Selene [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-Five

I walked over to where Tomas lay still face down in the dirt and fell to my knees beside him. I rolled him over and into my lap, clutching his dead body. He was already getting cold, and he had a massive wound in his chest. His eyes were open in surprise, but they were unseeing. With shaky fingers, I closed his eyes and just held him close. I snug him the lullaby that my mother had sung to me to get me to sleep. 

I kissed his forehead, his eyelids and his mouth. I stroked his sweat-covered hair and down his cheek. I held his cold hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it softly. I felt hot tears falling down my face as I stared at him. I let out a howl of despair, and the wolves gathered around us in a circle. Some of them had shifted back into human form and were crying, too; others were still in wolf form and were howling to the moon. I knew that that was where Tomas would have gone. I knew he would be waiting for me up there. 

"I'll take care of our baby," I promised him. "I'll tell him all about his daddy," I whispered to my mate as I gently rocked him back and forth. "I love you so much," 

"Selene, let's get him home," Mark said as he touched my shoulder, and I nodded. Mark waved his hand, and three other men came forward, including Alexi, and they lifted Tomas, each holding up a limb on their shoulders. Another warrior rushed forward and held up Tomas' head. Gretchen and Adam came over to me, helping me up to my feet and supporting me back to the packhouse. They each held one of my arms, guiding me away from the body. 

"The bodies,"

"We will deal with this, Alpha Goddess", Gretchen told me, and I stopped. She was correct; with the Alpha dead and no heir, I would take over as Alpha until I could pass it on to our child. I was now the Alpha and the first female to be the Alpha for over 100 years. I didn't want this job, and I did not want to continue living, but the truth was, I had to. I had to go on, and I had to get our child to 25 so that they could take over from me. 

"Thank you, Gretchen," I mumbled as we continued to walk. 

We made it back to the main house, and Jade, Ester and other women of the pack who were not fighters were waiting for us. They ran to their returning mates, and some were crying because, like me, they had lost their mate or family member in the fight. Many of those who had returning mates were crying because their Alpha had died, and they had had to watch him be carried home. I could feel their pain and sorrow, which only seemed to amplify mine, so I had to go numb to ensure my magic did not rip out of me. 

Gretchen and Adam led me to the packhouse and the main living room. They sat me down on the sofa, and I just curled up on it, cuddling a pillow that smelled like Tomas, and I wept into it. Gretchen sat by my head and stroked my hair while Adam stood over me. Jade came running in with a blanket and covered me. Ester followed in with a bowl of warm water and a rag. Ester pulled back the rag and shooed Adam out, who went and stood guard. The head maid and cook came in at that point with food and a change of clothes. 

Then they all got me up into a sitting position, and Ester cleaned me up of all the dirt, grime and blood I had all over me. I just let her. I was so defeated and broken. Grethen took my hairbrush and combed out my hair before putting it into a plait. Ester wiped my face last and gave me a soft smile. The head maid, Lucy and Jade, then pulled off my shirt, which was ruined and cleaned up my healing wounds. Next, they took off my boots, trousers and underwear. They checked me over for any more injuries but could not find any more because I had accelerated healing. Finally, they helped me into some pyjama bottoms and a top before sitting me back down. 

The cook went outside and got Mark and Adam, who were waiting at the door with Alexi. All three men came running into the living room and over to me. Mark knelt in front of me, placing his hands on mine.