73. Cole

Eva's face was black with soot and she reeked of smoke, but Silas refused to let her go. He cradled her in his arms while they both stared at the smoldering wreckage of our former home. There was nothing left of the cabin but a charred pile of smoking timbers. Everything had gone.

All the boxes in the attic containing photos and items belonging to our parents. Our computer equipment. Books. Everything.

Thank God the fire hadn't spread to the barn. The tools and vehicles were safe, at least. None of that mattered, though. The insurance would pay for what we'd lost and we could rebuild the cabin. I knew Rufus would have no issue with us staying in a guest cabin on pack lands, given everything that had happened.

The only thing I cared about was Eva. I could sense the sorrow and guilt through our bond. She blamed herself for everything because that was her default starting point, as always.

"It's not your fault," I repeated.

"If I hadn't thrown the booze at him, then the bottles wouldn't have smashed, and the fire wouldn't have started!"

"And if there'd been no fire, he might have hurt you before I arrived," I reminded her.

She knew I was right. "I could have killed him with the knife," she muttered.

"Yeah, you might have, but also, he could have stabbed or shot you." I knelt down at her side and cupped her chin. "He's gone. Brent is dead. We can rebuild the cabin, make it bigger. And now you can have a say in the design of it."

"I can?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, you can. Once we sort the insurance claim out, we'll hire an architect and get some plans drawn up."

"We need more bedrooms," she mused, lost in thought.

Silas and I exchanged glances. I didn't dare hope she meant for kids, but I could tell Silas was on the same wavelength as me.

"I'd like children…one day," she said with a shy smile.

"Sugar, you can have as many cubs as you want. In fact," he grinned, "I vote we get started real soon."

I rolled my eyes. Trust him to be thinking about sex while we sat here staring at the ruins of our former home, after Eva had survived yet another traumatic event.

"Come on, let's get going. We can take the ATVs in the barn."

Eva looked relieved. Normally, we'd shift and head to the valley on foot, like we did for the Full Moon Party, but it was a more arduous trip for her that way. Using the ATVs meant we could make use of the logging tracks instead, which were now clear, and a more direct route.

Eva's eyes narrowed. "How come we didn't use them when we went to the Full Moon Party?"

Silas grinned. "My wolf wanted to carry you."

"We tossed a coin, and he won," I added.

"So I had to endure hours of discomfort because you wanted my legs wrapped around your furry body?"

"Damn right, sugar. My wolf was smug as fuck that day. You can ride with me today." She jumped up and glared at him.

"Not a chance," she hissed. "I'm sitting with Cole."

"That's harsh!"

"Serves you right, asshole!"

She stomped around the still smoking remains of our cabin, pointedly refusing to look at it. Not that I blamed her. The sickly sweet stench of burning flesh was unpleasant.

My wolf wanted us to go and dig Carlos out of the rubble and taste-test the corpse. I reminded him that wasn't socially acceptable and that our mate would most likely never talk to us again, so he reluctantly backed down.

From the way Silas looked ill when we followed Eva past the ruined cabin, I guessed he smelt it too. At least we were certain the fucker was dead. The feds could extract DNA evidence if they liked; I didn't care either way.

Silas called Tanner before we set off to let him know what had happened. My phone was gone. Destroyed in the fire, along with all my other worldly belongings. Thank fuck, the cold didn't affect me, but Eva was shivering by the time we arrived at the pack house. Luckily, we kept a few spare items of clothing in the barn, some of which she had pulled on to keep the cold away, but the shock of the fire and Carlos's attack had taken their toll.

Our mate was exhausted.

Tanner rushed out the moment we arrived. He carried Eva inside. Silas and I followed. My hair stunk of smoke and worse and I was ready for a hot shower, food, and booze, in no particular order.

Lily materialized in the kitchen just as Eva sat down. "Why do you guys smell of BBQ?" she asked, her face screwed up in puzzlement. "Did you set the cabin alight with the grill?"

"Not quite." Silas grimaced. "Carlos attacked Eva and was char-grilled."

I glared at him. Was that really the right thing to say in front of our mate when she's feeling guilty enough?

He looked chastened. Good point, but also, it's true!

"Really? So that's what I can smell? Cooked man meat?"

"I think I'm going to throw up…" Eva dashed out of the kitchen and into an adjacent bathroom.

"Lily! Get your butt out of here! This conversation is not for you!" Cilla stormed in, having heard the gist of what we were saying, with Rufus close behind.

The girl rolled her eyes and winced when we all heard Eva throwing up. "OK, sorry. I didn't mean to upset her. I was just curious…" She dashed away, whistling a jaunty tune.

"That kid will be the death of me one day," Cilla muttered as she pulled out a bottle of bourbon and placed it on the table. "Here, I figure you guys could use some of this."

She wasn't kidding.