* * * * *
William finally succumbed to his wounds and decided to get some rest as the wolves began to scatter, especially because he’d lost so much blood that he was getting dizzy, allowing Lea to return to her Alpha’s side. She followed him quietly for a few moments before she finally spoke up. “I know you want to blame yourself for this, but she fooled us all.”
Nick nodded as he got back to his home, but he didn’t go inside. Zara had made the house hers almost as much as it was his, and he couldn’t go back in there where her presence still lingered. Instead he went to sit on a steel chair on his porch as the crowd dispersed for the moment, each pack to see to its own. “Someday you can explain to me how that’s a comfort. It was because of my trust that she gained anyone else’s.”
“It’s what they do. They live off of twisting everything until you can’t recognize it anymore.” She sighed and looked at the house that he sat in front of, and then she looked at her Alpha again. “Come stay in my house. I’ve got plenty of room. You’ll go crazy staying here, thinking about everything.”
“I won’t be staying in any house for some time, Lea.” Nick said with a sigh, still looking at the ground. When he finally took a breath and looked back at her, he was no longer the boy she had guarded for most of his childhood, but an Alpha who she thought very well might never actually smile again. “See to William and oversee those who are working to reestablish the fences. I am going to meet with the other Alphas one by one. By nightfall, we need to have an understanding of our casualties and of those we still have with us.”
Lea nodded as she backed away slowly. “Yes, Alpha.”
As Lea moved away and everyone set about their tasks, Nick raked his fingers back through his hair and heaved a shuddering sigh. He had his eyes closed for a long moment, trying without success to gather himself together from the broken pieces left of him, but even that moment’s peace was shattered by the sound of footsteps on the steps leading up to his porch.
He flinched at the sound and looked up to see Veronica escorting Candra, both of them limping somewhat as they got up onto the porch, but they seemed mostly unharmed. Veronica nodded toward Nick and looked back at Candra with a gentle expression that Fireborn were not known for. “She wanted to see you.”
Nick composed his face and nodded at Candra. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.” He looked past her at Veronica with the same gentle nod. “Both of you.”
Veronica nodded and started to step away even more, to allow Candra to speak with Nick in privacy, more or less. Candra sighed sadly as she looked over at Nick, genuine sadness in her expression. “I wanted to tell you that I’m grateful for all you’ve done to keep me safe. And that I’ll help in any way I can.”
The events that started the day came back to him in vivid and painful detail, having been eclipsed by the rest of what had happened. “We’re going to find him.”
She nodded, just a little at first, and then much more forcefully. “I want to help. I want to help look for him, I want to be out there.” Candra then stepped up closer to him and she touched his shoulder very lightly. “You still have people who love you.”
He couldn’t help the shiver at the power that ran through her into him, and he took her hand as he nodded. “We’ll need your help. And I’m glad you’re with us.” He let go of her hand and looked at Veronica. “I asked Lea to take you to her because of all of us, she has the greatest capacity for power. She cannot replace Orlando, I know, but I hope she can help for the moment.”
Candra nodded and she looked over at Veronica as well. “We helped each other today.” She looked up at the darkening sky, shivering at the realization that this would be her first night as a free wolf without Orlando. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Just help wherever you can. It’s the wounded and the dying that need your help right now. Help tend to them, and we’ll all be more than grateful.”
“I…” She didn’t want to bring up the topic, but before anyone else, Aura had been her friend. “Is Aura okay?”
He nodded, but it was in uncertainty. “She was as well as can be expected an hour or so ago when I saw her last. It was her husband, Ziem, who took down Coren, but he didn’t survive the duel.”
Candra shook her head as she looked around at the shattered world that had not so long ago been a place of celebration and smiles, especially between her and Orlando. Aura had stayed, she knew, because of the home it would provide her new family. Now it was hardly even livable. “None of this is fair.”
Nick didn’t answer that for a long time. “Did you expect it to be?”
“I didn’t know what to expect.” She sighed and looked back at Veronica, since she didn’t want to take up much of Nick’s time. “Those puppies are a promise, though, you know.”
“What do you mean?” He asked with an exhausted sigh.
“They were spared by your gods. Ironborn puppies.” She knew that there had to be some, with the parents that those puppies had. “The future.”
He had a hard time thinking about the future at the moment, but with her words, he was forced to. “Whatever offences we’ve committed against the gods, we’ve paid for them. I hope they are kinder to us in whatever future those puppies are going to have.”
“They will be,” Candra said with
