, started to beat their drums softly.

Four witches from all the other packs were in a line behind Diedre, and they all started to chant softly in rhythm with the beats. He felt their pure magic begin to wash over him like a balm meant to ease his pain.

If only it could cleanse him, too.

Diedre joined her sisters behind her, and they held hands. The magic became more potent with her voice. The packs startedto whisper the names of their loved ones, one by one, and the witches’ chants carried their words away.

He knew all their names. He knew all the bonds that Hailey so brutally ripped from him.

He started with the name that hurt him the most.

“Micah,” he whispered.

His eyes closed. Saying his name out loud felt like losing him all over again.

But he said it again. And then he said all the other names, one by one. The men and women. The children. He lost forty-two people from the first attack to the last.

Cain howled as the pain slashed through both of them all over again. Layla squeezed his hand again, but he let go of her and clasped his hands together. He had to feel all of it. He had no right to the comfort she offered, not today.

When he said all the names, he started again.

“Micah...”

It would never get easier.

There was weeping in the packs. He let out a breath and dropped the mask that was protecting him. The pain from the packs felt like a million paper cuts all over his body, but it was his burden to bear.

He didn’t get up when others took a break. He didn’t get up when others went to the stage and recalled their stories, the witches still chanting in the background. He heard all the words, and each added to the heavy load on his shoulders and the pain in his chest.

When Jasmine spoke, the urge to escape filled him. He had not been able to offer Micah’s mate any comfort. He was failing his brother by letting his loved ones grieve by themselves. But when Jasmine started to weep, Layla was at her side as she always was. It was Layla who helped her back to her seat with words of comfort.

The sun finally set, and the witches’ chants died down with the call of the moon. He was the first to stand and remove his clothes. He was the first to shift and howl his pain at the moon. It was a cathartic release, but he knew his pain would return. It would stay with him for the rest of his life. And when he started to run through the woods, he looked back at Layla, still fully dressed and with tears flowing down her cheeks.

He had never run with so many people before. All the Alphas ran behind him, and their people mingled and followed. The feel of the wind in his fur and the moon's call was soothing. He allowed them to provide the comfort he declined from his mate.

Even though she heard what the witch, Hailey, said and knew he was lost in his dark soul, she loved him anyway.

He could not accept that love on a day like this. He didn’t deserve it.

Perhaps he never would.

Chapter 2

Layla sat on the top step at the front of the packhouse, enjoying the silence. The last of the packs was just leaving; her head was already blissfully quiet.

She hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to get through the memorial. She sighed and looked up at the top floor of the packhouse. Jax saw Chase off and then claimed he had something to do in their bedroom. He’d been alone there for at least an hour. She could sense why. He was still raw. He’d been wide open since the memorial and the run last night.

She couldn’t comfort him; she’d never felt so useless in her life.

“That was a hard one,” Dylan said behind her.

That was putting it mildly. She hadn’t known how much it hurt to lose a pack member until Jackson marked her. She felt like she lost parts of herself with each of them, even though she hadn’t known them well. No wonder they all wanted her dead after the first attack.

“Are you heading out?” she asked.

“Yes. I need to keep busy,” Dylan mumbled.

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