Misha didn’t appreciate my humor. “No.”

“Are they eligible for unemployment?”

Misha tensed again, this time because he fought a smile. I was getting to him, and he didn’t like it one bit. I leaned through the window and tugged on his shirt. “Do you love your new bedroom?”

This earned me the glare of death. I glanced around, feigning confusion, and offered the most angelic Emme grin I could muster. “I thought pink was your favorite color?”

“Celia.”

“But I never did get your fascination with unicorns. Is that a creature of the night thing?”

My arms extended far enough onto the ledge for him to grab them—fiercely. “You protected my family from acquisition from another master, you maintained my realm, you searched for me, and you freed me. You—”

Misha shut his magnificent eyes tight and turned away, but not before I caught the tears that escaped. Master vampires weren’t known for their compassion or for their grief; many of their kind believed they were incapable of such pointless behaviors. But Misha wasn’t just any run-of-the-mill omnipotent being. He was a friend—my friend—who hurt because I did. “You are never to leave this world without my consent. Do I make myself clear?” By this point, his arms had encircled me and I was crying, too.

My world was no longer safe. I risked my life on a regular basis. How could I promise not to die? The shape-shifters were still out there, so were the remains of the Tribe and whatever other scary I’d managed to piss off. Still, I told him what he wanted to hear although it was a blatant lie. “Okay, Misha.”

The door swung open. Aric stood at the entrance to the room holding a tray of cheeseburgers. His eyes narrowed as he watched Misha hold me and stroke my hair while my arms remained securely fastened around his waist. He didn’t lash out. He didn’t growl. Instead he turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

—

Wolf mourning ended after Aric and his Warriors retrieved Liam’s body. The time had come to mourn as humans and honor a fallen hero. Aric told me it was a day to celebrate Liam’s life, except the tears, the flowers, and the heartache expressed the grief akin to all funerals.

Liam’s parents, his mate, and his sister and brother-in-law sat in front of us at the Den’s chapel. Liam’s sister held her infant son on her lap. They’d passed us on the way in, but I couldn’t meet their gazes. The guilt for his sacrifice hacked at my soul like a medieval axe. He’d died for me. No words could explain why I was more deserving of life, because I wasn’t.

A large portrait of Liam hung near the altar. His ashes would be taken by his family to Colorado, where they would be spread in a sacred ceremony. Bren held Emme next to me. Aric sat to my right and his mother watched beside him. Gemini and Taran sat on the end of the long pew, close to each other yet strangely apart.

As Liam’s best friend, Koda sat in the front with Liam’s family. He held Shayna’s hand, but kept his arm around Allie. Liam’s parents and sister wept openly. Allie remained quiet and unbelievably still. Even though her back was to me, I could tell she was emaciated. The navy dress she wore slipped from her shoulders, exposing the bony prominences of her shoulders. I waited for her to veer around and scream at me, to blame me. I wanted her to strike me, so I could take some of her pain. Her mate was dead and it was my fault. But as much as I expected her to lash out, she didn’t so much as glance in my direction.

Koda rose and marched quietly to the pedestal, bowing before the picture of Liam’s cheery face. Shayna shimmied across the dark wooden pew and took his place comforting Allie.

Koda gripped the sides of the pedestal while heartfelt tears dripped down his strong face. He took a moment to gather himself then expelled a deep breath. He surprised me by smiling. “Liam never could keep his trap shut,” he said. He waited for our laughter to subside before continuing. “Unbeknownst to our Chancellor of Students, when I was fourteen I took his new Mercedes for a spin. Liam and a few of my cohorts came along for the ride.” He glanced at Aric and Gemini, who lowered their heads and chuckled. “At fourteen, I wasn’t the best driver. Let’s just say we ended up in the Poudre River.”

“How the hell did they manage that?” someone mumbled behind us.

“Don’t swear in church, dear,” his partner reprimanded.

Koda rubbed his hands. “It took us about half an hour to drag the car out of the river and another hour to run to Aric’s grandfather’s house for help. The old wolf got a huge kick out of our dilemma. He called a witch he knew and convinced her to cast a spell to repair the damage to the Mercedes. The witch didn’t come cheap, and Aric’s grandpa didn’t find our situation funny enough to pay the bill without getting something in return. We spent that summer building an extension on his house and then painting the whole damn thing.” He shrugged. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if Liam hadn’t run up to the Chancellor the next day and told him he was glad we didn’t get caught stealing his car. Turns out the Chancellor needed his house painted, too.”

We laughed again, only to quiet at the river of tears Koda’s face had become. He raised his head toward the ceiling and sighed. “My brother, I will miss you. From now, until the great spirits unite us once more.” He forced a smile for the congregation. “Yes,” he said. “Liam never could keep his trap shut. It was always wide open. Just like his heart.”

—

Aric, Gemini, and Koda joined Liam’s family in greeting the attendants at the Den repast. Shayna remained loyally at Koda’s side. Aric had asked me to join him, but although I technically was his fiancée, I didn’t think it appropriate. Taran didn’t join her mate either, claiming she didn’t want to leave Emme and me alone. I couldn’t help noticing the tension between her and Gemini. They barely spoke and, more disconcerting, they barely touched.

We sat on chairs draped with white linen in the early June sun. Aric kept glancing my way, except he wasn’t the only one. Many of the weres present, including some of their human family members, watched me carefully. Some stared with curiosity, others with scrutiny.

Taran crossed her legs and draped her gloved hands over the pale blue dress she wore. “If that bitch looks over here one more time, I’m going to char her insides.”