Chapter 9
1188 Words
Chapter Nine – The Scent of the Living
Christa’s P.O.V.
The funeral ended beneath a sky the color of ash.
I stood beside Anna as the flames climbed higher, swallowing the coffin that the entire pack believed held Carter Lykoudis.
She never looked away.
Neither did I.
Every sob that escaped my daughter carved another wound into my heart.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, holding her upright as her knees threatened to give out.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered through broken breaths.
“I wasn’t enough.”
I pulled her against me.
“No, mi amor.”
My own voice trembled.
“You were everything to him.”
She cried harder.
Carlos stood several feet away, his hands buried in the pockets of his coat, staring into the fire.
He hadn’t moved since the torch had touched the pyre.
When the last ember finally faded, the mourners slowly drifted away.
Anna remained.
She knelt in the dirt until Aaliyah finally helped her to her feet.
I watched my daughter leave a white moonflower beside the ashes.
Then she walked away without saying another word.
⸻
The next morning, DeL Sol was quiet.
Too quiet.
The visiting packs were preparing to leave after helping us recover from the battle.
Black SUVs and trucks lined the courtyard outside the Alpha House while warriors loaded supplies and equipment.
Life was moving forward.
Even if none of us were ready for it.
I stood in my office trying to force myself through a stack of reports when the door burst open.
Carlos.
His face had gone completely pale.
“Come with me.”
He didn’t wait for an answer.
Something in his voice made my stomach knot.
I followed him downstairs.
Neither of us spoke until we reached the front courtyard.
Iron Fang’s convoy was preparing to depart.
Navarro stood beside the lead SUV speaking quietly with one of his warriors.
Carlos stopped walking.
I nearly walked into him.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer.
The breeze shifted.
He inhaled once.
Then again.
His entire body went rigid.
“Carlos?”
His eyes never left Navarro’s vehicles.
“No…”
The word barely escaped him.
“What?”
He closed his eyes.
“When a wolf dies…”
His voice sounded distant.
“…their scent leaves with them.”
I frowned.
“When a vampire dies…”
“…their blood loses its warmth.”
He inhaled again.
Slowly.
Carefully.
“As for a hybrid…”
He opened his eyes.
“A dead hybrid smells hollow.”
I stared at him.
“Hollow?”
“There is no life.”
“No warmth.”
“No energy.”
“Just the scent of death.”
The wind shifted again.
Carlos froze.
Every muscle in his body tightened.
“That’s impossible.”
Fear crept into my voice.
“What is?”
He looked toward the black SUV parked behind Navarro.
“I don’t smell death I thought I smelled him earlier but I couldn’t be sure so I came to get you”!
The words hit me like a blow.
“I smell living blood.”
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“No…”
Carlos took one slow step forward.
“The scent is stronger today than it was yesterday.”
Another step.
“It isn’t fading.”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“It’s healing.”
The world around me disappeared.
The warriors.
The trucks.
The conversations.
Everything became distant.
Only one thought remained.
Carter.
Alive.
Before either of us could move, Navarro turned.
His eyes found Carlos immediately.
Then me.
Something in his expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
He knew.
He dismissed the warrior beside him with a nod.
Within moments, he was walking toward us alone.
“Carlos.”
“Christa.”
Carlos didn’t bother returning the greeting.
“You lied.”
Navarro studied him for a long moment.
“I did.”
The honesty caught me off guard.
Carlos stepped closer.
“You told us his mind was gone.”
“I believed it was.”
“You told us his soul had crossed.”
“I believed it had.”
My voice finally returned.
“Then why can he still smell him?”
Navarro glanced briefly toward the SUV.
“When Carter came into my custody…”
“He was as close to death as any living creature I’ve ever seen.”
He paused.
“I had never witnessed a hybrid survive injuries like his.”
Carlos’s jaw tightened.
“So you experimented?”
“No.”
Navarro answered firmly.
“I observed.”
“He should have died.”
“But sometime during the night…”
“He didn’t.”
Silence settled over us.
“He opened his eyes.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“He remembered who he was.”
“He remembered your daughter.”
Carlos’s fists clenched.
“Bring him back.”
Navarro slowly shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“You will.”
“No.”
The growl in Carlos’s chest made nearby wolves glance in our direction.
Navarro lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
Carlos took another step.
“You stole him.”
“I saved him.”
The words hung between us.
Then Navarro looked beyond us, toward the pack members cleaning the courtyard.
“If you challenge me now…”
“They’ll ask why.”
His eyes met mine.
“They’ll ask why Carter wasn’t buried.”
“They’ll ask whose body rested in that coffin.”
“They’ll question every Alpha who attended that funeral.”
My heart sank.
He was right.
Everything we had done—
Everything we believed we had done out of mercy—
Would become a scandal.
Anna’s grief would become public.
Carter would become the center of every pack’s suspicion.
The fragile peace left after the battle would shatter.
Carlos knew it too.
I watched the fight drain from his shoulders.
Not because he had accepted Navarro’s decision.
Because he understood the cost of exposing the truth.
He looked Navarro dead in the eye.
“If he dies…”
Navarro interrupted him.
“He won’t.”
Carlos’s voice became frighteningly calm.
“If he suffers…”
“I’ll know.”
Navarro held his gaze.
“I expect you will.”
For a long moment, neither Alpha moved.
Finally, Navarro turned toward the waiting SUV.
Before opening the door, he looked back one last time.
“I never intended to deceive you.”
Then he climbed inside.
The convoy rolled through the gates of DeL Sol.
Carlos and I stood in silence until the last vehicle disappeared beyond the tree line.
Only then did I realize the true weight of the secret we now carried.
Yesterday, I believed I had given away the body of a fallen hero.
Today, I knew I had unknowingly handed a living man into another Alpha’s care.
And there was nothing I could do without destroying my daughter all over again.
The lie we had buried with Carter’s coffin hadn’t ended at the funeral.
It had only just begun.
Fuck!
- Writer
