The Huntress Becomes the Wolf (Complete)

Chapter 27

~Lucie’s POV~

I was surrounded by people I hardly knew for a person they didn’t even like. She died too young. She was only seven. Yet she had experienced more in her short life than most people here had in their mediocre long ones.  She lived in an establishment that should have been torn down years ago, after the dictator that created the horrid place died. But there she stayed, even after he died, along with almost fifty other children that had lost their parents. Some had been there their entire lives.

“It’s okay, Luna,” I looked down and saw a little boy no more than five years old gripping my legs. His eyes held so much emotion that I nearly cried.

“What’s your name little guy?”

“Maximus Kyle Collingwood,” he gave me a toothy grin while he struggled to pull himself onto my lap. He was wearing worn black slacks and a white shirt that was at least two sizes too big for him.

“Where are your parent’s?” He looked away as he continued to shuffle on my lap.

“Your old brother Darcy killed them. They weren’t hurting anybody. My dad was on a business trip in Fresno California. So was your brother,” I didn’t stop the tears from falling then. How was I supposed to let this little boy sit on my lap when he knew that my brother killed his parents?

“I know you’re different than your brother. But he was different too. He was confused about something. I remember how he looked at me, like he was surprised I was there. My daddy told me not to cry. So I didn’t. I still haven’t. My daddy didn’t want me to.” Max wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me tightly. I met Alayah’s eyes from a few seats down. She nodded and turned away, resuming conversation with Hayleigh next to her. The funeral had yet to start, and I could feel the anxiousness already spreading through me.

“Lucie!” I turned around and saw Casey waving me over to the hearse that had been used to transport Tabby from the funeral home that had prepared her body for our service. Max silently got off of my lap and I got up from my seat in the front row and made my way back to the hearse. Dom, Kaija, Alayah, Zorra, Casey and I were going to be the pallbearers for Tabby. Zorra’s face was sullen and I couldn’t help but reach my arms around her and pull her tight to my chest.

“It’s not your fault,”

“I should have seen the signs. He was my brother.”

“Sometimes the people closest to a person become the most blind to how the person truly is. We see what we want to, what we expect to. Not always what it is truly there.” Her sobs soaked my shirt as she cried into it. All of her walls were finally down. This was Zorra King.  The second that I let her go, arms engulfed me. I heard someone crying and it made me even sadder than I already was.

 It took a few seconds to realize that the sound of someone crying, had been me. Casey tightened his arms around me and I stood there for a few more seconds, just basking in his warmth.

“Are you ready now?” I nodded when he let me go and I stood ready to become a pallbearer for the first time in my life. We had always burned our dead. It was just another testament to how much the Hunters strove to be different from the Werewolves. Zorra grabbed the first hand hold and I grabbed the one on the other side. Casey stood behind me with Dom on his other side. Alayah and Kaija followed and took the last two. The casket was light but still we all carried it. Everyone who cared about Tabby was a pallbearer. Everyone else was just at the funeral because the deceased was a friend of the Luna. I felt both disgusted and respected at the notion. Apparently that was just another thing I was going to have to get used to. We lowered her and stepped away. We all had stets in the first rows on either side of the isle.