Chapter 56 - Lost II - The Royal Hybrid

Tatiana’s POV

It was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the birds chipping and singing as they flew over our heads before they formed a triangle in the sky and continued flying ahead. To be so free that you could fly anywhere… Go anywhere you wanted... I wondered if Lucas was able to do that now.

We were surrounded by the entire pack that had come to give Lucas their last blessings to send him off. It was odd, really, at least for me. I had never experienced a pack getting together to make something like this special.

Under Killian’s ruling, the only ones who were even allowed to go near a funeral were the ones in high standing as they could provide more for the deceased than the low standing. I was never invited to such things despite my rank, but here… Everyone came no matter if it was the alpha’s family, a farmer, a warrior, or a simple mom staying home with the pups. Everyone was welcomed with open arms, another thing that just showed me how a pack should really be.

I had Hayden and Gabriel by my side, mom and dad were walking in front of us, and Uncle Kyle and Ryan were behind us. Everyone was waiting for us to reach the front rows, the only row with chairs that hadn’t been taken. Zaya was standing in front of the casket, the white satin casket that my brother’s body was now laying in, as she was waiting for us to take our seats so she could begin the ceremony.

My mom and dad took the two first chairs, Hayden, Gabriel, and I the next, and so on. I knew this was a funeral but a thing that had caught my eye when we were walking down the middle, was that it almost had a setup that looked like a wedding. I didn’t question it out loud because I knew why. This wasn’t meant to be a goodbye but rather something to celebrate the life he had and wish him good luck in the next.

“Today we are saying goodbye to a man we all have known since he was little. Many of you grew up with him, some of you have taught him and all of us have loved him. He was a kind and spirited guy, who always had a goal in his life. He was carefree, loving and as you all know, he always gave a helping hand whenever needed. Lucas spent most of his teenage years, not only rebuilding packs and villages around our lands after they had been destroyed by the former ruler of the Royal pack, but he also searched with his father over mountains and seas to find his sister who was taken away from us. A sister who has now returned and got to spend time with her brother before the inevitable would eventually happen,” Zaya spoke and locked eyes with me. “We are here to remember who he was as a person, to remember what he offered to all of us and what he sacrificed for us to have an even brighter future. Many of you have questioned what happened since the son of the alpha has died and after discussing it with him before he took his last breath, he told me to inform you of the reason at his funeral.”

Zaya took a deep breath, her eyes flickering from mine to my mom’s as she kept on her speech.

“As many of you already know, Lucas was a hybrid, a thing we for long thought was a legend. But it turned out to be a curse that would end up not only taking his life but also his sisters. And so, to spare her, he gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Zaya continued to inform people of the heroic way Lucas died and as she spoke my thoughts went back to one of the last nights, I had with him.

I had been reading the same page over and over again, trying to finish it, but every time I reached a certain sentence, my mind turned blank, and I had to start over.

Had someone not been knocking on my door, I would have thrown the book across the room, aiming for the window.

“Come in,” I called.

Lucas’s head peeked inside with a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, curious as to why he was looking at me that way.

“What’s wrong? I should be the one asking you that. You do know that I can hear you from across the hall, right?”

“Hear me?”

“It sounded like you were about to kill someone in here with your grumbling and huffing,” he said as he stepped inside and closed the door.

“Oh,” I said gaping at him. “I did that out loud?”

“You did,” he chuckled. “What seems to be the problem?”

“This stupid thing,” I mumbled and wiggled the book in the air. “I have been stuck on the same page since forever.”

“Stuck? As in can’t read any further or?” he chuckled. “Is there something wrong with the book?”

“I don’t know, it is just… I just somehow can’t get past the sentence…” I trailed off as I flipped through the pages to find the one, I had been stuck on. “Ah, here, ‘And with the last breath, the angel let go of the last string that kept him bound to the life he was about to give up’.”

As I read it out loud, I couldn’t help but shiver.

“What is wrong with that sentence?” he questioned as he plopped down onto my bed.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sit well with me, it is like it is too close to me for some reason,” I said. “I don’t know,” I sighed and tried to shrug off the bad feeling that had settled in my stomach.

“Listen,” he began as he got up and pulled the book out of my hands. “You are coming with me now, we will go for a walk, and then-“

“I don’t really feel like going out,” I shrugged.

“Hmm.”

He looked deep in thought before he plummeted back onto the bed and scooted up, so he was now by my side.

“Lay down.”

“What?”

“Lay down and close your eyes,” he said again. “Don’t question it, just do it.”

“Okay,” I said in a curious tone dragging it out a bit, but I eventually did as I was told.

I closed my eyes and listened to the silence until he cleared his throat. The next thing I knew I heard him flipping pages and when I was about to ask what he was doing, he began reading the book to me.

“’ And with the last breath, the angel let go of the last string that kept him bound to the life he was about to give up. He did so with full knowledge of what was about to happen, but in his eyes, dying for the one he loved the most in the world, seemed like the perfect way to go, even though he died for the devil himself.’”

I was snapped out of my little daydream when Hayden gently nudged me in the side.

I looked at him with questioning eyes before he eyed the place where Zaya was standing waiting patiently for me to join her.

“Oh,” I mumbled and got up from my chair and with hesitant steps walked up next to her.

I took a deep breath as I looked out over the crowd sitting in front of me, waiting for me to say something.

“I tried to prepare a speech for today, I really did. But whenever I sat down with a pen and paper in front of me, my mind went completely blank. Because how do you write down words to describe a person you love so very much when all you really wanted to do was to say it to them in person? How do you, knowing that you will never have times like that ever again, reminisce everything you have either been through or done together? You can say that you will miss them, and that life will never be the same without them because it won’t, but that won’t even remotely reach the things I wish to say to him or say about him.”

I covered my upcoming sob with a cough and turned my head to wipe away the tear that had escaped my eye.

“He was wonderful, in every single way possible,” I continued. “He was loving, caring and he never gave up hope. He was what many looked up to and what many now aspire to be like and for that, I am very proud. He made his impact on everyone around him and he left a fingerprint in this world, in our world and our lives, that will make sure that even now when he is gone, we will forever remember him.”

I looked down and caught my mom as she herself tried to hide the tears that ran down her cheeks and caught dad as he took her hand to prevent her from it. He said something to her, probably telling her to stop hiding her pain, and then he looked back at me.

“He let me live. He died so that I could live, and I gave him a promise that day on the hill, a promise I will now give to you as well. I will do whatever I can to become the queen you will need one day and the queen you deserve. I will do everything in my power to grant us safety and make sure that our pack is a safe haven. I gave him that promise because he gave the ultimate sacrifice and I intend to keep it. I intend to make the best out of what he gave.”

I looked down, my tears now wetting my hands that were clenched together in front of me. Zaya gently hugged me from the side and with silence I did a small bow, turned to his casket, and placed my hand on top of it, feeling the cold wood on my palm.

“I will make it right,” I cried. “I promise I will.”