Lucas was gone.
He died in the middle of the joyful celebration of our union, turning happiness into heartbreak in an instant.
The weight of my mother’s words hung heavily in the air like a storm cloud, dark and oppressive. The air seemed colder, the warmth of the celebration instantly replaced by a chilling emptiness. The sound of joyful music had faded, leaving only stunned silence and the faint rustle of the wind through the trees.
The other wolves gathered, frantic and demanding, their eyes wide with shock and confusion as they turned toward my mother. Their breaths came in sharp, panicked bursts, the scent of fear and grief thickening the air.
"What did you say?" Lucas’s father screamed, his voice raw with rage and grief. His face was pale, his fists trembling at his sides. "Why would he jump? Why would he leave us like this?"
“Why did you come here to destroy our happiness?” another voice shouted, fury simmering beneath the heavy weight of grief.
My mother, usually fierce and proud, stood still as stone. Her face was calm—too calm for the chaos swirling around us. Her expression was devoid of emotion, as if none of this touched her.
"He chose that path himself; it has nothing to do with me," she said, her voice cold and steady.
Her chilling calmness sent ice through my veins.
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Wolves shifted uncomfortably, some glancing toward Lucas’s lifeless body, others glaring at my mother with barely concealed rage.
My chest tightened as I turned toward her, confusion and anger crashing together inside me.
"Why?" I demanded, my voice shaking with despair. "First Dad… and now Lucas! Why do you keep destroying everything?”
For the briefest moment, I saw a flicker of something in her eyes—pain, maybe regret—but it vanished almost instantly, replaced by a hard, steely resolve.
"I did what I had to do," she said. "You don’t understand. It’s better this way."
Her words hit me like a slap. Cold and unforgiving.
"Better?" My voice cracked. "Lucas was everything to me! He loved me! He protected me!"
The image of Lucas’s face flashed in my mind—the shock in his eyes right before he fell. His outstretched hand, reaching for me, before his body disappeared over the ledge.
The murmurs from the pack grew louder, swelling into shouts of outrage.
"You’re a monster!" someone yelled.
"She’s the reason our alpha is gone!" another voice called out.
"She killed him!"
The anger and grief in the air felt suffocating. The wolves' eyes glinted dangerously as the tension built. Muscles tensed, claws extended. Some wolves were on the verge of shifting.
But my mother remained unmoved, her face an unreadable mask.
"Control your grief," she said sharply. "He chose to leave."
Her voice was cutting and cold, slicing through the noise.
Lucas’s father’s chest heaved, his eyes flashing amber. "You— you did something. What did you say to him?"
My mother’s gaze sharpened. "You wouldn’t understand."
"Try me!" he roared.
The pack’s anger flared hotter. The tension cracked like lightning, pressing down on us all.
"Arrest her! She's the cause of our chaos!" a wolf shouted, and others echoed the call.
My mother’s eyes darkened. Slowly, she turned to face them. Her expression was eerily calm, almost unnervingly empty.
"You don’t know what you’re dealing with," she warned, her voice low and dangerous.
Shadows seemed to thicken around her as she stepped back. The air itself seemed to pulse with the weight of her presence.
"Stop her!" someone cried.
Two enforcers stepped toward her, their postures stiff with aggression.
My mother’s eyes narrowed.
The ground beneath her feet seemed to tremble, and a sharp crack echoed through the clearing. A cold wind swept through the gathered wolves, chilling even the bravest among them.
"Stand down." Her voice was laced with a quiet threat.
The enforcers froze, exchanging uncertain glances.
My heart hammered painfully in my chest. "Mother— please."
Her gaze flicked toward me—just for a second. There was something in her eyes. Regret? Sorrow? But then it was gone.
Without another word, she turned and walked away, leaving behind a storm of devastation and unanswered questions.
I stood there, trembling, the image of Lucas’s lifeless body burned into my mind. The warmth of his touch. His smile. Gone.
The crowd began to dissolve into chaos.
But I remained frozen, my mother’s final words echoing in my head.
"It’s better this way."
Why did it feel like the end of everything?
