Page 143 of A Chance at Redemption for the Alpha
“You could have killed me, but you didn’t. You could have told the lycans that I am not worth supporting, but you didn’t. You could have prevented Lord Alexander from working with me, but you didn’t.”
“That’s because I know that deep inside you were only misguided by fear,” Silas says. “You never were a bad person.”
“It’s true I was terrified of Aloysius, and thought if I stopped you from leaving, then everything would remain the same. I didn’t consider that ‘the same’ was a terrible situation for everyone involved.”
“If you want to thank me,” Silas says. “Become happy. Support Nova and your pack.”
“I will,” he promises.
“Hey, Juli,” Nova arrives in the room. “I found some white linen. Is that good enough?”
“It’s perfect,” he says.
The send-off, as Silas called it, is simple. Werewolf funerals are simple, too, but usually the whole pack gathers around the deceased to send them off. For the vampires, it’s a much more private moment. Both Durant and Aloysius are clad in white linen now, resting on an intricately designed blanket on the ground. Julianus has placed candles around them. The room itself is devoid of any interior aside from some statues. It almost looks like a room used for rituals. Well, it probably is exactly this type of room.
“What about your other siblings?” I ask Silas. “Shouldn’t we inform them?”
“No,” Silas says. “We don’t celebrate death like other species do. They will say their personal goodbyes wherever they are and mourn them in their own way. It’s not a lack of respect that they aren’t here.”
“But how will they know?” Nova asks.
Silas steps forward, a torch in his hand. He lights the linen with it. To my surprise, the cloth catches fire immediately, but it’s not a warm, heated fire, it’s much cooler and looks blue.
Julianus puts his arm around Nova. “Look,” he whispers, pointing at the blue flames. Within seconds, they have swallowed the two brothers, their bodies disappearing and leaving not even ash behind, then the flame moves to the window. Silas opens it, allowing it to leave the room.
“The flame will travel to my siblings,” Silas says. “So, they can say their goodbyes.”
“Wow!” Nova expresses.
It’s silent for a moment while Alex and Silas look after the blue dust. No one says anything for a long while, until Silas takes a deep breath and turns to look at me. “Let’s go home.”
“I will be staying here as promised,” Alex says. “See you in a couple of days, Silas.”
“And I will check on Maddie,” Silas says. “And reach out to our nephew and his mom, so they know they can stop hiding.”
As we leave Aloysius’ hideout, we bump into Eugene and Cassian. I wasn’t even aware that they were still around, but it seems like they helped Atticus with cleaning up. “I have to hurry back to my pack,” Cassian says. “But Nova and Julianus have it covered here.”
“You have an awesome beta,” I say.
He smiles. “I know. I have heard some from Juniper, and I am amazed how she outsmarted the vampires. I always believed she would become luna to an alpha one day, but now it’s obvious that being a beta is much more her calling. I guess, there is an upside to her being mated to that vampire.”
“There is probably more than one upside,” Silas chuckles. “He isn’t a bad guy, Cass. He helped us a lot.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighs. “I will behave. Don’t want to upset my sister and beta…ormy luna. Flo has completely taken Nova’s side.”
I laugh. “Seems like you will be pretty busy from now on.”
Cassian gives us the thumbs up. “Wouldn’t want it any other way. Well, reach out to me if you need anything. If not, we’ll see each other at your birthday, Silas.”
We nod, waving him off. Eugene helps us gather some more of our things and accompanies us back to Sunset Hills. “Well then,” he says tiredly. “Time to get back to my pack.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask. “You are not going to drive now!”
“But-“
“We have a guest room. Stay overnight.”
Eugene’s eyes widen. “Is that really okay?” he asks hopefully.
