Lnd''s eyes opened wide again when he realized that it was the rock the lycans had ced on Jack''s back before he killed himself. Remembering that gruesome sight made his blood boil.


    Lnd partially transformed his arm into a Lycan''s and shattered the huge rock into small pieces in just one blow. Eloise closed her eyes and hid her face between her hands as the shards flew toward her.


    Five secondster, she lowered her hands and saw Lnd on his knees. Right now Lnd could smell Anne''s scent more and more clearly. He gritted his teeth and his body trembled with anger and sadness at the same time.


    ? When Lnd remembered Jack screaming in despair when he saw Anne being tortured by Isolde, Lnd felt like his heart was being gripped very tightly and it made him feel suffocated.


    "Uncle Jack, Auntie Anne… Please, forgive me. I couldn''t do anything to help you…." His tears started to fall. A drop, two drops... and he finally couldn''t hold back anymore.


    "You suffered so much and I couldn''t do anything... If only I had known sooner, I would have killed my mother for you." His tears fell like rain and wet the sand below.


    Eloise was silent. She did not expect Lnd to cry so despondently like this. This was the side of him that she never knew existed. Eloise didn''t know how to react.


    Meanwhile, Lnd grabbed the sand and clenched his fists very tightly.


    "If only... I had known sooner, I would have destroyed them all with my own hands. I would have made them feel what you felt," he muttered.


    Lnd continued crying. He didn''t care about his surroundings. He couldn''t care less about what Eloise thought when she witnessed him venting his sadness. He took the time to grieve. Finally, after so many years, he finally got closure.


    After he calmed down, Lnd wiped his tears using the back of his hand. He rolled up his sleeves and then dug up the grave of his foster parents.


    Eloise just stood on the side, watching him. Not long after digging, Lnd found the remains of two human skeletons. He held his breath when he saw the position of the female skeleton hugging the male skeleton.


    He remembered Anne was in her wolf form when she died.


    Apparently... when they buried her, she was not dead yet. She was buried alive with her husband and in herst moment, she transformed back into a human and hugged Jack. And then she breathed herst.


    Damn it!


    "AWWOOOOO....!!!"


    Lnd was so mad and sad that he let out a long painful howl. His voice echoed in the vast desert, giving chills to anyone who heard it.


    He was furious about what happened, but he couldn''t take it out on anyone. His mother, the mastermind, and the old lycans who helped her, were all dead now. Isolde killed them to cover her tracks. And now she was already killed by Elias. Lnd felt like he didn''t get the closure he deserved because he couldn''t avenge Jack''s and Anne''s deaths. It was really unfair.


    He punched the air and cursed inwardly, venting his anger. And then he stood in silence. He was thinking of Anne and Jack and the memory they had together. He missed them.


    After a long silence, Lnd crouched down and gently touched the remains.


    "What will you do with them?" Eloise asked when she saw Lnd take off his robe andy it down on the ground.


    "I''ll move them," said Lnd lifting and removing the two skeletons.


    "Where to?"


    "ckwoods."


    Lnd decided to properly bury his foster parents in ckwoods Forest because, ording to him, that''s the ce they considered home. Even though he really wanted to take them to the manor in Lievstad or to his castle in Hastings so Sophie could visit them any time, he realized it would be better if Sophie never knew what actually happened to her parents.


    It would only tear open an old wound. She had epted that her parents died and they were already buried fifteen years ago.


    "I''ll help you," Eloise offered.


    Lnd didn''t answer. He gently moved Anne''s and Jack''s bones to his robe and then wrapped them carefully. He carried the remains to the horse carriage they had left at the edge of the valley. He wanted to leave the Gazi Desert as soon as possible.


    Even though she was annoyed because Lnd ignored her, Eloise still followed the man.


    "Are you going to tell Sophie about how her parents died?" Eloise asked when she had sat down on the carriage, beside Lnd in the driver''s seat.


    Lnd again didn''t answer. He had no intention of telling Sophie about how her parents were murdered because that would surely make Sophie very sad. He will only tell that his parents were killed by his mother.


    He was so quiet during the trip to ckwoods. Eloise didn''t bother him with unnecessary questions or remarks. She let the grieving man keep to himself. Eloise was just happy that he didn''t kick her out and take the trip on his own.


    After two weeks of traveling by horse carriage, Lnd and Eloise finally arrived at the ckwoods Forest. When he set foot again in the forest, memories of the past when he lived with Anne and Jack filled his head. It was such a gloomy day.


    ***


    The sun''s rays seep through the leaves. Under a towering tree, Lnd was digging the ground to bury the remains of Anne and Jack.


    After digging the hole deep enough, Lnd ced the bones gently inside and slowly covered the hole with soil.


    "Rest in peace, Uncle Jack, Auntie Anne..." he muttered to himself. "We miss you every day."


    .


    .


    .


    _________________________


    From Missrealitybites:


    This scene is inspired by an image I saw on Instagram two months ago. See the picture and details in thement. It was heartbreaking when I read it, but at the same time, it was inspiring. So, I decided to write it here.