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Music and laughter filled the night air as the Black Hills mountain pack converged around a bonfire in the middle of the village. Some people danced while others enjoyed the bounty of food Jeremiah and Luke had spent the entire day cooking. Lacey and Cole sat near the fire and talked with friends while the twins played with the other pack children under the watchful eye of their grandfather.
Having already been in the village for over three hours, Lacey had spent most of the night talking with her packmates. And she was pleased that not one person mentioned the massacre that had occurred in the very same spot where they were now laughing and having a good time. It wasn’t until Maggie told her that Cole had ordered the entire pack to never speak of what happened that she understood the silence on the subject. It truly was as if nothing had ever happened there. At least on the outside. But Lacey knew everyone involved would carry the horrible memories and scars of that day in their hearts forever. She definitely would.
“Have any of you seen Tonya and Trevor?” Lacey asked as she glanced around the village. It was almost time to call it a night and go home and she still hadn’t seen them.
Mira lifted her head from Jeremiah’s lap on the opposite side of Cole and looked at Lacey as she spoke, “The last time I saw them they were at Scotty’s cabin with two of the outside wolves. Apparently, they all know each other from years ago and they’re uncomfortable mingling with the rest of us.”
“That’s not true” Kindal said from the other side of Lacey. A sad look filled her eyes as she lowered her head. “Trevor isn’t back to normal yet. He’s um...having a really hard time adjusting.” She paused and glanced over at Lacey, “He’s been through a lot. More than any of us can possibly understand without being in his shoes. Tonya is scared that he’ll never be the same as he was before.”
“What exactly is wrong with him?” Lacey asked with concern. “His body has healed, hasn’t it?”
Kindal nodded then met Lacey’s eyes with caution. “It’s not his body I’m worried about. Not everyone’s mind is as resilient as yours. Some of us can’t just pretend like bad things don’t happen to us.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lacey asked as the need to defend herself from the accusatory look Kindal gave her filled her mind.
Kindal shook her head and looked away. “I’m just saying that not everyone can survive being tortured and come out of it unscathed the way you apparently have.”
Lacey’s chest tightened painfully as she stared at her friend and thought about what had been done to her and how desperately hopeless she had felt the moment she’d accepted that she was going to die on that metal table in Branson’s facility. It was the worst feeling she’d ever had in her life. She forced the tears she felt filling her eyes away as she spoke, “Is that what you think, Kindal...that I walked out of that room in Alabama unscathed?”
When Kindal didn’t respond, Lacey glanced around the fire at all the people staring at her. “If that’s what you all think then you are sadly mistaken. The brief time I spent with Branson has changed me in ways I can’t even begin to describe and I honestly don’t feel like I owe any of you an explanation of how or why I refuse to let what happened to me define my future. I truly believe that everything in life happens for a reason...to teach us something new that we didn’t know.”
“Really?” Kindal asked with sarcasm in her voice. “So what did you learn from what Branson did to you?”
“Kindal!” Cole growled her name, warning her to shut up.
Lacey touched his arm to calm the anger she saw building in his eyes, then she faced Kindal. “I learned that I’m not as indestructible as I thought. I learned that my mind and spirit can be broken just as easily as anyone else’s. I learned that unwarranted hatred lives and breeds in the world. But most importantly, I learned to appreciate and cherish every second of my life because I never know when it’s going to end. And that is why I force myself to open my eyes and crawl out of bed every morning to face a new day instead of hiding in the dark and wallowing in sorrow over the cruelty I’ve endured. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with my mind being resilient. I put the unpleasant things behind me and go on with my life because I’m not going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me fall and not get back up.”
Silence suddenly filled the area around the bonfire as everyone looked at Lacey with respect. A slow steady clapping sound echoed in the air, calling everyone’s attention to the group of newcomers who had just stepped from the trees behind Lacey. She looked over her shoulder and saw Trevor staring at her as he clapped his hands together. Scotty, Tonya and Joey stood to his right and two men Lacey hadn’t seen in a very long time were to his left. Devon and Tyron both smiled when she looked their way and she knew they were the visitors Frank had told her about.
“That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard someone say” Trevor said as he stepped away from the woods.
Lacey got to her feet as he approached her. Without warning, he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her. The action completely caught her off guard considering she’d never thought he was the hugging type. Unless of course, it was with Tonya.
After several long minutes of having his arms around her, Lacey gently pulled away from him when she felt Cole’s presence behind her and heard the low growl rumbling in his throat. She looked at Trevor and couldn’t help but wonder if the broken man in front of her would ever find his way back to the man he used to be. As she searched his eyes, she hoped that hers hadn’t looked as lifeless as his did, when she’d returned from Branson’s.
“I just wanted to thank you for saving Tonya and my little boy before we leave” Trevor said in a weak voice, void of emotion. When Lacey didn’t say anything, he continued to speak as he stared at her, “You’re right not to let anyone keep you down, Lacey. Always fight back. I just wish that the rest of us were as strong as you are.”
Lacey didn’t know what to say in response. Mostly, because she didn’t really feel as strong as everyone thought she was. And she didn’t see the things she’d done as anything extraordinary or heroic...she was just protecting her family the way she felt everyone should.
Cole placed his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her close to him as he spoke to Trevor, “You and your family are welcomed to stay.”
Trevor spared a brief glance at Cole and shook his head. “I don’t think so. While I do appreciate everything that you and your pack have done for my family, not everyone can forget or forgive your past as easily as Lacey has. Jesse was my best friend and I won’t betray him by allying myself with the man who killed him. We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.”
Lacey rubbed her hand up and down Cole’s back to keep him calm when she noticed the tight set of his jaw and the way he’d balled his free hand into a tight fist at his side. It was clear from the tense look on his face that Trevor’s jab about Jesse’s death had struck a nerve. She knew she needed to diffuse the situation quickly or Cole was going to hurt Trevor. “Well, it’s been a long day and an even longer night” Lacey said and smiled at her friends then looked to Jeremiah and hoped that he understood the look she gave him with her eyes that said to get Trevor out of sight. “If you all will excuse us, my mate and I are going to go home and relax.”
Jeremiah quickly stepped in front of Trevor and Tonya as she took a step toward Lacey. He offered them a kind smile, but there was no misunderstanding that their talk with Lacey was now over. “How about I walk with you all back to Scotty’s cabin? You can say your goodbye’s in the morning before you leave” Jeremiah said and focused his attention mainly on Trevor.
“Fine by me” Trevor replied and wrapped his hand around Tonya’s as she held their son, Joey.
“Thank you, Lacey!” Tonya yelled as Lacey and Cole walked off in search of their children.
Lacey stopped and looked over her shoulder at the red-headed woman who looked much happier than she had the day before. “You’re welcome. Enjoy your family” she said, knowing that those would be her last words to her old friend because she had no intention of seeing her off in the morning.
She’d kept her promise to help Trevor and had made peace with the past she’d left behind in Carol Springs. And considering Trevor still harbored hostile feelings toward Cole, there was no reason for her to ever see or speak to them again. Devon called out to her and she looked over at him and his cousin, Tyron. They started toward her and Jeremiah stopped them.
“It’s alright, Jeremiah” Lacey said with a smile then turned her attention to Cole, “You called them for help?” she asked and cocked her head toward the cousins as they made their way over to her.
Cole shrugged nonchalantly. “They used to be your friends and if it wasn’t for me, they probably still would be. When I told them what Branson did to you, they were more than eager to offer their help.”
Lacey kissed him on the lips and said, “I’ll just be a minute. I’d like to thank them for coming.”
“Take as much time as you need. I’ll find Frank and the kids and wait for you on the path.” Cole nodded at Devon and Tyron as they threw their hands up in greeting to him, then he walked off to give Lacey a moment with her friends.
As soon as Cole was out of sight, Devon gave Lacey a quick hug, then stepped back so that Tyron could do the same. “It’s been a long time, Lacey” Devon said as he smiled at her.
Instead of getting into the long conversation that she’d like to have with her old friends that would only make her homesick for the relationship they used to have, she simply smiled and said, “Thank you both for coming when Cole called you. It was really nice to see you again. I’d like to stay and catch up but It’s late and I’m tired.” She offered them an apologetic smile and turned to leave.
“Lacey” Devon called after her as she walked off.
She paused and looked back at him.
“Was Cole’s offer to stay aimed at us as well?” he asked and passed his hand back and forth between himself and Tyron.
Lacey studied them carefully before responding, “That depends. Do you have a problem with my mate?”
The cousins looked at each other before answering. “Nah. The past is the past. Besides, we’re all guilty of killing humans now, aren’t we? As long as Cole is cool with us, we’re cool with him.”
“Then the offer is on the table” Lacey said and turned her back to them.
“Looks like we’ll be joining your pack” Tyron said with. “Where do we sleep?”
Scotty walked up behind them and spread his arms out across both of their shoulders as he stood between them. “You two will be bunking with me.”
Lacey continued on her way over to Cole as the cousins and Scotty started talking amongst themselves. She was pleased that two of her old friends were going to stay but she was eager to be by her mate’s side. She found Cole, Frank and the twins waiting for her at the entrance of the path to her cabin. Frank was holding onto Cody’s hand and Cole had Claire’s.
“Let’s go home” Lacey said as she approached Cole and took his free hand in hers.
They started down the path and Claire let go of Cole’s hand and ran to catch up with Frank and Cody as they walked at a quicker pace. “Hey, wait up” Claire squealed. Out of the blue, she fell to the ground and shifted into a light brown colored wolf and darted after her brother and grandfather.
“That’s my girl!” Cole hollered out at her with pride.
Lacey looked up at him with a huge smile. “Looks like you were right. She just needed more time.” She wrapped her arms around his waist as they walked. “We’re going to be alright, aren’t we?” she asked as uncertainty over whether or not they were really safe settled in her chest despite her best efforts to push it away.
Cole met her eyes then pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the front pocket of his jeans. “We will be” he said and handed her the paper.
“What’s this?” she asked and stopped walking to unfold and look at the paper.
“It’s the list I asked Lee to make. Dean gave it to me a few minutes ago. He found it in the back room of the store” Cole replied before dropping his gaze to the ground as the reality that his job wasn’t quite done yet caused conflicting emotions inside him. “There is over seventy names on that list.”
Lacey’s eyes widened as she read the names then looked up at Cole. “All of these people know about us?”
“No. They know about you and your powers” Cole said and placed his hand tenderly on the side of her face as he stared into her eyes.
“What are we going to do?”
“You aren’t going to do anything” Cole said in a stern voice. “I, on the other hand, will do what needs to be done to insure that none of them ever come after you the way Branson did.”
Lacey closed her eyes and leaned her head forward against Cole’s chest. “Will we ever be the same once all of this is over with?” she asked in a low, sorrowful voice. “I know what I said back at the bonfire...and for the most part, everything I said was true. But what I didn’t say was that I’m scared.”
“Scared of what?” Cole asked with concern.
“I’m scared that I’m going to lose you. I’m afraid you won’t be able to find your way back to the man you were before Branson came into our lives.” Lacey paused and shook her head, “I’ll never forgive myself for asking you to go back to your old ways. No matter the reason...I should have known better.”
Cole wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest and stared into the darkness of the woods behind her. He knew it would be a mistake to tell her the truth and admit that he was worried about himself as well. The whole ordeal with Branson and the other humans had reawakened the rage inside him that he had fought so hard to contain. And he feared he wouldn’t be able to lock it up again. Especially, not after seeing how much hatred the humans had for his kind. And his family. Just the thought of anyone ever looking at Lacey or one of his children with malice in their eyes, burned him to his core and brought more of his dark side to the surface. “Don’t worry about me, Lacey. I’m fine” he lied and kissed the side of her head. “As long as we’re together there is no reason for you to ever be scared of anything.”
Lacey tightened her hold around his waist and listened to his heart pound against his ribs. An uneasy feeling settled over her at the rigidness in his body that she hadn’t felt when holding him in a very long time. She looked up at him with cautious eyes. “I love you, Cole.”
He met her gaze and forced a smile to his lips. “And I love you, Lacey. More than you can possibly understand” he said and brushed her hair back from her face before claiming her mouth in a rough, needy kiss.
As they continued their walk home, Lacey couldn’t help but think something was different about Cole now. Even though he tried to act the same as he was before...she knew that he wasn’t. The thought of losing him to the past that she’d asked him to revisit ripped at her heart. She looked over at him and made a silent vow to do everything in her power to save him from himself before it was too late. Even if that meant going against him and taking care of the seventy men on that list herself, so that he didn’t have to.
They were almost to their cabin when Cole suddenly stopped walking and looked over at Lacey with a strange look in his eyes. She could tell that he was battling an internal struggle with himself.
“Maybe I should let Jeremiah and the others deal with the list” Cole said and reached for Lacey’s hand. “They are just as capable as I am of dealing with the threats against you. And I think my time would be better spent with my family.”
A small smile stretched across Lacey’s face as she looked at him. Her fear of losing him eased a bit with his willingness to let someone else take care of the humans. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Cole was silent for several minutes. Then, after deciding to be honest, he repeated the words Lacey had spoken to him after she’d returned from Branson’s facility, back to her. “It’s going to take some time, Lacey. But I’ll find myself again and return to being the man you love. Just don’t give up on me.”
Lacey threw her arms around his neck as tears swelled in her eyes. “Take all the time you need. I’ll never give up on you.”
They shared a long passionate kiss, then walked hand in hand into their cabin, knowing without a doubt that their love was strong enough to survive anything.