Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

Tyler Trip

I sat behind my desk, watching Caroline’s dad squirm in his chair.

His eyes darted around the room, but there wasn’t much to see. No photos on the walls, no books on the shelves.

He ran his fingers through his silver hair, a color not from age but a genetic quirk. His son, Han, had the same unusual hair color.

I’d only seen it on one other wolf.

Caroline was behind me, still in her running clothes. Her legs were dirty from when I’d pulled her back from the cliff edge.

She was biting her thumbnail, a nervous habit I’d noticed.

I let Rick Ryder sit in silence, using his own anxiety against him. He’d come into my territory and demanded to talk.

I didn’t let lesser wolves demand anything from me. That’s not how an alpha stays in charge.

Caroline and her father looked alike, but it was clear she got most of her looks from her mom. There was a slight similarity around the eyes, though.

“Alpha,” Rick said, his fingers tapping on the armrests of his chair.

“Rick,” I replied, waiting.

He hesitated, glancing at his daughter. “Caroline was supposed to—”

“I don’t recall giving Caroline any specific orders,” I cut him off.

Rick’s mouth hung open for a moment. “Right, of course not. I just meant…, I told her to ask you—”

“Caroline is in line to be the luna of this pack,” I said, already annoyed.

I could feel Caroline’s tension; I could hear her heart beating fast. She was upset, and she hadn’t been before her dad showed up.

“That means I’m the only one she takes orders from. She gives them to everyone else.”

Rick lowered his head in submission. “Of course.”

Caroline sighed. “My dad wanted me to ask you about the lookout position you mentioned for him.” She looked me in the eye. “He wants to know if it’s still available.”

“It is,” I answered, watching some of the tension leave Rick Ryder’s body.

“Thank you, Alpha—”

“But I have a question,” I said, raising my hand to stop him before he got too grateful.

Rick smiled and spread his hands wide. “Of course, Alpha. Anything.”

I felt Caroline’s eyes on my back, her gaze like a slow burn.

“I want to know what happened the day Alpha Vex died. The day you were supposed to be on lookout and we didn’t get a warning about the enemy.”

Silence.

Rick Ryder stood up, his face twisted. “I’ve already said—”

“You haven’t said anything, Rick,” I told him. “No one knows where you were that day. Only that you weren’t where you were supposed to be. Where the pack needed you to be.”

“Trip—” Caroline started.

I ignored her. “I don’t want your potential to go to waste, Rick. I don’t want you to be unable to support your family. That’s not what I want for any member of my pack.

“But my lead lookout has doubts, and understandably so. I need to give him answers if I expect him to accept you.”

I saw Caroline cringe out of the corner of my eye.

Rick’s face was now red. “I was the lead lookout for over thirty years with no breaches! I worked under two different alphas before you took over. I—”

“Let the entire pack down,” I reminded him softly. “Caused the death of our last alpha, and many others.”

I swallowed back my anger, reminding myself that nothing could have prevented what happened. “Including my mate.”

Caroline covered her face with one hand and leaned against the wall.

Rick Ryder was shaking his head slowly. His eyes were glazed over.

I recognized that look of regret, of guilt. Rick Ryder had done something that day, abandoned his duty. His look was as good as a confession.

“What happened, Rick?” I asked.

When he looked up, he didn’t look at me but at his daughter.

“What, Dad?” Caroline asked. “What were you doing that day?”

“No,” Rick mumbled. “No.”

“Han knows, doesn’t he?” Caroline pressed, her voice rising. “He knows what happened that day and that’s why you two are always fighting, isn’t it?”

Rick glared at his daughter. “Your brother doesn’t understand—”

“Neither do I!” Caroline nearly shouted. “So, help me!”

Rick turned his glare on me. “You want to know what I did that day, Alpha?” he yelled. “I made a damn mistake.”

Caroline gasped.

Rick looked at her, his face serious. “I made a mistake that day. I wasn’t watching where I should have been. I was distracted…distracted by things from my past.

“Questions I’d left unanswered; questions that keep me up at night. I was chasing those answers that day. I left my post for ten ~fucking~ minutes.”

“Your past?” Caroline repeated, crossing her arms.

Rick laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I had a life before I had kids, Caroline.”

Caroline frowned. “What questions? What distracted you? You never left your post before. No problem was ever big enough to make you come home early.

“What could have made you abandon your duty during a war?”

Rick looked at me. “I made a mistake, Alpha. One I’ll never make again. You can either take me back as a lookout or let me rot in that house outside the pack’s territory.”

I was silent for a while, leaning back in my chair, thinking.

I had a problem. I’d asked Rick for an answer and he’d left out the important details; details that I was sure would hurt Caroline.

“Order him to tell us the truth,” Caroline demanded, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at me.

Caroline was biting down hard, her neck veins straining as she fought back tears. “Make him tell me what he did that day.”

“You can do that now, Caroline,” I gently reminded her.

She blinked, and I saw a tear clinging to her eyelash. “I-I—”

“Please, Caroline,” her father begged. “I’ll tell you one day, when the time is right—”

“And when will that be?” she demanded.

Her father was speechless. “Carol—”

“Leave,” she ordered, her gaze falling to the floor. “Just go.”

Rick hesitated, long enough for me to growl at him, before he finally left the room. I cocked my head, listening as the old man exited the house.

Caroline took a deep, shaky breath, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “My family is so messed up,” she muttered, more to herself than to me. “Or maybe it’s just me.”

I paused, searching for the right words. With Del, it had always been easy. I knew what to say, what would make her smile.

But I didn’t know Caroline like that. I didn’t know what was happening with her family or what was going on in her head.

By the time I found the words, she had already moved on, excusing herself to take a shower.

I sat in my office for a long time, cursing myself for not speaking up. For not offering something to counter the self-doubt that was hanging over her.

I had my head on my desk when Rowan walked in. “Sweat and hustle?” he asked, reading my t-shirt.

I growled in response.

Rowan laughed, sinking into the chair Rick had just vacated, his hands raised in surrender.

“Didn’t know you were into motivational sayings,” he teased, fully aware that Jackie had filled my closet. “~Sweat and Hustle.~”

“What do you want, Rowan?” I growled, still haunted by the look on Caroline’s face.

My third sighed. “We have a long day of work ahead in the hot summer sun,” he reminded me. I looked up and noticed the sunscreen on his nose. “We’re rebuilding the outposts today, remember?”

“Shit…” I swore, glancing at my watch and realizing it was earlier than it felt. “Is everyone ready?”

“We’re just waiting on you, Alpha,” Rowan said, a smirk playing on his lips. I sighed, trying to shake off the tension that had been building since Caroline had approached that cliff.

“Divide everyone into groups of four and assign them to the outposts. They need to be sturdy enough to withstand the winter.

“Any groups that finish early can start restocking the supplies—clothing, food, and water.”

Rowan was about to leave, but he paused in the doorway and turned back to me. “I might be imagining things, Trip, but I thought I heard Caroline crying.”

The news hit me hard.

“Did you two fight?” Rowan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” I quickly dismissed. “Her dad came by.”

Rowan relaxed, understanding it wasn’t his place to step in. When it came to my mistakes, I expected my inner pack to correct me. When it came to Caroline’s, it was my job alone.

“Should I put Caroline in a group with some of the pack wolves? Let her get to know—?”

“No,” I cut him off. I cleared my throat. “I’ll—we’ll—fix an outpost together.”

Rowan didn’t say anything, but I caught the smile he tried to hide before he nodded and left.

I dropped my head to my desk, waiting for the blush on my cheeks to fade before I rushed to change and found Caroline waiting in the kitchen.

She was frowning at me, arms crossed. I noticed the freckles scattered across her skin. “You have no food,” she complained.

I took a deep breath. “About your dad, do you want to talk about it or—?”

“No,” she cut me off, turning sharply. I watched her hands grip the counter, her muscles tensing. “I don’t.”

I moved closer, close enough to smell the lingering scent of soap on her skin. She inhaled sharply, turning her head slightly to watch me from the corner of her eye.

I reached around her, grabbing a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

I didn’t miss how her shoulders relaxed when I stepped back or how her teeth bit into her lower lip.

I made her a sandwich, handing it to her on a plate. She accepted the lopsided offering. “Thank you,” she conceded.

“We have to help rebuild the outposts,” I told her. “We have to do our part as leaders. After that, we’ll go grocery shopping.”

“And after that?” Caroline asked.

“We’ll talk.”

Caroline didn’t respond. She tore at her sandwich, popping small pieces into her mouth.

When she was done, we left, walking together through the small pack town towards the outskirts of the territory.

People waved as we passed, some turning to whisper to their neighbors.

Caroline stared back, her eyes wide as she adjusted to being the center of attention. From what I’d heard, she hadn’t spent much time around the pack since her mate died.

“You can wave back,” I teased, lifting my hand to wave at an elderly couple weighed down with grandchildren hanging off their arms. I felt a pang of envy watching them.

Caroline shot me a quick glare before raising her hand. The elderly couple smiled and made their grandchildren wave back. She turned away, but I caught the small smile on her face.

We reached our assigned outpost a few moments later, the tools for the job already laid out by Rowan.

I stepped back to assess the task, grimacing at the state of the shack. The paint was peeling, the wood was splintered, and the door handle was hanging on by a single screw.

“Did they give us the worst one or what?” Caroline asked, echoing my thoughts and making me laugh.

“I think they did,” I agreed, picking up a plank of wood and a hammer and frowning.

I never considered myself a handyman. When I was young, I was too arrogant to think an alpha needed to know DIY, and after I matured, I found my hands full with the war.

Caroline pressed a finger to her mouth to hide a smile.

“What?” I asked, my head tilting to the side. A sudden realization hit me—I wanted to know what made her laugh, what made her smile. And I wanted to know it badly.

She shook her head, one eye squinting against the sunlight. “You don’t seem too comfortable holding a hammer,” she said, a playful note in her voice.

I held up the tool. “This might take longer than I first thought.”

“Did you think you’d get the easiest job?” she asked. “The simplest outpost to fix?”

I had a hunch that Rowan gave me the toughest one to keep me around Caroline longer. I shrugged. “I figured…”

Caroline laughed and stepped forward, swapping the hammer in my hands for a screwdriver. She walked up to the shed, her face scrunched up as she assessed it.

“We’ll need to replace a bunch of the boards. We’ll have to stain them and change out some of the rusted hinges.”

I watched her open the door, studying the problematic hinge with a furrowed brow. “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

She glanced at me over her shoulder. “I have two brothers and a dad who’s had a lot of free time since he lost his job.

“Also, we live in a house that’s always falling apart. I know what I’m doing.”

I would have been impressed if I hadn’t already suspected her to be good at many things I didn’t know. “Lead the way, Luna,” I said, settling myself onto a rotting stump.

Caroline pulled on a pair of gloves, grabbed a crowbar, and started to pry off the decayed boards.

“The trick,” she told me as a board groaned and gave way, “is to angle yourself so you don’t split the wood.” With a satisfied smile, Caroline held up the rotten board. “See?”

“I might need another demonstration.”

Caroline complied, pushing her red curls away from her face before she pried off another board.

“One more time?” I asked. She blew her bangs from her face and yanked off two more boards, guiding me through the process.

After she dropped the fifth board at her feet, she turned with a knowing smile. “You didn’t need me to show you how to do this, did you?” she guessed.

I laughed. “I would’ve figured it out, but you looked pretty comfortable with that crowbar.”

Caroline’s laugh was light and airy. She had worked up a light sweat and was squinting against the sun, her skin even paler under its harsh light.

“I’m even better with a hammer,” she said, winking at me.

I joined her a moment later and we worked together, prying the ruined boards from the shed. When we were done, the outpost was a skeleton, and we had a large pile of useless boards at our feet.

“I should have put on sunscreen,” Caroline muttered to herself, touching her skin and leaving white impressions on the slightly red complexion.

“You’re paler than most,” I agreed, taking off my gloves and tucking them under my arm.

“I burn and then freckle,” she said. “It’s a curse.”

“Comes with the red hair, I’m guessing.”

She shot me a glare.

I did need Caroline’s guidance as we replaced the boards. She was a patient teacher, though she had a habit of snatching the tools out of my hands if I was doing something wrong.

Her guidance was what got the job done before the sun set, and I had a feeling she would have finished sooner if I hadn’t been there.

“Has your brother decided what he wants to do?” I asked casually.

Caroline was crouched, prying open a can of wood stain. Her face was thoughtful as she stirred the paint.

“Han doesn’t have much energy to do anything besides hate our dad,” she told me. “Their relationship was never easy but it hasn’t gotten any better since Alpha Vex died.”

“You think your brother knows something you don’t?”

Caroline sighed. “Han is secretive. He also likes to hold grudges and to have something to complain about and rally against.

“I wish he would tell me but I’ve become more of an enemy to him since…” She met my eyes and quickly looked away.

My stomach dropped. I had come between her and her family.

I cleared my throat as she handed me a small cup with paint and a brush. “And Mick? Does he know?”

Caroline grimaced. “Mick is kind-hearted and forgiving. Even if our dad did do something terrible, Mick couldn’t stay upset for more than an afternoon.”

“And you?” I asked. “Which brother are you like?”

Caroline painted an entire board before she answered.

“Neither. When I hold a grudge, when I get upset, it’s for a good reason. Han gives into his anger too easily and Mick not enough; I’m somewhere in the middle.”

“What are you most angry with?” I asked, pausing to catch her eye.

“Myself.”

“Alpha.” We both jumped as Rowan approached. A small smile appeared on his face when he saw how close Caroline and I were standing to each other.

I set down my brush and walked over to Rowan. My third peeked over my shoulder at Caroline, who had turned back to her work, before he clapped me on the arm and gave me a silent thumbs-up.

I had to bite back a growl. “How is the project coming along?” I asked.

Rowan nodded. “Great, I think you’re the last to finish.”

This time I did growl. “Any chance you gave us the hardest outpost on purpose?”

Rowan laughed me off. “A few wolves are coming soon to refill the supplies inside. After, we thought it would be a good idea to burn the old planks in a bonfire. Do you and the luna want to come?”

“I’d love to,” Caroline shouted over her shoulder.

Rowan grinned. “Great. Jackie caught wind and now she’s organizing s’mores.” Rowan’s eyes slipped to Caroline and then back to me. “It’ll be good for the pack to see you there. Both of you.”

I cleared my throat and clapped Rowan on the shoulder. My third lingered for a moment and then stalked off the way he had come.

Caroline was sporting a small grin when I spun around. She attempted to conceal it behind her paintbrush, but I caught sight of it. “You’re actually excited about a pack event?” I asked, my voice filled with disbelief.

Caroline just shrugged. “Why move out here to live with you if I’m going to lead the same life I had before?” She paused, then added, “Plus, I really like s’mores.”

As the sun began to set, we continued painting. The sky turned a fiery red, bugs started buzzing in our ears, and the air cooled significantly.

The distant chirping of crickets provided a soothing soundtrack to the sound of our paintbrushes gliding over the newly rebuilt outpost.

When it was just Del and me, we’d chat non-stop. She was always bursting with questions, stories, and laughter.

Caroline was different. She was more reserved and didn’t feel the need to fill every silence. I wasn’t sure how to navigate her quietness; I didn’t know if she wanted me to talk or if she’d find it annoying.

“I think we’re done here, Caroline.”

She seemed startled at the sound of her name. Her quirky eyes met mine as she brushed her hand against her cheek, leaving a streak of paint.

I chuckled and moved closer, instinctively reaching out to wipe off the paint.

Caroline recoiled, her eyebrows furrowing as she rubbed her cheek and blushed, turning her back to me.

My heart sank as I realized that, for a moment, I had seen honey-colored hair and gentle eyes, not the redhead with a scowl. This woman wasn’t mine to touch; she wasn’t mine at all.

“Sorry,” I said quickly, wincing when she tensed up. “Uh, we should…”

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a blush creep up my skin. “I’m going to clean up. You can head to the bonfire if you want.”

Caroline turned halfway, giving me a sideways glance. “I’ll help.”

I didn’t say anything but berated myself internally.

Once I felt the ghost of Del, it was hard to shake it off.

It was hard to forget that if it had been my mate standing with me here today, I would’ve wiped the paint from her cheek, held her face, and kissed her tenderly.

If it had been my mate, she would have laughed and sung; she would’ve kissed me back and held my hand.

Perhaps the most painful part was knowing that I’d never regain that simplicity—that comfort.

Because, for that brief moment, when I had reached up to touch her face and seen Del, I could see in her eyes that it wasn’t me she saw either, but the man she had lost.

We cleaned up the area quickly as the sun disappeared and the only light left came from the moonlight filtering through the trees.

We stored the supplies in the outpost for future repairs, picked up the old boards, and started walking.

Caroline kept a safe distance, her face drawn and gloomy as she walked, eyes fixed on her feet.

I racked my brain for something to say, feeling responsible for the awkwardness that had brought our otherwise pleasant day to a halt.

I couldn’t help but feel disheartened. If it was always going to be like this, one step forward and two back, then I didn’t see how we could ever make it work.

An alpha and luna need to trust each other. They need to share intimate moments to run a pack as partners.

We were close enough to the bonfire that I could hear the sounds of laughter and conversation.

I felt some of the tension lift from my shoulders, knowing that I wouldn’t be solely responsible for keeping Caroline entertained once we joined the pack.

She stopped walking a moment later, and I halted too. Caroline cleared her throat and looked up at me through her lashes.

“I, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… It’s just…” She took a deep breath through clenched teeth and closed her eyes.

“I get it,” I said, my voice tighter than I felt.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Trip—”

“It’s fine,” I interrupted, forcing a stiff smile.

But it wasn’t fine. There was nothing fine about having to force this connection; having to nurture a relationship when another had been promised to me; one who had been so perfect.

Caroline pressed her lips together and nodded before walking off. I watched her go, torn between following my future and dwelling on my past.

But it was Del who won, as I suspected she always would.

~“How much do you love me?” she whispered, her chin resting on her folded arms as she lay beside me in bed. Her honey hair cascaded over her shoulders, her eyes light and playful.~

~“More than anything else,” I told her, my voice heavy with sleep.~

~I felt her fingers on my chest. “How long will you love me?”~

~“Forever,” I promised, my eyes drifting shut.~

~Her breath was minty fresh. “How will you show me?”~

~I grinned and pulled her close, my eyes still closed as I buried my face in the crook of her neck. “I will worship you every day, Luna,” I whispered, “with every heartbeat.”~

~She pressed a kiss to my lips, and I opened my eyes to see hers filled with tears. “Sometimes, I feel like this is it; this moment is all we’ll ever have.”~

~I frowned as I brushed her hair from her face, then cupped her cheek.~

~“We’ll have forever, Del. We’ll have children and long years spent looking after them, and their children, and each other. I’ll love you more with each passing day, I promise.”~

~Del kissed me again.~

“Trip?”

Jackie stood in front of me, her petite frame swathed in an oversized sweater, her dark eyes filled with worry and anxiety.

I realized with a jolt that I had been crying and quickly wiped my cheeks before rubbing my eyes.

“Trip, what’s wrong?” Jackie asked, touching my arm.

“Nothing,” I mumbled. “Del… It’s nothing.”

Jackie’s expression softened. “Trip, that’s not nothing.”

I forced a smile. “I’m just… It’s just…spending a day with Caroline made me miss her.”

Jackie nodded. “Come on, the pack is waiting.”

I took a moment to collect myself, shaking off the last remnants of the memory, then Jackie led me to the bonfire. Instantly, Bennie was hanging off my neck, teasing me for being so late.

A laugh erupted from my chest as I found myself among friends and pack members.

I made my way around, expressing my gratitude to everyone for their hard work on the outposts, all the while enduring the good-natured ribbing that came with being the last one done.

Ryan was there with Theo, my chief scout, who I hadn’t had a chance to talk to since I got back. My estranged beta was grinning at me, his teeth catching the firelight like a shark’s in the deep sea.

Caroline was sitting a few seats away, her gaze locked on the fire. I made a big deal of tossing the last of the boards into the flames, earning a round of applause and laughter.

Ryan’s grin widened as I walked over, but I noticed Theo shifting uncomfortably. He was a big guy, bald with a heavy brow.

Once upon a time, he’d been a loyal friend to me; a steady and sensible member of my inner pack. Back then, there was no one else I would have trusted more to scout for danger or do my recon.

I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to deserve the suspicion that now lurked in his eyes.

“Beta,” I greeted. “Head Scout.”

Ryan’s grin morphed into a scowl. “Trip.”

I stiffened at his casual greeting, then turned to Theo. “Good to see you. You’ve been…busy since I got back.”

Theo’s small eyes flicked to Ryan. “Hello, Alpha.”

Ryan tensed. “You’ve had a productive day, Trip.”

I nodded. “We did. It’s good to know that our outposts have been repaired and are now up to operating standards.” I looked into Ryan’s eyes. “Something that should have been done a long time ago.”

To my surprise, Ryan didn’t rise to the bait. “I agree, it’s great that the pack is now in a position where we can focus on things as trivial as the paint job on those sheds.”

My smile was strained.

“I was just talking about Mick Ryder,” Ryan said casually.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline’s head turn. I shifted on my feet. “Mick Ryder?”

“The human ambassador,” Ryan continued. “I spoke with him about his new role, on your behalf of course. Our temporary luna spoke to him a few days ago to inspire him to get a head start on his work.”

I clenched my jaw. “I didn’t ask you to—”

Ryan waved a dismissive hand. “You didn’t have to ask me, Trip. I’m your beta.”

“What have you done?” I growled. By now, we were starting to draw attention. I felt Rowan’s presence as he came to stand behind me, his eyes darting between Ryan and me.

Ryan shrugged. “I sent the human ambassador to do his job.”

“Without any preparation?” I growled. “Without any knowledge of—?”

“They’re our allies now, right? You said so yourself, Trip.”

I felt my anger simmering under my skin. “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t approach them with caution. They are our allies now, yes, but that doesn’t account for each individual—”

“Are you saying they’re a threat?” Ryan pressed, his eyes gleaming.

That silenced all other conversations.

“We need to continue this in private,” I growled, tensing as Caroline came to stand on my other side.

Ryan laughed and spread his hands wide. “What are you trying to hide from your pack, Trip? Don’t they have the right to know? The right to hear exactly what you’re planning for them?”

A few jeers rose as a result of Ryan’s provocation.

“You’re twisting—”

Ryan shook his head and stood. “I’m simply letting everyone know your intentions, Trip.

“You appointed Mick Ryder to be the human ambassador, you want him to go to Mt. Oaks, and you want him to befriend them.”

There was a murmur of fear.

Ryan shook his head. “~Befriend them.~ Befriend the monsters that killed us by the thousands, murdered our mates, hunted our young.

“Befriend the people who destroyed the years of friendship and trust we had built, who sought to drive us into extinction.”

“The Feral War is over,” I reminded him sharply.

“Why?” Ryan asked. “Because Stan Freeman shot his daughter on TV? Because you came back? The war lasted over a decade; I really doubt it ended in one single night.”

“You are out of line,” I roared, “using their fear to—”

Ryan turned to the pack. “Do you think the humans on Mt. Oaks are comfortable living next to us? Do you think they’ve forgotten that we’re here?

“Do you think they aren’t working to protect themselves from attack? That they aren’t planning one themselves?”

“Come on, Ryan,” Rowan chided.

It was no use. Ryan knew what he was doing.

He was playing on the fear that lingered in the back of everyone’s minds, in the pit of their stomachs.

He was stirring up the instinctual drive to protect oneself and one’s children. To turn against the other to protect the self.

Ryan laughed. “And the most outrageous part of his plan? Choosing Mick Ryder to do the job.”

I heard Caroline growl as those gathered burst into laughter and taunts.

Ryan stared straight into my eyes. “And that’s not all. He plans to reinstate Rick Ryder. So now, if the humans of Mt. Oaks do attack, we’ll never know.”

Caroline lunged forward, her face twisted with rage. “How dare you—”? Rowan held her back, his eyes cutting to mine.

I turned my back on Ryan and addressed the wolves that had gathered. “Ryan is right. I do plan to make Rick Ryder a lookout again.”

There was an outcry as people felt a fresh wave of guilt and grief for Alpha Vex. I met Aaron’s eyes and saw the disapproval there.

I held up my hands. “Rick Ryder served this pack for decades, and he did so faithfully and he did so well.

“He made a mistake,” I conceded, “as we all have. But how are we any better than the humans if we condemn him for life?”

“He is the reason we lost half of our pack,” Ryan snapped cruelly.

“No,” I pressed, “the human army was responsible for those deaths. For the death of Alpha Vex, for the death of my mate.”

A hush fell over the crowd.

“Rick Ryder might have failed to warn us, but we failed to fight them off. The guilt for that day falls on all of our shoulders… On mine.”

Ryan let out a low growl. “If only Rick Ryder had—”

“Enough!” I cut him off, my voice booming through the silence. “We need to let go of the past, let it rest, and focus on what’s ahead.” My voice hitched as I thought of Del, her eyes sparkling with laughter. I cleared my throat, pushing the memory away. “It’s time we forgave.”

I could have convinced them, could have started to mend the deep wounds and distrust within my pack, if only Mick Ryder hadn’t stumbled into the clearing, his body drenched in blood.