Chapter XII

XII

Dawn arrives and with the various casualties, much crying, one of the oldest lupas that had walked the planet Earth has died, died with glory, the funeral games must be carried out that according to ancient Roman customs lasted more than a week, but in distant lands they would only last a week. They go to the foothills of the desert to make the funeral pyre, as Zinerva's children were not there it would be Elián who would act as a direct relative, which to a certain extent he was as he was her oldest acquaintance, night comes the Greek dressed entirely in black the pyre was already ready, with her in his arms he carries her to the highest point he adjusts her beautiful white dress with golden trim on her head an olive garland, beautifully made up with her hair loose, it is he who places the gold drachmas in each of her eyes for the ferryman who is going to take her across the Styx, he places a kiss on her forehead and says a few words in her ear, she gets down from the pyre it is he who lights the funeral pyre the instant the fire touches her body the howls begin to be heard the sound is so loud that they can be heard in the nearby towns.

The Greek was almost a hundred years older than her, and she knew her husband very well, the one who changed her. He was by her side when she began to gain control over her conscience, when she began to train to be the Alpha. He was her teacher in certain activities, such as politics. If it is true that Rome defeated Greece militarily, Greece defeated it culturally, and he was part of that victory.

As the howls of lamentations are heard he can't help but smile at the good memories he had by her side, his tears fell when he remembered that he must take the ashes to his children, he must face the eldest, he doesn't like that very much since the eldest knew of her intentions towards him and that his mother died because of her did not leave him in a very good position neither in front of his son nor in front of himself since a woman had died to protect him and that for his personal ethics and morals is frowned upon, it is the man who must protect the woman, not the woman, the man cannot control his crying or his sorrow, two losses in such a short time, two important women in his life are gone, it is something he had not gone through in centuries since his wife died giving "birth" to Elena.

By the time the sun rose again, Zinerva's body had turned to ashes, Philip and others gathered the ashes and gave them to the Greek, who thanked him, gave them to his daughter Briseis, and said goodbye to his two daughters, as well as to the rest of the gladiators. He went with Philip and Jonathan to Alexius's estate, where they had captured two more savages, in fact they were savages because he couldn't speak a word of a known language or dialect, but he didn't care about Greek, that wasn't going to stop him from finding the flagrum until the man's flesh began to fall off alive, he wanted answers and he wanted them in action, he released the flagrum and took the man in his hands.

That man was the cause of his friend's death when he saw his face he saw the Italian woman's smile, that made his blood boil more his hands were closing more on the man's neck who did not stop flailing and kicking because Elián already had him fifty centimeters from the ground, he growls when the man loses consciousness but not his life, he lets him fall to the ground, he makes his claws come out and gives the first blow right on the neck but a mark stops him, he squats down he sees a scar, that man had been marked like cattle with runes, several runes, he goes with the other prisoners he looks for the same mark and in effect he has the same mark that leaves him frozen, he knew about fighting dogs but he had never seen one despite his thousands of years he had never come across them.

Elian's passion

Why had they attacked them? If they hadn't bothered anyone, neither them nor the locals, or had they? He calls his peers and shows them the marks; that rules out the SkinWalkers. The three serious ones see the marks. The remaining two believed it was myth and legend, just like those who believed themselves. This means many more killings, not only among the werewolves but also among humans, and it must be avoided at all costs. Elián calls a meeting with the members of his pack; it would take place that same night among the forces of the small town. Jonathan, for his part, would leave immediately; he must put everyone in the southern United States on alert, while Felipe would go to the coast with the Seris; they would also be on alert. That afternoon before the moon set high Elian gives the order that no one belonging to his pack the Lycaon, is prohibited from leaving his house and even ordered them to leave the city they will all be received in his villa in Greece, no one should put themselves at risk until they find those who have sent those dogs to kill them, everyone obeys the order, that night no one goes out and in the next few days they will begin to evacuate the city, that same night both he and Elena would go to say goodbye to Emilia.

They both arrive at the girls' house, Elian prefers to wait in the car, but at Elena's insistence he gets out, the one who opens it is Emilia who shamelessly throws herself at it hugging her, only three days have passed, Emilia worries about the full moon, but is calmed by the teenager, it is the oldest who tells her everything that has happened and for that reason she has to leave as well as everyone who belongs to her pack, this makes the youngest sad who does not stop hugging her, for her part Elian places himself at the height of the dog fixes his gaze on him and it is not until Secundina takes it away that he regains consciousness of where he was and who he was with, neither of them speaks to each other, on the contrary, she puts on her headphones, completely ignoring the Greek, now it is her turn to say goodbye, she takes her in her arms, cradles the teenager, she does not stop crying, he does not let go of the girl until he leaves her asleep and with his mother's permission he puts her to bed, he gives her a goodbye kiss, Elena another one He secretly leaves her a cell phone and a debit card, and in the process takes a Secundina t-shirt. Without saying a word, the two leave the house. They don't leave immediately because he can't stop crying.