Chapter Thirty-Seven

When it is darkest, we can see the stars.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

THOMAS RANTED AS he stomped back and forth. “What can they do to us? They were coming here to murder us,” he roared. “We have a right to defend our home and land—to not be provoked. They brought the war.”

Malcolm and the council listened. The Steele pack, along with Tristan and Luke, who had returned at the summons, had been brought to the Mitchum council chamber below ground to discuss strategy before the Tribunal.

“They were wrong for not sending the rule of three or accepting ours,” Thomas continued. “We were wrong for fighting dirty and not burning them. Our argument here is about the scientists; it would have drawn too much attention, and we were waiting.” Thomas glared at his father and Adler. “We would have burned them eventually.”

“Lie,” Ryan said. “I didn’t even know by law we were supposed to burn them, Thomas, or we would have. I would have done it myself. That is on Malcolm and your council. We fought dirty, and we’d do it again. We are a human-turned pack. That will be how we fight. The traps—those were extreme. I regret those. But come to kill my mate, take my home when I’ve done nothing to you, and it’s war. War is dirty. No one says ‘what a pretty war.’ We don’t say we ever intended to burn them, Thomas, because I didn’t know we had to. You wanted to blow them all up and burn the bodies, and everyone said no, too much attention. Some people said ‘let them rot.’” Ryan spoke to Thomas, but it was clearly directed at Malcolm and Adler.

“I’m an arsonist,” Thomas huffed. “I burn things.”

“You didn’t know, and we did. You are correct, Ryan,” Malcolm said. “They will likely deal with us as separate packs. The Steele pack may not be punished for the first violation—not burning them. But you may be for leaving one for dead, possibly.”

Thomas and Ryan both nodded, and Thomas said, “We understand that one. We should have checked every single Wolf.”

“We’ll be found guilty of both violations,” Malcolm said to the council, to the pack. “All who fought will be punished. I will try to take the punishment for my pack, but prepare yourselves. I don’t think that will satisfy them. Spend time with your families and say your goodbyes in case the Pillars or Tribunal Council are not merciful. We tell the truth, pray for the best, and accept punishment for the laws we have broken. We know we are guilty, and we know we have shame. If death is not my punishment, I will step down as your Alpha when this Tribunal is concluded. For the unshamed pack members, you will need to select a new Alpha if the Pillars don’t appoint one. Dismissed.”

*

PENN SAT NEXT to Iver in the dining tent. Iver mentioned he wanted to see his brother and sisters in more than brief flashes but couldn’t until after the Tribunal since it had to be fair. Penn held his hand when he could or found some way to touch Iver to reassure him he wasn’t alone in this. Iver wanted to stay beside his mother while his father made the final corrections on his statement with the council member, elder, and scribe. Penn tried not to listen in, but he couldn’t help but hear his mate.

“He is a good mate,” Iver whispered to his mother. “I have asked for twenty acres of land. I want to build a house for you and fader when you move here. A place for you to be close,” Iver said, his head on her shoulder.

She patted his cheek and sighed. Penn knew her sadness was too great to be happy for Iver and him, and Iver stayed quiet until a great horn blew outside. It was time.

Iver escorted his mother, walking behind his father, to the large Tribunal tent. Penn followed directly behind Iver. Iver’s Pillar brother and sisters had dressed in white robes as their gods usually did for Tribunals. Penn sensed how strange it was for Iver not to stand with them and for him to see, as an observer, how they looked to all who worshipped them.

When the Pillars saw Iver, their anger flared as they took in his uniform and knew their brother still wore the unhealing gash. Though Iver waved discreetly to them, Penn saw they were still pissed. Pissed-off Pillars were never a good thing, and Penn felt it rolling off them.

Bad, Wolf rumbled lowly.

Others filed in and sat on traditional rugs placed on the ground in either the witness section or the accused section. The Tribunal members were at the front in chairs and the Pillars on a raised dais to the right. Iver got his mother settled next to his father and then reached for Penn’s hand after they both sat down. Penn held Iver’s hand tight as Iver’s brother, Sven, stood to speak.

Sven raised his hand, and all went quiet.

“The Pillars are always called when there is a Tribunal demanded. Since our brother, the first Pillar, requested this Tribunal, we will remain impartial, only overseeing these proceedings and here for any matters of law. This Tribunal council will be the deciding force. They will also deliver any punishment decided. The Pillars cannot determine punishment in this matter. We agree we cannot remain impartial over the harm done to our brother. We are here as overseers and monitors of law. We are also here on confidential matters that may interfere with this proceeding. For those matters not concerning our brother, we will intercede on behalf of the Creator. You may proceed,” Sven said and sat down.

Iver sent his thoughts to Penn. My brother basically said they can’t keep their cool, we’d kill you all, and we know this about ourselves. They’re wise in this choice.

Penn agreed, responding silently. They do all look like Angels of Death. They’re glaring at everyone. Penn shivered next to Iver, and Iver reassured him as the next Wolf spoke.

An Alpha in the center of the room stood. “I am Samuel, and I have been voted council foreman. I call Iver Jorgensen, who demanded this Tribunal.”

Penn released his mate’s hand, and Iver stood and walked to the front, bowed before the Tribunal, and bowed at the Pillars. “Thank you for coming to my call. I have matters of Wolf law that constitute a Tribunal. Have you seen my accusal?”

“We have read it,” Samuel said. “You may sit.” He motioned to a chair, and Iver waited to take his seat after Samuel sat.

“All have read your accusal and heard your reclamations and terms,” Samuel said. “We will now hear the full account and move through witness accounts until everyone is heard.”

Penn hated that Iver had to tell it all again, relive the trauma once more, but he sat and listened like everyone else as Iver repeated the entire story, just as he had earlier in the day. He produced the iron tooth, and it was passed around to everyone once more. When Iver returned to his seat next to Penn, Penn was glad Iver’s part was over. He held out his palm, and Iver took it.

Malcolm Mitchum went next, taking the witness chair. He admitted to the violations, giving reasons for not burning the Bellums, but he couldn’t justify not burying them. He offered to accept the punishment for his pack, accepted his fate for all his other violations before the war, announced his resignation as Alpha, and then returned to his place with the other accused. Penn felt bad for his Alpha, but also realized Malcom had made mistakes. Penn leaned forward, paying close attention to the next witness. This testimony, he so desperately wanted to hear, would be from Tristan Steele, the human his best friend Ryan cared so much about. The man he didn’t know but hoped to.

Tristan, took the stand and handed out papers to the council and the Pillars. He explained that Thomas and Ryan lived on his property as ambassadors and decision-makers. Any decision they made, he supported. They’d fought; they told him there was a problem, and he responded. The papers were about evidence he’d collected from two of the Wolves—a lawsuit filed by the scientist’s lab against him. He stated that he believed the cave to be a proper burial site for a group of War Wolves who knew the risks when they came to murder and take unprovoked actions on a peaceful pack who had kept to themselves for years.

And Penn was torn, now siding with Tristan, who had made a compelling argument. Tristan went on, and Penn was impressed with his unfaltering confidence in front of so many strangers—among Wolves.

“I didn’t know your Wolf law or how it would affect the souls,” Tristan explained. “The Steele pack is willing to correct any wrong. We just need to do it appropriately and with more respect. I offer my own apology and the apology of my pack members.”

Then, Tristan spoke of Wolves fighting the human-turned and how anyone who attacked his pack or invaded his land without first using the rule of three would be met with the same. As a pack, the Steele members had agreed to and regretted using the traps. Tristan told the Tribunal they’d felt that way during the battle and after, when they’d put all the traps in the cave as well.

Last, Tristan offered his continued assistance to fight the scientists, honor the Wolf treaty he had with the Mitchum pack, and consider any other treaty or alliance promoting peace. He hoped the Steele and Bellum packs could move past their differences and be allies in the future. Then he took his seat back with the accused. Everyone, even the Alpha’s in attendance, seemed impressed with Tristan, and Penn was no different, instantly liking and respecting him despite the circumstances. There was just something about Tristan Steele that appealed to Wolves.

Alpha, Wolf confirmed.

Penn glanced over to where Thomas and Ryan sat. Thomas nudged Ryan, who also wore an expression of awe at Tristan’s performance. Ryan gave a slight shrug and somehow, shockingly, Penn heard Ryan’s thought to Thomas.

What? He’s just a natural leader.

At Thomas’s silent responding sigh, Penn yanked his focus away from his friends and directed his attention at Iver.

Iver bit his lip and looked a little guilty. About that…

Can I turn it off? Penn was not about to go around eavesdropping on his best friends and everyone else in the world.

This is what happens when you are the mate of a god, Britt chimed in and Penn jerked his head to the front to see his, uh…sister-in-law, the smart ass of the Pillars, twitch her lip at him. God blood.

Penn decided ignoring this new dilemma was the best course for now, though he narrowed his eyes at Iver for not telling him about this sooner.

We’ll talk later, Iver insisted.

Once all the accused had spoken or professed their guilt, they moved on to the witness side. Penn found what each family had to say sad and heartbreaking to listen to. Last came Gundar and then Einar with their recommendations. Einar supplied the Tribunal and Pillars with copies of the proposed law they’d written for consideration.

The Tribunal council then broke for deliberation and would meet back in two hours. The Pillars had to witness deliberations, so Penn knew Iver still could not see them.

A short time later, when everyone returned for the judgment, Penn took his seat next to Iver after checking in on his mom and Luke. Penn hadn’t spoken to Luke since his assignment with Tristan Steele and was dying to know how things were going. He thought of Luke as a friend after working with him as scouts. Penn’s relief after speaking with Luke was short-lived as Samuel, council foreman, stood and read to all in attendance from a scribed paper.

“The Tribunal has found every member of the Mitchum pack over eighteen guilty of violating Wolf law in reference to releasing the souls of their enemy. This Tribunal has found every hunter, fighter, healer, or participant of the Mitchum pack who was present for the battle or pre- or post-battle duties guilty of violating Wolf law for burying a Wolf alive and failing to give a clean kill or render aid. We approve of Penn Jorgensen’s and Liv Halvorson’s pardons. All members of the Mitchum pack will be shown guilty of Wolf law. Your punishment will not be death. Shame is the punishment, and you shall wear the mark and scent of shame for a period of one year from this date. Malcolm Mitchum will step down, and a new Mitchum Alpha will be elected by the Pillars. Thomas Mitchum will not succeed his father as is the tradition. He will from this day be Steele pack and no longer Mitchum pack. All council members will be replaced; newly appointed council members will be promoted.”

Penn couldn’t believe they were replacing their council. He hadn’t seen that coming.

“Furthermore,” Samuel continued, “the Mitchum pack will right their wrongs in reparation to the accuser, Iver Jorgensen. This Tribunal grants all remaining terms. The Steele pack will destroy all traps and snares, and no such devices are allowed on Steele, Mitchum, or Bellum lands. The two fighting members of the Steele pack will be stained for one month under the Pillar’s intervention on their behalf. This part of the ruling is by the Pillars. Tristan Steele will be pardoned, appointed human Alpha, with Wolf option, by this Tribunal and by approval of the Pillars. The Steele pack will also serve as the governing pack for all cross-pack matings. The Mitchum pack will forfeit the western lands to the Bellums. They will retain the eastern lands and pack home, less ten acres on the northeastern border, titled to Iver Jorgensen. The Steele pack will forfeit nine acres on their northern border, including the Chindi Cave. This will not include the Steele pack burial ground along the lake border, having previously been blessed by the Creator. It is preserved as the Steele pack’s sacred land. All eligible unmated Bellum pack, Steele pack, and Mitchum pack members will remain for a special session of this Tribunal. The Pillars will announce a new Wolf law.” Samuel concluded and sat down.

Wolf option. Penn glanced at a wide-eyed Ryan whose excitement over this prospect for Tristan was barely contained despite the grim circumstances. Thomas placed a hand on his arm to settle him. Tristan Steele’s brows were furrowed, and Luke Pace shifted uncomfortably next to Tristan. Just as Penn leaned in, wanting to understand Luke’s odd reaction, his curiosity was interrupted.

Hanne stood and read the new law about war and weapons. The Pillars voted to accept the new law but with an addendum that Wolves could fight enemies who were not Wolves in human form and with human weapons other than traps. If any Wolf ever used a trap, they would answer directly to the Pillars—without Tribunal—for their punishment. And it would be death.

The Tribunal ended, and the special session started. All eligible Wolves and pack members had to submit their names and ages. Then, they were assigned jobs in groups, according to age, for building several structures on the western lands to prepare for the Bellum pack’s relocation.

Penn wanted to check in on his friends and left Iver’s side. As he approached Ryan and Thomas, he overheard a whispered exchange between Luke and Tristan, with Tristan looking shocked as Luke explained that meant him too. But as Penn tried to tap into Tristan’s thoughts, he found he could hear nothing.

“When they say member, it means you specifically. You are the only human here,” Luke said. Still, Penn was surprised when Tristan fell in line with everyone else required to give their names. Penn could have died when Tristan glanced back and shot Ryan a look that screamed for help. But true to form, a smiling Ryan turned to Thomas, ignoring Tristan’s silent plea. Penn couldn’t resist eavesdropping or his fascination with this turn of events.

“Stop smiling,” Thomas whispered to Ryan. “You so want to see Tristan turned and mated.”

“I do,” Ryan admitted.

Though he didn’t yet know Tristan, Penn secretly hoped for this fate for Ryan’s friend too. Penn glanced at Luke, glued to Tristan’s side, the tension rolling off him palpable as low murmurs about an eligible human Alpha mate began to spread.

Iver, behind Penn now, nudged Penn with his finger. “Stop,” he warned.

Penn bit his lip guiltily. He quickly hugged Ryan and Thomas before Samuel rang a bell for everyone’s attention. Iver tugged Penn’s hand and they took a seat once more. They focused to the front as the Tribunal Alphas lined up and large vats were placed before them. Hanne, the Wave, filled each one with water. Britt, the Fortune followed, casting the shaming scent into each of them. The smell of shame was foul and would linger on the Wolf for the time sentenced. One year. At the end of the row of vats, the last two Alphas stood with red sash belts draped over their arms. All guilty pack members would also wear these for their sentence to remind them of their wrongs. It was a shaming punishment, at least none had been put to death as was often the result of Tribunals. Every member of the Mitchum pack over eighteen who had been involved in the fighting or post-battle events lined up in rows before the vats and Alphas.

Each member stepped forward, dipped their hands, and smeared the liquid over their face and hair. Then they moved to the side, the sash tied around their waist, and they returned to their seat. The smell was overwhelming, but everyone waited until all were punished. Ryan and Thomas went last. Britt changed the stain in one of the containers to match their one-month sentence. Penn’s earlier intrigue died as he silently cried, watching his pack and the Steele pack go through the process. He was so relieved none had been sentenced to death, though shame was pretty bad. Mostly, Penn felt guilty for not being punished along with them.

Samuel held up his hand and directed the Mitchum and Steele packs to leave the Tribunal. Once they were gone, they began the process to remove the Bellum warrior Wolves from the cave and move them with respect to the funeral pyres. The Bellum Wolves present would watch from an observation area and not intervene. Their Alpha, Gundar, would be responsible for the lighting of the pyre. He had agreed that his sons be burned with their fellow warriors. Thomas and Ryan were ordered to bring forth the traps for Hanne to destroy.

Everyone followed, head-bowed, in a line on the several-mile journey to the Boar Lands and Steele Cave. Penn held Iver’s hand, staying with him.

The winches from Tristan’s truck and another vehicle were used to lower Mitchum hunters to the bottom of the ravine inside the cave. Tristan had already contacted the appropriate personnel with the Forestry Commission to inform them they would have a controlled burn. He had a permit and would be there to ensure the fire was safely conducted.

“Dead Wolves on his land, an entire pack in a cave.” Penn now knew that Tristan had told the commission he wanted to burn the Wolves to ensure they weren’t dealing with rabies or another canine disease that could spread and affect the other wildlife. They’d approved, and Tristan would handle it since it was on his private land.

The pyre construction had taken the assigned team most of the previous day, and it was complete upon everyone’s arrival. The retrieval team brought the Wolves up two at a time. Ryan and Thomas, along with several Mitchum pack members carried all the traps to a large hole that Sven, the Enigma, had created next to the pyre. They threw them in and went back for more, making trip after trip. Penn asked Iver if he could help his friends, to contribute in some way other than being an observer. The look Iver gave him said no, and Penn hung his head, feeling his own version of shame. When all the traps were in the hole, Ryan and Thomas continued helping with the remaining work hauling up the Bellums.

It was a terribly gruesome sight as nearly fifty decomposing Wolves lay out in rows on the ground. All the Mitchum members moved back and knelt as Britt, the Fortune, raised her hands and then swept them in a great pass over the Wolves’ bodies. Their Wolves faded, and it became terribly real as the bodies of men now lay in rows. The Bellum pack members, including Iver, approached solemnly with ceremonial knives. Penn stayed seated where Iver had left him, with a clear view as members found their relatives and performed the ritual, tying off and cutting free their long ranking braids. They returned to their seats, where they carefully wrapped their braids in special cloths and waited.

One man was left among the rows of bodies. He looked over each one, then cried out to Gundar, “He’s not here. My son Hakon is not here. Hakon Elstad.” But it was Britt who went to him and took his hand, and then she closed her eyes.

“Iver,” she called, releasing Elstad’s hand. “You will come, Iver.”

Iver joined his sister and the elder Elstad, and he bowed. “May I take your hand?” Iver asked, and Elstad held it out.

Penn leaned forward as Iver’s face grew dark, and he released Elstad’s hand. “Your son is not here, and he still breathes, but he is not out of danger. He has been taken. I know not by who. He is sick from his injuries but not yet near death. The ones who have him are not Wolf. We will search for him after this ceremony.” Iver bowed to Hakon’s father and helped him back to the Bellum group. He indicated his sister should continue.

Britt continued and waved over the warriors until they had all returned to their Wolf forms. The Mitchum and Steele packs then carried each one and placed them on the pyre. They moved them with even more respect this time. Penn ached as Iver held his mother, and his father held them both in their grief. Witnessing it was gut-wrenching, and Penn, shaking and trying to control his emotions, was no better off as an observer of this mass funeral.

Gundar approached the pyre, spoke to the pack, and prayed over the lost warriors. He nodded at Iver, who joined him at the pyre. Penn wished he could console his mate as Iver gestured to the other three pillars, who moved from their location. They reassembled behind the mourners, leaving only Iver and the pyre a good sixty feet away from everyone.

Iver looked up to the evening sky. He chanted in an ancient language, then lifted his hands and turned his palms over. With a single wave of his hands, the pyre ignited in a great blue ripple and then bright orange flames. It was at once and all-consuming. Penn was both in awe and saddened by his mate’s power.

Iver returned to sit next to his father as the smoke streamed up to the stars. Forty-eight tendrils of blue smoke twisted through the air through the clouds of gray and white. They streamed above the fire smoke until Penn could no longer see them climbing higher. But he understood now, watching the Wolf spirits finally rise, what it had all been for. What it had meant and just how important it was. He now understood the true weight of their violation of this sacred Wolf law. As the released spirits returned to the stars, Penn understood Iver more, and the Tribunal, and the strange punishments. What the Mitchum pack, Ryan, Thomas, and he had done had been a terrible crime. Penn didn’t wear the stain, but he felt it down to his soul.

They all sat until the fire had burned out. When the ashes had cooled, each member gathered them in the cloths with each warrior braid and tied and bound them. These would be carried back to their homelands and buried there, and the warriors honored in a ceremony with the rest of their pack.

When they finished, Sven, Hanne, and Britt stood over the hole filled with steel and iron. Hanne brought down a single great crack of lightning, turning the metal into a molten pile. When no trap existed any longer, Hanne doused the pile with a wave of water, and Sven moved the earth, covering and filling the hole. He waved his hand, and grass grew. A single tree birthed up from the ground above the pit and grew tall before their eyes.

Penn had never really believed in magic before Iver, but he couldn’t deny what he witnessed that night and into the early hours of dawn. The Bellum pack watched as Hanne lifted the last of the ashes high into the sky, where it swirled and disappeared on the wind, scattered over the Bellum’s new land. This would bless their land and honor the great sacrifice the warriors had made with their lives so that their pack could survive and thrive in this new home.

When they got up to leave, Penn fell in alongside Tristan, with Luke close at Tristan’s side, following quietly behind the many grieving families. Tristan seemed torn. Penn thought it must be hard as a human to understand such ancient laws and traditions. Such strange punishment and leadership. The Wolf way was not so much unlike the human way. It was just old.

“We’re going to Ryan and Thomas’s. Want to come with us?” Tristan held out his right hand to Penn. “Ryan’s told me all about you. I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to formally meet.”

Penn clasped Tristan’s hand, then covered it with his other hand as they shook. “Yes, and I’ve heard so much about you as well. I’d hoped we would get to meet, and I’d like to catch up more with Luke if you don’t mind?”

“Join us then,” Tristan said and looked back in Iver’s direction.

“He’s going to be a while; it’s fine,” Penn said. Iver had told Penn he would stay behind with his family and siblings to plan a search party for Hakon Elstad.

Tristan, Luke, and Penn walked together to Ryan and Thomas’s house, where the couple waited.

*

THOMAS COUGHED, THEN waved a hand in front of his nose and announced to the group, “Well, it smells like skunk.” He glanced at his mate, then sighed as he, too, sat on the porch steps, the red sash of shame around his waist. Ryan slumped sullenly next to him, chin in hand, his usual soft smile nowhere to be seen.

“At least it’s the both of you,” Tristan said, blowing out a stream of smoke from the joint he just lit. “Maybe you’ll just get used to it?”

“I’m not sure about that,” Penn said and looked questioningly at Luke.

Luke shook his head, hand over his mouth and nose, his eyes watery. “It’s meant to offend, even to one’s own mate. A reminder for penance.”

Penn took a few steps back, closer to Luke as if to avoid the stench.

“Oh, trust me, I am sorry,” Thomas said.

“You and me both,” Ryan agreed. “And, I’m so sorry, Penn. I want to introduce you to Tristan.”

“We’ve met, he passed,” Tristan said.

Ryan beamed for a moment, then frowned over the smell again.

“Did you even doubt they’d like each other?” Thomas asked him.

“No,” Ryan grumbled and wafted his shirt and scooted a few inches away from Thomas.

“That won’t help,” Thomas said with defeat.

“Alright, then how can we help find Hakon?” Ryan asked Penn.

“They’re meeting over it now. I’ll ask Iver and tell him you two want to volunteer.”

“We’ll help however we can,” Tristan offered. “Luke, you’re a hunter. Would you be willing to assist?”

“If that’s your order,” Luke answered, and Tristan confirmed it was.

“Here we go with the orders,” Thomas muttered over now having Tristan Steele, of all people, as his Alpha. He turned to Ryan, who was stone-faced, not even biting his lip. No tic, no flinch, not even a twinkle in his eye. “What?” Thomas asked.

“Nothing.”

“He slept in the bed with you, and now he’s my Alpha,” Thomas grumbled under his breath.

“Jealous?”

“No—” Thomas started.

Tristan interrupted Thomas, saying to Penn, “Please let Iver know my resources and personal guard are available for the search.”

“I’ll be back afterwards,” Penn said and headed back to Iver and the Bellums.

*

THOMAS SMILED A little as Penn walked away. “I always prayed Penn would be blessed with the best mate. I never imagined it would be the last unmated Pillar.”

“He seems happy. Well, despite the current circumstances,” Ryan agreed. “You prayed for your best friend to get a good mate and he gets a god?” Ryan narrowed his eyes at Thomas suspiciously.

“I’m just happy for him,” Thomas admitted, then turned to Tristan. “And I’m glad you like him too.”

They were quiet again as the stench seemed to grow stronger, squashing their moment of happiness. Ryan let out a frustrated sound.

“What are you thinking?” Thomas asked him.

“I wonder what happened to him—Hakon,” Ryan said. “I mean, where could he possibly have gone? It was all so contained.”

“Unless a boar dragged him off,” Thomas said.

“Why would a boar drag him… Oh, to eat him,” Ryan said and then looked horrified.

“You eat them,” Thomas pointed out.

“No,” Tristan joined in, after finishing off his joint. “I heard Iver say he was alive and with someone, not a Wolf.”

“So, not being eaten.” Ryan breathed out his words with relief. “Maybe he crawled off during the battle, injured or confused. And how far could he have gotten? When the battle was over, everyone searched to be sure to get them all. That was a big area, all of the Boar Lands and all around the cave. Then to the north. How does someone just disappear?”

Thomas lifted a brow at his mate.

“Un…less he wanted to disappear,” Ryan realized aloud. “Holy shit, did he run away?”

“He didn’t run away,” Luke said. “He’s a Bellum Pack warrior.” His tone made it clear that warriors didn’t ever run away. Luke turned to Tristan. “I need the address of where those scientists suing you are located.”

“That’s a good place to start,” Tristan said and coughed again at the smell of shame rolling off Ryan and Thomas. At that, Luke got up, an unhappy look on his face, and pulled Tristan several more feet away from them and stayed by his side.

Thomas grinned when Ryan lifted a brow at Tristan over Luke’s protective move, and nearly laughed as Tristan returned the ignoring gesture from Ryan earlier. Thomas barely held in his inappropriate giggle at Tristan flipping his lighter in his fingers and subtly lifting a shoulder at Ryan.

“At least it’s not for a year,” Luke said. “How did you two get in the Pillar’s good graces?” He pulled a case out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Tristan.

“They’ve both suffered enough,” Tristan said. “That’s what I heard from two of the other Alphas. It was as if he was repeating something the Pillars had said.”

“Hanne is my Fire Goddess,” Thomas said, sharing with the group what he’d realized during her first appearance at the scroll reading. “She was there when I set the house on fire.”

Ryan took Thomas’s hand and held it tight. “They also kept my sacred place, the glen where I thought I buried you.”

Thomas repeated, “Blessed by the Creator.” He eyed his mate, who had been a human at the time.

“It’s strange how I’ve always felt like, even in the worst of times, someone was looking out for me,” Ryan said. “I think it’s the same for you. I mean…I escaped from prison.” Ryan shook his head with disbelief still. “I think it’s them; I think it’s always been them.”

Thomas nodded at his mate. “Then we do what we need to and help Hakon; God only knows what they’re doing to him if the scientists have him.”

Thomas then turned to Tristan, acknowledging him as their leader for the first time. “Alpha, what is your order?”

“We go find Hakon,” Tristan answered.