His Keeper

Chapter 6

The day of the funeral came too fast and Nate knew this was the last time he would see the love of his life. He had been dreading this day but it was here. He was one of the pallbearers and dressed in his Military uniform. He had been asked to say something about her at her memorial service. While up there giving his Eulogy, I could not have been prouder of him, not only for his strength, but he spoke from his heart. There wasn’t a dry eye in the Church that day. When they arrived at the cemetery, Nate received a special surprise, the wolfpack was there dressed in uniform waiting for the procession to arrive. They had been given special approval from their base commander as a favor from all his drill sergeants because that’s how much Nate was liked. As they carried Stacey to her resting place, the Wolfpack, Jeff, Adrian, Stephen, Brandon, Johnny, Vincent, and Abram stood by his side as he said goodbye to his friend, his first love, and soulmate.

Nate woke up the next day, packed, embraced each one of his family members who told him they loved him and were sorry for his loss, then left to report to base for duty. As the plane was taking off, Nate knew his life would never be the same again. He made a promise that he would always carry Stacey in his soul, heart, and mind. He knew deep down that he would never find a woman like her ever. He knew a woman like her only comes once in a life time and no woman will ever compare to her. He also knew that she would have wanted him to move on with his life and he vowed to do that day by day. He would take care of the ones he still had with him.

Reality set back in and Nate went back to work in the Corp. He went strong, but the ones in charge kept an eye on him. Nate being the solider he wanted to be all his life, pushed and pushed, never missing a beat. Months after Stacey’s funeral, her case was ruled in favor of the guy who hit Stacey’s car and killed her. He actually got off because according to the coroners’ report there was oxycodone found in her system which impeded her driving, and there was no trace of anything in the guy’s system. The guy ended up suing Stacey’s parents and got a large sum of money out of it. Nate was not allowed to testify at the trial which really pissed Nate off knowing there was nothing he could do. He knew the truth of what happened that night and that truth will never see the light of day. He promised himself one day she will receive her justice.

            The wolfpack would go on to see the world, different places, trying different foods, doing all the things the military allows you to do. Isabel and Jeff got married and soon after Adrian and Julie got married too. Nate stayed single due to never being able to move on from Stacey. He ended up getting a tattoo of her name over his heart, because he knew his heart belonged to her, and it wouldn’t be fair to any other woman he dated. The truth is he wouldn’t be able to give her his all because the most important thing she would be entitled to belonged to another woman. The Wolfpack would end up being honorably discharged from the military 10 years later and start their own private security business.