Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he headed into the employee cafeteria with the others to make his way down to Sera.
He found her pacing in the living area, eyes red from crying.The moment their eyes met, she ran to him and he drew her close.No words were needed right then.She clung to him like she was never going to let go, and he held her just as fiercely.
Otto was gone.
And Sera was finally free.
Sera stood beside Caesar a few feet from the pit where bodies of the dead jaguar shifters were burning, layered with wood.
It was after midnight but she wasn’t tired.At least not physically.
Mentally and emotionally, she was exhausted to the very depths of her being, finally set free by the ash and smoke in the air.Filled with peace after so much chaos.
Around the bonfire, several pride members watched and waited, a reverent silence above the crackling of the fire.The male who had haunted her dreams was turning to ash.
The fire smelled like freedom, like chains being broken and nightmares coming to an end.
Like the start of a new day, filled with hope.
Caesar’s arm was around her as he watched silently at her side.They didn’t need to talk, because the fact that they were alive and the ones who’d come against them weren’t was all the conversation that was needed right now.
She’d cried when she saw him after the battle.Even though his wounds had healed when he shifted, the blood had lingered on his skin and she’d known without him telling her that it hadn’t been an easy fight.
She didn’t want to know how close she might have come to losing the love of her life or any of his sons, or the park shifters who had welcomed her with open arms.
They’d come through the battle without losing anyone.
She was thankful from the depths of her heart for that.
Caesar cleared his throat and said quietly, “Let’s go to the employee parking lot.”
She nodded, taking one last look at the fire, then turned with him.Amadeus joined them, the others remaining to tend to the fire that would burn for a few more hours at least.
Two jaguars had survived.She’d seen them from afar and didn’t recognize them, which meant they were from Otto’s prowl.They’d been restrained and kept in the media center until the alphas had decided to drive them to the state border and send them on their way.No one wanted to kill shifters who weren’t a threat anymore, and from what she’d gathered, the alphas didn’t believe they were a threat.Otto had apparently forced many of the males with him to fight, attacking them when they’d refused or questioned him.
In the parking lot, there were three vehicles lined up: one was an old sedan that had been used by the jaguars and the other two were unmarked park SUVs.
“I want to go with you,” she said to Caesar.
He raised a brow.“Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said, honestly.“I just…want to watch them leave.”
He stared at her for a long moment and she thought he might say no, but then he said, “Okay, you can ride with me.”
Amadeus and Alfie were in the sedan with the two restrained males in the back seat.Caesar opened the door of the lead SUV and let Sera sit in the passenger seat before closing the door and getting behind the wheel.In the other SUV, Joss drove with Marcus.
The small caravan left the parking lot at two a.m., heading toward Pennsylvania.The ride was quiet, just her and Caesar and the hum of the road beneath the tires.From the park, it took a little over an hour and a half to reach the outskirts of a small Pennsylvania town.There, on a deserted industrial side road tucked between warehouses, the vehicles came to a stop.
“Did you want to say anything to them?”Caesar asked as he put the SUV into park.
“No.”
“Okay, I just wanted to check.It’s okay either way.”
“I don’t need to say anything to them.”
He leaned over and gave her a kiss, then got out of the SUV.She put her window down so she could listen and watch as Amadeus and Alfie pulled the males from the back of the vehicle and the alphas met with them in the headlights of the sedan.
