Dillon swore under his breath. “So he murdered the female as a result of the mate bond and left a child without their parents.” He shook his head. “Where is the child now?”
“The child,” Gabe replied, “was an eighteen-year-old pup and probably would have been more dominant than Jeremiah—”
“Would have been?” Dillon interrupted.
Gabe nodded. “As soon as his mother dropped dead, he went after Jeremiah. And instead of treating the young male like a kid who’d just lost both his parents, Jeremiah acted like Reese was actually challenging him and killed him, as well.”
Kevin shook his head. “Given a few years of experience, Reese could have challenged him and taken him on, but at eighteen, nah. He was just angry and hurt, and he went for the man who’d caused that pain. Reese didn’t want to be the alpha of the Colorado pack.”
Dillon ran a hand through his wavy hair. It was a mess from all the sparring. He was a mess, and now his thoughts felt just as nasty as his sweaty body did. Hearing about all the death and corruption in Jeremiah’s leadership made Dillon feel like it was catching, and it might somehow infect him, as well. “You guys need to get your rest,” he told the three males who’d fought against the vampires with him. “Tomorrow, I’ll expect you to be training. Each of you should be leaders in this pack.”
“Don’t let the alpha hear you say something like that.” Gabe began to walk away, still a limp in his step. “Them’s fighting words.”
Dillon’s lip curled up as his wolf pushed forward. “Believe me, I’m counting on it.” The more Dillon learned, the more he was convinced that, even if he did become a member of this pack, he could not follow Jeremiah. The man wasn’t worthy of his respect or loyalty.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, though they were eyes that were continually red and swollen. Like Tanya’s eyes, the sky was crying as Tanya watched Lisa’s casket being lowered into the deep hole that members of the Missouri pack had dug the night before. She didn’t consider that it was rain because there was no way that even the elements wouldn’t be affected by such a sweet person being taken from the world. Tanya knew Lisa wasn’t perfect, but she was as close as they came.
They’d placed her beneath a large tree which shaded the bench that had been placed a few feet from Lisa’s final resting place. All different types of flowers had been planted around the grave and brought life to a place that was meant to hold death. At some point Tanya was sure she would appreciate the gesture, but at the moment she wanted to rave. As thunder rolled overhead she found herself wanting to shout right along with it. Why couldn’t Lisa have been one of their kind so that she could have lived longer? Why did Tanya have to love her so much that the pain of losing her stole her breath?
She felt an arm come around her, and she leaned into the familiar scent of Daniel. Her wolf internally growled because there was only one male that she wanted touching her. Tanya didn’t disagree, but she didn’t want to stand on her own two feet at the moment. She wanted to lean on someone else, and she’d yet to come to a place where she could let herself reach for Dillon in any way more than just for conversation. She enjoyed talking to him and found him to be kind and genuine. Lisa would have liked him. She would have called him a “catch.”
Tanya wiped the tears from her face and sniffed. She hated crying because it always made her nose run, which was freaking annoying. Tanya found herself rolling her eyes at herself as she thought about something so trivial. She was watching her friend being buried and yet she was worried about a snotty nose. “Being vain isn’t an attractive trait.” Tanya heard Lisa’s voice in her mind. It wasn’t actually Lisa of course. It was simply Tanya’s imagination in a desperate attempt to hold onto the old woman who always kept her on her toes.
“You okay?” Daniel gave her a little squeeze.
“You do realize that’s a dumb ass question, right?” Tanya wanted to take the words back the minute she spoke them, but once they were out there, there was no taking them back. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t,” Daniel cut her off. “It was a dumb question. I just don’t know what I can do to help. I feel helpless. It’s a really crappy feeling.”
She started to speak, but he held up his hand. “Don’t try to comfort me because I can’t comfort you. I’ll most likely bite you.”
Tanya’s lips turned up slightly. “Like I would comfort you? I’m not trying to waste the air in my lungs.”
Daniel snorted, gave her a final squeeze, and then dropped his arm. Her body relaxed, and she felt guilty that she wasn’t comfortable with his touch any more despite the fact that he was practically a brother to her. Her mom had told her that once she found her mate, the touch of other males wouldn’t be welcome, especially by her wolf. She’d thought her mom was exaggerating. But she hadn’t been.
“Dillon?” Her mind reached out to him without really deciding to do so. Tanya suddenly just wanted to hear his voice. She didn’t want to be that needy chick, but her friend had died a few days ago and was being buried today, her father was acting extremely suspicious and would most likely lose his cool when he found out who Dillon was, and she was falling for her true mate. Which should make her happy, but she also wanted to stay mad at him because something inside of her wanted to punish him. Which, yes, she knew, wasn’t very mature of her at all, and Lisa would totally have called her out on that.
“I’m here,” he said immediately. “I didn’t want to bother you this morning. I figured you’d have a lot going on.”
Of course, he was being considerate. Ugh, why couldn’t he be a jackass? He sort of seemed like a jackass at the gas station. But then, neither one of them had been expecting to meet each other, and he’d built a whole life without her. Don’t go there, Tanya. She would not let their past dictate their future. Wasn’t that what she’d decided last night? Yes, it was. But this morning was not last night. No, she just felt like a freaking mess all over again.
“It’s okay to be a mess, Tanya,” he said gently. A strike of pain hit her side and she gasped. She heard Daniel say something, but Tanya didn’t understand him because she was too focused on the fact that it wasn’t her own body that had actually been hit.
“What is going on?” She closed her eyes and tried to force him to let her see through his eyes.
“Your father is having me train his warriors, been doing it for the past few days” he said, a slight groan in his voice. “I’ve managed to keep you from feeling the pain, but right now I’m a little distracted.”
“What’s wrong, Tanya?” Daniel’s voice broke through when she felt his hand on her side where she’d instinctively grabbed.
“Nothing.” She shook her head and patted his hand. “Just a cramp.”
“Are you training them, or are they kicking your ass?”
“I’ve got to focus, beautiful. Kevin is determined to see me get put on the ground.”
She felt another jab, and then the pain was suddenly cut off. Dillon slipped from her mind at the same time she felt the featherlight touch of a hand on her face.
“Why are men such apes?” she muttered before stepping back from the grave they were now beginning to cover. Tanya had no idea how long she’d been standing out there. Everyone had said all the words they wanted to about Lisa and dispersed. Tyler had asked Tanya if she wanted to say something, but she’d declined. Anything she was going to say would be done in private, where she could gripe at the old lady for leaving her. Not that she actually believed it was Lisa’s fault. But for the moment, Tanya was angry. Life was not happening the way she’d imagined it would play out.
