Nix's POV
'I am sorry, Nix, I love you,' I hear Chara say before I feel our bond break.
I feel like my heart is being crushed, I fall to the floor and start sobbing. She's gone, she is really gone. I can't believe I lost her. I just sit there on the cold floor, knees to my chest, as I sob my eyes out. I sense someone come up to me and crouch down beside me.
"Sir, what is wrong, are you alright?" a woman asks.
I just keep crying; I can't seem to form any words to respond to her. I then smell the blood of my mate and I lift my head to see the doctor walking towards me with his head held low. The woman beside me stands up and looks at the doctors, wondering what has happened.
"I am so sorry, we did everything we would, but we couldn't save her. She is dead despite our best efforts."
"I know, I felt it when it happened. She said she was sorry and that she loved me and then the bond broke."
There was silence once again as I continued to cry.
"What happened?" I hear the woman ask the doctor.
"His mate and Luna just died."
I look up from where I am sitting, "how did you know she was to be my Luna?"
"I have the give of seeing auras, I can tell you are an alpha and she also had a very strong orange aura around her."
I just nod my head and then the movement behind the doctor catches my attention. I see Daniel, Malik, and Zane standing there looking at me. My face is probably puffy from the crying and my eyes are most likely red.
"No," I hear Daniel deny.
The doctor and woman turn around to see them. I can see the panic on Zane's face, he felt her die as well, but he denied it.
'No, she couldn't have died,' Zane tells me.
Tears fill me eyes once again and the all rush over to me. Zane lays his head in my lap and Daniel puts a hand on my shoulder.
"She couldn't have died, I just met her. We were supposed to get to know each other and find our father," Malik says, sorrow in his voice.
"I am sorry to say thing, but there is a no animals allowed policy in the hospital," the woman says.
Daniel stands up and walks over to them, "have you realized what doom this has just caused the world?"
The woman and doctor shake their heads, looking confused.
"That 'animal' was her bonded, he is a purebred chimera. That is her mate who just witness the breaking of their bonds. Right over there is her brother who she just met and wanted to get to know. I am her guide that was supposed to keep her safe and help her save our world from the darkness that is rising. Do you even know who she is?" he asks, anger laces his words.
"No, we never got a name," the doctor replies.
I stand up from my position from the ground and walk over beside Daniel, "Her name is…was Chara Shade, Goddess of Sinalo. Our whole world as we know it is now doomed. The war will happen, and the darkness will win without her."
They both look stunned and then realization and sadness cross their faces, "no, that can���t be. I just let our saviour die?" the doctor denies.
"No, this is not your fault, it is Grim's."
Their eyes widen in recognition, "Grim as in the God of Sight and Destruction?"
I nod along with Daniel.
"Did he know who she was?"
"No, he thought she was a werewolf. She masked her aura and that is why you though she was a wolf as well."
"That is good, at least he shouldn't be coming after you all."
"Can I see her?" I ask the doctor.
"Of course."
The doctor quietly takes me down a long hallway until we reach a door. He opens it to reveal a stairwell. We walk down to the floor that says 'Sublevel', he opens the door and we walk through. This floor seems very gloomy which matches my mood perfectly. At the end of the hall we come to another door that says 'Morgue'. He opens the door; I take a deep breath and walk in. the moment I walk into the room I am greeted with the nauseating smell of death. I look around the white tiled room until my eyes lock on a metal table covered by a sheet. There is the outline of someone under the sheet. I instantly know it is Chara, I can still smell her faint scent that drives me crazy. It is a mix of vanilla and rain. The scent is fading with each moment that passes and I am afraid that I will never smell it again. I snap out of my thoughts and notice that the doctor is standing next to the table my Chara is on. I let a growl pass my lips.
"Nix?" the doctor asks confused.
Tears threaten to fall, "Step away from her, I don't want her faint scent to be disrupted."
He nods and steps away. I walk over to the table and slowly bring my shaking hand up to the top of the sheet. I grab the sheet in my hand and take a deep breath as I pull it down from her face. As I look at her pale face I begin to sob once again, I let the tears fall onto her cheek. I instinctively raise my hand to wipe them away. Feeling her cold skin under my hand makes me cry even harder. How could she have left me like this? I inhale her scent through my nose and try to memorize it, I can't believe I am going to have to live the rest of my life without it. How am I going to tell Jason and the rest of her friends this? I will have to hold a funeral and it would be best to do it at the pack house so she can be buried where I will be one day. I lean down and give her a small kiss on the forehead.
"Goodbye my love, I hope you are okay wherever you are. I love you, forever and always," I say before lifting the sheet back over her head and turn around to face the doctor.
"I am truly sorry for your loss. Where would you like us to take her?" the doctor asks.
"My pack house on Riverwood Pack territory."
"Okay, I think you should all get going to inform your pack of their loss."
I just nod, not wanting to respond verbally. We make our way back up to the floor we were originally on and I see Zane, Daniel, and Malik sitting in the waiting room. Sorrow fills their expressions.
"We should get going," I say in a hushed tone.
They look up to me and Malik asks, "Where?"
"We have to go back to my pack house so we can put together a proper funeral for her, we will then continue the search for Noc."
"We are still going to look for him?" Daniel asks.
"Yes, it was her dying wish for us to continue the search and attempt to prevent this war."
They nod and we all head outside where Zane teleports us all to Daniel's car that is parked at the hotel. From there we begin to drive through the night, none of us are tired so we continue to drive. Daniel drives through the night and when the sun comes up, he asks me to take over because he is tired. I am still wide awake, and I don't think I can sleep if even if I wanted to. I drive and only stop for gas along where we also go to the bathroom and grab food. Soon Daniel and Malik are too tired to drive, and they make me pull over for the night to get a hotel. I huff in annoyance, but reluctantly do as they say. We pull into the parking lot of a motel and book a room. I insist on Daniel and Malik taking the two beds in the room and I lay down on the sofa. I just lay there unable to sleep; I miss the warmth Chara gave me when we slept in the same bed. I don't know how I am ever going sleep again without her intoxicating scent. I don't know how I am going to lead my pack all by myself. I don't know how I am going to live without her.
In the morning, Daniel finishes off the drive back to my pack house. I play country music on the drive to remind me of Chara. None of us sing along, we just listen in deafening silence. After a few hours, we arrive at the front of the pack house. The car is placed in park, but none of us make a move to get out. We just sit there, not ready for what is ahead of us. I sigh, opening the car door and walking into the house with Daniel and Malik behind me, Zane in my pocket. I tell them to wait in the Livingroom as I make my way up to my father's office. I open the door, not even thinking of knocking and see that Jason is also there.
"What are y…?" my father starts to shout, "Nix, what are you doing back so early? I thought you would all be gone for much longer. Where is Chara?"
Once that question left his mouth, my eyes filled with tears, threatening the fall down my cheeks.
"What happened?" Jason asks, looking scared.
"Sh-she…" I don't know how to say this, "she d-didn't…um."
Tears are falling down my face at this point, "She didn't what?" Dad asks.
"S-she d-d-died," I sob.
I am wrapped in an embrace as my dad hugs me, all I can hear is Jason repeating the word no.
"No, no, no. She can't be dead. No," Jason denies.
All I can do at this point is cry, I feel so weak right now, but I don't care. I don't care if my pack thinks I am no longer fit to be their alpha. I just want to be back in the arms of my mate.
"Nix, what do you want to do now?" my father asks.
"I um…I need to plan her funeral. I don't know if I can go on without her Dad. Her dying wish was for us to find Valanter to get Noc and try to stop the war. I need to do that for he and I hope you can live with that."
"Of course, I can Nix, but how are you to get Noc out when you no longer have a member of his family."
"Actually, on our way to find him, we met Malik. He is Chara's half-brother and Noc's son."
"Okay. How about you go and relax for a bit, you look exhausted. I will plan out everything for the funeral. I know it will be hard to sleep without Chara being here, but you must try, okay? If not for me, then do it for her."
I just nod knowing he is right. I need to take care of myself, so I can carry out her final wish. I walk up to my bedroom and try to fall asleep. I lay in my bed with one of Chara's shirts in my arms. I breathe in her scent and it makes me relax and grow tired. Soon I fall asleep.
I wake up to feeling warmth in my arms. I open my eyes and see Chara sleeping there in front of me. I am startled by her being here, but I then realize that we are back in that hotel room outside the city of Matericus. I smile to myself, all of what happened must have been a dream. I kiss her lightly on the head and she turns her head to look at me. She smiles and kisses me on the lips. I am a bit shocked; this is our first kiss and it can't be any more perfect. It is definitely better than it being right before she dies.
"Good morning love," I tell her while smiling.
She smiles and looks like she is about to say something when she begins coughing up blood instead. My eyes widen in worry and fear. What is going on? I sit up and hold her in my arms as she continues to cough up blood. I then here bones breaking. Her ribs, then her leg snaps. He eyes look at me and she mouths the word 'sorry' and then she goes limp in my arms. I can no longer hear her heartbeat and her breathing has stopped.
I jump so high in bed that I fall off of it. I just lay on the floor crying; it was just a dream; she is really gone. Someone enters my room and walks over to me. I don't look up to see who it is, but I can tell it is Zane. He lays down in front of me and licks my face.
'Everything will be alright in the end, Nix. You just have to be strong and hold on.'
'What do you mean? How can everything be alright when the love of my life just died? I will never get to kiss her again. I will never get to mark her. We will never have children. I will forever be without my Luna.'
'Trust me Nix, everything will work out the way it is supposed to.'
'What about you?' I ask trying to change the subject a bit. 'Shouldn't you be out there looking for a new bonded. Your memories should be reset by now.'
'I think I am still here because of you. I will stay with you until you die. We have a bond Nix; you cannot deny it. We will not be bonded the way I am…was with Chara. We will be bonded in a different way. I can help you with everything and anything.'
'Okay, thank you Zane.'
'Anytime Nix. Now, let's get you back into bed. You do not have to sleep, but you need to rest. Tomorrow is a big day.'
I nod, tomorrow will be Chara's funeral. I will have to bury my mate.
In the morning, I walk downstairs to the kitchen with Zane beside me. As I turn the corner, I see Jason, Daniel, and Malik sitting at the table. They are all just eating cereal quietly staring at their bowls. I walk over to them, not feeling hungry, and sit down next to Malik.
"Nix, what are we going to do?" Malik asks.
"We are going to find Noc and release him from Valanter. That is the first task."
"But we aren't strong enough without Chara, we never got the time to work on my powers from my dad yet. Chara was the only one strong enough to break him out because of her power."
"We will still try. We have to try, for Chara."
Malik nods his head and goes back to eating his cereal in silence. After they finish, there is a knock at the door. I walk over to it and open the door.
"Hello, are you Nix?" the man asks.
"Yes, who are you?��
"I am here with um…the deceased."
Tears fill my eyes once again, but I manage to blink them away, "Our pack church is just down that road, take your first right."
The man nods and bows his head slightly in respect. He then leaves and I close the door trying to keep myself from crying again. After a few deep breaths, I walk upstairs to my father's office.
"Dad, is everything ready?" I say in a quiet voice.
"Yes, Nix. Go have a shower and get ready."
"Okay, thank you Dad."
"Of course, son."
I leave the office, closing the door. I then make my way to my room and hop into my shower. I just stand there for the longest time letting the warm water trail down my skin. After a while, I begin to wash my hair. I turn off the water and wrap myself in a towel. I step out of the shower and walk into my bedroom to put on my suit. It is a black suit with a black tie. I have new black dress shoes that I decide to wear and then I style my hair back with gel. I walk slowly downstairs into the entryway. I reach the bottom and turn around to face the stairs. I can see that night of Chara's birthday. She walked down these very stairs looking stunning in the dress I got for her. I sigh heavily, wiping the tears from my cheeks. I turn around and walk outside where my dad, Jason, Malik, Daniel, and Zane are waiting. They turn to me, sadness in their eyes.
"Let's go," my dad says, and we turn to walk through the forest to the pack church.
We soon arrive at the church and I stop outside of the doors. I don't know if I can bring myself to enter the church. Everyone else enters the church except for Zane who stays by my side.
'I don't think I can do this Zane,' I say looking at the church doors teary eyed.
'You must, trust me when I say you will regret it if you don't.'
'I know I will, but how am I supposed to say goodbye to her?'
'If you don't, you will never have closer. Come on, let's go in.'
I nod knowing Zane is right and I walk into the church with him. I can sense the sorrow in the air as I walk in, I reluctantly make my way to the front where my mate lays in a casket. I take a deep, shaky breath as I walk up to her to look at her. I begin to sob as I look at her pale face, she is still the most beautiful person I have ever seen. I close my eyes letting my tears fall and I pull myself away from her and make my walk to take a seat beside Jason; Malik and Daniel are sitting next to him. Zane walks up to me and sits in front of me. The ceremony is beautiful. So many people that knows and loves Chara spoke about her and I am the last to stand up in front of everyone. I draw in a deep breath and stand up making my way up to the podium. Zane follows close behind to show be he has my support.
"Thank you all for coming here today to say goodbye to my mate with me. I know a lot of us has known Chara for a long time and she has helped each and every one of us in her own way. She lit up every room she walked into and always had other people's best interests in her mind. It is truly a tragedy that we must say g-goodbye to this a-am-amazing w-woman today. I…um…t-thank you all o-once a-again for c-coming," I stutter while trying to hold back my tears.
I walk down from the podium sit back beside Jason. Father Kirk, the pack's priest, resumes his position at the podium to say some final words before Malik, Jason, Daniel and I take the casket with my mate in it to the graveyard. Once there everyone gathers around once again waiting for Father Kirk to speak once again.
"It is brought to my attention that Chara was, in fact, a goddess. That changes the plan for this ceremony slightly. I am familiar with the ceremony that takes place when a god or goddess dies and I am going to have to ask Nix and Zane to aid me in this. We have to personally help send her spirit to the heavens to rest. This is a sight not many will be able to ever witness in their lifetime. Nix, Zane, please step forward; one of you on each side of the casket please."
We both do as we are told. The top of the casket is opened once again, and tears threaten to cascade down my cheeks once again. I manage to hold them back and the priest begins to talk once more.
"You both must focus your power and love for Chara. Focus on her having peace and being sent to the resting place for the gods."
Both Zane and I look at Chara, doing as Father Kirk says. I suddenly see Chara begin to glow gold, the same way her aura was described to me by Malik. The gold glows stronger and brighter until it is all I can see. I can no longer see Chara. A spark of hope ignites in my chest, maybe she isn't totally gone. That spark slowly dissipates when I see little golden lights begin to float up to the sky. When I see them, I instantly know it is Chara floating into her rightful resting place where all of the gods go. I can only hope that one day I will meet her there so I can see her once again. Goodbye my love.