The next morning...
There was nothing Reana hated more than wasting her ti. Yet, here she was, standing under the lazy snow without a proper jacket, watching as they lowered a coffin into the ground.
"A small funeral," he’d said. But why were there ’family’ friends, friends of ’family’ friends, servants of ’family’... That’s what Kael had called them.
There were around a hundred or more attendees, but that didn’t an much to Reana at the mont. After all, she couldn’t stand in the middle of the crowd and yell for everyone to leave now... could she?
Reana watched them bury what remained of Vivian... perhaps a dried corpse or maybe a skeleton... or maybe nothing at all.
Reana wasn’t sure. The casket had stayed sealed, Kael had said, for the sake of everyone’s sanity. But Reana scoffed. As if he ever cared about anyone.
She stood still, flanked by strangers dressed in muted colors, but Reana wore the opposite. A sparkling white dress, blending in with the snow.
"Please, accept my condolences, Luna. Death is so cruel. Vivian was a sweet girl. Why did she have to die so young?" A woman said, offering her words with so much sadness that it could rile anyone up... like Katherine. She was weeping as if her daughter had just died recently.
Reana said nothing. She didn’t need to. She just stared hard at her, and the woman shrank her neck, uncomfortable, before walking away.
"Do these people seriously an what they say?" Kira frowned. She was standing beside Reana.
Vivian’s death wasn’t quiet. It traveled through the pack, and many spoke in hushed tones about how evil she was. So called her a bully, said she misused her privileges to tornt others. Others accused her of stealing the Luna’s man – Ryan – and plotting to kill the Luna, her stepsister.
Although nobody said it out loud, afraid of incurring the wrath of the Luna and Kael, everyone knew the truth simred beneath the surface like a dormant volcano.
"... yet, they all think she deserved it," Reana finished Kira’s sentence softly, her arms folded across her chest, eyes focused on the horizon. "No one mourns her. Not really. It’s just hollow condolences. Just for Kael and his mother... perhaps, for to see."
Kira’s frown deepened. She could never understand how people could be so complicated. She, for one, could never fake it to please anyone. She either said what she felt or stayed silent.
"Reana! What are you doing here?! Why are you here?!" Madam Katherine’s voice cracked as she stord toward Reana drawing all the attention and snow she could, her black robe billowing like a storm cloud behind her.
Reana raised a brow. "To watch you cry, what else?"
Madam Katherine’s eyes blazed with fury. "You insolent little—!"
Gasp!
"Shut your mouth before I have your tongue!" Kira flashed in front of Reana, standing gallantly like the powerful Gamma she was.
Simultaneously, a collective gasp rippled through the space, followed by a stunned silence as every head turned to witness the confrontation unfold.
Soone from the crowd dared to whisper, "Did she just call the Luna—?"
Another murmured, "I heard there’s tension in the family."
"Really? But even so, she can’t talk to the Luna like that."
Madam Katherine’s nostrils flared, but she held her tongue, her fists clenching at her sides. She’d forgotten they were in public.
Reana, standing slightly behind Kira, raised a hand and patted Kira’s shoulder lightly, then stepped out from behind her and closed the distance between her and her stepmother.
"Your daughter just died, stepmother. Aren’t you tired of screaming? Do you wish to lose your voice?"
"You–" However, before she could finish, her son’s voice cut through.
"Luna Reana ca," Kael ca forward, a hand on his mother’s shoulder. "Mother, get so rest, will you?" His voice was not soft or hard, but it was enough to send a chill down his mother’s back.
Madam Katherine stiffened beneath his touch, her spine rigid like a statue carved from old, bitter stone. Her lips parted as if to argue, but the look in her son’s eyes silenced her.
He wasn’t asking.
Her fingers trembled at her side before she turned away with a quiet scoff, her pride dragging behind her like a broken crown.
Kael glanced at Kira, then at Reana. "Would you mind if she took a step back?"
"Why? You want to attack ?" Reana shot back. She didn’t know what, but she could feel the wicked air around Kael has deminished
He shook his head slightly. "You know I cannot defeat you in a fight. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing here right now."
Reana watched him closely. Seeing no sign of deception, she waved her hand to Kira. The Gamma hesitated, but obeyed anyway.
Kira walked away and stood a good distance away, out of hearing range, and so did the people standing around them.
Now, it was just Kael and Reana standing at the clearing...the pack’s cetery.
"You ca bearing a soft sword to tear the funeral apart," he said finally, low enough for only her to hear.
He was talking about her sharp tongue.
Reana tilted her head, her voice just as quiet. "Unfortunately, the soft sword didn’t manage to slice deep."
Kael didn’t speak for a while. He just watched her silently. And after what felt like forever, he began, "Everyone hates my sister even after her death. I hear the murmurs. I hear the whispers." He continued, "I don’t like that very much."
"Perhaps your wolf senses are too sensitive," Reana replied, a smirk ghosting her lips as she took a slow step closer. "Or maybe the guilt is clawing at you, Kael."
His jaw tightened, the amber in his eyes flashing like a warning. "Careful, Reana."
"I was being careful." She looked up at him, her gaze unwavering. "Until your sister crossed the line. And now, you want the people’s silence in her na?"
A thick silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken rage and old wounds.
Kael’s voice dropped to a gravelly whisper. "You killed her."
Reana scoffed again, her voice sharper now. "Point of correction, she killed herself. I only watched."
Strange, Reana thought. Kael had always been careful with his emotions, but now, he seed quite emotional. Did he like Vivian so much?
She shook her head, it couldn’t be.
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