Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 • I Will Avenge Your Death

…Caitlin caught a glimpse of a box not far away from the fire.

"I might find a blanket inside." She thought to herself as she stood up and rushed towards the box. The box was already unlocked so she just opened it. She saw a blanket and pillows insideand her face brightened up for a moment as she heaved a sigh of relief. She carried the blanket and pillow, and went back to Caddel. 

She raised his head, put the pillow beneath his neck, and gently laid his head back. She dusted the blanket and covered his whole body, tucking it around properly and as comfortably as possible. 

Caitlin sat on the ground and stroked his head softly while sobbing quietly. Caddel sniffled and smiled slightly at her.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked him, her voice heavy with sadness.

"I'm smiling because you look adorable." He teased her while Caitlin frowned her face. 

"This isn't the time to make a joke." She whimpered, as her heart tore into half seeing Caddel's condition. 

Caddel suddenly had a coughing fit. Caitlin immediately rubbed his chest gently to help ease his breathing. He breathed softly with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and gazed at Caitlin, 

"I will have to go Ca-" She covered his mouth with her hand before he could complete his sentence. 

"Don't you dare… say this to me. You're not going anywhere. If you leave then I will go with you." 

"Then who will take care of our pup?" Caitlin burst into fresh tears as she heard those words from Caddel's mouth. The thought of her pup losing his father before he even got to know him or experience his love broke her heart.

"You cannot leave me!" She cried out with a broken heart, her plea evident in her voice for him not to leave her. 

Caddel couldn't bear to see his mate crying and scared of losing him. If he had the power, he would have stayed and lived for eternity with her and his pup, but he knew that was not ever going to happen again and there was nothing he could do about it. The thought of leaving her shattered and alone in this dangerous world, pained him even more than the poison inside of him. 

He took his left hand to her face and caressed her cheek. His hand was cold, but she felt warm to his touch. She closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks, he wiped away those tears from her face and silently smiled, as she opened her eyes. 

"You have to stay strong." He said to her. 

"How can I?" She replied to him, her voice barely a whisper.

"For our pup!" She gazed at him with her sallow and reddish face. "Stay strong for our pup, you have to protect him. Promise me you'll stay strong and avenge my death."

She shook her head and whimpered. "C'mon! Promise me." He said to her again, as he stretched his hands towards her. Caitlin took her shivering hand and placed it on top of his.

"I promise you, I will not spare any of them, especially your brother and that man that calls himself my father." Caitlin grasped his hand, her face twisting in outrage while Caddel recalled his brother's betrayal. It still felt like a sharp sting to his heart, that his brother could do this to him. Now he knew why his father always said to him: 'Never put too much trust in those close to you, especially those you love dearly, as they tend to stab you in the back.' He was now a witness to what his father had been talking about. 

"I love you, Caitlin." He said softly as he held her head to his with his eyes closed.

"I love you too." She replied. 

"I will always be with you, in spirit, your heart, and soul. And do you know something else?"

"No!?" She answered. 

"My pup will be just like me, so every time you look at him, you'll see me in him."

"Hmm!" Caitlin giggled while Caddel smiled. He moved his lips and kissed her, his lips were cold but she still kissed him back. He removed his hand from her cheek and moved back away from her. 

Caitlin felt no movement, and her brows arched. She opened her eyes, and her heart slammed within her chest, tears flowed from her eyes like a waterfall.

"No... No.'' She said with a quavering voice, looking at Caddel's lifeless body, her mind unwilling to comprehend what she was seeing. "No! Caddel, wake up, you're joking, right? Please wake up." She held his collar, shaking him to open his eyes.

"You can't leave me. If not for me, wake up for the sake of our son, please wake up, Caddel!" She yelled out his name at the top of her lungs.

"You cannot leave me! Please open your eyes." She clutched his body, crying loudly from her broken heart. 

Her pup started crying, she turned to look at him, but only burst into more tears and held onto Caddel's body.

"No! Please come back to me." She pleaded and begged for him to return but he was gone and there was no way of bringing him back. Now she was left with her pup, alone in this evil world.

"Find them!'' Caitlin jerked her head sharply at the sound of Gregory's voice in her left ear. She became alert that Gregory and his men were not far away from them, now was the time for her to run to safety with her son. She would mourn her mate at a later time and in a safer place.

She sniffled and wiped away the tears from her face as she looked at her pup. 

Caitlin clasped her pup, covering him inside her medieval cloak; she turned back to look at Caddel one last time.

"I promise you, I will avenge your death." She put on the cap of her cloak, covering her face, and went out from the hut, and ran into the dark, cold forest… 

Gregory and his men saw a small hut and a light coming from inside, they knew no one had lived there for ages, which meant that his prey was inside. 

"Let's go!" Gregory ordered his men, some of them were in their wolf form while five of them hadn't shifted. 

Gregory went inside the hut, followed by his Gamma and three of his men. They went in, only to see Caddel's body on the bed, with the blanket on him but his pup and wife were no where to be found.

"I wonder where Luna Caitlin and her pup are?" Gamma Brian said while Gregory only stared at his brother's dead body with joy in his heart. He paid no attention to the Gamma's words. 

"Oh, my dear beloved brother," Gregory stood in front of his brother and stroked Caddel's head with an evil smile on his face. 

"What do you think we should do with his body? Should we burn it?" Brian asked. Gregory spared a deadly glance at him, Gamma Brian immediately lowered his head and Gregory looked back at his brother again, smiling devilishly. 

"I will give my brother a nice farewell funeral. That is the least thing I can do for him, for the love and care he gave me." Gregory said while still stroking Caddel's forehead. 

"But… What are we going to tell people about how he died?" Brian asked with a quiver in his voice. 

"That's not a problem, I will take care of that. Right now, my heart is broken, and my brother has died. It is painful that he will never return to us, oh my dear brother!" Gregory faked tears and sorrow at the loss of his brother, but within him, his heart was beating the drum of victory, since he was going to be the new Alpha king…