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I gave them. They were bloodied. Not mine. And they hurt more than I’d realized. “No breaks, thankfully. You got some good hits in there.”
“Yeah.” I looked at Roman, horror dawning. He had a red mark on his face. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
“Your face…”
Ash let him lift me up. “Caught a quick elbow. I’ll be fine in the morning.”
“Sorry.”
He stroked his fingers down my cheek. “You were beautiful, firefly.”
Not a normal compliment when you tried to beat someone to death, but I’d take it.
“Do you need anything from us, detective?” Gabriel asked.
The man looked between the five of us. “No. You can go. We have your number if we need you.”
Exhaustion rolled over me. I barely remembered walking to the car, all that instinctual anger draining me to the point of sleep. I wanted to talk to them. Apologize, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
I jerked awake when Roman laid me down in the nest. “You’re fine, firefly. We’re all here with you.”
“Need to talk.”
“We can talk in the morning, little one.” Gabriel. Rested near my feet with Jace, and Ash pulled me in to him, sandwiching me between his body and Roman’s.
In spite of everything, all the sadness and pain, knowing Ian was gone and Craig was in jail, I felt… better.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
________
ASHER
Ishouldn’t be here.
It was the thought that kept circling around in my brain. Through the entire wake and memorial service, and now at the reception. I shouldn’t be here. I was the reason Will was dead.
Sloane kept close by my side, weaving our fingers together and showing me without words she was here for me no matter what. It helped more than I could ever tell her.
We had a quiet couple of days with rehearsals suspended. Watching movies together as a pack, sleeping in the nest, letting wounds heal and our instincts settle.
My Omega had her own struggles. Guilt because of Craig. In her head, it felt like she was responsible for Will’s death as well. The reality was, neither of us were, and we were back to the start, both of us feeling guilty for something that ultimately wasn’t our fault.
But we knew it, and each time we felt the other sinking, we tried to pull the other back. The rest of our pack was good at it as well. Jace made sure we were fed, whether it was ordering pizza from Sloane’s favorite place or making pasta like the first night she came home.
Roman wasthere. A presence that didn’t change and didn’t question. Sometimes all that was needed was not being alone.
Gabriel, still tangled in the mess of Ian’s firing, was absent the most, though he made sure to always be with us in the nest. He pulled Sloane aside when he felt her spiraling. And the two of us had talked. A long conversation out by the fire pit while Sloane and Roman were occupied.
It felt good to let everything out. I would never hide anything from Sloane, but she didn’t need to be the sole bearer of all my grief. That’s what packs were for—why we were all together in the first place. Something deep and visceral knew we all needed each other, strengths and weaknesses included.
We were waiting to speak to Jeremy, Will’s partner, and then we would make the long drive back home. I didn’t know if I could stay much longer than that. The line in front of us moved, and finally we were face to face.
I didn’t know him well, but we were familiar enough after so many years of Will and I being friends. They’d only been together a few years.
“Ash,” he pulled me into a hug. “Thank you so much for coming.”
