Mated to A Rival Alpha-Chapter 268: The Blank Space That Haunted

[RANIA]

"—My best friend will be buried in the Kim cemetery, next to my older brother," Rania said and Chang Wook began choking so loudly that Kaia had to pat his back gently.

The rest of the team pretended like they didn’t know shit about Aria’s brother as that was the only way for them to get out of this without causing more unrest.

"Your older brother?" Kaia asked and Rani just nodded at him. She had never talked about her brother and the fact that she felt comfortable enough to share this was something that they couldn’t take lightly.

Granted, they could see her brother right now but they were going to let Chang Wook decide when to come clean to his sister.

"Yeah. I found out a few years ago that I had one. But he died in the battle of Drarun. He was a warrior, a good one it seems because mother and father buried him in the crypt too," Rania said and they all just nodded like headless sheep.

It would really be hard getting to win this way anyway. But then their target was someone else.

"Alright, let’s get prepared for the burial then. I don’t want many people, just the warriors and us if possible," Paloma said and Rania nodded in understanding.

She knew how important this was to them all and she knew how their grief had the ability to screw them over even more. They had so many decisions to make and their lives were getting more complicated.

Vengeance was costing them more and yet even then, they were all down and there was no turning back. They had to see this to the very end, even if it would probably cost them a few of their friends but wasn’t that something they own anyway?

They had been at this for literal years and knew what was expected and how to figure it all out.

"Yeah, I can make that happen," Rania said defeatedly.

"Where’s Odelia?" Han asked when they noticed she had been missing for the last few hours. It was so unlike her and even more shocking that they had failed to realize that she had been gone.

But grief did that to people. It was hard taking care of others when they were all hurting just the same way.

Granted, many would assume that together was something that they could face, but they had started breaking, bit by bit, their lives were changing because of the path they had chosen.

"Oh shit. She was the one Oshita talked to with his dying breath. He told her that Eunbi had been the one to kill him," Kaia said sadly. There was no other way for them to get over the statement that had been messing with them for long.

Kaia had seen the memories in the air for that time and he had felt when Oshita breathed his last.

Raqeeb had also sent him memories of what had happened and Kaia knew that it was Jungwoo.

Would he tell that to Rania? Or did she already know about it?

But more importantly, where in all hell was Odelia what was she doing, when the ac was experiencing heavy rains? Had she disappeared like she always did in her grief? But then it had been a while since she had shed even a tear, it just wasn’t possible.

"I think the rain, it’s her tears," Paloma added defeatedly.

It wasn’t something that was easy for them but with their friend out there and without knowing where she was, the least they could do was try to understand how her emotions worked, but was Paloma right?

"It’s raining since the evening. Surely she couldn’t be crying for that long, no?" Dalrae asked.

"Oshita meant so much to her. He connected with her in ways that we all weren’t aware of. She had promised to take Oshita as a mate, if fate allows and she was already in the process of making it happen.

"Hell, the goddess herself had approved the union," Paloma said, prompting a long silence.

It was then that they understood that this wasn’t just the pain of friendship alone, but the pain of a bond that had never been let to even see light.

This was about a relationship that deserved everything and got nothing in return, and it could also explain why Oshita had been comfortable with telling Odelia that he had died by Eunbi’s blade.

It may have been confusing a little when he had said that, but right in that moment as the realization dawned on the misfits, they knew that someone was going to die soon. Someone would lose a life after all, Odelia only ever worked with one analogy.

A life for a life.

"We need to find her then—"

"No. Let her be. We can prepare the cemetery and Oshtia’s body. By the time we are done she will surely show up," Han said as he looked at their friends. This wasn’t going to be easy, but they had to try and make something out of it.

They had to fulfill the dishes of the happiest man they had ever met. Oh, but Oshita was their bundle of joy. He was a sunshine to them even when they were in stressful situations.

Oshita knew how to lighten them up and put smiles on their faces and now that the light had been taken from them, it would be challenging to have it back.

They would have to learn to face truths that would be pleasant, but maybe, just maybe they would make it all a reality.

"Alright, let’s get on with it," Paloma said defeatedly.

Together the misfits prepared everything that was needed for their friend’s farewell. It was not easy and didn’t make them feel any better, but it was something that they had to do.

Goodbyes were always going to be hard and in the end, the only thing that would matter was that they tried to make do with what was. The emptiness would never go away, the void would never be filled, because the man had been their light and he was gone.

And so for the next hour, they prepared for the burial.

It wasn’t easy, as they held back their tears, but they had to do it.

They had expected to see Odelia anytime through and through, but she didn’t show up. Instead, the rains grew harder and longer, not to mention heavier. They could only just assume how much pain Odelia was feeling at the moment. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

They had waited for Odelia even at the cemetery, but she never showed up either. She had been missing, and hiding from the world. She was probably in denial of what had happened and that was why she never showed.

The misfits had to bury their friend, however, they hoped that Odelia would come, and even after the final rites, even after Kaia burned Oshita’s body, Odelia was a no-show. And it was then that they were worried officially.

She had never missed out on any group activities. Sure this wasn’t exactly the best of group activities, but she always always showed up.

She had never been late, but today, Odelia was late to everything.

Dejectedly, the friends went back to the pack house, with the rogues heading back to their shelters among the other wolves.

And that was the last they saw of Odelia for weeks.