\u201cCome,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I moved toward him, my legs feeling shaky as I walked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I reached him, he handed me a lit torch, the flames dancing in the breeze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlace it,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at the torch in my hand, then at the bodies on the wood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was it. The final goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped forward and lowered the torch to the wood, watching as the flames caught and spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan placed his torch on the other side, and together we stepped back, watching as the fire grew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pack stood in silence as the flames consumed the bodies, the wood crackling and popping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood next to Tristan, feeling the heat of the fire on my face, and tried to process what I was\u00a0<\/p>\n
feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relief, yes. Sadness, a little. But mostly, I just felt empty, like a ||||CHAPTER|| CHAPTER of my life\u00a0<\/p>\n
was burning away with those bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now they were both gone, and I could finally move forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fire burned hot and bright, and I watched as the bodies turned to ash, the white cloth\u00a0<\/p>\n
disappearing first, then the flesh and bone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was brutal to watch, but it was necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was how werewolves handled their dead, how we said goodbye to those who had betrayed us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I made a mental note to ask Tristan If it was okay to burn Daxon\u2019s body, since he wasn\u2019t part of our\u00a0<\/p>\n
packs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan\u2019s hand found mine, and he laced our fingers ogether, giving me a gentle squeeze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
|||\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:03 Fri, Jan 16 D G\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 244\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at him, and he was staring at the fire, hi jaw tight and his eyes dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
8.79%2\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was thinking about everything too, I realized. About Seraphine and what she\u2019d done, about Daxon\u00a0<\/p>\n
and the threat he\u2019d posed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About how close we\u2019d come to losing everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s over,\u201d I whispered, more to myself than to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked down at me and nodded. \u201cIt\u2019s over,\u201d he repeated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pack began to disperse slowly, people talking in low voices as they walked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion and Sarah came over to us, and Orion clapped Tristan on the shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood speech,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan nodded. \u201cThanks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he moved to me and hugged me for a while before pulling away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHope you\u2019re good?\u201d I nodded but corrected myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I\u2019m fine\u201d I said with a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah reached out and squeezed my hand. \u201cHow are you holding up?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay,\u201d I said, and I meant it. \u201cI\u2019m ready to move on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She smiled at me, her eyes warm with understanding \u201cGood. You deserve to be happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek approached us next, his expression unreadabl. \u201cIt\u2019s done,\u201d he said simply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan nodded. \u201cIt\u2019s done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me for a moment, then back at Tristan \u201cIf you need anything, you know where to find\u00a0<\/p>\n
me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d Tristan said. \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f0b\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:03 Fri, Jan 16 =\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 244\u00a0<\/p>\n
He walked away, and I watched him go, feeling a strange sense of gratitude toward him. He\u2019d been there when we needed him, and that meant something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fire was still burning, but it was dying down now, the bodies almost completely consumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the flames, feeling the heat on my skin, and took a deep breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was closure. This was the end of Seraphine and Daxon, the end of their betrayal and their\u00a0<\/p>\n
schemes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now I could focus on the future, on building something good with Tristan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As if reading my thoughts, Tristan turned to me and pulled me into his arms, holding me close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReady to go home?\u201d he asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded against his chest. \u201cYeah. I\u2019m ready.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We stood there for a moment longer, watching as the last of the flames flickered and died, leaving\u00a0<\/p>\n
only ash and smoke behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then we turned and walked away, leaving the past behind us, ready to face whatever came next\u00a0<\/p>\n
together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 244 \u201cCome,\u201d he said.\u00a0 I moved toward him, my legs feeling shaky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}