Chapter 375

375 Awakening

“And yet you sound quite sane,” the queen stepped in for her enraged husband.

“Sanity translates to what you make of the world. Whoever said I was insane?” the man sighed, his words only turning more cryptic, ‘Knowledge can be heavy,’ he thought to himself, “Don’t waste another day on me. Make the decision. Either I stay in the dungeon or you hand me back over to the hunters,” Sean stood up and turned to leave.

“Do you even care for your life?” the king called for him.

The man didn’t bother answering the question. Instead, he opened the door and came face-to-face with Honour. The girl was stunned to see him as was he. The two of them stared at each other for a while before Sean shook off his surprise and walked past her, ‘Correction: Knowledge can be painfully heavy.’ Honour watched him walk off for a while before the king called out to her, “Honour, is there something you wanted?”

“Oh, no, I was just looking for Drake... or Lina. Boredom eats at me,” the girl replied with a smile.

Lina placed her hand on her brother who’d tried to stand and pushed him back down, “You get to spend way too much time with her. I’m starting to wonder what you’re even doing together. Dad, perhaps now could have been the right time to tell him what happened to the girl my dear sister.”

“I honestly don’t know. One doesn’t simply turn their backs on the Rogue King.” With that said, the sixteen-year-old was gone from the office and walking off with her friend.

“Phillips, call on the hunters. We’ll have them regain custody of my brother for a ten-year sentence,” the king replied.

“Are you sure about that, your majesty?” the beta alpha asked him.

.....

“Yes, I am. Bree will be released and the explanation for her involvement will be that Prince Sean manipulated her into doing everything that she did. I will speak with Frank Silver personally and tell him what truth I can about the situation,” with that, the matter was closed.

...............

Lina walked on with her friend, heading to Crysta’s room. The two girls had now gotten used to walking to the part of the palace that housed the deltas. Greeting the few they passed by, the two of them pushed Crysta’s door open without knocking, a habit that Lina insisted on keeping regardless of how disturbing it was.

The two of them were stunned when the inside of the room was already graced with a visitor, “Oh Bree, hi. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Yeah, I also had no idea you’d made it a habit to come here,” the girl replied with a nervous smile.

The green-eyed delta stared between the new arrivals and Bree looking for something missing. ‘What could it be? Oh yeah... Where is that glare? This is weird,’ the delta thought to herself.

“Bree, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I have nothing against the princess anymore. She can do as she pleases. It doesn’t bother me,” Bree raised her hands in surrender, “I promise.”

“That’s good to hear. Back to who we’ve been talking about, would you like to go see her?” Crysta asked, “I was actually hoping we would all go together.”

“Who are we...?” Lina stopped herself before she’d finished the question.

It was painstakingly obvious who the two of them were talking about. The third member of a trio that she’d gotten used to seeing as she grew up.

As soon as Crysta had dressed up in clothes warm enough for the chilly air outside, the four girls left the palace for the walk. Clouds hung heavy in the sky, showing no sign of a downpour, but also denying the sun any purchase.

It had been like this since that day. The sun never once came through... Lina was somewhat grateful even though it felt selfish to be so... Smiling when she’d lost someone dear to her just didn’t feel right.

These clouds were also the sign of a grieving alpha. The four girls walked the way to the cemetery in comfortable silence until they stood before a large grey headstone.

Bree knelt before the headstone, reading the words that had been engraved into it. The circlet of flowers placed on it had begun to wither. Honour reached out to the flowers and placed her hand above them. A hum of divine energy emanated from her hands. Soon enough, the drying brown petals began to quiver in a light breeze as a brilliant metamorphosis took over them, their vibrant colours returning to them gradually till they were fresh and beautiful again.

To top it off, roots from the circlet grew larger and crept into the ground, planting themselves firmly in the soil and blooming a few more flowers that surrounded the beautiful circlet, “So you’re the one that saved us back at the reserve?” Bree asked.

“Katie played a large part in it too,” Honour replied.

“Katie... She must be having fun in Lycaon, now that...”

“Bree,” Crysta stopped the girl from continuing. She looked around and read the faces of her friends. Lina’s face spoke the most out of all of them. Bree turned back to the grave before them and closed her eyes in prayer.

The illusion of peace and silence was not without its cruel share of pain. It was a silence that screamed louder than any noise they could make. Even without the certainty of being attacked by rogues, they could feel their problems only beginning. The war was nowhere close to complete.

“Now I understand why she always felt that our teenage squabbles were a meaningless waste of time. There is so much pain in this world already,” Bree whispered softly. In the cold quiet cemetery, her whisper to the ears of her werewolf friends was just as loud as that of a normal person talking. The story of the king’s uncle was still fresh in her mind. The sacrifices he’d had to make to keep the kingdom safe.

Even as she knelt down in front of her friend’s grave, tears streamed down her face, ‘Why was I the one to survive? I did the exact same thing you did... why did you have to die for it and I lived? You didn’t even hurt as many people as I did. Why should I move on as if nothing happened... Like I did nothing. I know what I did... and yet he wouldn’t let them charge me for any of it...’

The words that echoed in her mind were not lost on the girls surrounding her. Crysta knelt down beside the girl and pulled her into a warm hug, “You don’t have to forget her, Bree. You don’t have to forgive yourself immediately, but you can’t stay in the same place either. You can’t remain stuck. She wouldn’t want that at all. You know how stubborn Ginger could be. We move forward... and rebuild. That’s all we can do... so that the ones we’ve lost didn’t die for nothing.”

Lina knelt down on the other side of the girl, joining the two of them. Whilst Crysta’s words hadn’t been directed at her, they allowed her to see past something she’d failed to since watching her sister disappear. What could she do without Katie around?

How was she supposed to go on as if nothing had happened? Perhaps there was something she could do. Something that showed Katie’s effort was not for nothing. Lina had defeated Liam because of her sister’s encouragement. While Katie hadn’t cared for the argument they had, she did help her find her courage.

'

Katie helped her find her strength... and she wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Madeline and Honour remained standing, both for reasons they couldn’t discuss. The feeling Madeline had gotten a long while ago, in Lina’s presence had returned to her. A feeling she didn’t know how to feel about. Wanting to avoid experiencing it again, she kept a short distance away from the princess.

Honour, on the other hand, noticed a profound change in the princess’s aura. She’d noticed it since they came back from their trip, but now it was much more pronounced. The divine energy within Lina...

It was different... It flowed differently and raged like a storm while still retaining the tranquil nature of a calm bottomless sea. Whatever power the princess resided within her... It had gone active.