Clara POV
Seeing Klaus disappear like that made my knees weak, my knees gave out, and I am now on the floor, lying, my stomach facing the ground. He got away again, I thought. I raised my head and glanced at Erik, who was remorseful at what had happened. Throughout the war, we both felt links that kept breaking, signaling that someone from the pack had died. We always feel if someone went rogue or someone died unless we block it ourselves.
Erik stares at the ground where Klaus was pinned down earlier. Sensing my gaze, Erik looked at me and started walking toward me. He crouched down, nuzzling me gently while sniffing my scent. I raised my head and looked at him from above, nuzzling my nose to his neck, making him ticklish for touching the marked place in his neck.
"Let's go," Erik ordered in our pack link while looking around the warriors, even the fallen ones. I can feel through our mate-link the regret, disappointment, and pain he is feeling seeing his warriors down.
"Are you okay, my love?" I asked through our mate link. It was stupid for me to ask, but I couldn't help and ask him, to hear his voice and try to have a conversation.
"Are you?" Erik returned my question by questioning me. My eyes grew big at the sudden question, and I looked forward, continuing walking while glancing at the ground.
I was trying to comfort him while feeling sad. My wolf Angeline is on the verge of breaking down, I am the mother figure of the group, and I can't protect my own. Remembering what I said earlier, I felt embarrassed. What is that not letting him kill my pack when countless of our warriors are down? I scolded myself. I need to get stronger, and I need to control my powers perfectly.
I stopped walking, letting them pass through me. Sensing that I was behind, they all looked back, and I glanced at them individually. After looking around the pack members, I howled.
I howled, letting all my emotions from this war go out. It was also a signal to the other pack members left in the house. In a few seconds, all of the warriors howled with me.
After letting our emotions out, we looked at each other, and some whimpered. Others shifted back to their human form and started crying. I just stood there and couldn't do anything to soothe their pain. I just stood and watched them feel the pain. This was the hardest thing that I encountered in my life after the death of my parents and former pack.
"We won," Erik suddenly said, his voice warm and gentle. Hearing his voice, we all glanced at him, waiting to hear what he would say. He raised his head and stared at the sky.
"We won, everybody. We pushed them away. So we must stand tall and face the other members with pride. We should show them that their deaths aren't a waste," Erik said, letting his emotions be felt in the pack link. Seeing their Alpha being hurt made them stop crying and whimpering. They all stood up, and their faces changed into serious ones, but they still had a trace of sadness in their looks. Erik looked down, hiding the fact that he was crying from his pack. I walked towards him and nudged him lightly on the head. Erik sniffed, calmed himself, and looked straight forward.
"Let's go home," He said. I waited for him to start walking and I followed him. The warriors also followed from behind.
In just a few minutes, we arrived at the pack, and we were greeted by Erik's mom, Ellie, and the others who were left in the pack house. The family members of the fallen warriors cried, hearing the news of their loved ones being dead. All of us stayed quiet and faced them properly. Erik and I returned to our human forms, and Ellie gave us a robe.
"We won. We drove them in the corner, fought them until the end," Erik said, facing the pack house instead of the members. Everyone left behind in the pack house cried and comforted each other.
"But," Erik continued, the pack looked at his back, listening carefully to what he had to say. "We are supposed to be the strongest, but we lost someone. We are still weak," He said, looking down. Breathing carefully, Erik sighed and faced the pack.
"Everyone, not only the warriors but every single one of you," Erik said thoughtfully, looking at every one of the pack members. "Let's not shame the fallen warriors. Let's get stronger together and continue to win every fight. Not letting anyone say that we are weak, for the fallen warriors would be proud watching us besides our moon goddess" Every pack member nodded and stood adequately, calming themselves. Being determined to be stronger, the warriors nudged their close friends who were hurting while the others on human form held each other, giving strength to one another.
I smiled at Erik, staring at me with his tired eyes. I walked toward him and hugged him. He rested his head on my shoulder and whispered, "Let's take a rest," He offered. I broke the hug and looked him straight, and he smiled. I touched his cheek and smiled back at him, nodding. His hand found its way to mine, and we started heading to our home.
Erik's POV
Clara couldn't sleep earlier. I caressed her head and played with her hair until she fell asleep. I stare at her as she lays down beside me. It is hard to sleep. After all, the feeling of continuously broken links is still inside me. It seems that a part of me is empty. I cannot forget the pain that I felt.
Klaus, you cannot live.
I thought to myself. I closed my eyes, remembering the pain that I was feeling. I will find him and make sure that he will feel the pain that I felt, what my warriors felt. His death will not be easy, and I'll make sure that even after death, he will still suffer.
Feeling that I could not sleep, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower. I opened the pack link in the shower to ensure everything was fine. At first, I found the links that are linked to me annoying, but now I find them reassuring, and it calms me that I am feeling the links. I finished taking a shower and went out of the shower cubicle. I wore my bathrobe and went out of the bathroom to our walk-in closet. I wore my usual clothes and went to my office.
As I left our room, I saw Ian standing there, doing his part to protect Luna. "Alpha," He greeted and bowed. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "Rest, you should rest. We all need rest for now," I said using my usual tone. He looked up, and his eyes grew big. Understanding what I meant, he nodded and left. After that, I headed straight to my office.
My office desk is full of papers. It must have been the reports of the fallen warriors. I said to myself. I dragged my feet towards my desk and looked through the documents. I saw the names, and some of them have mates. I slumped my back to my chair and pinched my nose.
"Vincent, have you finished burying the dead?" I asked through our mind-link.
"I am currently burying them along with Farkas," he replied in an instant.
"Good," I said and blocked him.
I scanned through the papers and sorted their address and the name of their family and mates. I should check the well-being of the mates of those who died. Your wolf will be unresponsive and will start to feel weak. The human part will also begin to go crazy and have a chance to fall into darkness and be corrupted. Your mate is half of you, and when the half of you is gone, it will drive you crazy. Some of the werewolves have gone rogue just because their mates are dead, and I need to do everything in my power to ensure they will still be on the right path.
I finished sorting the list and fixed the other papers on my table. I grabbed the list I would visit and go out of my office. As I walked through the pack house, countless members greeted me, and I smiled at them. Seeing the pups playing happily, our pack's future was comforting and pleasant.
Third person's POV
Erik visited the houses that lost their mates in the recent war to check their condition. He was shocked to see that some of them already looked lifeless and acted like living dolls. Some fight their loneliness and still live like a typical day.
Erik understands what they are feeling, not exactly, but when he imagines that Clara is dead, his heart aches. Erik continued his duties as Alpha and went to where the war was held. He saw Vincent and Farkas, checking the identity of the fallen warriors before cleaning them for them to be buried. Erik decided to have a funeral for them. He checked the list and helped them bury the warriors. They were cleaning and burying the warrior's dead body quietly. As they buried the last body, Erik went to Vincent's side and tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
"Vince," Erik said. Vincent turned around and looked at Erik, who looked like a zombie. "You take a rest, Erik," Vincent said, using his friendly tone. Erik always calls Vincent by his nickname when he wants to talk to him as a friend. That is why Vincent immediately knew how he would act by the way he was being called.
"You should tell that yourself," Erik retorted. "We rested for a few hours. You look like you are about to drop dead any second. Go and rest, don't make her worry," Vincent said. When Vincent mentioned Clara, Erik's eyes grew big, and he understood the meaning of Vincent's words. He just sighed and looked at the tomb of each warrior. He glanced and stared at the grave and then faced Vincent.
"Trace him," Erik suddenly said, ordering Vincent. "Of course, Alpha," Vincent replied, his friendly tone becoming severe. "This will be the last time that we will have to track him," Erik said, smirking at his thought while staring at the tombs.
Back in the pack house, in the room of the newly born royals. Clara lies there, sleeping soundly, not until her past begins to hunt her in her dreams.
"Mom, Dad!" Clara shouted and called her parents desperately at the pack, looking for them during an attack. Rogues kept on rushing inside the pack house, killing the members one by one.
"MOM! DAD! PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU!" Clara shouted. She suddenly thought of where they could be and rushed to the pack hall. There she saw her parents fighting off the rogues, she began to run towards her parents but stopped when she saw a familiar back.
"Klaus!" Clara gasped, raising her hands to cover her mouth. She looked around the pack hall, observing the situation, and saw Klaus standing at the sides of the rogues. He was standing in front of the rogues like he was some leader.
"Clara, come to me. It's dangerous," Klaus said, offering his hand to her. Hearing his voice made Clara shiver. The way Klaus talked was very unfamiliar to Clara. She got scared at the unfamiliar werewolf in front of her and stepped back, away from Klaus.
Clara rushed to her parent's side. Her mother instantly moved Clara to her back, protecting her from harm, while his father was in the front leading the warriors, growling at the rogues.
"Traitor" Clara's father shouted and clenched his teeth due to anger. Clara's tears instantly fell down her cheeks when she heard the word. She tried to deny the moment she saw Klaus.
As if confirming that he was a traitor, Klaus laughed devilishly. Clara started to deny it and kept nodding his head left and right, repeating the word no in her thoughts. Klaus, who saw her reaction, looked at her and smirked.
Clara trembled, realizing that whatever she would do, Klaus, who is like a brother to him, her best friend is a traitor.
"Traitor? I was never part of this pack," Klaus said, breaking the silence. Despite everything she was feeling, Clara could talk, and there was only one word she had to say.
"Why?"