SWNOVELS Chapter THIRTY-FOUR
The funeral was melancholy as sad pack members filed in as silently as they could muster into the backyard the following day. Someone could hear the sniffles and whimper now and then from pack members trying to hold their emotions as best as possible. The childcare workers cared for the younger children at the pack's childcare centre. It still was not big enough because the people who came to farewell the former Alpha pair were threatening to overflow. Everyone who knew the former Alpha pair came to pay their respects. It was tough on the former Alpha's family and closest friends, including Elder Gabriel, who celebrated his one hundred and twentieth birthday last week and their eldest son Rocco. Why? Rocco found them when he and his family visited them, as they do every second day, to check up on them to see if they were okay or needed anything.
When everyone had seated themselves, the funeral service started. Everyone who had known Luca and Rosahad got up to speak about what the old Alpha and Luna had meant to them and were saddened to hear of their passing. After forty-five minutes, the ceremony was over, and everyone sympathised with the family, who thanked them for coming and would see them later for the wake. Rocco then turned to see that the ex-Elder was still sitting in his seat, his body trembling with tears running down his face as he said his goodbyes to his dear friends. He could not get up.
He was so grief-stricken he could or would not move because of it. Rocco came to their family friend, helping him out of the seat and towards the coffins, sitting on a pyre of firewood and waiting to be set alight in a private gathering just for the family and the ex-elder. They reached where the ex-alpha pair lay. When they got their coffins, and that was where the ex-elder broke down and cried with Alpha Rocco there for support. After what seemed like ages but was only fifteen minutes, Rocco and his family left, helping the trembling ex-elder down the aisle and towards the hall where the wake was. They would return later when it was time to light the pyre and send the ex-alpha and Luna souls back to the Moon Goddess.
Two hours later, it was time for the immediate family, including the ex-elder, to light the pyre and send the ex-alpha and Luna's souls back to the Moon Goddess. As they circled, the pyre torches were waiting to get set alight next to the fire. They each took a torch and lit the end up in the fire pit before moving over to the pyre, and they each lit a part of the pyre before the fire engulfed the entire firewood fuel. Everyone said their last goodbyes to the ex-alpha pair as they all looked on, and the embers floated towards the sky. Alpha Rocco made sure that there was a chair for Gabriel to sit in while he trembled in grief as he watched the flames burn the bodies of his beloved friends. The fire left nothing behind but the ashes gathered and put in the two urns they had brought. Rocco then walked towards Gabriel and handed one jar to him, saying, "This is what my mum and dad wanted to do for you,u to have a piece of each of them with you," he informed the ex-elder. He took the urn into his hands and then his arms carefully as he said, "Thank you" to the family, who replied, "No worries, Gabriel, you are part of this family, too." Gabriel then burst into tears again. They tried to console him, but nothing worked; he missed his friend so much that watching as his body shook with the grief of both of his friend's passing was unbearable.
Gabriel quietened down after a while but was still trembling and sniffling, with tears in his eyes. He looked up at Rocco and the others and thanked them for being there to comfort and console him. They all shook it off. Helping Gabriel to his feet, they walked back towards the hall and rejoined to celebrate the lives of the former alpha pair. As the night progressed and the festivities were winding down, Gabriel raised his glass and said, "To Luca and Rosa, may you rest in peace" As he spoke, his eyes were glistening with tears as the entire pack repeated the saying so loud that they heard it from where they were. An hour later, Gabriel and his assistant left to retire for the night, as they would head home first thing in the morning. Rocco and his family said goodnight to them both and told them that if they could do anything, they should just let them know, and someone would see it done. Gabriel says thank you to them before he and his assistant leave to head towards the packhouse where they are staying.
Rocco sighed at the sight of the ex-elder as he walked towards the packhouse and thought to himself, we would lose another soon as he watched the ex-elder walk away. And he was right; one week later, Gabriel's passing shocked the pack, who considered him one of their own. Grief-stricken from his parent's passing, Gabriel had lost the will to live. In his will, as a last wish, he asked if he could be next to his friends, Luc and Rosa. Rocco, his family, and the entire pack granted Gabriel's wish and buried him next to his parents in the back of their old property, with the ashes of his parents that they had given him, so he still had a piece of them with him after he died. Life as they knew it would never be the same for the Ferrera Wolf pack, but they will never forget and forever remember this life and the next.
Within the next six months, the passing of Luca's brother, Constantino, and the ex-betas, Stefan and Gianna De Luca, saddened the Ferrera Wolf Pack once again.