Chapter 55: Day Of Mourning
Walter Pov | One Week Later
"Sad thing that happened to the Boleyns. I can’t imagine anything like that happening to my pack," Steward, my beloved beta brother, says casually as he dips his biscuit into his tea.
The sight makes my stomach turn. To think of enjoying a biscuit at a funeral, surrounded by people mourning the dead, is distasteful beyond words. I regret inviting him here. His presence is going to reflect badly on me. The Boleyns have been trending on every news channel, the death of an entire pack except one is sensational in the eyes of the media, and every camera is watching.
The funeral is being held today at the central cathedral. Torin insisted we all put on our best black suits and show up for Erin, his best friend. Right now, Torin is standing at the front near the three massive coffins, positioned beneath the looming statue of the moon goddess. The rest of us are scattered throughout the hall. I sit in the middle row near the aisle, with my irritating brother beside me, his voice buzzing in my ear.
I fade out his words as he rambles about the rain we’ve been having all week, claiming it is the goddess mourning for Pack Boleyn. My chest tightens with sympathy for Erin. I did know him a little, and he always struck me as a very kind man. It’s unfortunate how bad things seem to cling to good people, as if they attract tragedy by their very nature.
"So, do you still have that omega problem? You haven’t called me crying in a while," Steward’s words snap me back, dragging my attention away from the coffins. I turn to him in disbelief, my voice surprised but hushed.
"Why would you bring up that matter now?" I whisper, careful to keep my tone low. The last thing I need is anyone overhearing this conversation. It is unsuitable for a funeral, and if anyone connects me to it, the consequences will be dire.
"Is she still there or not? Because if she is, I think it’s time to admit defeat and try to live together. I know omegas are territorial, but you’re going to have to learn not to be. I know a good pack therapist who can help you out, and if you use my referral code when you book her you’ll get fifty percent off, it’s—"
I slap my hand over my money hungry brother’s mouth, flabbergasted, my eyes darting around the hall. "Shhh. You’re attracting eyes," I hiss, keeping my head down. A woman in a ridiculous hat is already staring at us, suspicion written across her face.
"Okay, let me go. I was just trying to help," Steward grumbles beneath my palm, his words muffled. I pull my hand back quickly, disgusted by the wet sensation left behind.
"She’s gone," I whisper, my voice low enough for only him to hear as I wipe my palm against my trousers. "Ran away in the dead of night. She won’t be a problem in my life again."
Lorali’s disappearance is the best thing that could have happened to me. At first, paranoia consumed me, the fear that she would return at any moment and destroy what little life I had left. But two months have passed, and she has not come back. It is clear she ran off with those demons she calls friends, and her timing could not have been more perfect.
Before she left, she already had Torin dancing to her tunes. The grip she had on that man was insane, I don’t think even she realized it. He has been sleeping in her room every night since she vanished, and that says everything about how he feels for her, even though he refuses to admit it. And then there is Augi, who must think I am blind. I have seen the way he looks at Lorali, the way he always stood up for her. That was not concern. That was something deeper.
Each time I wonder where it began, when he started falling for her, one memory comes to mind: the lunches Lorali delivered to his rink every day. He must have fallen for her then. That is why I stopped them, forbade her from going there anymore.
And now, sitting here in the middle of a funeral, I feel like an idiot. An idiot who arranged for his own mate to fall in love with another.
I let out a low, grumbling sigh, swiping my hand through my hair in frustration. I shouldn’t be this tense. Everything is supposed to be alright now. Lorali is gone. She can no longer haunt my life, no longer linger in the corners of my mind like a shadow waiting to strike.
My nose twitches as I catch the sharp musk of Torin’s scent drifting closer, and instinctively I look up. He is speed‑walking down the aisle, his phone clutched tight in his hand, his jaw set and his movements urgent.
"Where is he going?" I mumble under my breath, my eyes narrowing as I follow his back with suspicion.
The sight unsettles me. Torin looks tense, too tense, his shoulders rigid, his pace quick and unrelenting. And why would he leave now, of all times? This is his best friend’s pack’s funeral. He should be at the front, standing strong beside Erin, not storming out of the hall as though something far more important is pulling him away.
My chest tightens with unease. What could possibly matter more than this moment, more than honoring the dead? What could be so urgent that Torin would abandon his best friend in the middle of grief?
Torin Pov | A Little While Earlier
"You know, the one thing Rony wanted was to have an omega. He died before that. It’s almost like my entire pack is cursed," Erin says solemnly. His eyes are hollow, rimmed with exhaustion, his hair a tangled mess. I doubt he would have even come today if not for the relentless pressure from the grieving parents of his deceased packmates.
"Well, his dream isn’t lost. You can still live it out for him," I say, rubbing my hand gently across his back as he stares down at Rony’s body in the coffin. His gaze is empty, fixed on the broken shell of his friend. The body is burnt on one side, pieced back together with stitching that no skill could disguise. If I were Rony, I would have preferred to be burnt to ash rather than be buried looking like that. Better to let the flames finish the job than lie here, half‑mended and half‑destroyed.
"No omega would ever go for my one‑man pack," Erin mutters, his voice heavy with despair. "It’s clear Boleyn will never have an omega. My pack’s dreams will never come true, not even in death."
The atmosphere thickens, tense and suffocating, and I instantly regret opening my mouth. Sometimes I say the dumbest things. Comforting people has never been my strength.
The only person I’ve ever tried to comfort was Lorali, and even then it was an act, a performance my life depended on. This moment demands sincerity, and I am fumbling.
"You know, you’re lucky," Erin continues, his voice trembling but steady enough to cut through the silence. "Not only do you have a semi‑functional pack, you have two omegas. We searched for years and couldn’t even get one to look at us. It was all we wanted, an omega. We’d spend hours in the omega’s room we kept ready at our house, just dreaming that one day we’d have our other half. We’d read books about omegas, test ourselves every Friday, and we stayed virgins because we wanted our first time to be with our omega. We wanted to walk through every step of life together with that omega."
His eyes glisten, his pain threatening to spill over, his voice cracking under the weight of grief.
"So they all died virgins," I joke weakly, desperate to lighten the mood. He lets out a small chuckle, sniffing, and I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
"You’re a virgin too, Erin," I add, half‑teasing, half‑astonished. He nods, and I stare at him, stunned. Hard to believe my friend carried that secret all this time. How did I never know?
"Did none of you have a college experience? Even I, with how busy I was, had the experience. How is it possible you did not?" I chuckle, shaking my head.
"No," he says firmly. "We did, but it wasn’t all about sex. As I said, we wanted the same thing. We wanted to share all our firsts with our omega. And now... we never will."
His words cut deep. It’s always the best packs that never get an omega, and it’s always the broken, dysfunctional packs like mine that end up with one. If Lorali had been matched to Boleyn, she would have been happier. None of this chaos would have happened. But no—the goddess matched her to us, to me, and everything unraveled.
Buzz.
My phone trembles in my pocket, and I pull it out, intending to silence it. But then I see the caller ID: Useless Ass. Tobey. I changed his name long ago, back when his failures pushed me past the edge of patience.
I want to decline the call. I should. But I can’t. What if this is important? This is the first time Tobey has ever called me, usually it’s me calling him, my calls ignored more often than answered. Without hesitation, I press the screen and bring the phone to my ear.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Erin’s gaze. He doesn’t speak, but his silence weighs on me.
"This better be good. I am at a funeral," I whisper.
On the other end, Tobey chuckles. The sound makes me roll my eyes, my hand tightening around the phone as I seriously consider hanging up. "I found your girl," he sings, his words dripping with smug satisfaction.
The room around me seems to collapse into silence. My heartbeat thunders in my ears, drowning out everything else.
"Where is she?" I ask, my voice trembling with barely contained excitement. "Some trailer park downtown. She looks really roughed up. If you ask me, I think she was trafficked and escaped somehow," Tobey replies, calm as ever, as if he’s describing the weather.
My blood runs cold. My chest constricts. I need to go. I need to move now. But the weight of the funeral presses down on me. If I leave, it will look bad. It will look dishonorable.
"If you don’t come, your girl’s going to die. In downtown, a valuable omega like her won’t last more than an hour," he adds, his tone cutting straight into my thoughts, as if he knows exactly what I’m wrestling with. And then, just as suddenly as he called, he hangs up.
I stare at the phone, my pulse racing, my decision already made.
"Erin, I need to go. This is urgent," I say, my voice tight, already rising from my seat. I don’t wait for his reply. My feet carry me down the aisle, past the mourners, past the coffins and away from the goddess statue.
I need to get to Lorali.
I need to bring my omega home.
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