Sylvester's POV
I was getting really worried, Millicent seemed to have gone off into space. Don't misunderstand me, she was physically present, but everyone could see she was not really there. I'd had a series of meetings with the chief and elders who had insisted on seeing Millicent and I had kept putting them off, telling them, she was not up to it yet.
'When will she be up to it then?', the chief asked. 'We are all pained by the loss of Christopher. She is acting as though she is the most affected!'
'But she is!' I snapped, 'He was her fated mate and the one she seemed determined to chose over me', I paused, 'Christopher had even claimed her before his demise!'
'Oh, is that so?' one of the elders intoned, pulling on his beared, his face creased in thought.
'If that's the case, then she needs a little more time but this cannot linger forever. We have to speak to both of you!' the chief emphasized, 'The fate of the pack depends on it'.
'What you want to say cannot be said to just me? I'll relay the message to her later!'
'No! She must be present!' the chief insisted.
'Why not bring her here already', another elder said. 'If she cared that much for Christopher, she would not have brought such a terrible fate on him!'
'We shall be here tomorrow', Chief said. 'And we shall expect to see her in this meeting with you!'
They stood and left.
I felt that I knew the reason they wanted to meet with Millicent and me and wondered how I was going to get Millicent back from the world her mind had escaped to in a bid to escape the pain of losing Christopher and I reached a decision. I decided it was going to be best done the next day, at about the time the meeting would take place.
When I got to her room, she was still in the same state and her friend Samantha was there trying to make her eat and speak but was not making any headway.
'You should know Samantha, that Millicent thinks that if she punished herself long enough, Christopher will be brought back to life', I began, addressing Samantha but staring at Millicent's unmoving form. She was sitting and staring off into space. 'She knows she is to blame for all this. And no starving nor pretended escape into the unknown will change that!' I screamed, hoping to get through to her. When she still did not respond, I decided to become meaner and take my verbal thrashing a bit further. 'Christopher asked me to take care of you but he must have been mistaken. He told me you are a very strong female but you are not, are you? You are as fickle as a human, like I have always thought. It is better that he died than make a weakling like you his Luna!' I paused. I saw Samantha staring at me with her mouth hanging open. I placed my fore finger to my lips and with the other hand, I made her the calm down sign. 'And now, preparations are being made for his burial and the one he loves most in the world will not be there to pay him her last respects and bid him farewell. Such love! And you claimed you had an incredible bond with him? Rubbish!' I spat. 'Coward! That's what you are! Escape all you want, who cares anyway!'
'Slap!'
I hadn't seen that coming. I had hoped to wake her from her shock induced stupor but had not expected that reaction from her. I must have gone too far. Thank goodness I did. at least she was back to earth.
'How dare you speak of my mate bond with Christopher with such disdain and disrespect?' she asked, eyes flashing. 'There has never been any such bond recorded or experienced in history before ours, I must tell you!'
'Oh,thank goodness, you decided to wake!' I said, rubbing my cheek.
'Oh, Christopher, how could you leave me? Is this your punishment to me for being such an asshole?' she lamented. 'I ran away from something so great - the bond we shared - because I feared for your life, only to bring that same fate to you!'
When I heard that, I felt pain and regret. Probably, if I had not threatened to kill my dear brother, he would still have been alive, mating with his beloved mate! I had always known that Millicent had run off because of that threat I had carelessly made.
'Did you say, you were preparing for his burial?' Millicent asked, looking wildly about, like she was disoriented.
My thoughts must have transmitted themselves to Samantha because she quickly hugged Millicent
'You should be strong for Christopher. He would want that', she said. 'Do you think he would want you to harm yourself or come to pieces at his death?' she asked, Then holding Millicent's hand, she said, 'I believe he'd want you to be strong. Your strength was one of the qualities he admired most about you!'.
'Oh, Samantha!' she wailed and it tore at my heart. I knew she pain she was feeling. I was feeling the same pain as well.. 'What have I done? I will never get over him!' She started crying profusely as though her heart was breaking and maybe it was. 'How could I kill my own love? Christopher meant the whole world to me. How could I destroy what we both hold dear, how could I destroy our bond?'
'It is going to be okay!' Samantha consoled.
'But it is not!' she said emphatically, sniffing. 'How can it be okay when Christopher is not here to make it okay? Things cannot be the same, anymore!' She stared at each of us and I averted my head filled with guilt be ause I caused all this pain and I was the one who was supposed to die but Christopher had to die in my stead.
'I know you blame me for your brother's death, Sylvester', she continued, 'And you are right but never belittle the bond I shared with him. Having said that, I have a feeling that his burial should be delayed. I might be able to bring him back to life. He is my fated mate afterall' she said, looking challengingly at Samantha and me.
'If it were possible for you to heal him, you could have', I said, trying to let her see reason. 'But now that he is dead, he has to be given the burial worthy of his status and not left perpetually in the Royal morgue!'
'All I am asking is a few days!' she insisted.
'How many days exactly?' I asked, wanting to give her anything that would help bring a closure to all this.
'Just a couple of days', she said.
'This is crazy!' I said, scratching my head, and grimacing in thought, asking myself if I had lost it like she obviously seem to have done. ' I do not believe you can raise him back to life and the only reason I am consenting to your request is because I promised Christopher to take care of you and if you need a couple of days to stay with him before he is properly buried, you have it but after that, he is going to be buried. The chief and elders are wondering why the burial is being delayed as it is'.
She nodded her agreement.
'Take me to where he is kept. I have a strong feeling about this!' she said.
'Are you sure about this, Alpha Sylvester?' Samantha asked, anxiously and I could sense her fear.
'If you are worried that I might do myself in, rest assured I'll not. I shall be here to welcome my love back to life!' she claimed confidently.
I shook my head, wondering if I had made the right decision to allow her to see Christopher. It was possible that the loss of Christopher had made her come unhinged.
'Before I take you to where my brother's corpse is', I said, 'you should come first to the throne room, the Chief and elders have summoned us for a brief meeting'.
'Could I not be excused?' she asked. 'I have to get started with bringing my love back to life'.
'Millicent, are you sure you are okay?' Samantha asked, echoing my thoughts. and without waiting for an answer, she looked at me, 'Do you think we should send for the doctor?'
'I am okay, damn it!' she snapped. 'I have my head well screwed on. Christopher's supposed death has not caused me to come unhinged because I know I cannot lose him. He has to come back to me, else what is the purpose of my existence and all I have been through?' she asked, eyes blazing!
'Okay, okay', I said, raising both palms up to placate her. 'I believe you, but you'll have to come see the elders with me first. They have been waiting since forever to see the both of us. I have been putting them off but I can't any longer and they will not accept anymore excuses!'
'If the condition for me to accomplish my goal of bringing Christopher out of his coma is meeting with some elders', she said, looking at me, 'then so be it! Lead the way...'
I did as I was told, leading her into the throne room, wondering at the outcome of the meeting because I was sure Millicent was not going to like what she was going to hear.
