34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

My hair was in a tidy up-do, I was wearing minimal makeup and the most respectable black dress I'd been able to find. A lot of my black dresses were on the little side, but I had a work dress that I'd reserved for auditors' visits. It came to mid-calf and made me look at least semi-respectable. Tristan deserved that.

Terrance was nestled in my hair.

I looked a far cry from the woman who'd killed Isaacs in battle. As I studied my reflection, I saw that my eyes were shadowed. Too tired, I lied to myself. Tiredness, my ass; it wasn't exhaustion lining my eyes – though that was there too – but a hardness that hadn't been there before.

I'd done my wailing and gnashing of teeth, and I'd bemoaned my fate as a deadly piper, yet even though I hadn't utilised my piping skills to stop Isaacs' heart like I'd done to Geneve, I'd still killed him. Did it matter a damn if I'd ripped his throat out or piped his heart to stop? Either way, he was just as dead.

No, the shadows were there because maybe if I'd used my piping powers properly in the heat of battle, I wouldn't now be saying goodbye to Tristan.

We did not kill him, Esme soothed. We could not reach him because of Isaacs' cage of air. We will get better with our air magic so no one can do that to us again.

She was right, but if I'd thought of piping Isaacs I could have forced him to drop the dome. I hadn't thought of it; my failure to embrace my piping skills was why we were sending Arden to the Great Pack and it killed me. But I said none of that to Esme. It was a discussion for later.

Yes, I agreed instead. We will practise with our magic. ALL of our magic, because I didn't want to feel that helpless ever again. For an almighty, powerful Queen, the feeling had been as humbling as it had been unwanted. Every time I thought I finally mattered in this deadly realm, someone swung by to try and make me feel like nothing more than a Common human.

Others cannot make you feel small without your permission, Esme stated. Do not give it to them.

That was easier said than done. Dammit, I cared what people thought about me .

Arms wrapped around me from behind, breaking my introspection. ‘You look beautiful, Peaches.'

I leaned back into Greg's arms and let his scent wash over me. ‘I love you,' I murmured.

He kissed the top of my head. ‘And I you. Are you ready?'

I shook my head. ‘No, but I don't think I will ever be. I hate this. I'd really grown to like Tristan.'

‘Me too,' he confessed. ‘Let's go and pay our respects.'

We pulled apart and he took my hand. I was wearing my favourite skyscraper heels so for once we were the same height. I swayed down the stairs carefully; falling ass over tit would not be a good look.

The mansion had never looked so sombre. All of its occupants, even the pups, were dressed in black. That was rare because my wolves knew how much I loved colour and they had embraced all things rainbow. Normally we were a kaleidoscope of riotous hues, especially since Nova had introduced summer cover-ups for the women to wear after shifting. The sea of black was overwhelming and possibly not what Tristan would have wanted, but it was a simple way for us to show our respect to our third. Tristan had been a man to admire, infinitely superior to the foul, thuggish Mark Oates whom he had replaced.

My people lined the mansion walls as Greg and I proceeded through them. Candice was waiting for us at the double front doors, which Ben and Noah were manning. They swung them open and we walked out of the mansion.

Tristan's mahogany casket was resting at the bottom of the steps on a wooden catafalque. Greg gave my hand a quick squeeze before letting go so that he could lift the casket. To hell with that: if he thought that I wasn't helping to carry Tristan, he had another thought coming.

I followed him down the steps and stood to the rear of the coffin, opposite Greg. Liam and Archie joined us, then Seren and Marissa came to the front. As one, the six of us lifted it up and laid it on our shoulders.

The path to Nina had been lined with flaming torches that cast an atmospheric glow. Mourners moved from the mansion to stand behind the flickering flames, and Ares and Ivy stood to one side. I didn't know whether the unicorns understood the concept of a funeral, but they certainly understood loss.

From somewhere came the eerie call of bagpipes. Tristan had loved a bagpipe.

‘Three, two, one,' Greg counted us in and we started to move. With the casket on my shoulder, I folded my hands in front of me respectfully as we carried Tristan to his final resting place. Candice followed behind us being comforted by Elena.

Candice had said that Tristan hadn't wanted a eulogy, so these precious few moments were all we had. I called up my memories of him as I walked.

Tristan's face flushed with anger. ‘What are you doing here?' he spat. ‘You can't help us. He was killed under your roof, your protection. His death is on you. Get out and start running, and maybe you'll get some life before I kill you.'

The last standing wolves finally knelt; they trusted Liam's and the others' judgement of me. Even Tristan knelt, though he kept his eyes locked on mine in challenge.

I dredged the bottom of my magical well; I was holding so much magic I felt like my skin would burst. I reached the magic out to the nearest person to me: Tristan. I tied him to his wolf, carefully disentangled myself from the loop and watched as his eyes lit up with wonder.

He stepped towards me and I tensed even more, but then he sank to his knees – and this time he bowed his head rather than holding my gaze in challenge. ‘Alpha,' he said respectfully. ‘My wolf Arden and I wish to offer our services.'

Tristan stared at me, his face unreadable, then he held out a tub of Ben Tristan always was a stubborn son of a bitch.

We'd come such a long way and it felt so wrong that our journey together was at an end.

As we approached, Nina widened her entrance so that we could walk easily into her warm embrace. She had made us a grand hall clad in dark wood panelling.

‘Three, two, one,' Greg timed, and we grasped the handles on the coffin and carefully lowered Tristan to the ground.

We stood back, forming a loose circle around the casket. Candice came forward and let out a piercing wail that cut to the heart of me. She threw herself on top of the casket and wept as we stood silently, witnesses to her loss and her grief.

Slowly Nina opened her roof. She didn't create a small hole as she often did, but instead she peeled back the entire structure so that the moon and stars could bear witness.

Candice's sobs slowed and she leaned down to kiss the top of the casket before falling into Elena's arms again. Together they stepped back and waited.

The casket lit up with a fierce fire, so hot it took me straight back to Xander's death. I inadvertently stepped backwards and Greg's hand slipped around my waist, silently offering comfort. I leaned into him as the ashes and embers floated upwards, glimmering into the night sky.

Goodbye, Tristan.