“How long has she been there?”
Coach takes a sip of the water and sets it down, choosing his words. “Forensics estimates four to five years.”
“Did anyone from our pack go missing four or five years ago?” I ask slowly.
My alpha shakes his head. “No. It’s not a shifter, Grayson.” His expression is taut. “The position of her body, the partial shift caught in her bones, all of it points one direction.” His eyes are very steady on me. “She was in the middle of transitioning when she died. A human woman who had just received a mating mark and didn’t survive the change into hybrid.”
The air in the kitchen suddenly becomes suffocating.
“You’re sure?” I breathe out.
“The forensics team is sure. So are the healers I had walk the site with them. Human females can usually be brought through the transformation if pack healers are on hand to support the change. They don’t always need to intervene, but they have to be in the room. She didn’t have anyone.” His eyes don’t leave mine. “Whoever marked her did it alone, whoever buried her did it alone, and whoever did both knew enough about your territory to pick the one spot a wolf wouldn’t stumble across by accident. It only got found because the Adler pups got out of their yard, and one of the trackers from the south end followed their trail in.”
I sit down on the stool across from him. “Well, fuck.”
Coach holds my eye without speaking. I drag a hand down my face. “Grayson, there is a reason why the Council is involved with the approval of human mates. Don’t ever make the mistake of marking Miranda. You won’t be able to handle her loss.Distance your wolf can handle. Not death. Not after all this time you’ve spent with her.”
I sigh, and right now, I don’t speak to him as my alpha but as the man who raised me. “Can’t I just marry her? I promise I won’t—”
He puts his hand on my shoulder, his voice gentle for a change. “I know you love her, Grayson. You can ask me as many times as you want. But the answer will be the same. Your wolf can control himself once or twice. Not more than that. It will grow feral. You need the Council’s approval, and if they don’t give it, you need to set her free. For both your sakes.” He looks away from me then, toward the dark window, and for a moment, he can’t seem to find the next words. His hand comes to rest on the back of my neck, the old grip from when I was a boy. “I’ve lost one son. I’m not ready to lose you as well.”
I swallow and nod silently, my wolf miserable and anxious inside me.
“Okay,” I whisper hoarsely. “I’ll petition the Council once everything is over.”
He doesn’t say anything else. He just sits with me until the light through the kitchen window has shifted its angle on the floor, and somewhere upstairs I hear Miranda’s voice, soft and patient, reading a picture book to my son.
And fear settles in my bones.
I can’t lose her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Miranda
The bistro smellslike brown butter and rosemary. Brooke is already pouring me a glass of something she brought from home, never mind that we’re sitting in a restaurant with a wine list four pages thick.
“I’m not paying restaurant markup on my own birthday.” She tops off her glass, then slides the bottle into her purse, far too pleased with the small crime. “Relax, Miranda. You have guilt all over your face.”
“No, I don’t,” I protest, my hands automatically going to my cheeks.
She laughs. “I’m loving your new wardrobe. I’m surprised Grayson let you come see me.”
“Why would he stop me?” I frown, not liking the idea of Grayson being portrayed as controlling.
“With everything going on, I would be protective too.” My friend shakes her head. “The hospital’s a mess. We’ve had two junior nurses come out and accuse Dr. Hudson of forcing them to sleep with him.”
I raise my brow. I know what Grayson did. He’s been upfront with me ever since the newspapers ran the articles. All he asked me to do was stay out of it and let him handle it. I’m starting to learn to give in to these requests. When he says he has my back, he means it.
“What about Vivian?”
Brooke sneers. “She never liked you. Ever since you checked her on her laziness during a patient follow-up, she’s hated you. I think she’s kind of jealous of how good you were at your job. Like you let nothing affect you, and it bothered her she couldn’t punish you for embarrassing her.”
“That was four years ago.” I stare at her. “Are you saying she’s had it out for me since then?”
“That and she’s desperately trying to get Axel to notice her. She’s been defending him to everyone who’ll listen. I don’t even think she realizes she is tanking her own career.” She lifts her glass. “Cheers. May we never see them again.”
I clink mine against hers. “Happy birthday.”
