Page 18 of His Forsaken Alpha

“Papa?Are you ready?”Wilder prodded.

“Ready for what?” Wynter frowned up at his first-born alpha before he noticed his youngest, Vaughn, watching him closely from Wilder’s other side. Tears shimmered in Vaughn’s eyes.

Tears? Surprising.

Fake? Probably.

Vaughn rarely showed emotion. He was too much like Wynter for his own good.He’s putting on a good show for the masses, just like me. Just as I unconsciously taught him.

“Are you ready to say goodbye?” Wilder whispered, nodding toward the casket.

“Oh.”Wynter took a deep breath, dragging his thoughts to the present. “Yes.”

Wynter stepped forward and bent, collecting a handful of dirt from the pile nearby. He gazed down at Warden’s shimmering casket one last time, unsure what to say.

“See you in Hell, Warden,”he whispered under his breath before tossing the dirt over the massive arrangement of snow-white lilies draped over the top.

The lilies brought back other memories. Another funeral. Had Warden chosen them purposefully, another tiny stab, one of a billion?

He stepped back in a daze, watching as Wilder and Vaughn paid their final respects. Then their ex-son-in-law Rohan and his omega, Gray, paid theirs. Other mourners followed suit beforebrushing their hands off and approaching the family. Wynter groaned inwardly, ready to make a beeline to the waiting limos. They’d already spoken with hundreds at the wake, and he wasn’t ready for another conga line of mourning.

Unable to pull the boys away in time, a clutch formed around him. Wynter shook their hands and listened to their hushed words with numb apathy, just as he’d done at the wake. Claustrophobia nearly took hold. Warden’s acquaintances moved in too close to get their piece of Wynter. At his short stature, the alphas circling blotted out some of the sun and made it harder to breathe. By the dozenth who shoved his hand into Wynter’s, he was ready to scream and run for the quiet sanctity of the waiting limo.

He remained steadfast, unwilling to give the attendees something more to gossip about.

Friction against stone hones the blade and makes it sharper.

So, on it went, with him numbly shaking hands and barely hearing what was said around him, nodding in the pauses where it seemed appropriate.

“How’s that omega of yours?” a familiar-looking alpha asked Wilder beside him, name already forgotten.

The question piqued Wynter’s interest. He’d yet to meet his newest grandson, born on the same day his alpha died. He’d been so wrapped up in mourning to stop and see the babe—or was it more that he was afraid Wilder and Avery might deny him?

“Still abed,” Wilder murmured, glancing in Wynter’s direction before focusing on the one who’d asked the question. “He gave birth to our son, Emory, less than a week ago.”

“He and babe are well, I presume?”

Wilder glanced at Wynter again, as if worried his answers would cause trouble. Why, Wynter wasn’t sure. “Yes. Both are very well, thank you.”

“At least you have some new life in your home to help fill the void.”

Wynter’s head whipped toward the man, who had the decency to look ashamed.Warden might’ve been a raging monster, but for Wilder and Vaughn’s sake, at least show a little respect.

The alpha turned, clearly not realizing his words would be overheard. His eyes wide and shame on his face, he bent slightly and lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jaymes. I meant no disrespect. Warden was a visionary, I only meant…”

Wynter scoffed and looked away, unsure why he felt so riled. The alpha never finished his comment and quickly departed.

As an hour passed, the crowd gradually dissipated. Eventually, the only ones left were Wilder, Vaughn, Rohan, and Gray.

Wynter swallowed back a petty question perched on the tip of his tongue.Why had Gray bothered to come at all?

Gray was not Jamie, nor would he ever be. Rohan was no longer part of the Jaymes family, rushing to mate the surrogate mere weeks after Jamie had been buried.

Watching the omega hanging on Rohan’s arm was still difficult.

My son should be there instead.

Wynter’s gaze drifted to the shining black tombstone a few feet away from where Warden was being laid to rest. Jamie had been interred there a few years earlier.

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