'She is Beta Shark's daughter.'
'I heard that is why he had a heart attack.'
'NO. I heard it was because of…'
Gossip. That was what the pack was good at. It was a mess and yet no one talked about that, what was in their minds was that they passed the rumors and gossip to each other. It was as if it was vital to their survival.
The gossip stopped when they saw the pack's doctor walking toward them, they feared her more than they feared anyone else in the pack.
Doctor Bedelia approached the wolves who were standing in front of the chamber Alpha Fisher's body was in. She heard and it angered her. She couldn't believe they were gossiping instead of mourning their dead alpha.
"How about you even pretend to mourn? Uh?" Doctor Bedelia scolded them.
The wolves looked down in embarrassment.
"Shame on you. You should even give the body time to get cold. How about that?" Doctor Bedelia continued.
"We are sorry Doc." One of the wolves uttered.
A fake smile broke on her face, she shook her head in disbelief, "you don't even mean it."
All of the wolves gasped in pretense, Doctor Bedelia studied each of them and shook her head, "and aren't those rumors old news? Why don't you start a new one?"
The wolves stared at her.
Doctor Bedelia turned and faced the door leading to the chamber where Alpha Fisher's body was. She listened to the heartbeats and murmurs inside, Beta Shark was talking. Doctor Bedelia turned around and left.
The wolves watched as she walked away, and when they couldn't see her back, they continued with their gossip.
Doctor Bedelia walked into her room, she picked a pillow from her bed and curled in the corner into a ball. She wailed into the pillow as memories of her and Alpha Fisher flooded into her mind.
She despised that she was not inside the chamber where Alpha Fisher's body was. Since they didn't get along with Beta Shark, she preferred to stay far away from that chamber. One look at Beta Shark and all her hatred always returned.
She and Alpha Fisher were siblings. And she preferred not to bring chaos in front of her dead brother's brother.
It would be unfair to both her and her brother even if he was dead.
Inside the chamber, Luna Audra wailed as she shook her mate's body. "Please, come back to me. Please."
If the wolves outside were not busy gossiping, they would have noticed that Luna Audra's cries were real and she was in deep agony.
As each moment passes, Luna Audra felt the bond with her mate break. It was pure torture. If Luna Audra was not strong, there was a possibility she would have dropped dead already and followed her mate to the lands of the dead.
The wolves outside nudged each other, they took turns in listening to Luna's cries. "She is faking it." Luna Audra heard one of them saying. This fueled her wails. She cried and cried.
Beta Shark's eyes kept darting from Alpha Fisher's body to Luna Audra. He heard the murmurs outside and said nothing. He was hurting too.
"She is pretending." Luna Audra heard another wolf saying.
Ten minutes later, Beta Shark stood and approached Luna Audra, she rubbed her back, "the doctor must take the body."
This fueled Luna Audra even more, just a few hours ago, the man Beta Shark regarded as a body was holding her. His smile stuck in her head. She sniffed while she shook her head. Beta Shark said, "we have to, Audra."
"No." Luna Audra wailed.
Outside the door, one wolf spoke, his upper lip curled in disdain, "they are pretending. Luna Audra will sneak into Beta Shark's bedroom later. She should just stop; it is pure torture to listen to her cries."
Luna Audra ignored that. She was used to it. When the gossip and rumors began about her and Beta Shark, she had tried to defend her honor but they didn't work out. The pack was adamant and kept gossiping.
Beta Shark stopped rubbing Luna Audra's back and mind-linked Doctor Bedelia to come and take the body.
Inside her chambers, Doctor Bedelia stopped crying as soon as the message came through. She walked to the bathroom and washed her face. When she saw that she was presentable, she left her bedroom.
"Can I pass?" Doctor Bedelia asked. The wolves didn't move an inch. She glared at them and at least this made them move. She entered the chamber and stared at her brother's body lying on the bed.
"Audra." Beta Shark called.
Luna Audra looked up, her brows creased together, why was he addressing her so informal? She asked in a muffled tone, "what?"
"The pack doctor is here."
"I told you I am not ready." Luna Audra replied and took Alpha Fisher's limb hand to hers.
Doctor Bedelia cussed herself, she shouldn't have listened to Beta Shark's calling and continued crying in her bedroom. Now, she was at the last place she wanted to be.
After a few cries from Luna Audra and the murmurs from the wolves outside, Doctor Bedelia had it, she mind-linked some of the pack's warriors to come and help her. She told Luna Audra, "I am taking the body."
Beta Shark pulled Luna Audra and pulled her to a corner.
Doctor Bedelia covered her brother's body and asked the warriors outside through their mind-link to come in. They left with the body, leaving behind a heartbroken Luna.
Once the body left the chamber, the wolves dispersed and went to carry on with their daily lives.
Beta Shark took Luna Audra to an adjacent room and sat her on the bed. A moment of silence passed. "I have to deal with the pack's business." He told her.
Absentmindedly, Luna Audra nodded. She gulped nervously when her daughter came to mind. She thought, "now all I need is to call Marina."