Chapter 144
Werewolves were born in different packs. They might leave and join other packs throughout their life. But when they died, they all returned to the Moon Goddess in the same way.
Representatives from each pack along with the family members of the deceased laid the body of their fallen heroes and heroines into cedar caskets.
After that, one by one, the caskets were pushed into the water and set ablaze by a flaming arrow.
It was especially heart-wrenching to see the families that were left behind, especially if the pups were still so young that they could not comprehend what death was. For them, the funeral was when the werewolf community collectively killed their parents.
A lot of them were throwing a tantrum and screaming hysterically when they saw their sleeping fathers or mothers being set ablaze.
Lucien too could not help but cry when he and Annalynne held back a young boy from the Silent Walkers Pack who lost both of his parents in the war. He was only three years old, too small to bear the burden of such loss.
Lucien swore to never go to war again, no matter what.
At the funeral, they all met Kinnon Youngshaper again.
.....
The war had ended, so all packs greeted each other amicably. At least on the surface.
“Hello, Anna,” Kinnon greeted.
Annalynne hid her scowl behind a scary smile. “Hello, Kinnon,” she said before stomping away, leaving Lucien and Ronan to speak with Kinnon.
“Do you have the belt?” Lucien asked directly.
Kinnon nodded. He snapped his finger and Bjorn came over with a long box.
Inside lay a modestly designed belt made of supple buffalo hide. The silver plate with the sigil served as the belt buckle.
Ronan’s fingers ran along the belt and touched around the edge of the buckle slowly.
“Well?” Kinnon asked after a while. “Have you seen it before?”
Ronan took a while to answer. He kept turning the belt around back and forth, as if looking for some clues. At last, he had to give up.
“Sorry, I have never seen it before. I was hoping to find the year it is made, but it is nowhere to see.”
“If you haven’t seen it before, does it mean that it is not one of the high-tier heirlooms?” Lucien queried.
“It isn’t,” Ronan confirmed.
“Then they might be lost during the raid,” Lucien postulated.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Ronan replied.
It did not help at all. They were right back at the beginning.
Lucien took out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the belt. And then they returned the belt to Bjorn and the Beta packed it away.
“We will keep searching for clues,” Lucien promised.
“Hmm,” Kinnon grunted. “Likewise.”
He extended his hand toward Lucien. “Peace for now?”
Lucien gratefully took his hand.
“Peace for now and hopefully forever.”
Kinnon flashed Lucien a bright smile.
Ronan quickly separated their hands.
“No need to hold each other’s hands for so long,” he reasoned. Ronan did not want Kinnon to develop funny ideas about Lucien.
Unfortunately for Ronan, Kinnon indeed harbored some thoughts about Lucien.
“By the way, we are not completely done yet,” he announced dramatically.
Ronan furrowed his brows and stood in front of Lucien. He acted like a possessive boyfriend who was trying to hide his lover from the other man’s indecent thoughts. “What else?”
Kinnon ignored Ronan and looked at Lucien instead.
“This war was to settle the night in Hapsborough City. We are yet to settle the debts that the Silent Walkers Pack owed the Night Prowler Pack from the first war.”
Ronan stared at Kinnon in disbelief.
Amidst the chaos and preparation for the second war, Kinnon still remembered old debts!
Kinnon gave him a shifty smile.
He could read Ronan’s expression accurately.
“This does not concern Alpha Ronan, so kindly keep yourself out of this matter.”
“Everything about Lucien concerns me,” Ronan said, narrowing his eyes at Kinnon. “Alpha Kinnon, just so you know, Lucien already agreed to be mine. Don’t you try to seduce him.”
Lucien smacked at his own face in embarrassment. He pushed Ronan aside and spoke to Kinnon directly.
“You are right. How should we settle it?”
Kinnon straightened his long coat and regarded the two of them with a cool look. He then said, “I will come to Blue Hill City next to discuss this matter. You shall receive a notification before I depart.”
“Very well.”
Lucien did not have any objections toward Kinnon’s visit, but the Alpha that he was dating was not very delighted with the prospect.
As a result, Ronan refused to go back to Great Lake City and demanded to go back with Lucien instead.
“Why?” Lucien asked in confusion.
“I don’t want you to meet with Kinnon alone. He is an old, sly wolf,” Ronan said it like a deeply guarded secret.
“...”
Lucien was speechless. Kinnon was only one year older than the both of them!
Jake, the poor Beta, was close to tears. He had been managing Ronan’s tasks for weeks! The Alpha did not even feel the slightest guilt upon overloading his poor Beta!
Desperately, Jake tried to infuse some wisdom and sanity into his Alpha, but said Alpha was immovable.
“I still need to recover from my injuries, Jake,” he reasoned. “For the time being, I will stay with Lucien. You can take care of both the Silverback Corporation and the pack for me. If there is anything urgent, you are allowed to contact me.”
“...”
Injuries?
What injuries?
Ronan recovered completely a week ago!
Jake shot Lucien a pitiful look, but Lucien could not help him out.
Ronan shamelessly put his arms around Lucien and shifted his weight unto the latter.
“Lulu, I am feeling dizzy. Hold me tight.”
Jake’s pitiful look morphed into a sympathetic look. On second thought, it might be good to have Ronan out of his way for some time. At least then he had one less person to boss him around.