My Hunted Mate

Corinna

Sitting on the cold cement floor, staring at the wall, a deep emptiness wraps itself around my heart, clinging to it and becoming unshakeable. An unknown amount of time passes before I shift my gaze onto Phoenix, who sits next to me with his head between his knees and his arms resting over the back of it.

" Phoe? We need to take him outside with the others. * I mumble, my voice becoming unsteady as I speak.

He remains quiet and unmoving, causing me to lay my palm flat on his back. " Come on, we'll give him a proper goodbye. " I whisper.

His shifts his head from between his legs, his bloodshot eyes fall on mine making my heart clench for the muscular blue haired man before me. He slowly nods his head, forcing himself up off the floor and moving to collect Kai's body into his arms.

My breath catches in my throat due to the forming lump as my eyes fall on his heart laying on the ground, crawling across the floor, I move myself into a kneeling position as I slowly pick up his heart, cradling it gently in my hands.

A burst of pain, grief and sorrow cuts through me as I stand to my feet, harsh sobs force themselves past my lips as I exit the room, my legs automatically guiding me through the house, out the back garden and to the large field of flower filled grass near the gazebo.

Phoenix follows closely behind me the entire time, laying Kai's body onto the patch of grass which was now burned to a crisp with the dead clan members ashes in separate piles on top.

Until I place Kai's heart down with his body, I don't realise the crowds of people standing around in the distance watching the scene before them, minute by minute more people flock out to us, until the entire clan is huddled around in respectful silence.

My eyes search until they finally land on Atticus who has shifted back with a blanket wrapped around his waist. * Atticus, Where is Dahlia? She needs to be here for this. " I question.

" She is inside the house with her mate, Elias and Dyna. " He tells me. Looking over to Sabine, I give her a small smile. * Could you?

" Of course. " She ducks her head, dashing off in a blur toward the house.

Seconds later she returns with Dahlia, who comes to a shocked stop at the sight of her brother's body on the ground. " Oh god.. " She sniffles. " He's really gone. "

She stumbles over to him, dropping to her knees and reaching out to place her hand on the top of his head. Sending Atticus a short nod, he wanders across the field until he is far away from everyone, he drops the blanket wrapped around his naked waist causing me to immediately avert my eyes until he is standing tall in his giant dragon form.

Phoenix hesitantly makes his way over to dahlia who is now crying, he places a hand on her shoulder mumbling that she needs to move away now. At first she refuses to leave her deceased brother's side, but Phoenix pulls her away from him and into his arms, backing up without breaking their embrace.

Lila walks up to us with Elias in her arms while Dyna pads beside her, one of her hand's are joined with Lila's, while the other grasps her dragon plushie tightly, a big smile takes over her face when she spots her dad's beautiful dragon, she giggles excitedly waving her toy in the air.

Lila releases Dyna's hand, to place it over her little ruby coloured eyes before she is not distracted anymore and discovers the body of my dead mate laying out on the ground for anyone to see.

Just to be safe, I hold up my hands, chanting softly to put up a protective bubble around the entire clan as Atticus lets out a loud roar and a deep breath of flames, when I'm sure that the flames aren't close enough to be a danger to anyone, I drop my enchantment, watching with a tear covered face as my mate's body turns into a pile of ash. Atticus shifts back into his human form having done what he needed to do, he instantly runs over to grab the blanket, wrapping it securely around his waist before sprinting over to Dyna, scooping her into his arms and planting a big kiss on her cheek.

Looking away from them, I take a deep breath spotting the urns I had asked for Phoenix to gather near where everyone is standing, so I wander over to them, collecting each one and placing it in front of the remains of the clan members, freezing when I realise that there is no where to put Kai's ashes.

Feeling a tapping on my shoulder, I spin around to find Sabine holding out a stunning white marble urn with a gold lid engraved with leaf designs. " Oh it's perfect, where did we even get these? "

" There's a funeral home in the human town near by, when Mal first passed I thought.. well that doesn't matter. * She trails off, clearing her throat awkwardly.

This reaction takes me by surprise, usually Sabine is very straight to the point, strong and professional. Knowing that this is because of the effect of Kai's death, I reach out and pull her into a brief embrace. " Thank you. * I mumble into her shoulder, while she awkwardly pats my back.

Pulling away from Sabine, I place the urn down in front of Kai's remains, backing up and raising my hands into the air while I begin to chant under my breath, bit by bit the ashes lift into the air and into the urns, eventually when the urns are filled, my body feels heavy from all the tiredness, grief and magic.

The loved ones of each dead clan member approaches me as I hand them the urns, giving them my condolences, when that is done I make my way over to collect Kai's but Farrah's voice causes me to pause.

" So what? The hybrid is going to lead us now and no one has a problem with it? * Turning around, I find her walking through the crowd throwing her hands around as if for dramatic effect.

"1 mean, come on! " She drags out her words, facing the crowd when she finally reaches where I am standing.

" She's not one of us, she never will be! She doesn't belong here to begin with, but she's going to be our Master now? " Farrah laughs.

* Corinna was Mal's beloved, he was planning for them to lead side by side. " Dahlia interrupts in an attempt to cut Farrah’s rally for an uprising short.

" Malakai is dead as a door nail sweetheart, there is no way to know what he was planning and who cares! He just murdered his own clan members! " She argues, many people amongst the crowd, trading glances at the new information.

" He was not in his right mind, how would you even know that anyway? * Dahlia narrows her eyes, getting closer and closer to squaring up to Farrah by the second

" Oh please, you all weren't exactly discreet about it. " Farrah shrugs off. " The point is, I'm not going to stand being led by some half breed dog and I'm sure more than enough of the clan agree. *

" Don't call her that! * Phoenix sneers.

Regardless of how heart warming it is to feel accepted and defending by my mate's family, I decide that now is the time to step in and stand up for myself.

"In packs, when a member questions an alpha we fight for the position, so Farrah considering you're standing there mouthing off about how unhappy you are at the idea of me leading, why don't you see if you can win against me?

" We're not dogs, we don't operate the same, see this is exactly what I mean- " She continues to rant.

"If you have a problem with me, do something about it. * I growl, making her narrow her eyes at me.

" Fine. " She states simply, charging full force at me and knocking me to the ground with a strong kick to the chest.