Lure To The Woods

XLIII

"Where do I begin? Noah was the most genuine and caring best friend a guy could ask for. Whenever I needed him, he was there with an inappropriate comment to lighten the atmosphere and make everyone feel awkward; he had your back, no matter what. Despite pretending not to care, he was like a father to the kids at the pack house- he loved every pack member so deeply that it could bring tears to your eyes. Noah was the heart and soul of this pack and without him, it will never be the same.

"Not a day will go by where I do not miss Noah and every time I look at his son, I will be reminded of how joyful and full of life Noah was, which will never die. He was taken from all of us, but he will never be forgotten. He wouldn't want us to all sit here, crying over something that can't be changed, but Noah would have been sobbing the hardest if it was anybody else's funeral... He was a total hypocrite, but that's why we loved him.

"I hope that all of you can look to Noah as an example of who you should aim to be like in life. Until the end, he was hardworking, loving and dedicated to not just his mate, but to the whole pack. Never before have I met somebody as selfless and hardworking as Noah; even when his mate was pregnant, he spent every evening hauled up in an office until the early hours of the morning working on keeping each of you safe and secure- even when I was too busy to be there, you could find Noah sat at that desk. I know that his mate will make an excellent Beta, but I will miss the days when I was greeted by his beaming face behind my desk."

Xavier's speech brought tears to my eyes. He was really pouring his heart out about his best friend, reflecting on what a great guy he was. The whole pack stood in black around the surrounding area, paying their respects and listening tentatively to Xavier's speech. When the rest of the pack heard the news about what happened to Noah they were devastated, but the betrayal from a pack member made the sorrow cut twice as deep- believe me when I say that the person responsible was not let off lightly...

The funeral was being held outdoors to accommodate the sheer number of people who had attended, but the place still looked beautiful. They had strung fairy lights around tree trunks and branches, decorating the chairs containing close family and friends in white ribbons and white flowers. Gracie had said that the last thing Noah would want would be for his funeral to look depressing, so it had been dressed to the nines with light colours and decked out with wild flowers to give it an earthy, spring-time feeling.

Noah Junior gurgled from his pram, cooing at nothing in particular. I, like many others, turned to look at him with sorrowful eyes. Despite him not knowing what was going on, I still felt so sorry for him. Xavier and I had been doing our best to help Gracie with raising him, but she still got so overwhelmed sometimes.

Speaking of which, Noah's coffin sat just in front of where Xavier was stood making his speech. Thankfully, it was closed, but Gracie was finding it so hard to even look at the box. Even the knowledge that Noah was in there was too much for her to handle and she broke down crying whenever her eyes met the white coffin.

"Well, Noah was never really a fan of poetry, so we'll skip any of that, but he was a big music fan. One of his favourite songs was 'forever young' by Alphaville, so please listen as the coffin is lowered."  Xavier closed up his segment, bowing his head respectfully as the music played.

The music began to play and everyone bowed their heads, reflecting quietly on Noah's life and his abrupt and tragic passing. Gracie, however, couldn't contain her grief any longer. As the coffin began to lower into the ground, her sobbing grew more and more hysterical. My own sobs ripped through my throat as I watched it disappear from sight, settling into the ground.

Gracie clung to me and I held us both up, her laments so loud they were almost drowning out the music. The rogues were sorted now and everything had been returning to normal, but nothing felt normal. Without Noah, there was no normal. However, Gracie had started to sleep at night again (Xavier and I had been taking the night shifts with Noah Junior so that she had time to grieve and sleep alone), so that was a sign that eventually things would improve.

Right now, it felt like things would never get better, but I knew that Gracie was strong enough to get through of this- if not for herself, then for Noah Junior. It may take years and years, but eventually she would smile again. After all, she always had Noah Junior, Xavier and I: our makeshift family. In fact, she had the support of the whole pack behind her.

We would get through this together.

The End.