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We. Us. Not just me.
Seff would fight for them. Protect them. It was a promise I felt in my heart. And in my soul.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As Seff pulled my truckinto a parking spot, I breathed in a deep, calming breath and put on my happy face. My parents had arrived before us and waited in front of the cafe. My dad looked badass, as usual, in his black leather vest, thermal shirt, jeans, and heavy black winter boots. His thick, silvery-white beard hung down his broad chest, and a wolf-print bandana covered his head, keeping his long white hair tamed back. Dark-tinted sunglasses hid his eyes, but for anyone who knew him, even though he might look a bit dangerous, he was just a big teddy bear.
My mom was a clothing minimalist, a trait I’d inherited. So many of my pack-mates had spent so much time in their wolf forms, and with very little storage space in our yurts, hoarding clothes, shoes, whatever, made little sense. Every piece of clothing my mom had on, from the hot pink thermal shirt to the thin black thermal tights to the gray down-filled vest, could be rolled up and stashed inside her snow boots if needs be.
I took in a calming breath and turned to the twins in the back seat. Before I could reassure them, Arteisma patted my arm.
“Everything’s gonna be all right.”
I nodded and smiled, then turned to Nereida. She’d stripped off her jacket and sat with her little arms crossed.
“Nereida?”
She looked out the window, her lips pressed into a tight line. Her anxiety filled the truck cab, and I didn’t know why.
“Nereida?”
“Why did Tillman come back?”
“He came back to pay his respects to Rina. We talked about this, remember? His exile allowed him to attend the Ceremony of Grace.”
The ragged ends of her thick brown hair barely touched her collar, longer on the side opposite from where she’d used the scissors to cut off her braid. She turned to face me, worry in her eyes.
“Then he has to go away?”
Tillman is dead.
She didn’t fully understand, apparently.
“He has to leave, right?”
I kept waiting to feel sad for Tillman. I should have felt...something. He had almost been my mate. Had he really changed me so much that I couldn’t even feel a twinge of grief for him?
Seff’s warm hand cupped my jaw, forcing me to look his way. He didn’t say the word, but I read his lips,don’t. I blinked and nodded. He turned to Nereida and said, “Tillman’s already gone.”
“Can he come back again?”
Seff reached and took Nereida’s hand. “No.” He shook his head. “He’s never comin’ back.”
And still, I felt nothing.
