“You what?” he asked, his voice rough.
“I fucked up.” It wasn’t any easier admitting it to Wolfe than it had been accepting that Killian was right, that Ineededto be here to have this conversation with Wolfe in private instead of in front of the pack.
He nodded as he held my gaze. “Did you know it was Hollow pack on patrol?”
I looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He licked his top teeth as he watched me. “The patrol on duty was entirely Blueridge Hollow shifters. The patrol that was due to relieve them was purely Stonefang Pack.”
I closed my eyes in realization. Ihadn’tknown that. Fuck, why had I not known that?Because I didn’t check.
“It will look like Stonefang let one of the Hollow get killed,” I murmured as I opened my eyes and met his stare. My shoulders slumped as I felt myself deflate. “I didn’t…it wasn’t my intention.”
Wolfe didn’t move, just a steady, immovable presence that judged me with his silence.
“Are you going to say something?” I asked him, wincing at the sound of anger in my voice. It wasn’t his fault, it was mine, and I shouldn’t be lashing out at him. I felt the swell of tears and angrily turned away from him so he wouldn’t see me cry.
“Look at me.”
I shook my head, my fingers quickly dashing across my eyes to wipe away tears.
“Rowen,lookat me.”
I turned back, letting him see everything. My pain, my frustration, my sense of defeat.
He didn’t move to comfort me, and I was glad. I couldn’t handle him being soft right now. He also didn’t reprimand me or emphasize that I had lost a pack member tonight through my actions, and I was grateful for that as well.
“The druid informed the wife,” he said after a moment.
Sherry.I forgot to go and tell Sherry. That somehow made everything one hundred times worse, and before I realized it, Wolfe was wrapping his arms around me as I broke down in his arms.
I didn’t deserve his consolation, if that’s what it was, but I clung to him anyway, taking comfort if it was offered or not.
His hand smoothed over my braid in slow, gentle strokes as I wept, and I tightened my arms around his waist, pulling him closer, seeking his strength when I felt like all mine had fled.
“Shh, princess,” he whispered.
He didn’t tell me it was okay, he didn’t tell me it could be fixed, he didn’t tell me it wasn’t my fault. Because Wolfe didn’t lie about the stuff that mattered.
When my tears slowed, I didn’t immediately let him go, and he didn’t step back. Wolfe’s chin rested gently on top of my head, and I wondered what we looked like as we stood in our living room, wrapped in each other’s arms, two adversaries pausing their silent feud and just being there for one another.
I felt him lift his head, and then he was loosening his hold on me, stepping back but not away. A finger under my chin tilted my head up to meet his gaze.
“It needs to stop,” he spoke quietly, but his words held the weight of truth. “Stop acting against me, and work with me. If you do, then mistakes like tonight don’t happen.”
He waited, and when I didn’t speak, I felt him sigh as he took a bigger step back, away from me.
“I’m fighting too many battles outside of these walls, Rowen. I don’t need you to be another one.”
He didn’t wait for my response. He stooped, picked up his shirt from the corner of the couch, and left the house.
Sleep here tonight.His voice came through the mindlink.I won’t be back until dawn.
Later, as I lay on our bed, the emptiness of the space beside me was louder than any words he’d spoken.
I stared at the ceiling in the dark. “I wish you were here, Dad,” I said in the stillness of the room. “I miss you so much. I’m messing up everything, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
I closed my eyes, promising myself that I would make amends tomorrow. Wolfe and even Killian were right. Until I showed acceptance, how could any of us move forward?
