Glancing down at Alice’s grave, I couldn’t hold the tears any longer so I bury my face in Sam’s chest. Val was the worst but she was trying her best from crying. Daniel wasn’t there anymore as a shoulder to cry on. Alice’s grave was next to Gran’s grave. Jamie was there but she was hidden because Bibiana and Maryanne were at the funeral too. They might recognize her. The group was there too. Sam, for the first time I saw him wearing dark casual clothes which he looked good in. So were the rest of his friends.

            The night of Solstice, I barely said a word to Val about Daniel’s death. There were circles around her eyes from lack of sleep and crying too much. She moved on. In the morning, she asked whether anyone else was dead. I didn’t look into her eyes but I nodded. I told her it was Daniel. Sam told me that Daniel sacrificed himself to protect Val from a wolf that nearly killed her from behind. Val didn’t touch her breakfast and locked herself in her room until lunch. I sent Amanda home after breakfast. She seemed to be a little quiet after what happened yesterday. Sam told me that her father was also a part of the pack. He died on Solstice. I still wondered how he managed to hug Amanda without killing her . . .

            I wore the very same black dress I wore for Jamie’s funeral. Valerie left a rose on Alice’s grave after I did. She walked away as soon as the coffin was buried. Jamie was staring at her grave after the funeral. I went over next to her.

            I began to feel guilty. It was my fault that she was a wolf. If only I hadn’t forced mum to let me go to Australia. If only I didn’t go to The Curve with her. If only I had done nothing to not cause chaos. If only, if only, if only. Richard was watching me all this time. Richard was watching my every move without my knowledge.

            “I’m sorry. It’s my entire fault. Because of me, you’re dead to the world. I didn’t know my uncle,” I twisted his name because he was related to me, “was watching me all this time. If you want, you don’t have to live with me anymore. You can do anything you want,” I said, looking at her gravestone. Ever since she turned into a wolf, Sam or I had to watch whatever she eat because she might still be having humans. After Alice’s death, I offered Jamie to stay with me in an empty room in the big house.

            She put her hands around me. “Let bygones be bygones. It’s not you fault. You didn’t know. Stop blaming yourself.”

            “I can’t help it. I will always think of it as my fault.”

            She raised an eyebrow. “You love to get yourself blamed and punished. No wonder you’re always following orders from teachers.”

            I let myself to smile and rolled my eyes. “Hey, everyone doesn’t pay attention to them and I was the only one who did.”

            “Stop talking big. I paid attention to teachers too. In fact, before you came along, I was the teacher’s pet.”

            I laughed. “Who is talking big now?”

            She punched me lightly in the shoulder. We went home and get back to our lives.

            We did our best to make everything back in order. Val and I hunted. I took Pierre hunting sometimes; he was able to help me find wolves. We kept breeding horses in the farm. We went to school. I took photograph for the school editorial board. Val was one of the popular girls in her class after she began living life. She will never forget Daniel. I hung a portrait of Alice next to Richard’s in the living room and wrote down every single detail of Solstice in Gran’s journal. Jamie started a blog which she uploads her drawings and comic on her new laptop that I bought her. Sam and the group were back to their normal lives.

            One day, I got back from school, I saw the house was in a mess. Oh no. Not again. I ran upstairs to Val’s room. Halfway up, I dropped my small schoolbag. She was crying in the middle of a puddle of blood. A knife was in her hand and the other was badly wounded. Val tried to kill herself for the second time. If she was a normal human, she would have been dead by now but Hunters were hard to kill. She looked at me. I should start hiding knives somewhere. I hugged her. She began weeping. I took the knife away from her.

            “Valerie, listen to me. If you kill yourself, you might not see them at all. Daniel sacrificed himself so you will live. Do you think he did it just to save you? He saved everyone on Solstice. That is the past. There is nothing we can do about it. Do you want to end this and up there, he will be watching you and all his work gone to waste. Alice wanted to be with you dad. She loved him and willing to do anything to get him back. It was their choice to save you. Yet you waste it.”

            “It’s my fault that Daniel is gone.”

            “No. It’s no one fault. It is just the way it is. Destiny. Fate. Sacrifices. It’s part of life. Just accept the fact that Daniel did it on his choice.”

            Val nodded. “I’m sorry.”

            I got nothing else to say so I left her room, with the knife in my hand.

            Sam brought me to the meadow one day after school. We sat under the apple tree, gazing upon the beautiful scenery. I was in his protective arms.

            “I thought you wanted to be a wolf. I thought you were going to say yes,” Sam said.

            I rolled my eyes. “Do you really want me to be one?”

            “Absolutely not, of course. I just want to know how you found out his plan that quickly. I was fooled by his plan that he did it just because he loved them.”

            “I have better IQ and common sense than anyone else, I guess. I just couldn’t believe an eagle helped you guys. Who was he?”

            Sam shrugged. “I asked him but he didn’t answer me. I had never seen a shape-shifter eagle before in my life. They are so rare nowadays. I wondered how they bred. I know that they didn’t bite humans like us but they eat humans.”

            “No matter what, I owe that eagle my life.”

            Sam agreed by nodding his head. I wanted to find the eagle and asked him why he helped us. Sam’s cheeks turned a little red when he asked, “Do you want to be a wolf?”

            “Why are you asking me that question after I was offered to be one but I refused?”

            “Honestly. Tell me the truth.”

            I inhaled quickly and let out a long breath. “Maybe a little because I just want to be respected. All this time, we were hunting werewolves to save innocent lives but we weren’t given any respect. Nobody knew we were saving their lives. I wanted to at first, but the way Richard said was a little demanding and forceful. I knew there was something wrong.”

            “Your point is being special so you will be respected?”

            “At least a little respect is enough. But my answer is still a no. I don’t want to be a wolf.”

            He was relief with my answer. His hands around me tightened.

            “I’ve made a discovery this morning,” I announced. “Was it true that no tigers and Hunters ever mate?”

            He looked at me. “How do you know about the mating part?”

            “Let’s say I made some research on the Internet. Tell me about that, sounds interesting.” The truth was, John accidentally told me about the mating but he changed the subject. I wanted to know whether he was right.

            He laughed nervously. I really wanted to know whether tigers mate like normal ones. The only thing I discovered from the Internet was lions and tigers would have a competition for a female so the strongest would be her mate. That’s the only knowledge I know but I knew there were more and Sam didn’t tell me about that.

            “Yes, we tigers mate female humans. Some loved their mate so much that he would tell the secret to his mate. His mate was allowed to know but she had to promise to keep the secret. If she can’t, she has no choice but to be exterminated.”

            “Sounds like she has no choice.”

            “Indeed she didn’t,” Sam agreed. The way he said it made him sound British to me now.

            “But no tiger had mated a Hunter before, right?” I asked in a small voice. I curled my toes and stupidly blush, for no specific reason.

            “There was once, a long time ago. Adam told me that a tiger mate a Hunter but the relationship didn’t last long after another tiger accidentally killed her when he was hunting wolves. There was a huge quarrel about it and there was a small war in a small village in Britain. The tiger killed the tiger that killed his mate and then committed suicide. The war ended immediately after the leaders agreed on a truce.”

            “So the truce was to work together and protect each other’s back like what we’re doing now?”

            His blue eyes were now sad. “In addition, they added that Hunters and tigers are not allowed to mate each other anymore.”

            It looked like I had no choice. I had to go with the flow. The truce our ancestors made centuries ago. Did the truce still live on since Val and I were the only Hunters left? Hunters before us had fulfilled their purposes of living, which was to kill werewolves and provide the younger generation of Hunters for the future. What about Val and me? What are we to do now?

            “Have you mated anyone before?” I asked.

            He looked at me, surprised that I jumped into that conclusion. “You would have known.”

            “Have you ever thought of the tiger and the Hunter will be us?” I asked again.

            “I had a dream about that once. That we were together and then the black wolf killed you.” He shook his head to forget the dream. “Ever since that day, I promised that if you want me, you will be mine but if you don’t, I won’t deny it.”

            My lips nearly touched his lips when I said, “You know I want you.” He pulled me to sit on his lap. I ran my fingers in his hair.

            He smiled at me. Sam held up two fingers, a forefinger finger and a middle finger of his right hand.

            “Pick a finger,” he said.

            I touched both his fingers.

            “That doesn’t count.”

            “Why can’t I choose both?” I challenged.

            He moved his index finger. “This one means this.” He kissed me. “Je t’aime, Sophia.”

            “What does that mean?”

            “Try to guess.”

            I hesitated. I wasn’t very good in guessing but by the way he said it, I understand. “Then what did this mean, Monsieur Pierre Ledoux?” I asked in a French accent while I touched his middle finger.

            In answer, he took out something from his pocket and closed it in his fist. I opened his fist slowly and saw a diamond bracelet.

            “I am yours for as long as you want me.” He held my right hand and kissed it before he helped me wear the bracelet and the clasp clicked in place. This perfect moment will always be in my memory forever. The bracelet will always symbolize his undying love for me. 

The End.