Alphas War

Chapter 48

Liams POV:

I followed Ryder up the stairs, towards where I could hear Ella crying softly. I hated hearing her cry, it caused the ache in my chest to grow with every step we took.

The second my gaze landed on her - on him, I froze. His body was completely still, his skin paling more and more and his eyes dark. Tears filled my eyes as I watched the girl I thought of as a sister cling to his lifeless body.

My baby brother was dead.

He was really gone. And he wasn't coming back.

The realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks, weighing down heavy on my chest as I tried to conceal my heartbreak from the others in the room. The last thing Ella needed was to see me upset. And Ryder had already seen me cry yesterday, he didn't need a repeat.

My gaze flitted to Chris as he silently dropped onto the bed beside Ella. He hadn't said a word to me about Zach, hadn't shed a tear or even reacted much. He was clearly hurting, you could see it in his eyes, in the way he sluggishly dragged himself around, in the way he sighed constantly, closing his eyes and going completely still like he was meditating or something. I had no idea what he was doing to get through this.

"Hey El," I said softly, cringing at the crack in my voice. My eyes kept moving to Zach's face, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. "You hungry?"

She didn't respond. She didn't move a single muscle. She just cried on Zach's shoulder, acting as though she hadn't even heard me.

"I brought you some yoghurt," Ryder told her, holding the bowl beside her, waiting for her to take it.

Still, she didn't react. It was as if she had completely blocked us out. All she was thinking about right now was him.

"El, you need to eat," I told her gently, moving closer. I waited for any kind of response before meeting Ryders gaze. He was right, there was nothing we could do that would help her right now and I couldn't see her feeling any better any time soon.

"Ella," he sighed, placing the bowl down on the bedside table and reaching for her shoulder. "We were talking about the funeral," he said gently. A lump formed in my throat as he glanced between my brother and I before continuing. "We thought we could have a ceremony like we did for your dad? And cremate him as a warrior, would you like that?"

"No!" She screamed, ripping his hand off her shoulder, her cries turning into screams. "No! You can't take him away from me."

My eyes widened as I watched her crying hysterically. His hand was still tucked between hers as she moved to face us. "Don't take him away from me, you can't!"

"Ella," Chris called, trying to calm her down. "We have to give him a funeral," he told her.

"No!"

"He can't stay here forever El," I muttered, cringing at the idea of her clinging to his decaying body. The thought alone made my stomach turn and brought tears to my eyes.

"Yes he can," she wailed in response, meeting my eyes for the first time since Zach was shot. I could see every ounce of pain swimming in her tear filled eyes as she stared up at me, pleading with me. My heart cracked in my chest as I shook my head. "I need him," she cried, "I need him here with me!"

Her wails increased in volume until my ears began to ring from the screeching. I glanced between Chris and Ryder before the three of us stepped outside the room, shutting the door behind us.

"What are we going to do?" I asked them. "It'll kill her if we try and move him... but-." I couldn't finish my thought, sickness rising in the back of my throat.

Before either of them could respond, someone knocked on the front door. I frowned and followed Ryder down the stairs, not in the mood to face anyone right now. He opened the door to reveal Aiden standing on the front porch, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"Hey," he said, looking past Ryder to where I stood, Chris right beside me. "How are you guys?"

"Fine," I answered with a nod, realising how blunt and rude I sounded the second the word left my mouth. "Thanks," I added to soften my response a little.

He nodded in understanding while Chris gave him a similar answer. What else could we say? That we were devastated? That we had no idea what would happen now? That we missed him more than anything already?

"And Ella?" He asked, refocusing on Ryder.

"Not good," he mumbled, stepping aside to allow Aiden in. We headed to the office and sealed ourselves inside, sitting on the sofas in silence for a while. "Who told you?" Ryder finally asked Aiden.

"Jordan," he mumbled, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Where is he? Um... it? The body?" He stuttered, sending me an apologetic glance.

"Upstairs. Ella won't let us move him," I answered.

His eyes went wide. "She's with him?" We nodded in response. "His body will have already started to decompose, soon it will start to smell and he will bloat and blister," he stated, "we need to get him away from Ella before that starts."

"And when will that start?" Ryder asked, his lips upturned in disgust at Aidens description of what will happen to my brothers body.

"Today," he mumbled, shaking his head. "I might be able to preserve his body, I can ask the pack healers if they have anything. But she still shouldn't be around him."

"I know," Ryder bit out, "but you try and get her to let us move him. She's completely hysterical and she isn't thinking clearly. All she wants is to be with him, I'm scared if we take him away she will completely break."

"How much worse can she get?" Chris asked.

I couldn't stand to think about what could be worse than seeing her so heartbroken. "I don't want to find out," I muttered, glancing up to meet Aidens gaze. "Preserving his body is our best bet right now, she isn't ready to let go of him and Ryders right, who knows how she will cope if we do."

He nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

With that, he left, not wasting a second. "And what do we do if the pack healers can't come up with anything?" Ryder asked, his exhaustion clear on his face as he pinched the skin between his eyebrows.

"I think that Ella will be even more upset if she sees him... rotting," Chris muttered, turning his face away from us. "Removing him is the best thing we can do if we can't preserve the body."

I nodded in agreement. "And Ella's reaction?"

Ryder sighed heavily. "She's only going to get worse before she gets better."