Page 21 of Mated in Darkness

“I’m staying,” I said as I slid my phone into my pocket.

Jason looked at me then, his broad shoulders hovering over me, and he swallowed hard. I watched the long lines of his neck and told myself I wasn’t going to give in. I wasn’t going to listen to my wolf.

Because I had never felt this pull before, never felt this need.

And I was truly afraid that I had done the one thing I hadn’t been prepared for.

But Jason just stared, “Good. I’m glad you’re going to be here.”

His voice soothed my wolf, and I held back a curse.

This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be him.

I couldn’t have just found my mate. A human. Long from home.

And in the one situation that could mean both of our deaths.

Chapter 9

Jason

I had never been invitedto a Pack funeral before, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to think about it. I stood by Kaylee’s side, on the other side of Rio, glancing at Spencer’s parents as they held each other close, both so stoic I was afraid if they dropped a single tear, they’d never be whole again.

I could practically taste the anger and sorrow in the air. The fact that nobody knew exactly why we had lost Spencer or who had attacked him angered so many people. I could sense it. You could hear it in the rumblings between all of them as they spoke to one another.

I was terrified that whoever had killed Spencer would do it again.

They would find Kaylee or someone else tracking the killer, and it would be the end for them.

I needed to find the monster, whatever form they may be, and try to find a way to stop them. This monster was leaving behind black bite marks, bite marks that could end a person’s life.

I had never seen it before, and while I was still new to the paranormal world, the fact that Riaz wanted me to work so closely with them told me that they were worried as well.

I was still looking for clues as to what could be doing this, what could be causing this, but I was focusing on the sorrow in front of me for now. Kaylee hadn’t moved, hadn’t said a word. She stood there, stoic, as if she blamed herself for what had happened. I didn’t know her well, but without thinking, I reached out and gripped her hand. She froze, looked down to where I touched her, and I wanted to pull back, only I didn’t. Instead, she threaded her fingers with mine, squeezed, and didn’t let go. I didn’t know what it meant, I didn’t know what it should mean, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, as Spencer’s parents did their best not to break down in front of the rest of us, I held Kaylee’s hand and wondered why I felt so connected to her when I didn’t even know her.

“We lost Spencer in an act of brutality and uncertainty. He came here for a reason, and we will find out who it was that killed him and why he’d come in the first place. What happened. All of us will. The Redwood Pack Alpha will also hold a moment of time for Spencer. For a Pack member who has been with them for nearly forty years, for a Pack member that they lost, whose bond is severed in a way that cannot be taken back. Spencer was ours for the first twenty years of his life. He was ours.”

Riaz raised his chin. “And now he is gone. He will be buried amongst the mountains and trees in his beloved Redwood Forest. And his parents will go with him to that place with the Redwoods, and we will be sending an envoy as well. We might not be true allies in the sense of the word, but the Redwoods are our brothers and sisters. They have lost theirs as much as we have lost ours.”

I squeezed Kaylee’s hand but she didn’t look at me. Instead, she leaned slightly into me, and I wondered again why I was there. Why I had the honor of being invited, even as it felt like sorrow crashed around me.

“We will go to the Redwoods, and we will have answers.” Riaz looked at me then, and I raised my chin. He was the Alpha, and I couldn’t meet his gaze, but I could look right at his eyebrow, so he knew I wasn’t going to back down. I wasn’t a submissive, and I was human and could walk away, but I wasn’t going to challenge him.

Riaz gave me a tight nod then looked at Kaylee. “Kaylee is here from the Redwoods, she will find who did this. We were too late. I refuse to be too late again. But, I will not let this day be drenched in sorrow. Now we will speak of Spencer, the boy we knew and the young man who moved on to another world. And then we will mourn. First, let us sing the song of those we have lost.”

The wolves around me in human form threw their heads back and howled, an eerily beautiful howl that made the hair on the back of my neck and arms stand on end.

Kaylee looked at me as she finished, and I’d never seen anyone so beautiful. She was gorgeous and made my mouth water, even if I knew that this wasn’t the time or the place.

Nor would it ever be, since she didn’t live here, and I didn’t have any plans on leaving my home.

Why had that thought entered my mind? It didn’t make any sense.

I pushed those thoughts away as Riaz began to speak, and then the others did the same. They all moved around, speaking to one another when the large wolf I knew as Tristan came forward. He sidled up to Kaylee and looked her up and down.

“You’re a Tracker then?” Tristan asked, and I bristled, the same as Kaylee.

“I am. I’m sorry for your loss.” She let out a breath. “Our loss.”

---