That evening, the Alphas and their children, and the Beta pair, Lyssa and Emmett, climb into a couple of cars for the drive to the Ross den.
Randall pats Ariel's thigh. Lyssa reaches for Emmett's hand; he gives hers a squeeze. Security is tight as the Alphas and Betas would all be in one place.
The leaders of the packs greet one another and wait for Calvin Ross to appear. The Tucker Alphas are the last to arrive. Their Betas are back in the den, the female currently in estrus.
All heads turn as Calvin and Michael appear at the front door.
The guests begin to strip down.
Ariel, with her red hair, is easily spotted and Michael's eyes come to rest on her, then her daughter, Joanna. She would be of age soon.
Light brown hair, a lithe, athletic body, like her mother's. They were about the same size. Her breasts perhaps a little larger than average.
The Beta female's were quite a bit bigger and she had wider hips. There was a tattoo on her left breast of a grey wolf. She had the usual mark on her neck as well as tooth marks on the other breast. Hmm, interesting.
Calvin steps down from the front door and turns to the right, around the back of the house. The guests fall in behind Calvin and Michael, silently walking to a cleared area.
Lyssa briefly considers asking a question but decides that it can wait.
The rest of the Ross pack is arrayed beyond a pile of wood covered by a green cloth. Sabine's body is laid out upon the bier, draped in a green shroud. The outline of the figure is thin.
Lyssa contemplates what the poor woman must have endured before the end. A wasting disease, Joanna had said. Was she able to eat? Was she just so weak, for months? Or did it go more quickly? She hadn't really heard anything about it so it had probably started years ago.
Emmett takes her hand as Calvin takes a torch and approaches the bier. His hands shake as he tips the torch. He pauses, taking a deep breath.
Michael walks over and puts a hand on the haft of the torch. Calvin growls at him, pulling it away.
The other Alphas and Betas watch and wait.
Calvin moves to the head of the bier, and, with his free hand, flips the shroud up then leans over to kiss his mate's cold lips as he thrusts the flame into the wood.
The flames begin to spread as Lyssa examines the face and virtually bald head of Sabine Ross.
The others stand stiffly, silently, as the flames build.
Emmett feels another small hand creep into his. Looking down, he notices Joanna next to him. So he holds both Lyssa and Joanna's hands as the flames begin to lick at the shroud covering Sabine. Calvin stands by, stoically.
As the flames flare up, obscuring the body, a low moan goes up from the assembled wolves. Calvin howls.
It is a howl of pain and sorrow, despair and loss.
The rest of the Ross pack howl in response.
Lyssa mostly watches the other wolves. She couldn't bear to see the flames begin to eat away at flesh. The smell was enough. She wrinkles her nose, nauseated by the smell of burning flesh and hoping she wouldn't throw up.
She might have to smell, but she didn't have to watch, so she looks around at the others. The Alpha males she knew now by sight and she could now see who their mates were. The Betas and family members were standing nearby.
And, behind them, were the Ross pack members. Her eyes briefly light on a couple off to one side. They look familiar, for some reason. The female notices her looking, and gives a slight nod and a sad smile. Wait. That was it. Emmett had said they were in Ross range when she took him to the park for a run. Back when she was human and he was only a dog to her. Lyssa gives a slight nod in acknowledgment.
Many of the females and a goodly number of the males keep shooting glances at Ariel. More specifically, at her crotch.
Lyssa chances a look. Aha! She had shaved, her mound completely nude. It was doubtless an unusual thing for them, hell, shaving completely was fairly unusual for human women. She looks back at them, seeing confusion, interest on some, distaste on others. Ariel stands proudly beside Randall, ignoring the looks. Lyssa briefly wondered if she and Randall had enjoyed the experience.
Lyssa then returns to examining the others.
Aaron Severn's mate looked somewhat like him, light brown hair, although her eyes were a grey-blue in color. And, while all the female werewolves were athletic in build they were somewhat lean. The female Alpha of Severn was bulkier, with a larger frame but smaller breasts, although significantly smaller than her husband, who was on the larger size for a male.
William Macy's mate was almost his opposite. Light hair, blue eyes, lighter skin tone, but of the typical body size as the other females.
Emmett's cousin, Cecil, stood beside a petite female, medium brown hair, brown eyes. She notices Lyssa looking at her, nods, and smiles. The Gates Alpha pair were similar in appearance, dark brown hair, brown eyes, both tall.
And Lyssa begins to wonder how the women came to be Alphas. Was it because they were the children of Alphas or Betas? Was it something else? For that matter, what did it take to be a Beta's mate? She was certainly an unusual case.
A noise brings her back to the cremation. Part of the burning bier had collapsed and a few of the participants step back a bit.
Nothing remains that looks like Sabine Ross although the smell of burning flesh lingers.
When the fire burns down to embers the guests begin to leave. No words were spoken. There was no eulogy, no reminiscences, no talk of who or what she was. Unless they had been talking amongst themselves.
Emmett puts an arm around each of the females beside him and steers them back toward the cars. "That's it?"
"What more would you have us do? We know the Madam Alpha is dead. We were witness to the destruction of her body."
Cecil and his mate approach them. "Emmett!"
"Julia. How are you? How's Mason?"
"Well, Emmett. I can barely keep up with him anymore."
"Julia, this is my mate, Lyssa."
"Ah, Lyssa," Julia captures her hand, "it is good to meet the female who got our Emmett determined to mate." She closes and sniffs, then releases Lyssa's hand and strokes over the tattoo on her breast, smiling.
Lyssa gasps slightly at the touch; she still wasn't completely comfortable with the perceived informalities of werewolf meetings. "This is Emmett?" She gulps and nods.
"How do you like being a werewolf?"
"It's very interesting. Em's teaching me how to fight."
Cecil looks startled and Julia turns to him with a glare. "Emmett, is this how you care for your mate?"
"Julia! This is not our business."
"But, Cecil, fighting a male?"
Lyssa chuckles behind a hand. Emmett, Joanna, Cecil, and Julia look at her, startled by her amusement. "I'm sorry, but you all sound like you come straight out of the Victorian era. I can't be some defenseless, overprotected little female. I won't be. I'm a Beta."
Cecil recovers first. "Well, Emmett, you've a handful for a mate." He looks to his Alpha. "We need to go."
"It was good to meet you, Lyssa. Emmett. Joanna."
"Nice to meet you, Julia. Good evening, Cecil."
Cecil and Emmett clasp arms. "A sad occasion, Emmett. Hope to see you at a better one."
"Another time, Cecil. Julia." The Beta pair of the Gates pack hurry to the car they arrived in.
