26. Dirge

TWENTY-SIX

Dirge

I paced the long side of the room, unable to hold still after seeing my beautiful mate's new marks. She was stunning, and perfect, and it tore a hole right out of my chest that the marks were unfinished. I didn't know it was possible for them to form at all with me still shifted. Had our nighttime meetings done something more permanent than we'd realized? It was a worry I had no one to bounce off.

So I continued wearing an unsettled track into the floorboards as Shay filled in the rest of the pack's inner circle on our situation. She faltered at times, but her shoulders were straight as she outlined our midnight meetings—leaving out the private bits, of course—and what I'd shared about the vision from the Fetya.

Reed's face paled and he sank into an empty chair as she finished the tale. When his eyes met mine, it was with intense sorrow.

"Brother," he whispered, reaching out a hand toward me. I quickly butted it with the top of my head in acknowledgment, but couldn't stop the urge to pace. It itched, telling everyone. But not as much as the realization as I listened that my mate thought they could fix it . Change our cursed destiny.

I knew, deep down in the marrow of my bones, that this was not going to happen. Nothing we did, nothing we tried would change it. And if she didn't honor that, the Fetya could take her from me even sooner.

I could absolutely not live with that.

"M'kay, so…" Leigh was the first one to wade in after Shay finished speaking. "There's nothing actually preventing his shift right now? He's fully aware and the man is in control but… Darth Furder's afraid of the vision?"

I lifted my lip in a halfhearted snarl at her insult. Leigh just grinned, enjoying herself, the incorrigible little shit.

"Well, if you were in a field and now we're not, just shift now. You can't complete the vision if you don't play by its rules, right?" She slapped her hands on her thighs as if the matter was settled.

It was absolutely not settled.

"It's not so simple, I'm afraid." Kane's expression was grave as he spoke. "The lore of the Fetya is shrouded in many mysteries, but one thread of truth runs through them all. What they foresee is as much price as it is a promise. They will extract the truth of the vision, whether it is now or at the foretold time in the future."

Ice water flooded my veins, even though I already knew the accuracy of his words.

"He's right," Reed said. "If they foretold Dirge's first shift leading to Shay's death, then his shift will in some way bring it about, sooner or later."

"Okay, sooner or later. Fine. But what if they could have years together before then? Why have nothing if you could have something!" Leigh stood from the edge of the bed, raking frustrated fingers through her long blonde hair. "Even if they got a week. Wouldn't you rather have a week with your mate than nothing ?"

"No! It's reckless, and it could end with both of them dead sooner. Do you care so little for your friend that you would throw away what could be centuries of life for a few days of pleasure?" Gael held his position leaning against the wall, but the grating derision in his tone was enough to slough off a layer of skin.

All of them and their bickering were driving me nuts. I didn't care what they decided; I wasn't shifting. It was too risky, and none but Kane had the power to force the issue. I paused, casting a glance at him and then at the little she-wolf at his side. Brielle was a wildcard, but somehow, I didn't think she would press beyond what Shay and I wanted, even if she could.

Leigh spun toward Gael, fury tingeing her cheeks red. "You don't know that—you're just guessing. So, get off your fucking high horse. Wolves age so slowly that it could be tomorrow or five hundred years and he wouldn't have been able to tell in that vision. But you also don't know that they'd only have moments. She could get those five hundred years with him before the price comes due. And yeah, if I was blessed enough to find my mate, and I had the choice between any amount of time with him and none? I'd choose him. Every fucking time ."

You could have heard a flea jump, the room was so quiet.

"Guys, I think we all need to take a step back, here." Brielle's voice was calm but firm, and Leigh immediately spun away, giving Gael her back. He took a step after her, his rage at the obvious diss tingeing the air with an acrid sulfur scent that burned away his usual wolfy pine. I stepped between them, lifting my lips in a snarl.

Leigh was Shay's family, which meant she was mine too, and for some reason, this male couldn't seem to stop pissing her off .

I didn't like it, and I wasn't sure I liked him . Inner circle or no, if he didn't stop hurting the females under my protection, I'd tear his throat out and piss on his corpse. That I could still do in wolf form, and at this rate, I'd enjoy it.

"Back off, Dirge. This doesn't concern you," Gael said hotly, meeting my gaze in a challenge.

I growled, but then dainty hands grabbed me by the ruff and pulled me back. Shay. "Stop it. Both of you," she said, casting a disapproving look at Gael too, though she quickly ducked her head away from the other male.

That just made me want to leap at him more. But I didn't. Her hands were tangled in my ruff, anchoring herself as much as me. So, I leaned into her thigh, soaking up the contact.

Reed stood from his chair, casting the two of us a glance I couldn't decipher in this form. His scent was bitter, though, like coffee left too long to burn. "I don't think this is a decision they can take lightly, and regardless, it's not something we can decide for them. As much as I hate to say it, for now, he needs to stay in wolf form. We need to do more research on the Fetya before we can say with any certainty what might happen. And, unfortunately, the discussion is going to have to wait. Our plane is ready to take us back to the pack grounds so we can wait for word from the Kodiak sleuth."

"It's okay, we'll figure this out. I promise." Brielle crossed to loop her arm through Shay's, grabbing Leigh with the other. "Maybe this Jada will know how to help you too. If she's old enough to recognize omega magic, surely she's seen a Fetya vision before, right?" Her chipper smile and soothing presence had the intended effect, the tension in the room ratcheting down several notches as the men filed out. I stayed back, watching them go—keeping a particular eye on Gael, though he didn't spare the women another glance.

"Come on, we'll help you pack up your stuff, then let's get out of here. The Athabascan pack have been lovely hosts, but I need some space," Leigh said as she headed into the bathroom.

Seconds later, the sounds of her roughly shoving toiletries into a bag reached us, and Brielle chuckled. "Those two are like oil and water, aren't they?" she whispered to Shay.

"More like gasoline and firecrackers," Shay muttered as she hurried to pack.