Leaving the pack

~ANASTASIOS' POV~

         It wasn't her. It wasn't my wife. I was seeing things. I was imagining things. She's really dead, gone for life. I sighed deeply.

The wound on my arm from Alpha Tyson's sword has already healed.

The Dark Moon pack wolves were all lying dead on the ground.

My warriors and wolves surrounded me. I walked to the center of the pack and raised Alpha Tyson's head up.

“I killed the enemy and I annihilated the pack. I would have brought them down here to be slaves to us, but I trust them to want revenge, so I killed them all” I yelled loudly.

There were loud cheering noises in the pack.

“Why did you kill them all, Aether? Till now, I never really wanted to kill them all” I mind-linked my wolf.

“They all deserve to die. They killed your mate, your Luna” my wolf replied angrily.

“And I've told you to stop taking control of my body like that without my permission” I mind-linked again.

“When you're in your human form, I don't interfere with whatever thing you want to do. But once you change to my wolf form, your body is mine and I'll do whatever I wish to do” Aether replied. “Besides, you wouldn't have defeated that stupid Tyson if I didn't take total control of your body”

“Yeah yeah, thanks for that” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

“You're supposed to bring that little witch's head with you,” my wolf said.

“I totally forgot about that. You sure do read my mind. How do you know what I want to do with Tyson's head?” I mind-linked Aether.

“That's why I'm your wolf. I'll leave you now to address the pack” he said and I couldn't hear his voice anymore.

I cleared my throat and stared intently at the pack.

“You, you and you. Go and bring me the head of the Witch Phoenix in the Dark Moon pack” I commanded three of my wolf warriors.

“Yes Alpha” they bowed and left. The Dark Moon pack was three miles away from our pack, so they should be back before it gets really dark.

I was going to bury both Alpha Tyson and Witch Phoenix heads alongside my wife. I'll put their heads in her coffin as a means of avenging their death.

“Luna Aphrodite is dead,” Beta Achilleus announced to the pack.

The pack screamed, some started crying while the rest were murmuring sadly.

“She was killed by the Witch Phoenix” I said with a sad tone.

My eyes were starting to get teary again but I composed myself and held myself back from crying.

I'm the Alpha and I shouldn't be weak in the presence of my pack.

I growled loudly in pain and agony and the pack followed suit, growling loudly too.

I turned and walked back to my wife's room still holding Tyson's head in my hands.

My mother was still in the room, holding Ophelia in her arms. My wife still laid on the floor but was covered from head to toe with a white cloth.

“Ophelia is looking so pale and finding it hard to breathe. I already called the doctor and he said she's placed on a curse and as so, her wolf powers would be sealed forever and as a result of that, her body will be very very weak and frail till she eventually dies” my mother told me.

“Witch Phoenix placed a curse on her. The doctor can't do something about it?” I asked, stealing a glance at my daughter in her arms.

“He said we need the powers of a witch. He suggested we use a witch stronger than Witch Phoenix” my mom replied.

“Get me the strongest witch you can” I commanded her and she nodded her head.

She walked closer to me and gave me a side hug because of Ophelia in her arms.

“I'm so sorry for your loss, son. I didn't know Luna Aphrodite was in danger. I was busy fighting off the enemies with your brother, Georgios. We were trying to ward them off from coming into the inner palace. We never saw when the Witch entered your wife's room”

“She appeared in the room. She has great powers that make her appear and disappear whenever she wants. I was fighting with her outside before she disappeared, I never knew she's going to come here…I never knew….” I broke off and tears slipped down my cheeks.

She squeezed my shoulders tight to comfort me.

“You'll overcome this” she said softly.

“Yes, you will. You're strong” my wolf mind-linked me and I shook my head negatively.

I'm not strong. I don't think I'll ever forget this or heal from this.

“I want to be alone” I said to both my mom and my wolf, Aether.

With one last pat on my back, my mom left the room with Ophelia. And my wolf never said a word to me, leaving me to be alone.

I bent beside my wife's body and pulled down the clothes from her head to her shoulders. 

I began staring intently at her beautiful pale face. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. And even as she's no longer breathing, she still looks very much beautiful.

I brought out my fingers and stroked her cheeks gently and softly. They were so cold on my fingers. A tear rolled down my cheeks. More followed.

“My beautiful wife. I'll always love and cherish you and you'll forever be in my heart. I promise never to love another woman again in my life till I die. You're the only woman I'll ever love in my life” I sniffed hard. I couldn't control the tears that were flowing.

I stood up quickly and wiped my tears off. I won't stop crying if I still remain in this room.

“You'll be buried with the heads of your killers, my dear wife. I have avenged your death and I promise to take very good care of our daughter. I hope you can finally rest in peace now” I said and covered her face with the clothes.

Then I turned and walked out of the room as quickly as I could before I would be tempted to see her face again.

****

       My dear Luna Aphrodite was buried and months after the burial, I wasn't still getting myself.

I was drowned in my own misery, my own sorrow. I couldn't breathe properly as I was always feeling suffocated. I couldn't do anything properly.

Thoughts of Aphrodite clouded my mind and head. I kept thinking about her. I kept seeing her everywhere, I kept feeling her presence. 

Every single place in the pack brought back painful memories of her to my head. She's everywhere

It's as if she's after me, tormenting my body and soul and I felt helpless. I felt like I was running mad. And as the alpha of a pack, I cried myself to sleep every night and even in my dreams, she still tormented me.

My mother was taking care of Ophelia because I wasn't in the right frame of mind to look after a child now and I was barely managing to carry out my alpha duties.

When I couldn't bear it anymore, I called my mother, brother and my uncle, Beta Achilleus for a brief meeting.

They were all seated waiting patiently for me to speak when I finally dropped the bombshell.

“From today, I, Anastasios Adonis cease to be the Alpha of the Moon Shine Pack as I'll be leaving the pack first thing tomorrow morning” 

As the words hung heavy in the air, I couldn't help but notice the subtle shift in their expressions and that flicker of uncertainty that danced across their faces.