“I’m so sorry.” Tanya heard the sincerity ring strongly in his words. She could feel his emotions, and she could tell he was attempting to mute them. It was as if he understood she was struggling to handle her powerful feelings of loss, and he didn’t want to burden her with his own emotions. She could also feel that he understood her pain personally. He’d lost someone he loved dearly, and perhaps if she wasn’t in her own hell, she’d ask him who it was. Maybe one day.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” He’d picked up on her thoughts. “I’ll do anything you need.”
Tanya wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand. Her vision blurred so that she couldn’t see Lisa’s sweet face. A female from Tyler’s pack named Shelly was wiping the old woman’s face with a cool cloth. She glanced up at Tanya, tears running down her face, as well. Shelly was a sweet girl, around Tanya’s age, and it didn’t surprise her she was close to Lisa, too. Lisa was an easy person to be around. She listened well and gave good advice. And if you didn’t want advice, but just someone to vent to, she would do that, as well. “Dammit,” Tanya muttered, her voice choked with emotions.
Shelly reached across and squeezed her arm but didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. The pain in the room was palpable. The rest of those in the room were still on their knees. Other pack members flowed out into the hall and no doubt filled the small house. They had been there all night, heads bowed and fists over their hearts. They would stay that way until the human, whom they claimed as a pack member and honored the same way they would their alpha, left this world.
“She’s very loved,” Dillon murmured.
Tanya had almost forgotten he was there in her mind. And that she couldn’t keep the bond locked down anymore was a testament to just how badly she was hurting. “She is.”
“Can I come to you?”
“No,” Tanya answered quickly. “I can’t, Dillon. I can’t deal with you and this. Please. If you care for me at all, then give me this. I just—” The words died. She felt him pulling her pain into him through the bond, attempting to ease it. But emotional pain wasn’t like physical pain. It couldn’t be dulled or taken away. It had to run its course.
“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll wait here for you, even if that takes months or longer. I’m not going anywhere.”
She frowned as his words broke through the storm in her mind, like clouds parting for a moment. “When you say ‘here,’ what do you mean?”
She felt his hesitation before he answered. “I’m in Colorado at the pack mansion.”
Tanya squeezed her eyes shut. Shit. “My father—”
“He doesn’t know who I am to you. Your father’s reputation is well known.”
“He’s an ass.” Tanya remembered all the conversations she and Lisa had over the years about her irrational, controlling father. “If he finds out about us, well, it will look very bad that we’ve met and aren't’ together. Especially if he learns about…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Tanya just didn’t have the fortitude to deal with that part of her life at the moment. She shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was the last thing she needed right now.
“I haven’t said anything about you, exactly,” Dillon assured her. “He knows I’ve met my mate because my mate marks are visible. I’ve requested a probation period to become a member of this pack, and I’ve asked him to give me time to earn his trust with respect to sharing anything about my mate.”
Dillon stopped, seeming to wait to see if she would object. At the moment, Tanya couldn’t think too clearly because of Lisa and the fact that her father would kill Dillon if he found out about Dillon’s past.
He continued, “Your father knows I was a member of the Montana pack and that I left. That’s a whole different story, but not something we need to talk about right now. I just want you to know I’m not a rogue. I never was. I ran from something very painful a long time ago because I didn’t know how to deal with it. Just…”
He paused, and Tanya found herself holding her breath, waiting to hear what he’d tell her next. Maybe she was just trying to distract herself from her current situation, or maybe she was thirstier than she realized for knowledge about her mate. Perhaps a mixture of both.
“Just know I’m not going anywhere, and if you don’t want me to come to you, then I will respect that.”
She released the breath she’d been holding and nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “Thank you. And please, be careful. Do as he asks. Be the perfect pack member and give him no reason to doubt your ability to fall in line. Knowing my father, he’s already digging for information on you.” She let those words hang without elaborating on what would happen if he dug enough and figured out about Dillon’s past. Her father was hotheaded on the best of days. When it came to his mate and Tanya, he was flat out crazy.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Be with your friend, and please be safe.” There was a light caress against her face, and then she felt him pull back enough that his presence wasn’t filling her mind. He was still there, but not intrusive. A silent reminder that if she needed him, he would answer in a heartbeat. “Always,” he said in response to her thought.
Tanya didn’t respond. Instead, she focused her attention back on Lisa. Her friend still breathed, though her breaths were shallow and accompanied by a wheezing sound that seemed loud to Tanya’s sensitive wolf hearing. Her beast was in mourning, as she loved Lisa just as much as the human part of her. The wolf wanted to curl up next to their friend and offer her comfort and warmth. But Tanya wouldn’t be able to help in her wolf form, so she forced her beast to be still. Inside, it was whining, pacing, and wishing there were an enemy to kill. But this illness was something the beast didn’t understand. It couldn’t be killed, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. And apparently, even when the humans did everything they could to fight against it, the illness could still win. “It isn’t fair,” Tanya whispered. “She doesn’t deserve this.” Lisa was the best of the best. Even in death, Lisa deserved dignity, not to be reduced to this mess.
Tyler spoke up, his voice, strong but gentle, filling the room. “Many of us don’t deserve the hand we are dealt. It’s how we handle it that matters. What do we do with the challenges we face? How do we respond? Lisa has taken this disease head-on and hasn’t complained once. She never asked, ‘Why me?' She handled her illness with dignity, offering comfort to others even while she was in need. Lisa will be remembered for a lifetime of kindness, service, friendship, selflessness, and love.”
“Don’t forget I fed you, too.” Lisa’s frail voice seemed to fill the room even more than Tyler’s.
The room fell silent as Tanya leaned closer to her friend. “Lisa?” The woman’s eyes were closed, but then her cracked lips turned up in a small smile.
“I’m not quite gone yet, little wolf.” Lisa slowly turned her head toward Tanya. Her eyes blinked open. They were dull, but there was peace in her gaze. “But it is time.”
Tanya shook her head and held Lisa’s hand tighter. “No. Not yet.”
“We can’t live forever, Tanya.” Lisa took a shaky breath, her chest rising. Then she coughed and breathed out. “Nothing would be amazing if we lived forever. Sunrises would be mundane. Coffee wouldn’t smell nearly as good.”
Tanya laughed as moisture filled her eyes. “This isn’t supposed to be funny.”
“Says who? I’d much rather be laughing as I leave this life than crying.” Lisa squeezed Tanya’s hand, though her grip was weak. “I love you, Tanya. I love all of you.” There were murmurs around the room and sniffles. Tanya doubted there was a dry eye in the house, other than the ones of the old bat who had the nerve to laugh on her deathbed.
