赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Ashleigh realized it when she got close to Summer. The empty feeling in her stomach, the tightness in her chest, and the heavy disappointment of finding him dead. She felt guilty, but even more than that, she felt defeated.

This man had been here in these territories and the mountains she had traveled. He was someone lost, someone that she could find. Though she never realized it as she hunted for him, she had told herself somewhere along the way that if she could find the scout, then somehow, someway, she could find Caleb.

“I only looked for him because I couldn’t look for Caleb…” she whispered sadly.

She had found the scout. She had done what she had set out to do. But her heart sank when she saw his body, cold and stiff from the days he had already been gone.

As she approached the gates of Summer, she wondered if that was what waited for her at the end of her search for Caleb. If all the people crossing the gates, coming to say goodbye, to mourn his death, if they all had it right, and she was just a fool with an empty hope weighing her down.

“Ashleigh,” Corrine whispered, lifting her daughter’s chin again to force their eyes to meet. She smiled. “Do you really think that if Caleb had never gone missing, that if he was here with you, you wouldn’t have searched for that scout?”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“My darling,” Corrine sighed with a laugh, “you are the only person in all the packs reckless enough to have done it.”

Despite herself, Ashleigh laughed.

“It sounds to me like you weren’t distracted or blinded by Caleb in your search,” Corrine continued. “But rather, you were inspired by him.”

Ashleigh swallowed, feeling another swelling in her chest.

“No one is asking you to forget him,” Corrine whispered, “or even give up on finding him. We just don’t want you to get so lost that you can’t find your way back to the rest of us.”

Ashleigh took a shaky breath, and Corrine wiped a tear from her cheek.

“We will all be waiting for you,” she whispered. “However long it takes.”

Corrine kissed the top of Ashleigh’s head and hugged her again.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes.

Then they each took a breath, straightened their dresses, and wiped away all evidence of tears. They stood up straight and cleared their throats before they turned toward the great doors down the hall leading to where all the wolves had gathered for the vigil.

Ashleigh took one last deep breath before taking the first step toward the event she had dreaded for the past six months.

***

Stories were shared all through the crowd. Moments when Caleb had impacted or left an impression on every wolf in attendance.

Laughter and tears filled the air around them.

Fiona walked through the crowd, listening to the words of the wolves in Caleb’s charge. Listening to the way he had impacted each one of their lives. She smiled and then felt a painful grip on her heart as she thought of the last time she had to do this.

She took a shaky breath.

A warm hand touched her shoulder. Fiona looked back to see the friendly and kind smile of her last remaining family.

“Galen,” she whispered softly with a smile.

Galen stepped closer. He placed his arm under hers, offering her support as they walked.

“Thank you,” she said, taking his arm gratefully.

“Of course,” he said.

They walked together in silence, listening to the stories. Laughing and smiling as they went. So many different experiences. Some were harsh lessons that became vital moments in a person’s life. Others were light-hearted stories about Caleb when he was younger. More than a couple had Galen or Cain in them.

Fiona sighed.

“This is much harder than I anticipated,” she whispered.

Galen swallowed.

“It really is,” he said.

He looked around and took a breath.

“I never thought I would see this day,” he said. “I always assumed I would have gone first… probably defending him.”

“Of course you did,” Fiona smiled and looked up at him. “And he would have said the same thing at your vigil.”

Galen looked down at her with furrowed brows.

“I don’t think you ever really understood how important you were to him, to us,” Fiona laughed, reaching up and touching his cheek gently. “More than friends, far more than Alpha and Beta.”

Galen swallowed.

“You were brothers, truly and honestly,” she said, her voice cracking as a tear fell. “I know you never accepted it as real, but you have always been a son and a brother to us.”

Galen looked away as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He cleared his throat, and they continued to walk through the crowd.

They heard several more stories until Fiona took a deep breath and asked Galen to walk her toward the garden wall. She leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the night air.

“I can’t believe they’re both gone,” Fiona whispered sadly.

Galen looked back at her. Her eyes were still closed, and another tear escaped to run down her face.

“Cain and Caleb,” she whispered. “Both of them, gone far from home. Far from me. Is there even anything left for me in Summer?”

Her face crumbled, and he thought for a moment that she would let her tears free and embrace her sorrow and mourn her loss. But instead, she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

She opened her eyes, looking up at him with a forced smile.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I lost myself for a moment there.”

Galen felt a tight grip around his heart.

“Let’s get back, shall we?” she suggested, moving toward the crowd again.

But Galen did not move. Fiona looked back when she felt the resistance from his arm.

“Galen?” she called him.

Galen swallowed and took a deep breath. He looked up at her.

“You have me,” he said softly.

Fiona furrowed her brows, and then realization struck her, and her eyes widened.

“Oh, I didn’t really mean that I had nothing…” she said, “I’m sorry, I just—”

“I mean it,” Galen interrupted. He licked his lips. “You have me still, Mom.”

Fiona gasped softly. Her jaw shook as his words echoed in her mind.

Galen stepped toward her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

“I am your family,” he whispered. “You still have me, and Bell, and Ren. We are your family.”

Fiona didn’t bother trying to stop the tears that streamed from her eyes. She hugged him close and nodded as she let out soft sobs.

“I love you, Mom,” Galen whispered as he kissed her head.

“I love you too, son,” she said between sobs.

Galen thought of his parents, the smile his father always wore, and the snowflakes his mother had cut from white paper. He had spent years trying to keep a distance between himself and Fiona, always afraid that accepting her familial affection was somehow an affront to his parents.

But as he thought about them now. He thought of all the years he had shared with Cain, Fiona, and Caleb.

He realized how happy his parents would have been to know how loved he had been.

Galen closed his eyes, thinking of Caleb.

‘I promise, Brother. I will take care of our mom. Always.’