So very long time , no see eh? I really hope that y'all are not too mad at me. I know I have not updated this story in a couple of months actually and for that I am truly very sorry but I was suffering from a major writer's block, which really upset me. I have been waiting to get to this part of the story for forever and when I finally get here I can not think of anything. So I decided to take a little break and write another Twilight story along with other stuff, plus school started back up and I have been crazy busy with that. But I am finally back and here to stay. So get ready to continue on this crazy ride ;) Are y'all ready? I hope you are ;)

I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I am not going to reply to everyone's reviews in this chapter but I will when I update again :D You guys have no idea how happy I am that I am over a hundred follows, close to 200 reviews and almost a hundred favorites on this story. I never thought this story was going to be this popular and I always get so excited to post the new chapters because I can not wait to see your reactions :D

I am going to stop talking now so you guys can go read the chapter, which I hope you enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you thought :D

I was completely frozen, staring into the hazel eyes that were almost identical to my own. I had known, Silas had told me that he was still here but this was the last place that I expected to see him. Werecats never went to funerals that weren't for their own pack members, besides family, the pack members of the deceased were the only ones to attend the funeral.

"What are you doing here," I snapped, a growl building in my chest. Someone placed their hand on my shoulder, whether it was Jacob or Ansel, I had no idea. My father raised an eyebrow at me. He knew as well as I did that I had crossed the line by snapping at him. He was a Council member, which meant that he was to be treated with the upmost respect at all times. It was one of the first rules that we learn as cubs.

But I didn't have any respect for him. That was lost when he put my pack and I on trial all of those months ago. Jacob stepped forward, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to his side. It was calming but only slightly. My jaw clenched as I saw my father's eyes widened a little. The outline began to turn gold but faded before anyone could notice.

Jacob smiled at my father, offering him his hand to shake. "Hello, I'm Jacob Black. It's nice to meet you, sir."

My father stared at Jacob's hand for a moment before raising his eyes to glare at my wolf. A small hiss escaped my lips but Ansel nudged the middle of my back with his bony elbow. I glared at my brother only for him to give me a warning look.

My father smiled, expanding his hand to shake Jacob's. "It is nice to meet you as well, Jacob. I am Emerson Ashmore. I am a one of the council members of Lakewood Row as well as Aeriol and Ansel's father."

"Well it looks like I am going to have make a good impression than."

"It seems you will, Mr. Black," My father smirked, "Now if you will excuse me I am going to wish my consonances to the family."

My father glanced at Ansel and I but neither of us made a move to get him to stay. He stuffed his hands in his suits pockets and looked at the ground as he walked to the lake shore to speak with Calla's family. My eyes never left his thin yet broad shouldered frame as he hugged Calla's mother and shake hands with his father, patting the heads of her younger siblings before taking a seat in the middle of the crowd. Ansel took my hand from behind, giving it a light squeeze before he and Carissa went to find their own seats. Bryn, Ren, Calypso and Shay followed them, leaving Jacob and I alone.

"Well that was interesting," Jacob murmured in my ear once my father was out of earshot. I looked up at him. He was looking at my father, frowning. I took his hand, stroking his index finger with my thumb to get his attention. It took a minute until he finally looked down at me. I would never get over how tall Jacob was, even with my heels I was still miniature compared to him. He smiled softly, leaning down to kiss the top of my head. I sighed, a shiver running down my spine.

I had been so worried about him coming to my home. I was so worried at how people were going to react at having a shape shifter here but so far no one had given Jake a second look but I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before something happened. My father had seen Jacob and he had to know that Jake wasn't one of us. The last thing I wanted was something to happen to the boy that I was in love with. It was too painful to even consider thinking about. I wrapped my arms around Jacob's waist, hugging him and pressing my face to his chest.

His scent was so comforting, the smell of pine and salt air, the smell of home.

Home.

I wanted to go home. I did not want to be here. I didn't want to sit here and watch them place Calla's body in a hole in the ground. It was a reminder to everyone here that she was dead, cold and lifeless in a wooden box and about to be buried six feet into the ground.

"Hey," Jake whispered. He turned so that his back was facing the crowd, kneeling down so that he could look into my eyes, "Aeriol, don't cry. Please don't cry, love."

I bit my lip, looking down at my feet while Jacob wrapped his arms around me again. I don't know how long we stood there, Jacob hugging me while I silently cried. I don't even remember Shay and Ansel coming to led us to our seats. I sat down in my seat with a hollow feeling in my chest, staring at the closed white coffin that was less than ten feet from me. It was normal for the Alpha of the deceased to sit in the front of the funeral with the deceased's family but this was the last place I wanted to be.

I wanted to be as far from Calla's coffin as possible. Jacob took a seat next to me, his hand gripping mine tightly but it wasn't comfortable. He gave me a worried look for kissing the top of my head. It was like he knew how tempted I was to run away and never look back.

Of course he knew.

He was my other half, the only one who truly understand everything that was going through my mind right now. Calla's mother, Lucinda Rose, sat on my other side. Her dark red hair was a curly, tangled mess on her head. She had tried to tame it but pulling it into a loose bun but there were still strands of hair poking everywhere. Her dress was black and knee length with simple flat shoes. Her fair colored skin was blotchy from all of the crying that she had been doing.

"Hello Aeriol," She whispered softly, blinking her bright blue eyes to keep the tears at bay. For a moment, I simply stared back at her. So say "I'm sorry" did not seem to be enough. Calla was Lucinda's daughter. My pack member that I had swore that I would protect and look what happened.

I lost a pack member and Lucinda lost her only daughter.

Theodore Gold made his way to the coffin. I hadn't seen him in the crowd but I was sure that Lucinda and her husband Michael had asked him to speak. Theodore was known for being very good with words.

"Its my fault," I whispered as Theodore began his speech about Calla as a young girl and how she helped take care of her younger brothers. She always was a caring person, thinking of others before herself. Everyone else always came first. That was Calla. Sweet Calla.

Lucinda looked at me with wide blue eyes. Michael was sitting on her other side, his hand gripping her's like how Jacob was holding mine, but he was staring straight ahead.

"There was a f-fi-fight," I drew in a shaky breath and blinked the tears from my eyes but they still fell down my cheeks, "She saved me, Mrs. Rose. Your daughter was one the most kind-hearted werecats that I have ever known and now she's gone and it's all my fault."

"No, it is not."

"But if I had been able to properly protect myself, Calla would not have had to intervene and she would still be here!"

"Aeriol," Lucinda took my other hand, her grip was so soft, like a feather touching my skin, "If Calla was here, she would not want to see you beating yourself up like this. She loved you, every single one of you. You should have seen her face when she found out that she had been selected for your pack. 'I'm going to be in the first female Alpha's, Mom!' She was so ecstatic that day. She even did a dance in the kitchen."

I laughed, wiping a few tears from my cheek.

"You knew my Calla Lily as well as I did, maybe even better," She continued, "She did not die any simple reason. It was to protect you and the others. Calla knew what she was giving up but she did it anyway because she loved you. You taught my baby how to be strong, Aeriol Ashmore, and I will not tolerate you blaming yourself for her death."

I opened my mouth to protest but Lucinda gave me a look.

"Enough my dear," She whispered, "My daughter is at peace and now you should be as well."

The rest of the funeral passed in a blur. Theodore went over the highlights of her life, how she was caring, her becoming a member of my pack and how she was finally at peace, just like her mother had said. Michael and Calla's three younger brothers along with Theodore, Shay, Ren and Ansel helped carry the casket to the gravesite. Jacob stepped up to help but I grabbed him by the back of his suit.

"What?"

"Only werecats are permitted to carry their deceased to the grave," I whispered as we walked, following the crowd. Bryn, Carissa and Cal were up in the front with Lucinda while Jake and I took up the rear. "We have a belief that if anyone else should touched the deceased's coffin, then they will not be able to travel to the afterlife. They will be stuck on Earth as a ghost, unseen and unheard for an eternity."

"But that's just a belief."

"Yes but there are plenty of people who still believe it."

Throwing the dirt of Calla's grave was the hardest part. As the Alpha of her pack, I was the first to throw the handful down. I turned my head away, the clumps of dirt slipping through my fingers and making soft ping sounds as it hit Calla's coffin. I quickly walked away once the last piece of dirt fell, ignoring Jacob, Ansel and even Carissa when they tried to stop me.

I needed to be alone.

But of course he had to follow me.

"It was a beautiful funeral," My father said softly while I stood on the shore of the lake, watching the clear blue waves lick at the sand.

"What do you want?"

"What? I can not speak to my daughter?"

"No."

"It is truly a shame, Aeriol," He whispered, he moved a little closer that I could smell the sharp scent of spices on his skin.

"Having you as my father? I think I will have to agree on that," I growled, glaring at him. My father returned it, gold outline his eyes. He always had a quick temper and overly easy to angry.

"I have made mistakes, Aeriol Emilie Ashmore, but so have you."

"What mistakes? Like falsely being accused of murdering humans," I screeched, spinning around to face him, "You. You were the one who accused my pack and I of killing those people. You used your power on the Council to turn every single person here against your own daughter."

"I have regretted that decision since the day that you went missing," My father began but I cut him off.

"Then why did you do it?!"

He simply looked at me with wide eyes.

"I want to know why you did it, Dad," I snarled, "What made you turn against your own daughter!"

He opened his mouth to respond when we both heard someone come walking towards us. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw that it was Bryn.

"Aeriol, are you ready to leave," Bryn asked, glancing at my father and I with a worried glance in her dark brown eyes. I glared at my father.

"Yes, I am."

I had only taken a step away from him when his fingers wrapped themselves around my wrist. My father gave Bryn one of his sweetest smiles.

"Actually, my dear Bryn, if you and the rest of your pack don't mind, I would like to speak with my daughter alone for a little bit longer."

So I come back and I leave you guys at a cliffhanger :D Hhaha Anyway I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter and I am going to get working on the next one as soon as I can :D I promise I won't leave you guys waiting as long as I did last time :3 And don't forget to leave a review :)

Love you all,

Owly