MICHELLE…
We sat in the front row. Winifred stood by Sam’s closed casket, her hand resting on the wood. Lined around him were the boxes of ashes for every werewolf we’d lost. There were so many. Charlene and Thomas had neither a casket nor an urn. They had a large picture on a board. They stood together, smiling at the camera as two wolf cubs ran around their legs.
I felt Emmitt’s pain and wrapped my arms around him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are.” He turned to pull me against his side and put a hand on my stomach.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“A little.” Learning I was pregnant just after the fight had brought too many emotions. Mostly regret that Charlene and Thomas hadn’t known.
“Good,” he said. “I want this to be the first of many.”
“Says the guy who isn’t kissing the toilet every morning.”
He kissed me softly.
“Excuse me,” a man said, close by.
I pulled back, blushing. It probably looked horrible, kissing at a funeral. The man didn’t look like he was judging, though. His face bore some new scars along his neck. He held out a hand to Emmitt.
“My name’s Anton. I knew your mom and dad a long time ago. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you for answering the call,” Emmitt said.
“I made the mistake of not joining your father’s pack years ago. I don’t want to make the same mistake with you. If you’ll have me, I’d be proud to belong.”
That had been happening constantly since the fight ended. Grey seemed surprised that Emmitt accepted each request. I didn’t understand why. Emmitt had been groomed for a leadership role since the day he was born.
I moved away from them, as they took a moment to speak about the pack, and joined Isabelle and Bethi on the other side of the room.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Not bad,” Isabelle said. “Winifred is blocking the worst of it. When she lets it slip, though…” She shook her head.
“And Gabby?”
“I’ve been stealing,” Isabelle admitted.
Paul and Henry entered. They held the door for a man I barely recognized. Gregory wore a patch over his missing right eye and had tucked an empty right sleeve into the front of his suit jacket.
I swallowed hard at the sight of him and still couldn’t believe he’d survived what the Urbat had done to him in an attempt to discover where we were.
He walked right up to me and wrapped me in a partial hug. I gently returned it.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, starting to cry again.
“Don’t,” Gregory said. “Mary had no regrets. You can’t have any, either.”
OLIVIA…
From the back, I listened to Michelle ask, “And you?”
“If I were a selfish man, I would regret not going with her. But I’m not. I’m looking forward to these two finding Mates and having some grandcubs for me. Speaking of that, I hear congratulations are in order.”
I wondered if Jim had any regrets. He hadn’t spoken to me since his mom and dad slipped into the void.
“The family would like to invite everyone downstairs for a light meal,” an older lady announced from the arched opening.
My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. I felt someone nearby and looked up at Jim. He held out a hand to me.
“Let’s get something to eat,” he said.
I tentatively accepted his touch.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I wasn’t sure.”
“About what?”
“What would happen now that the Judgement was done. Now that I knew my purpose was to die with you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When I first saw you, the pain of the oath almost killed me. Something changed. My thinking. I knew we were meant to be together for a reason. After that reason disappeared…” He swallowed hard. “I wasn’t sure what would happen if I thought of you as a Mate.”
“And?”
He smiled slightly.
“I’ve acknowledged my interest and lived. I’ve thought of your teeth nipping my neck and lived. I think it’s safe for me to say this now. Olivia, would you like to go on a date with me?”
I smiled and nodded.
HENRY…
I walked down the steps behind Dad. Something smelled amazing. What was it about grief that made a guy so hungry?
Dad cleared the doorway, and I looked ahead at the spread of food. A girl stood behind the table. She had sympathy in her eyes as she handed Aden a cookie. My heart skipped a beat. Then another. A tug started in my gut, and I inhaled deeply and stepped around Dad to get to her. She looked up at me with soft green eyes that reminded me of the forest.
“Hi,” she said. “Would you like a plate?”
I inhaled deeply again. Human.
“Yes please.”
“Henry?” Grey asked, standing close to me. I hadn’t even noticed him in the room. “Is everything okay?”
“Things are…different,” I said, unsure what else to say as she handed me a plate.
“Does anything smell good to you?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s weird, though, right?”
Are you sure? he sent me.
Very. How can I feel the pull for a human? I sent back.
Grey glanced at the girl. I did, too.
I don’t know. The girls said things changed for them with the Judgment. Maybe things changed for us, too.
A look of pity filled the girl’s eyes, and she reached out to touch my hand. A small shiver raced up my spine.
“It’s not weird,” she said, unaware of the conversation I’d just had with Grey. “Grief affects people in different ways.”
“Would you like to sit with me?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said with a soft smile.
Later…
BETHI…
The mist floated around me, and I knew I dreamed.
“Daughter, you have gained so much knowledge this life; yet, you and your sisters still know so little.”
A gentle hand brushed my forehead.
“Enjoy this lifetime filled with love. You have earned it.” Silent tears shook her words.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Dear one, I cry for the three races here. This Judgement did not end as it should have. Turmoil such as this world has never seen will result.”
“I don’t understand. We made the judgement and met the sacrifice.”
“You sacrificed the leader who would have had the strength to hold the races together. Emmitt and Jim have some of her strength. We can only hope that will be enough. But, for now, the rules have changed as will the world. Only time will tell if it’s a good change.”
Fear gripped me.
“What happens now?”
“You finish this life as best you can, try to prepare those you love, and wait for the next Judgement. Every end is a new beginning.”