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Blake then turned to Tanner and Seth. “I would like to take Niev to Christa. After she’s all settled in, you can send me wherever you need me.”
They nodded and walked to Tanner’s office, both with hardened faces as if the conversation that laid ahead of them was sure to be intense.
Niev waved goodbye to everyone who was still sitting at the table. “I’ll see you all later. Lyliann, just let me know when you’re planning the trip to the mall.”
“Most definitely.”
Turning to Blake, Niev took his hand.He led her down the hallway past Tanner’s office where she could hear the argument already going at full volume. She understood both sides. Seth’s arguments were just as valid as Tanner’s. Tanner destroyed the Skadu Pack by killing their alpha without him having an heir. He doomed them to fall apart. A pack without leadership was no longer functional. The guilt from his actions led him to invite anyone from the Skadu Pack to join his so they weren’t doomed to live as lone wolves.
She also understood Seth’s anger. He saw them as his enemies, and he couldn’t see them as anything else but that. The Skadu Wolves had hurt his pack. They’d killed people he loved. One of the Skadu Wolves put her through hell not just once, but twice. He’d nearly killed Blake, their unborn children, and herself.
Before she could decide what side she was on, she wanted to get to know the families that decided to stay. She didn’t want to judge them before she knew them. She was fighting that same battle herself, now belonging to a pack that didn’t want her. At least, the majority of it. She didn’t want anyone else to feel the way she felt.
Blake interweaved his fingers with hers and led her down the hill. “Which way would you like to take?”
“Can we walk by the tree line?”
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. “Of course.”
“Blake?”
“Yes, beautiful?”
“Will there be a funeral or something for the ones that lost their lives?”
“Yes, I believe we will have the ceremony the day after tomorrow.”
“What will it be like?”
“We’ll lay them to rest by Selene’s tree, a little north of the village.”
“Is that where all of you are laid to rest?”
“Yes. We’ll say our last farewells so they can start their journey and return to Selene.”
“So, after you die you return to Selene? No matter what you’ve done in your earthly life?”
“We’re all her children and will return to her. We don’t believe in heaven and hell, but we do believe she punishes the ones who have committed something unforgivable.”
“That means the wolf who attacked us will be punished for what he has done?”
Blake nodded and held her hand a little tighter as if to reassure her. “Yes, he won’t go unpunished.”
“How?”
Blake sighed, as he searched for the right words. “Some say she takes away their wolf, which is half of our soul and sends them back to earth to live a life with half their soul missing.”
To her, that didn’t seem like much of a punishment, but she’d also never had half her soul taken from her. She studied him. He seemed to be grieving the lives lost, but not to a degree that one would show if a close friend had died. At least, that’s what she hoped.
“Did you lose any of your close friends in the attack?”
“No. Of course, it affects the whole pack if one of us dies. We’re all like family but no, none of them were very close to me.”
“I’d hoped that if I healed everyone, then they would all return home.” It was hard for her to accept that some of the men she’d talked to while healing them hadn’t survived. Their families would forever be without them.
He stopped in his tracks and turned toward her, cupping her face with his hands. “Niev, don’t blame this on yourself. It’s because of you that only three of us had to return to Selene.”
Leaning forward, he kissed her, his lips pressing passionately against hers.She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, wanting,needinghim closer. He seemingly had a magical ability to ease all the bad feelings she was having, at least for a moment.
