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Thorrin spoke of times before the prince of Lycaon had been born. He made jokes about different encounters he’d had with the king, some embarrassing while others touching. Ultimately, Katie was able to paint the deceased king’s image as that of an honourable man worthy of all the respect given to him by the two empires. The king did his best to cater for every part of his empire, no matter how far it was from him.

At some point, Thorrin pointed out that the capital seemed like the furthest thing from the king’s mind when he was dealing with matters concerning the empire. Thorrin’s speech was long, but it covered most of what they wanted to hear on the occasion.

The man made sure to keep his exaggerations to a minimum as well as his laughter, or at least, that’s what Cole’s emotions told Katie. Every time something sounded exaggerated, his grip on her hand would tighten and she would take it as a hint that it wasn’t how her mate remembered his father or sometimes as a sign that the memory was one he didn’t want to revisit. Nonetheless, he held his tongue.

Shuddering for what felt like the hundredth time, the girl pulled her coat around her tighter, the words fading away from her mind as her attention wavered and she tried to get warmer, “You’ve been less chatty for the past week,” Cole’s voice leaked into her mind.

“I’m sorry about that, Cole,” she replied earnestly. Even as they stood before the headstones, she had nothing to say except another apology.

“It isn’t bothering me or anything. I just want to know what’s on your mind. Would you perhaps let me in?” Cole’s voice came again.

The girl sighed, leaning into the man at her side, “You’ve been patient with me. Thank you. I could let you in, but I don’t think you’d find anything in there really. It’s like time stopped for me the moment he got away. Like I had been thrown back many years in progress,” the girl replied, looking to the man speaking beyond the headstones.

Thorrin was concluding his speech when she finally tuned back into her surroundings. “While we call this a ceremony to celebrate the life of the king, we do not forget the implications of holding it. After all, we could have held this ceremony while he was alive. His legacy stands before us, the remnants of proof of the promise made by the moon goddess.

.....

The hunters shall not let the king’s death be in vain. We shall keep on working our very hardest to bring an end to the terror the rogue king still brings to our hearts and the hearts of our loved ones. This is a promise I declare on behalf of the rest of the hunters,” the man declared with a bow to the future king. It didn’t take long for Katie to realise he was saying this to Cole more than the rest of the werewolves present.

Taking his cue, Cole took a step forward to replace Thorrin. When Katie resisted his sudden motion, the man turned to his mate, “Hey... Is something wrong?” he asked her.

Katie turned red, “It’s like you’re forgetting I have trouble addressing large crowds,” the girl complained through the mind link, punctuating her thoughts with a questioning look.

“Well, you didn’t seem to have trouble at the Founder’s Festival,” Cole reminded her.

“I did... I don’t even know what that would have turned out to be if you hadn’t helped me. For goddess’ sake, you didn’t even know if we were mates back then,” the girl said to him.

Cole nearly laughed out loud at the sudden change in the colour of his mate’s face. It was the first time he’d seen a drastic change in her composure that whole week that it was refreshing. “So now you have your answer,” he winked, “Very well, I’ll spare you this time, but you’ll have to be with me on the rest,” he said to her, letting go of her hand.

“Wait, the rest? What’s that supposed to mean? Oh right, we are mates. This, obviously is not the only speech you’ll ever have to make,” Katie groaned, realisation turning her even redder.

“You won’t have to say anything this time. Just stand at my side. I think much more clearly with you around me,” the alpha confessed, bringing warmth to the girl’s heart, ‘You could have tried that line before the burial, I probably would have done my best to attend,’ this she shielded from the royal. Doubt filled her mind on whether it would have changed a thing.

Hesitantly, the girl took the man’s hand once more and the two of them walked to the other side of the headstones where Cole would then get the chance to address the gathering. Whispers could be heard throughout the gathering crowd.

Katie’s ears chose this moment, out of the entire week, to awaken, ‘Is that supposed to be his mate?’ ‘I heard she just chose to impersonate the girl who died eighteen years ago,’ another would go. ‘I don’t care who she is, the two of them look like they were made for each other. Just check her out. And what’s with that monstrous aura? Her innocent facade doesn’t fool me one bit,’ the most prominent voice made its way to Katie’s ears.

When Cole cleared his voice, everyone went dead silent, “Thank you, Thorrin. I’d expect nothing more from the one of the four. I also had no idea you had that many stories of my father... Took far more time than I thought it would,” the crowd chuckled at Cole’s nervous joke as he checked his watch.

Having cleared the tension, he began speaking, “I always find introductions complicated when they are not made for me... considering everyone makes their research before meeting me. I’m the one who ends up having to pay attention to others’ names in the process...

I will make one nonetheless. Cole Lycaon, son of Trevor Lycaon and future king of the Lycaon empire. I would say a lot about my father that put a smile on my face. Alas, Thorrin took those that were before and after my short lifetime.

In any case, I am glad he had that much of an impression on someone who wasn’t even a part of our pack. I think I speak for the entire pack when I say that my father was a benevolent leader who valued every pack under his care.

What the pack doesn’t know, however, was everything that he did for me as his son. While he might have cared for the pack far more than you all demanded of him, he never failed to make time for his family.

After the death of my mother, he was torn and in depression. None of us knows what that pain is like except what we’ve heard from werewolves that have recovered from it.

My father was king at the time. With one child and a shattered bond. With all that much to shoulder, it would have ripped anyone into pieces, but here I am standing before you all. I don’t doubt the moon goddess granted him a second chance mate because of his strength as well. He certainly deserved one. She made him smile again and had a more fulfilling life towards the end of his time,” the queen’s eyes got teary at Cole’s words.

“Calling him a strong man would be an understatement. For the empire of Lycaon to remain intact after everything he went through. It’s quite a feat. One that I’m not sure even I would have withstood.

Sir Thorrin, I’ll hold you to that promise you’ve made today. As the future king of Lycaon, I ask that the rogue king see his final day while I am still king,” Cole said to the man.

Thorrin recognized the fire within the young king’s eyes and understood how big a commitment it was for him to accept as well. The girl beside him seemed to burn with a passion when he spoke so confidently about bringing the rogue king down, “Yes, your majesty. To this, I pledge. After all, I also became the most powerful hunter to accomplish this very task before the end of my time.”

The queen spoke after Cole and praised her husband as a lover and a king. Her words were as sweet as they were kind. The crowd lingered at her every word as though she had read them from a holy manuscript. She didn’t take that much time speaking and let the mates of the beta alphas take their turns. The memorial hadn’t been held for one person after all.

Katie listened to what they all had to say about the deceased. The happy memories were good for the gloomy mood.

As she giggled at a joke made by alpha Cross’s mate, she noticed the rain let up for the first time in a week, “I haven’t seen you smile in so long,” Cole pulled her closer and nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

The girl turned red once more and looked around in panic, “Werewolves don’t mind this kind of thing, besides, my mark is right... here.”

Nerves ran through the girl’s entire body the moment Cole licked the wolf-shaped mark on the girl’s neck, “Cole, I don’t care what other werewolves think about this. Stop right now...” the girl cried through the mind link.

The man chuckled and pulled away from her neck, replacing the woollen scarf she’d donned, “Thanks, I could barely think.”

“Oh, so you like it when I do that,” Cole asked her with a hint of mischief in his voice. The girl giggled at his silly thoughts. “I’ve been worried about you, Katie. Are you okay?”

Katie thought back to the week. To the countless times that Sandra and Drake had tried to cheer her up. Combined with Jason, she was surprised by her reluctance to their charms.

The queen tried dressing up and taking her on walks which she denied or simply tea on the balcony, but it hadn’t worked either.

Ashley had done her part as well, popping into her mind every now and then with a completely new idea. In the end, nothing had worked to cheer her up.

Her adoptive mother, Marie was the one who’d realised it not long before this day that she had not yet regained her strength and that she was partly sulking because of that.

The girl took a deep breath, “One step at a time, Cole. I’m going to get better.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Cole replied.

“Yeah...” she paused, breathing in the rain clear air, “The rain is starting to let up. Maybe we could watch a sunrise or a sunset one of these days.”

Cole looked up as well, with a look of worry on his face. It was only for a moment before the man smiled as well, “Yeah... one of these days. One of these days, we’ll wake up to the rising sun.”