Chapter 52

The mood of the pack village was somber as Eli and I walked through. I felt many gazes on me, but thankfully nobody said anything loud enough for me to hear. Although today felt eerily similar to the day before, Eli's behavior alone was glaringly different. It was customary to have a funeral at night, but I had absolutely no doubt as to the reason why this one was being held at midday. I had been to a human funeral once in high school to support one of my human friends and I had been struck at the similarities. The ritual after the ceremony, of course, was different as werewolves did not have cemeteries. The ceremonies, however, had much in common. The trek today was nearly an hour long as we ventured through a different part of the woods. Several other wolves crowded in around us as we made our way to a common destination. The sun beamed high in the sky overhead but I barely noticed the heat. The path ahead of us was somewhat overgrown with ferns and weeds, l