(COMPLETED) Hunted by the Alpha

Emily - Part Twenty

The last few weeks had been the worst. There was still no word from my parents, I hadn't seen Dom in weeks, and now today was the day of Logan's dad's funeral. I hadn't spoken to him since the night of the ceremony. He was cooped up in his room or the office most of the time now. The only time I ever saw him was when he was walking to and from his bed to his desk. As I looked at the black dress hanging on my wardrobe I thought of how different things were just weeks before. I had my parents, we had a house, I had a blossoming relationship with Logan, whatever that 'relationship' was... I had a whole support network.

Whitt had been keeping to herself more this past week, I knew it was because Halloween wasn't far away. We were a week away from, what should be, the most fun night of the year for wolves. Knowing how Whitt was struggling, I was going to ask Elena about Whitt's condition, to see if there was anything she could do to help her. As it turns out she didn't care about our pack, she was just following orders when she stayed, and left the next day. It sucked because I wanted to speak to her, to give her a message to take to Dom if she saw him... I missed him. I missed any kind of company I told myself, refusing to believe it was solely him. Barney had been over a few times, he was actually catering the event today, so he'd been pretty busy too. I felt as if I'd had no one to talk to.

Letting out a breath, I took the dress from the hanger and stepped into it. After my encounter with Whitt in the bathroom, she managed to get herself together enough so that we could go back outside and continuing with the ceremony. We watched as both Alpha Choal and Logan fell, I screamed out and tried to reach for Logan. Whitt held me back, she said that I should trust that the alphas knew what they were doing. When did she get so knowledgeable? Maybe it was a new 'power' that she possessed too? When Alpha Choal fell, the whole pack felt it, he wouldn't get back up. They were shaken, we all were. I was so happy to see that Logan had come back, so happy to hear his Alpha voice in my head, he was our Alpha now. That happiness lasted for a split second as I remembered his dad lay of the floor.

I brushed the dress down and looked at myself in the mirror. The purple, worn out eyes of a girl who hadn't been sleeping stared back. No wonder Logan hadn't even wanted to look my way... I took myself down stairs, seeing the flowers lining the rails and the tables, there seemed to be an array of blossoms in the mix. We'd had carnations for Logan's alpha ceremony, now I could pick out several different variations. There were lupine flowers with chrysanthemums, they were lining the stairs. On the tables there were gladiolus flowers that sat in a circle around eranthis plants... it was beautiful. I spotted Barney over by the sitting room doors, "Hey!" I called out. He gave me a small smile, "Hey you, have you seen muffin yet? He's not looking too good..." I knocked his arm with my shoulder, "he's not going to is he? His dad has died."

"Yeah" Barney looked around before continuing, "and the fact that his dad died to make sure he'd be made alpha... I can bet he feels guilty." This was news to me. Why would he have to die? Before I could mull it over too much, Barney motioned to the flowers. "They're gorgeous aren't they?" I nodded. "Apparently he had a list of flowers sat on his desk in the office, he'd written that he wanted these specific flowers at his funeral gathering." Well they certainly were gorgeous, I could see why. "Do you know when Whitt is getting here?" He asked me, brushing down his Navy suit. How do you tell your best friend that your other best friend, who actually has some kind of magical wolfie powers, can't be around because she's scared she'll electrocute everyone?

"Yeah she's not well, she's going to keep him in her thoughts though." He looked shocked, "she's not coming? But it's the old alpha's funeral. She can't miss it." I shrugged my shoulders, "it can't be helped." I knew it wouldn't fool him, but I just didn't know what I could say without getting Whitt in trouble. We had no idea what was even wrong with her yet. I felt a breeze blow on the back of my neck and grabbed my jacket to pull it closer to me, the hairs on the back of my neck were raised. I got the suspicion that someone was watching me. Slowly, I turned my head around to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary. Nope. No one was there, Barney had turned to leave and grabbed my arm, taking me with him. Everyone was already seated outside, the first thing I noticed was the giant pyre. It was built in the middle of the lake, I guess it was so that if there were any accidents it wouldn't affect the pack house. There was a huge collection of flowers laid in a circle around the bottom of the wooden mountain. At the top I could just about see a figure, covered in dark blue velvet like a cocoon.

The late Alpha Choal.

Alpha Logan stood with his back to everyone right at the foot of the lake, his black suit was striking against the yellowing leaves, they lay around him on the ground like fallen tears. I wanted to run to him, to wrap him in my arms and give him comfort, but I knew he needed time, after all, I knew what it was like to lose that contact with your parents. No one could remove that pain from me either. Being here was hard for everyone, we all loved Alpha Choal, but being here, for me, was more than that. I'd also lost my parents, maybe not by death, but it may as well be at this point. Why didn't they want to contact me? I felt as if they had just given me up. Would I ever even hear from them ever again? I looked at Alpha Choal's body lying there, stiff, unmoving. Would I even know if they died?

We were all seated as the former Luna of the Midnight Moon pack gave her speech. I couldn't remember the last time I'd ever heard Logan's mum speak, I don't think I'd ever heard her speak up until this point. Logan was starting at the pyre, his eyes unmoving. At least I knew that my parents were still alive, wherever they were. Smoke started to blow around the bottom of the pyre and the small flames licked the wood. It was almost mesmerising, the way the flames hugged around the bark and charred them. The fire had grown within minutes and soon the sky was filled with an orange glow. The cracking of the fire could be heard from across the lake, it was oddly comforting. I started having flashbacks from the night at my house. Tears escaped my eyes as I thought of all the memories that had burned away with it. I could guarantee that those were the thoughts Alpha Logan shared with me now, as the wrappings around his father started to smoke and catch fire.

The heat from the pyre was burning across my skin and reddening my face, the air around us was getting incredibly smokey too, it was intense. Suddenly, a familiar breeze of cool air passed over my neck and forced my hair to stand up. I moaned against the welcome reprieve and turned to face the cold. Leaning against the back of the pack house stood an alpha, an alpha who was all too familiar and a stranger at the same time.

Dom.

His purple eyes were glued to my every move. I went to walk towards him but he held a hand up, stopping me in my tracks. He pointed towards Logan who was now looking directly at him. They nodded at each other and Dom retreated. No! Not after leaving me for three weeks, he could not show up just to leave.