48. Dirge

FORTY-EIGHT

Dirge

O ne minute, we were holding hands and making small talk, pretending like we weren't working our way through the crowds toward the exit, and the next minute, a lightning bolt of emotion hit me dead center in my chest, so strong it nearly knocked the breath out of my lungs.

Before I could even process what had happened or why, Shay dropped my hand and bolted like someone had just shot a starter's pistol. I tore after her as she deftly wove through the crowd, nearly bowling a few people over in the process. I wondered if Gael had finally snapped and torn some poor schmuck's head off for Leigh grinding on them on the dance floor. But no. We passed Leigh—still grinding and impossible to miss in that fire-engine-red dress—and I followed Shay straight out the small side door and into the torrential downpour outside.

But she hit that wall of water and didn't hesitate. In one stride, she went from my stunning mate in the purple dress that I planned to peel off her with my teeth to the tawny wolf who landed in a full-speed run .

My own wolf rose to the surface just as quickly, determined to stay with her, find out what had set her off.

That tuxedo was probably very expensive, I thought with fleeting regret as I tore after her on four paws. I couldn't say how long she ran or if she even knew where we were going. Fuck, were we even still on Johnson City pack lands? No idea.

But still, she raced on tirelessly through the woods. The waxing moon was past its apex before she finally slowed, her wolf's sides heaving as she staggered to a stop, head hanging low. I gave her space, stopping a dozen feet away before yipping softly to let her know I was there.

Shay was so exhausted, she didn't even look up. She must have known it was me, for there was no visceral pain left in my chest. Her pain, I'd realized somewhere along the run through the towering, endless pines. Our bond had progressed again, slowly filling in the cracks. That fractured bond was no joke, for it had taken… quite a lot of physical contact in order to progress even this far. Or perhaps it was her wolf, calling out to mine in her moment of terror that had done it. I couldn't say.

All I knew was that she was feeling a torrent of pain, sadness, and regret. It burned behind my breastbone as if someone had lit a torch and shoved it behind my sternum. I wondered if she realized, but I couldn't ask, not in this form.

Could I? Excitement for the possibility of our mental link forming was hard to suppress, but whatever she was going through right this second had to take precedence.

When she didn't flinch back from my presence, I paced slowly forward to nuzzle her, our noses passing briefly as my wolf sought to comfort hers by exchanging scents. He didn't know or care why, only that our mate needed comfort. Physical comfort, preferably.

She acquiesced, sides still heaving as she leaned her face into my shoulder, so like her favorite pose when we were in human, it made me smile inside .

Eventually, her wolf shuddered and faded, leaving behind my beautiful human mate, naked and shivering in the night air. I shifted back as well, though years of living in wolf form meant my stamina wasn't taxed nearly as much as hers had been. When I opened my arms, she came to me gratefully, wrapping herself around me and tucking her head under my chin.

She was chilled to the bone, lips a little bit blue and gooseflesh covering her as I chafed her lightly with my hands to warm her up.

Slowly, she absorbed my warmth, and the knot of pain in my chest began to ease. I was overflowing with pride that I was able to comfort her, support her, even as the curiosity was eating at me. Why had she run from the room like her tail was on fire?

"There are some things I haven't shared with you yet," Shay said, her voice a whisper I could barely hear, even in the stillness of the forest. The crickets were singing louder than her.

"Whatever it is, I'm here, muzic? mea. And I'm not going anywhere." I stroked down her back, urging her to sit with me so she could rest. She was still trembling as she lowered herself into my lap, curling up like a kitten against my chest.

"It's not a happy story."

"Some aren't. They're still worth telling." I continued stroking her back, long and slow, not prying even though I wanted to. I knew so little of her past, but our present had been pretty all-consuming. We had time to learn each other, bask in every nuance. We had forever. So I'd take whatever she was willing to share, and I'd hold space for the rest until she was ready.

"I was found on the side of the highway when I was six years old. I don't remember my life before that, and I have no memories of my parents. I didn't even know what I was, in the beginning."

I stayed silent, letting her work it out .

"They put me into human foster care. There were no parents to terminate their rights, so I bounced from home to home for several years. I was always quiet, a little timid. But it wasn't until my fourth home, when I was eleven, that I stopped speaking altogether. He wasn't really a good man, or I guess he was a terrible one. He fostered for the paycheck more than anything. So I lived in a room with three other girls, and across the hall was a room with four boys. We all had bunk beds."

Dread grew in my stomach as I feared where this story was heading. If that man had touched her, I'd rip his head off. I didn't care if it was cold-blooded murder. Anyone who had hurt a child, especially a vulnerable one under their protection? They deserved every scrap of pain coming their way.

"It was crowded and noisy. I didn't speak, so no one spoke to me, which I preferred after a while. I was invisible. But one of the girls was unhappy there. She was thirteen and claimed she'd met an older boy who she was going to run away with. One night, she slipped out our window and made a run for it. I was curious, more than anything. I didn't know much about boys, but I was starting to develop an interest." She chuckled mirthlessly.

"But what my foster sister was too naive to know was that her older boyfriend was just bait. He was part of a sex trafficking ring."

All the breath left my lungs, and it took all I had in me to stay still instead of shifting into my wolf form and howling my rage at the sky. Even though I knew what she was going to say next, the words still cut like knives.

"The men waiting there were not this pretend boyfriend, and they scooped me up with her. We were blindfolded and drugged, and when I woke up, it was on a dirty mattress inside what I later learned was a shipping container."

She shuddered at the memory, and I gripped her tighter. I had to force myself to loosen my hold .

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Though I really needed to know if that wolf was one of these despicable men. I had full confidence I could tear him limb from limb, but if he was part of this ring … I'd need Kane's backing to wipe them off the face of the planet.

"I need to, Dirge. It's time you know who you're mated to."

Her voice was full of misery and guilt, and I wanted to light something on fire. But that wouldn't help her. I cupped her chin, forcing her eyes up to mine.

"Whatever you tell me, wherever this story goes, it doesn't change my opinion of you. I already knew you were a survivor. This only confirms that. You are mine , and nothing can ever change that."