“He’s gone,” Ryan said, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Killian. There’s no life force left.”
I wanted to cry. The tears were there, ready to spill, but I stayed strong. Daphne wrapped her arms around my shoulders, holding me close.
He had given his blessing. And he had died the way he would have wanted—as a hero. Sacrificing his life force for the pack.
There was silence for a time.
“Killian Barnstead,” a woman’s voice shouted.
My heart throbbed painfully in my chest. I stood up, looking around. It was Aurora. She walked toward me, her face grim, still clothed and in human form. Then she cast a glance at my grandfather. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“What do you want, Aurora?”
“I want peace between our packs. This battle was not my idea.”
I nodded. “I heard you try to stop them. Still, you are Iron Claw.”
“I am. And until they name a male alpha to take over, I am their leader. I want an alliance. A true alliance.” She grimaced. “My brothers wanted me to mate with you, then betray you. I wasn’t actually going to do that. I saw it as an opportunity to escape, and I was going to tell you about it as soon as we were mated, but…they’re all dead now, aren’t they? So I don’t need to escape anymore.”
“My condolences.” Even though I’d killed two of them and my packmates had killed the third.
“They knew what they were getting into, but they were blinded by greed.” Her face was a pained mask, aiming for indifference. “My father never set the best example for them. There are good people in our pack, though. They’ve always been terrified of speaking up. That will change going forward. We’ll pick a good alpha, and if they’re not good, I’ll set their fur on fire.”
“I’ll help you channel your power if you ever need it, as long as you’re doing it for honorable purposes.” Daphne spoke up, still kneeling next to my grandfather, her voice drained and shaky. Aurora nodded grimly at her and turned and walked away.
I seized Daphne’s hand and sat next to her quietly. A ring of pack members formed around us, heads bowed, paying their respects to my grandfather.
“How did you find me?” Daphne said finally.
“I heard your call for help.”
“How? I didn’t even scream.”
“Not verbally,” I said, tapping my head. “My empathetic connection with the pack. You’re bonded with the White Fang, Daphne. It happened faster than I expected.”
She smiled for a moment, but there was still a deep pain within. A tear ran down her cheek as she turned to look at my grandfather. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
I threw my hand over her shoulder and pulled her close. “You did nothing wrong, Daphne. If not for you, he would have jumped into the fray, not caring how weak he was, not caring how easily he would be killed. He loved this pack so intensely that he would never have stepped away from a fight.”
“Still…”
“You helped him make his last moments mean something. You helped him be the hero, if only for one last time.”
Twenty-Five
Daphne
The full moon shone high in the night sky.
It was time.
Yesterday we had the human-style wedding celebration. Maeve and the pack’s tailor had made me a flowing white wedding dress with a princess neckline, with hand-sewn pearls. Killian wore a tux. Sarah was my flower girl.
We invited Aurora since she was my blood relative—the only one in attendance.
My mother had been caught, escorted back to the human realm, and ordered to leave Red Sands and the state of New Mexico immediately. It was an act of mercy on the White Fang pack’s part, and I’d begged for it. She didn’t appreciate it, wailing that she was being kicked out of her home, didn’t have a job. It wasn’t fair. If her daughter was rich now, then I should take care of her…
Fionnulla hadn’t been so lucky. Her betrayal of her coven was a death penalty offense. They’d cursed her from afar, and she’d crashed her car into a tree and died. It saddened me, despite the depths of her betrayal.