<b>Chapter </b><b>68 </b>
I dide’t realize I had fa
“<b>WHAT</b>?!”
c? echoing from France to
The voice belonged to Beta Alfonso, Sharp, Startled. A thundering shock that jerked me aw t if someone had poured ice water
I sat up on the plush sots I’d curled into, the heavy book on Anastasia sliding off myp with a quiet thud. between sleep and the heaviness of everything that had happened.
Thete afternoon sun littered through the grand windows of the library, warm but distant. I rubbed at my eyes and blinked to footsteps leaving the office. Doors opened, boots pounded down the hall.
The sofa Francesco had picked for me was nestled in the shadowed corner of the library, behind a floor–to–ceil was here.
Still groggy. I stood and stretched, my body aching from the tension I hadn’t released even in sleep.
“I can’t find her!” came Audrey’s voice, frantic, somewhere down the corridor.
Frowning, I stepped toward the doorway, curiosity outweighing the lingering drowsiness.
Momentster, I stepped into the main hall–and froze at the sight
ght before me
Alfonso, Audrey, and Joshua were mid–discussion, faces pale and eyes wide as if they’d seen a ghost. When their eyesnded on me, it was as if they couldn’t breathe
“LUNA” Audrey gasped
All three rushed toward me, urgency painted across their <b>faces </b>like war paint. Audrey immediately cupped my arms, inspecting me as if making wasn’t <b>injured</b>.
“Where have you been? <b>We’ve </b>been searching the entire <b>manor</b>! You weren’t in your room–we thought-“Her voice trembled.
I blinked, overwhelmed by the rush of concem. “L..I was asleep. In the library. On the sofa. I guess I just… dored off”
“You should’ve told someone, Joshua said, his tone firm but relieved. “With Alpha gone, we can’t <b>risk </b>anything happening to you.”
Their reactions were unsettling. Why were they so panicked? Something had <b>clearly </b>gone wrong
“Did something happen?” I asked cautiously, my heart <b>already </b>beginning to thump faster.
Alfonso exchanged nces with Audrey before stepping forward. His <b>usual </b>calm was gone, reced <b>by </b>so
“The human,” he said slowly. “Mario”
Achill ran down my spine.
My lips parted. “What… what happened to him?”
Audrey’s hand gently grasped mine, her eyes shimmering with restrained emotion.
“He was found this afternoon,” she said softly. He hanged himself in his room
I couldn’t breathe.
My lungs <b>refused </b>to function as the words <bnded </b>like a stone to my chest,
“No…” I whispered, the world spinning
My legs weakened beneath me, and I would’ve copsed if Audrey hadn’t caught me and gently lowered me to the floor.
“No, no, no
I clutched my head, trembling
Mario
The boy with sad eyes and too much grief. The boy who had lost his brother and sister in the most horrifying way imaginable. The boy who had screamed to the sky, copsing to his knees when he saw their lifeless heads. That same boy had been living among us these past few days….alone.
And I had forgotten.
I had been so caught up in my own sorrow. In the ashes of my past, in the fear of rogues, in worrying about Francesco… that I hadpletely, utterly forgotten about Mario.
“it’s all my fault,” I whispered brokenly, tears falling fast. “I should’ve spoken to him. I should’ve checked on him. I should’ve
“It’s not your fault,” Audrey said, kneeling beside me, her voice gentle.
But I shook my head.
“No. No, it is. He was human. He <ol><li>He had no wolf to grieve with. No pack bond to anchor him, Nething. And I let him disappear into the shadows.” </li></ol>
chest
I curled into myself, pressing a trembling hand to my mouth to suppress the sob rising from my
Jeremy stepped forward then, hesitant.
“I was the one assigned to keep watch,” he confessed, <b>his </b>voiceced with guilt, “I stayed with him most nights, just… being there. But this morning. I thought… maybe he wanted <b>space</b>. I left for training early. I didn’t even check.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Joshua murmured.
Jeremy’s eyes met mine. “But I should’ve. I thought a few hours wouldn’t matter. He was so quiet. Too quiet. And when he didn’t show up for breakfast or lunch…
My heart shattered further at the image.
Mario, all alone in his room Quiet. Empty. No one to pull him back from the edge
I reached <b>for </b>Jeremy’s hand. “No one’s at fault,” I <b>said</b>, trying to realize how much harder it is for them. We forgot”
ing to swallow my own guilt. “We…we don’t know how to grieve with humans. We didn’t
Jeremy nodded<b>, </b><b>but </b>his eyes stayed dark with regret.
So many deaths in just a few days.
Too many
1 felt like the world <b>was </b>unraveling around me, one thread at a time. My old pack. The children. Maria,
Why<b>? </b>
Why was this happening!
What evil had we stirred in <b>Luca </b>to unleash this kind of suffering?
I stood thakity, brushing away the tears. “Where is he now Lasked
“In the healing room,” Alfonso answered softly “We’re waiting for Francesco’s decision. We didn’t want to move him until
“No,” I said family. “He deserves a burial. A proper one. He was
as part of us. Maybe not by blood or bond, but he was ours”
Joshua stepped forward. “I’ll make the arrangements, Luna”
“No,” I said again. “I will”
They looked surprised, but I didn’t care.
Mario may have been human, but he had stayed with us, chosen our side, believed in us. And I would not let him be forgotten or buried quietly like he
was nothing
“I want the rides done by moonlight, I continued. “We’ll honor him the way he couldn’t be honored in life. With remembrance. With love.”
They nodded, respecting my wishes.
“Let the warriors know, I told Audrey “Everyone who knew him, who spoke to him, even once….I want them there”
She ced a hand over hier heart and nodded.
And just like that, I stepped into a role I hadn’t meant to wear yet.
Luna.
Griel had turned to duty.
Responsibility.
I walked to the corridor and into the healing room, The door was open, as if they’d known I woulde
Marioy on a long wooden table, his face pale, almost peaceful. His dark <b>hair </b>was <b>brushed </b>away from his forehead. He looked younger t almost like a child <b>again</b>.
I reached out, brushing his cold hand with my fingertips.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. <b>“</b>I should’vee sooner, I should’ve known how alone you felt
Tears slipped down again, but this time I didn’t wipe them away.
“You deserved better than this.”
Silence answered me, but I hoped–somewhere<b>, </b>somehow–his soul heard me.
Then I stood straight and looked around the room.
“I want his body <b>prepared </b>for the ceremony. We’ll hold it tonight. Under the moon<b>.</b>”
than ever-
Hours passed in quiet flurry.
I bathed and changed into a soft <b>silver </b>dress, Jong–sleeved and elegant, stitched with swirling threads that glimmered under the candlelight. My hair was braided back, adorned with white jasmine blossoms–the symbol of remembrance.
The courtyard was transformed. Dozens ofnterns hung in trees, and a gentle stream of music flowed from hidden speakers. Warriors stood in silent lines, heads bowed. Vigers <b>and </b>students who had interacted with Mario gathered in quiet mourning.
11:11 Mon <b>TANU </b>
His bodyy atop a stone tform surrounded by flowers. He looked peaceful Not broken. Not forgotten.
I stepped forward and fit the ceremonial me.
<b>“</b>We gather tonight.” I began, voice calm despite the lump in my throat, “to remember one who came to ut not byte or hand, but by choice. Mario was human, yes. But his heart was brave. His love for his siblings was unmatched. And his loyally to us to this pack–was absolute.”
My voice faltered, but I pushed on
“Though we failed to see the depth of his sorrow, we will not fail in honoring his memory. He walks with the Moon Goddess now, free from pain. But he walks as one of us.”
Silence followed, then <b>a </b>soft howl from a wolf in the crowd. Then another.
One by one, howls filled the night air
A tribute.
A promise.
We would not forget him.
Not now. Not ever.
I stepped back as warriors carried his body to the hill beyond the courtyard, where a new gave had been dug beneath a weeping willow
The me was lowered.
The earth was filled.
And Mario wasid to rest.
Not as a stranger.
But as family.
<b>AD </b>