46

46
Everett shook his head. “I still have a lot to learn. I was hoping you could teach me.”

“Teach you how to be more tolerant of people?”

“Mm.”

“Okay, well, I’m hardly an expert.” I was still an asshole sometimes, too. “So maybe we can learn together and just hold each other accountable.”

“That sounds… manageable.”

I pressed closer to him, seeking another kiss. It was so cleansing to having this intimacy with him. Our lips embraced and his chest leaned into mine until I felt his heartbeat drumming. I didn’t anticipate how badly he had wanted this touch until I was giving it to him, and he reciprocated with a desperate desire to be as close to me as possible. Before long, we had tipped over and laid beside each other on the bed, kissing, then pausing to gaze into one another’s eyes, relieved to immerse ourselves in our fated bond.

Had the circumstances been kinder, I would have rolled on top of Everett and shown him exactly how much I appreciated him. But I knew the day was hard enough as it was, and neither of us possessed the emotional strength to shove aside our sorrows for a few minutes of sexual pleasure. There was too much healing to be done. Just entwining our bodies was good enough, because within the hour, we were stripped down to our underwear and comfortable under his bedsheets, snuggling innocently. I supported his head on one arm, his face nestled under my jaw while with my other hand, I gently trailed my fingers through his hair. Everett clutched me against him and closed his eyes. He fell asleep a few minutes after that, and to the sound of his quiet snores, I drifted into dreams as well.

That morning, I woke up next to Everett. He was already awake, and he’d been watching me sleep for a few minutes. I smiled at him. From the small twinge in his lips, I knew he would have smiled too, had he been feeling stronger.

To his surprise, that morning, Taylor’s girlfriend Bree returned. She appeared at Everett’s house looking disheveled, tired, and bitter. “I stayed with him as long as I could, but I had to leave. The Inkscales turned up,” she explained. “I was barely lucky enough to outrun them.”

“I’m sorry, Bree. I can’t even begin to tell you how deeply I regret everything…”

“Don’t,” she cut at Everett. “Nothing you can do will bring him back.”

“I know.”

She shook her head and left. None of us could fault Bree for the way she felt, or for the text she sent Everett later, saying that she was going to leave town and stay with her human family a couple states away. It was safer there. Living with the constant threat of death and the memory of Taylor everywhere she turned was just too much for her.

Tensions were high in Eastpeak for the next couple days, and in Grandbay, too, as nobody knew when David was going to strike next. The Mythguard had been given their reason to act on Dalesbloom and the Inkscales’ aggression now, and we were just waiting for the official extermination order based on the Mythguard’s assessment of the attack. The order would tell us who exactly was approved for the extermination attempt. For an emergency measure intended to prevent any more death, it was a really convoluted process—but extermination was a pretty dire measure to be taken at all, so I understood. But it left us anxious for what David might do in the meantime. I should have been in Grandbay to help my pack defend themselves, but even Gavin agreed that I should stay in Eastpeak with Everett. They had already suffered so much, they needed as many hands as they could get. We didn’t know if David would go directly to Grandbay or if he would launch another attack on Eastpeak while they were already so weak. I couldn’t bear the thought of Everett being caught off guard and slain, so I would be here to protect him.

Three days after the massacre, Everett seemed to be recovering from the shock of his losses. His confidence was shaken, but he just needed time. Thanks to Muriel’s healing magic, his four wounded packmates were already faring well enough to speak and walk. They wouldn’t be doing border patrols any time soon, but Everett still had six packmates, including himself, as well as me—seven wolves total—who could keep an eye out for dragons.

The night of that third day, the ten remaining wolves of Eastpeak gathered for another meeting in Everett’s living room. I sat off in the corner, watching while Everett stood before them all with renewed composure.

“In light of the recent losses, I want those of us still here to stay close and in constant contact. You will all be staying here at my house until the threat of Dalesbloom and the Inkscales has subsided,” said Everett. “We will perform spot checks on the perimeter as humans instead of full border runs, which means that in groups of two or three, you will drive out to roads that intersect with our perimeter to check for scents. You will have your phones on you. Additionally, when not at work, you will be staying here, and there will be a rotating shift of two on guard at all times. We will have three vehicles here prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. The Mythguard will be monitoring the house, as well as several locations throughout the town, and will report back if there are any sightings of Dalesbloom wolves or the dragons. I am committed to protecting our pack—no more wolves will die to David’s wrath. As soon as the extermination order is in, we will eliminate this threat. I will not rest until Eastpeak is safe again.”

The Eastpeak wolves nodded in agreement. There was little dissent to Everett’s course of action. Everyone was feeling the same fear and unease, and clustering together at his mountainside home would offer the security that they were all in need of.

Three of his packmates sat at his kitchen table for a late dinner, including Everett’s mother, Lyssa March. I carved meat off the flank of a deer and passed the raw, dripping cut to a packmate, whose hands trembled too much to cut it themselves. Then I passed a cut to Lyssa. “Thank you,” she said crisply, taking it on her plate. She was far more proper than the others, and exceptionally more so than my Grandbay packmates, who would have just sunk their teeth in without need of a fork and knife.

“So who’s your contact for these deer?” I asked.

Lyssa smiled tightly. “I wouldn’t want to overshare. As you can imagine, resources are scarce these days.”

Fear of Dalesbloom and the Inkscales had kept all of us from being able to hunt. Gavin still tried to catch what he could for Grandbay, but I hadn’t seen anyone from Eastpeak organize a hunt since I got here. Wolves had to eat a lot of meat, so they were getting it from somewhere—I just didn’t know where, and Lyssa seemed less than keen to divulge that information.

“I understand. So… how long were you with Everett’s dad?” I continued, trying to make conversation with the woman who may very well become my mother-in-law.

She kept her eyes on her plate. “Mm… twenty-five years. December 1st would have been our thirty-fifth anniversary.”