Kingsley's POV
The people around me who attended the funeral offered to step aside.
I tightened my lips and walked over to Freya with a solemn expression.
In just a few days, Freya had lost a considerable amount of weight, and at this moment, her face appeared pale.
The moment I saw her, my heart ached.
I stepped forward and gently placed my hand on Freya's shoulder, casting a cold glance in Theo's direction as my inner wolf let out an angry growl. "What were you about to say?"
Theo immediately shifted into a falsely ingratiating smile and inclined his back, "Nothing. I meant to say that I'm certain that you'll take good care of Freya."
I gave him a cold glance and remained silent.
I turned to Freya and whispered apologetically, "I'm sorry I'm late."
Freya replied in a hushed tone, "It's alright. You've always been late after all."
As we exchanged looks, Freya's gaze seemed distant, as though I were a stranger to her.
She distanced herself from me, causing my wolf to whimper in pain.
I felt a sudden and inexplicable panic.
I wanted to say something, but Freya suddenly turned her head to Novia and asked, "Novia, do you need to use the restroom?"
Novia glanced up at me, frowned in dissatisfaction, and promptly replied, "Sure."
With that, she led Freya away.
Mark approached me at this point, clearly frustrated. "What's wrong with you? Why are you always late?"
"Her mom just left, and Freya needs you right now, but you're never around. Do you think you'll have to kneel before Freya to earn her forgiveness?"
I was taken aback, then looked at Mark with a serious expression and considered the feasibility of this approach. I asked, "Would kneeling really help me earn her forgiveness?"
Mark stared at me with exasperation and said, "Are you out of your mind? That was just an exaggerated rhetorical device on my part! Why do you always act so like an idiot when it comes to Freya? You're really driving me crazy! If you want Freya's forgiveness, you need to genuinely love and respect her from the bottom of your heart! Do you understand?"
I fell silent.
When I first chose Freya as my mate, it was merely because that I needed a mate at that time.
However, I couldn't pinpoint when I realized that she had gradually taken over my entire life.
She was stubborn, joyful, furious, and sorrowful—every action of hers began to stir my emotions, and my mind became consumed by her.
When did it all start to change?
Oh yes, it began the moment she offered to reject me.
I was astonished to discover how desolate the house felt without her and how my soul ached from loneliness.
"By the way, I haven't had a chance to ask what you've been up to these past few days," Mark's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts.
I frowned. "Something came up to Tracy that I needed to take care of."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard a clatter behind me, the sound of a cup crashing to the floor.
I turned around to find Freya standing there, her gaze cold and piercing, directed at me from across the room. Her gaze seemed to sear my heart, causing a throbbing ache.
Standing beside her, Novia stared at me with exasperation.
Mark turned to look at me, his eyes filled with apology.
My hands clenched and unclenched, and just as I was about to approach Freya, she turned away with Novia.
Finley's voice came from the sidelines, "You shouldn't always leave your Luna for another woman. That's not what a responsible Alpha should do."
It was the first time I had heard such harshness and defiance in his tone, causing my wolf to release a disgruntled growl.
"This is between Freya and me, and all you need to do is obey your Alpha instead of criticizing him," I retorted, giving Finley a cold look.
Finley, instead of lowering his head as usual, met my gaze and said, "Yeah? If my Alpha is stubborn enough to make his men follow his orders unconditionally when he's clearly in the wrong, then I definitely don't approve of him! If an Alpha doesn't even know how to love and respect his Luna, I seriously doubt his ability to love and respect his men!"
My wolf let out an angry snarl, and my eyes turned amber as I looked at Finley, my once most trusted friend and comrade-in-arms, who had now turned against me.
I sternly chastised him, "Is that the case? Then please tell me, are you acting like this for the good of the pack as you claim, or is it because you desire my Luna? Tell me!"
Anger and frustration overwhelmed me, causing me to lose all sense of reason. My hands were poised, ready to strike if Finley dared to admit it at that moment, my claws wouldn't hesitate to rip out his throat.
Seeing the situation escalating, Mark stepped between us, looked at me, and said, "Kingsley, please calm down, and don't forget that today is Freya's mother's funeral."
I clenched my hands and remained silent.
Finley looked at me across Mark and suddenly said, "Freya hasn't told you about that thing, has she? It seems she didn't need to tell you either."
After saying that, he bowed to me and said, "Alpha Kingsley, please allow me to leave first."
Then, Finley was gone.
I stood there, suspiciously watching his departure.
That thing? What was that all about?
Everything about the funeral went smoothly; the only drawback was the sound of Theo wailing beside me.
Hypocritical and disgusting.
I found an opportunity to approach Freya and say something, but the words escaped my mouth, and I didn't know what to say.
Freya doesn't seem willing to talk to me.
I had really hoped she would vent her anger at me, but to my surprise, she remained unusually quiet at the moment.
Seeing her desperately trying to suppress her emotions made it difficult for me to do the same, and my wolf couldn't stop whimpering, urging me to comfort her.
By the time the funeral concluded and darkness had fallen, Freya was still kneeling in front of the tombstone, while I sat beside her in silence.
When the crowd had all dispersed, she slowly rose from the ground.
She turned her head to look at me, her expression clear and cold, the moon hanging high in the sky, casting a halo of light upon her, making her appear like a moon goddess, while I felt like a humble sinner awaiting her judgment.
A gust of wind swept through, tousling her hair, and then I heard Freya's voice merge with the wind as she said, "Kingsley, I, Freya, of the Dark Moon Pack, hereby to reject you as my mate, Kingsley Wright, from the Shadowmoon Pack."