CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
BURKE’S POV
It’s been two days since Catherine’s death and our proposed wedding day. I haven’t left my room since that day.
I ordered a search party to look for Susan, but there has not been any positive outcome, which is making me angry, but I have to keep my cool.
Several board members have been trying to talk to me, but it has been impossible because I ordered guards not to let anyone in; I needed time to get over Catherine’s death.
“Alpha Burke, your bath is ready,” The maid said before leaving the room.
I kept her quiet, as that had been our daily routine since Catherine’s death.
As the maid opened the door, Diago entered my room pushing her out of the way.
“We tried to stop him,” The guards said, as they stood at his back.
“It’s okay,” I waved my hands at them, and they all left my room, except for Diago, who took a comfortable seat beside my bed.
“The Almighty Alpha Burke had fallen drastically,” Diago mocked, but I ignored him, he is an asshole sometimes, and I’m used to ignoring him whenever he does shitty things.
“You know things are getting hard for me, because you chose to lock yourself up in your room, sobering over a woman when you have work to do as the Alpha of Crescent Pack,” Diago scolded, crossing his right leg on his left leg.
“I just lost my world, Diago; there’s nothing that would make me go back to being the Alpha you once knew,” I said reluctantly, not caring that Diago had insulted and mocked me, his Alpha.
Diago inhaled deeply before speaking up again.
“Her burial is today,” He said and I nodded in response.
“By noon, we would be consecrating her body, she deserves the best burial ever,” I lamented as tears came down from my eyes. It was hard to believe I would never be seeing Catherine again.
“What about the kids? Are you not bothered that the Vampire girl would want to get her too?” He asked, and I looked at him surprised.
“How the fuck did you know she was a vampire?” I asked, surprised. I have never told anyone about Susan being a vampire.
“Ava told me everything; vampires are the fucking worst,” He said, and I nodded my head as I remembered how my mother died.
It was a battle day; my dad, my mum, and I went to fight with some of the pack’s warriors. The Vampires were trying to take our land and feast on our people.
A Vampire had plucked my mother’s heart off her chest and dumped her on the floor like thrash.
“The kids are alright, Ava is taking good care of them, in fact, she makes their best tea every day so they don’t feel the absence of their mother, although they still ask about Catherine,” I answered Diago’s earlier question, trying to remove the death of my mum from my heart.
“That’s good to hear,” he responded.
“You know, sometimes I blame myself for her death; how I wish I had dismissed Susan; Catherine would have still been alive,” I said to Diago, sitting up for the first time in two days.
Diago shook his head, disapproving of my statement.
“Her death is not your fault, but your kid’s death would be your fault. Take extra care of them,” Diago said, and I nodded my head.
With that, he left my room, leaving me to my thoughts. I appreciated the fact that he understood my pain.
Soon it was noon, time for Catherine’s burial.
I stood to my feet and stripped naked.
I got to the bathroom and had a good bath after two days of crying and sobering. The only person I could think of was Catherine as I bathed.
When I was done bathing, I wore a black shirt and black jean pants, with a black shade to cover my big eyes, and hid the fact that the Alpha had been crying.
We were doing her burial in the garden, where we were supposed to get married. Catherine would love to get buried there, so I decided to do that.
Soon I was outside in the garden, and my kids ran towards me and gave me a tight hug.
“We have missed you, Daddy,” Ricky said, as they withdrew from the hug.
“Please don’t send us away from you since our mother is dead; we promise to be good children,” Nikky said, with her big round eyes looking at me. She looked exactly like Catherine, and if I stared at her too much, that heart would ache.
“I would never send you away, you are mine,” I assured them, and they nodded their heads happily.
We went to the burial ceremony where Catherine’s body was covered with dried leaves.
The oldest man had already started the ceremony, but I could barely hear anything she said; the only thing I could think of was the memories I had with Catherine.
“Burke, it’s time to set the leaf on Fire,” Ava said, distracting me from my deep thoughts.
“Okay, that’s not a problem,” I said, picking up the lighter that was presented to me.
I lied; it was a big fucking problem to wet Catherine’s body on fire, and watching it burn would be the hardest of them all, but I did it anyway.
I set her body on fire and waited for it to burn to ashes before taking it to the river.
It was already evening when Catherine’s burial ceremony ended.
The kids gave me a good night hug before leaving for their rooms.
But I couldn’t sleep so I went to the swimming pool to get some air.
“Thinking about Catherine right?” I heard Emma’s voice from behind me.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” I said, as she said beside me, dipping her legs into the swimming pool just like I did.
“I would have, but I knew you needed someone to talk to; losing one’s mate is depressing, trust me; you won’t get over it, but you will move on,” She said, but I kept her silent.
“When did you stop feeling the mate bond?” She asked, playing with the water with her legs.
“When did you stop feeling a mate bond with Jack?” I replied to her with a question.
“The day he died, I lost all connections to him,” She said and looked at me.
“What about you?” She asked.
“I still feel my mate bond with Catherine,” I said, confused just like she was.