Chapter 524: Come with me

A few minutes later, Viola came downstairs dressed in a muted gray dress as well, matching everyone else, with a winter coat buttoned over it as she went to join the others waiting for her in the living room, and they all got up when they saw her.

Together, they made their way toward the hall, Viola having no idea where her husband had disappeared to since dawn, likely fleeing whatever today’s weight had promised him, for people were bound to cry and reminisce.

She rested a hand against her stomach, against her babies, more accurately, since Gilbert had confirmed weeks ago that she was carrying more than one, and the weight was hard to carry and get used to. It hadn’t come as a surprise that she would have twins, considering that both she and her husband were twins themselves.

Even before they reached the hall arranged for the memorial, Viola had begun to see unfamiliar faces around and feel eyes following her wherever she went.

"...She’s the one who ended up locking our muchacho away. I haven’t met her since their marriage because that boy apparently didn’t value us enough to invite us to his ceremony," came the words from one of his aunties, standing at the side along with their mates.

"I heard he hasn’t marked her yet because she got pregnant before it. I won’t be surprised if it turns out she’s the one who’s kept him from coming to greet us. He hasn’t even come around to say hi to us," scoffed another aunt, whom Viola couldn’t help but secretly roll her eyes at for the fact that they could gossip in such a place, and that too while she passed right by them.

"Tsk, aunties," Laila muttered to Viola. "Ignore their words. They won’t be here for long, though get ready to be talked about in front of you."

"They are not worth paying attention to," Viola sighed.

Sebastian probably hadn’t invited them to his ceremony because of this, and though the words about her marking had gone around, it didn’t bother her. With the death in the pack, such a ceremony couldn’t have taken place. Furthermore, her pregnancy had grown to the point where the marking venom might reach her babies, something that made marking during an advanced pregnancy impossible, and thus, they hadn’t even talked about it.

Viola wouldn’t risk her babies’ health just to please people and assure them that their curse was lifted.

The hall was already filled with guests, rows of chairs arranged neatly, and at the front stood a large framed photo of the deceased, her smiling face captured there forever and frozen in time.

Looking at Zoe now caused less pain than it once had, since Viola dreamed of her nearly every single night now and held onto the belief that once she finally uncovered what Azmira had wanted so badly, she might find a way to awaken every soul resting in the mermaid graves, Zoe included. But the images still gave her an ache in her heart.

They spread out once in the hall. Tess went to join her husband, Laila went to her parents, and Ivy went to sit where Alex had reserved a seat for her. Viola was soon pulled aside by an elder shewolf.

"Come sit with me, dear."

It was Sebastian’s grandmother from his mother’s side, who had made the trip, a woman Viola had never once met since she lived in another pack entirely, and she made Viola sit next to her.

"Hola, querida. I am Eleanora, your husband’s grandmother. I know the brat wouldn’t have introduced me to you or mentioned me," said the woman, her eyes on Zoe’s frame, a bittersweet smile on her face. "He didn’t, did he?" she asked, turning to Viola.

Viola shook her head. "No..."

Sebastian had never talked about his relatives or other family members living outside the pack, so Viola hadn’t even known he had any living grandparents until she went through his family contact book at Alex’s request to inform everyone about Zoe’s death and invite them over.

Eleanora sighed. "That’s more like him. That boy shut people out of his life like they meant nothing. I used to be his favorite grandma, and he used to be all over me when he was this small." She indicated with her hand. "When his mother would bring them for the weekend back then. But when my daughter died along with his father, that boy cut us off."

Viola couldn’t help but think that was so like her husband, cutting people off to avoid being reminded of the dead, just like he had cut off his childhood friend and twin brother now. She couldn’t help the sadness that settled in her heart at his coping mechanism.

"I wouldn’t have known about my dear Zoe’s death if not for you, dear. I am glad you reached out to all of us." Eleanora sniffed, wiping her nose with a handkerchief and gripping Viola’s hand. "My poor granddaughter... that boy needs some lashing. He kept her away from us when he cut us off and raised her all by himself. How is he doing?"

Viola met the woman’s teary eyes and felt like crying herself, but she held back, knowing it was her hormones. "He is fine."

Viola realized she liked his grandma more than his aunties, but the woman’s words made her realize all the more how allowing Sebastian to be wasn’t doing him any good and might be causing him more harm. Maybe Ivy was right. Her giving him so much time wasn’t a good idea, because if she didn’t talk to him about this, Sebastian would never open up, and maybe him not being open to her now was him growing distant from her too...

A month ago, Matt had resigned from being his head Beta and left Silver. He had traveled out of the werewolf world and gone to Mexico. If her husband continued like this, he would lose his family members completely.

Though months had passed, many still hadn’t been able to let go of Zoe’s death, its ripple effects reaching so many people that even now, tears and quiet grief filled the hall around her, creating a heaviness that left Viola feeling weighed down and wanting nothing more than to escape it.

Viola remained restless throughout the entire service, and the moment it ended, she was the first one out of the hall, slipping away before anyone could catch her for condolences, and without having the energy to deal with Sebastian’s gossiping aunties.

She made her way back to her penthouse, heated up some food from breakfast, and ate alone before assigning omegas to settle the guests into their rooms and tell them she was not feeling well enough to eat a public meal with them.

By the time she’d finished, evening had fallen, and the entire grounds of Silver lay blanketed beneath fresh snow, the cold settling in even more as darkness spread across the pack. She turned up the heat in the building and went to pull the curtains over the glass walls, but paused.

Through the glass, Viola spotted her husband returning with his men from the hunt for Nick. She watched him speaking with someone below, and then, as though sensing her presence, he looked up toward her.