The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate
Chapter 66

Emmett

“Hang another bag.” I said as I continued to look for the bleed in Mason’s abdomen.

Goddess, this was taking way too long. Mason had been found on the field, which I assume is where he had been for several days ahead of time, given the color of the bruises he had and swelling on his head. Not to mention how hysterical Kelsey had been. I have been digging through this poor guy for several hours now and couldn’t seem to replace the problem. I had little hope that he would make it out of this alive. My plan was to stop the bleeding, sew him up, and leave him in a medically induced coma until he was healed up enough to be brought out of it. That, of course, all depended on him living.

Hopefully he will make it through this. I would hate to have to deliver more bad news to Kelly and her family. They have been through so much, it didn’t seem fair.

“Wait! There!” I said, stopping my assistant who was adjusting my light. “I have got you now” I said to myself as I began carefully sewing up what I hoped to be the last tear. It was in a hard to reach spot, but that didn’t stop me. I quickly sewed him back up and put poor Humpty dumpy back together again before closing him up and sending him off to recovery.

I took a few minutes to get cleaned up, not wanting Kelsey to see me covered in her mate’s b***d. Once I was presentable enough, I went to go replace her in the waiting room. She was curled up in a ball on Jonas’s lap, fast asleep. I shot Jonas a perplexed look and he simply shrugged and gently woke her up by rubbing her back.

“Hey Kelsey-” I began.

She jolted awake and jumped out of Jonas’s lap. “Is he okay?” She asked, fresh tears already forming in her bloodshot eyes.

“He is in recovery now.”

“Oh thank goddess.” She sobbed, throwing her arms around me. “Thank you so much!”

“Don’t thank me yet. He has a long way to go. He had a head injury and because of that I put him into a medically induced coma so he can hopefully recover better. He lost a ton of b***d, which didn’t help his cause any. If he should wake from the coma, I am not sure if he will be all there. Only time will tell.” I said seriously.

“Oh.” Kelsey said, covering her mouth with her hand and sinking into an open chair.

“I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”

“He is alive, that is the news we were hoping for, that is a really good place to start.” Jonas said, trying to encourage Kelsey.

I excused myself and went to go check on some of my other patients. I wish I could have told her that her mate would make a full recovery, but unless the moon goddess decided to perform a miracle, I doubted it. That had me thinking though, and after I checked on all of my patients, I made a quick detour to the training grounds and collected my sad burnt stump of a flower. It was also a long shot, but perhaps I could salvage this somehow…

– – – – – – – – –

Kelly

“Ready?” I asked, looking between Kelsey and Kylie.

We were all dressed in our sad-looking black funeral clothes. I don’t know how I even got Kelsey here. She has been living at the hospital since Mason was admitted. She only promised me a few hours, which was more than I had expected from her. Then again, it was her parents’ funeral.

“Yeah.” Kylie nodded, taking Jocelyn’s hand.

“Let’s go.” Kelsey said anxiously, picking up one of her pups and taking the other by the hand.

I nodded and we exited the palace, getting into a limo that would take us to the cemetery where everyone was gathering for the mass burial. Thorin was driving us, he had hardly left my side since everything went down. We got all the fires put out yesterday and burned the bodies of the chupacabras. All that was left was to bury the deceased and then begin to rebuild.

Thorin stopped the car once we arrived at the back of the burial site. It was a horror to behold. As far as you could see, we had bodies lined up. They were all wrapped in their own white sheet with a nametag around their necks. We were able to identify all the fallen, and would announce the names before lowering the bodies into the mass grave. Each family would have time to say goodbye before we moved on to the next, our way of trying to give everyone the proper respect and closure they deserved. We would end with my parents, the former king and queen.

“You are honoring them well.” Thorin said, helping me out of the car.

I nodded at him, biting the inside of my l*p, trying to muster together all the queenlyness that I had in me before stepping out in front of the massive crowd that was ready and waiting.

“My people, we are gathered here today to honor the lives of the fallen, to remember the beautiful lives they lived. We will begin calling names momentarily. We invite all the loved ones of the deceased to step forward during that time, taking a moment to say their final goodbyes before we lower them into their final resting place.” I paused for a long moment before pulling out the sheet of paper I had all the names written down on. I went the extra mile and stayed up all night doing all the research I could on all three hundred and ninety-four deceased pack members so I could say something nice about each of them. “Millie Jacobson, age seven.” I said, taking a steadying breath as the girls’ parents and loved ones came forward. “She loved to ride her bike…”

One by one, I went along for hours, giving each family the time they needed before moving on to the next person. It was absolutely draining and gut wrenching and something I never wanted to have to do again. I don’t care what measures needed to be taken, what the expenses were, I would make it my life goal to make sure our pack was never attacked like that again. I wish I could do the same for all of the packs in my territory, but I was no dictator. Each pack outside of the kingdom had their own Alpha and I wasn’t going to overstep. Though, I would be setting up regular meetings and ensuring that they are doing their very best to make sure our people are safe and taken care of.

“…And finally, the former Alpha and Luna, King Carson and Queen Carleigh.” I said, stepping forward with my sisters. “They were wise, caring leaders. They were loving and supportive parents, and the sillyest grandparents you had ever seen. They will be very missed.” I said, clearing my throat. “But they, like everyone else here today, will not be forgotten. They will live on in our hearts.”

I personally helped lower my parents into their grave before grabbing a shovel and helping the other warriors cover it in six feet of dirt. There was an eerie silence that fell once we were finished, only interrupted by the occasional sniffling or nose blowing.

“Thank you all for coming and for all of your patience and understanding during this time. I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure something like this never happens again. I promise to put you, my people, first, and be the best leader that I can be.”

I received a round of applause and gave a half smile and a wave before heading back to the car with Thorin a few paces behind. He helped me and my sisters and nieces get into the limo before driving us back to the palace, which was buzzing with workers trying to repair the damaged areas and clearing out the destroyed furniture.

Once inside, I all but ran to my room, which was thankfully mostly undisturbed, and locked the door behind me before sinking to the floor. Finally, I was able to let myself go, for a little while anyway, letting everything finally sink in. After almost a week of keeping it all together, trying to stay courageous when all I wanted to do was cry like Kelsey, I finally let it all out. It was an ugly cry, no doubt. But I didn’t care. I needed the release.

I eventually fell asleep in a heep on the floor. It was far more comfortable than some of the places we had slept in the past month. I had some very vivid dreams that night, about one individual in particular. When I woke up, I was sad to see that he wasn’t in my bed like my dreams had led me to believe. But now was not the time for relationships, now was the time to rebuild. Hopefully he will wait a little bit longer…