Sitting on the back porch, a cup of coffee in hand, Remi stared at the spot where Zack had been. The police were still swarming all over the place, talking to Jake and Nick. Bambi, Zack’s brother, had come back a few moments ago and was standing with them. Someone—Gadget, Remi thought—had pushed a cup of coffee in his hands and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. All of his and Jake’s inner circle were here, except for Zack and Rhys. From what Remi had gathered, Rhys had called them to patrol the house and make sure Remi and Jake were safe for the night.
His mother was still missing, but Dirk had been caught and arrested. Not just for arson and assault, because Rhys had gotten the diary to the authorities and Dirk was being held for questioning by the FBI as well.
Remi was trying his best not to worry about his mother. She’d survived beatings before, maybe…
He glanced up to check on Jake again, even though he didn’t need to. Nick and Dago stood guard as Jake talked to a policeman. Jake turned his head in the middle of his conversation and gave Remi a weak smile.
Remi tried to smile back, but he didn’t think he was all that successful.
“Lassiter?” A cop Remi knew from working fire, came up. Douglas, something? Sheffield? Yeah, that was it, Douglas Sheffield. Sheffield looked like he was going to a funeral. He glanced around, his gaze not meeting Remi’s for a few moments.
Remi closed his eyes, barely holding back his tears. He already knew what Sheffield was going to say. “You found her body?” He opened his eyes and glanced up at the officer.
“Yes, I’m sorry.” Sheffield seemed like he didn’t know what to do and Remi felt for him. Delivering that kind of news wasn’t easy. He’d done it once, accompanied by a policeman after a fire had swept through an apartment complex.
“Can you give me any information? Where you found her? How she was killed?”
“Out back of her house. Officially, it’s under investigation”—Sheffield glanced around—“but from what I heard it looks like strangulation.”
“Thank you.”
Sheffield nodded. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No. Thanks though.”
He nodded one last time and walked off. The rest of the policemen finished taking pictures and talking to witnesses as Remi stared at his bare feet.
Oh God, how am I going to break it to Sterling?
“I’m sorry, pup.” Jake sat next to him, putting his arm over Remi’s shoulders and kissing his temple.
“Jake?” Tank stepped up to the porch. The rest of the men came up with him.
Catching Remi’s face in his palms, Jake made him look up. “We need to take a new member in Zack’s place.”
What? How could he think of that right now? Remi shook his head.
“Yes. We cannot leave the pack vulnerable. The core members must be replaced.”
“Jesus, Jake. He just died.” Zack wasn’t just a pack member, he was a friend. Didn’t Jake feel his loss? Couldn’t he feel the emptiness?
Jake nodded. “Very bravely, protecting his alpha and his omega.” Jake held out his hand to Zack’s brother.
The man, Bambi—what an odd name—stepped forward. He was big and burly and, well, he appeared every inch the biker. He was Native American and big like Jake, Rhys and Tank.
Bambi knelt and peered up at Jake. He gave Jake his oath, vowing to protect the pack. A strange tingly sensation raced up Remi’s spine, making him shiver. It was the weirdest thing. It was like…he could feel Bambi. The bareness that Zack’s death created was full.
How had he never noticed this strange connection? Had he been too busy finding his way as Jake’s mate to recognize it? He felt guilty. Zack was his friend and he couldn’t be replaced so easily, yet the strange blank feeling was gone. The sadness remained.
Bambi turned to Remi. His eyes were red, his face tear-stained, but he managed a smile. “It’s an honor. Zack spoke very highly of you.”
Remi didn’t know what to say. He touched Bambi’s shoulder and nodded, still feeling like a traitor.
“Remi!” Sterling came bursting through the wooden gate with Rhys on his heels. “Remi!”
Bambi hurried to his feet and Remi stood, raising his arms just in time to catch Sterling. He hugged him tight, looking over his shoulder at Rhys.
Thank you
, he mouthed.
“You’re welcome.” Rhys dipped his head and greeted Bambi, welcoming him.
Holding on to his brother, Remi tried to focus. He had to figure out how to tell Sterling about their mother, but he wasn’t sure he could. Then Jake’s arms encircled Remi from behind, giving him strength. Jake was okay. Sterling was okay. Eventually, everything else would be too. It felt wrong for him to think that, yet he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief even with all the misery. In a way, he’d already grieved for his mother. He’d known she would die by Dirk’s hand.
Later that night after Sterling had cried himself to sleep, Remi sat on the edge of Jake’s bed.
Jake came in the room and sat beside him. He didn’t say anything, just stayed there next to Remi, his hand on Remi’s thigh. It was the most peace and comfort Remi had felt in hours. Jake always made him feel that way, but now even more so. “How are you holding up?”
“Better, because you’re here.” Remi gazed at his mate. “Guess it’s really over.”
“It is.” Jake drew Remi close, pulling him into his lap.
“I love you, Jake.”
“I love you too.”
That was all it took. Remi let it all out. He cried for his mother, for Zack, because his brother nearly died and he could have lost Jake. He cried because it was finally over. And when he had no more tears, he just sat there, leaning into his mate. It was going to be all right.
Epilogue
Sterling popped his head around the doorframe of Remi and Jake’s bedroom. “Jake says if you don’t hurry up, he’s leaving you here.”
Groaning, Remi closed the laptop and followed his brother. He was halfway down the hall when Sterling came running back around the corner and plowed into him. His nose mashed up against Sterling’s forehead.
“Oof.” Sterling didn’t even stop, just continued down the hall to his bedroom.
“Ow.” Remi grabbed his nose.
“Sorry.”
Groaning and rubbing his nose, Remi went to the living room.
“What was taking so long?” Jake stood by the door with his helmet under his arm and Remi’s in his hand.
“I was sending off my acceptance for the EMT position.”
Jake handed Remi his helmet. “You already did that.”
“No, I sent in the application and got accepted. I just wrote back to confirm that
I
accepted the offer.” Remi took his helmet and put it on.
“Why are you rubbing your nose?”
“Because Sterling ran into it.”
“I said I was sorry.” Sterling came back with his own helmet under his arm.
Remi frowned. They all had helmets and Remi had no bike. Gadget had been unsuccessful in fixing Remi’s. “How the hell are we all going to fit on your bike?”
“We aren’t. Ster—” The sound of several motorcycles roared up outside and Jake opened the door. “Sterling is riding with one of the guys.”
Putting his helmet on, Sterling bounded out the door.
Remi walked out the door and waited for Jake to follow. “Why are we going so early? It’s still an hour until nightfall.”
Shutting the door, Jake locked it. “I thought it might be nice to get there early for Sterling’s first full moon.” Without looking at Remi, Jake headed toward his bike that he’d already taken out of the garage. What was he up to?
Remi turned, studying their pack, trying to figure out what was going on.
Gadget was already starting shit with Bambi, which had become the norm. They were arguing back and forth over the rumble of Harley engines. Remi still missed Zack, but Bambi fit right in—if one could discount the constant squabbling over Gadget trying to tell Bambi what to do.
Matt waved from a bike that looked very much like Dago’s. Gadget’s other older boy, Logan, looked bored sitting behind Gadget. Nick and Tank gave Remi a flip of their chins in greeting. Where was Dago?
Remi returned the gesture and waved to Matt. He didn’t even have to guess where Sterling was. Which was probably the best place for him.
Rhys was proving to be great at keeping the kid in line. The only real issue they had was Sterling’s constant flirting, but Rhys seemed to take it in stride. He’d become pretty good at dissuading that sort of attention. He was also the only one who didn’t seem to mind the constant chatter. Last week, he’d spent the day of Sterling’s fifteenth birthday with them, and Remi was surprised to find that most of the time Rhys didn’t have a problem following Sterling’s sporadic conversations.
Remi had been thoroughly impressed. Even after almost a month of living together, Jake still got lost and looked at Remi for translation.
“Come on, pup.” Jake started his bike.
Climbing on the back of the Harley, Remi grabbed Jake’s waist. He sat back and enjoyed the ride, feeling the wind on his face. They were still planning on moving their pack, but John Carter was giving them time to decide where to go. Jake had bargained with the other alpha and gained them use of pack land until Sterling graduated high school. All in all, everything was really coming together, and Remi was happier than he’d ever been.
A faint growl sounded to the left over the wind. Remi looked over in time to catch Rhys removing Sterling’s hand from Rhys’ groin. Remi rolled his eyes and joined Rhys’ growl.
Sterling jerked his head to the right, caught Remi’s gaze and blushed.
Good God.
Remi glared and mouthed, “Behave,” barely holding back a grin. Knowing Rhys’ stance on his and Sterling’s relationship almost made the whole thing funny…almost. The kid and his raging hormones were persistent though. Remi actually felt sorry for Rhys. Rhys was all about what was best for Sterling, much to Sterling’s chagrin. That included no messing around until Sterling was out of school. Now that had been an amusing conversation to overhear. Remi grinned. Wolf hearing came in handy at times.
His shoulders slumping, Sterling turned his attention forward.
Hey, wait a minute.
Remi frowned, taking in their scenery. They’d passed their normal hunting grounds. Jake
was
up to something.
Just about the time Remi decided to ask where they were going, Jake pulled onto a dirt trail and slowed. Coming to a halt in front of a copse of trees, he cut the engine.
“Where are we?” Remi climbed off the bike and removed his helmet.
As the others pulled up behind them, Jake took off his and put it on the handlebars. “We’re at our new hunting grounds. It’s still pack land, but it’s unmarked and on the outskirts of the pack land. John and I thought it would be best to separate our packs as much as possible.”
Dago came out from the trees, smiling. “Hey.”
How had Dago gotten here? They were all up to something.
“Hey.”
Running up to them, Sterling bounced on his toes and looked at Jake expectantly.
Jake groaned. “It’s killing you, isn’t it?”
Nodding, Sterling squinted at the trees, like he was trying to see through them.
“What’s going on?” Remi squinted too, but he didn’t see anything. He took a whiff and didn’t smell anything unusual either. He raised a brow at his high-handed mate.
Chuckling, Jake dug into his pocket and pulled out a key ring with one key on it. He threw it to Sterling. “By all means, show your brother what’s going on.”
Catching the key, Sterling smiled. “Really?”
“Oh absolutely, you’ve kept the secret a whole week, it must be a record. You deserve to be rewarded.”
“Jake—”
Sterling grabbed Remi’s hand and jerked him toward the trees.
“To the left,” Dago yelled from behind them.
Switching directions, Sterling nearly ripped Remi’s arm out of the socket. A branch he pushed past came back and whacked Remi in the chest.
“Oof. Sterling, for the love of—” A brand new shiny Harley Sportster with orange tank and fenders sat in the clearing. “What the—”
“Jake and I picked it out last week when you were at work. We even got to test-drive it.” Sterling tugged him toward the bike. “It’s been at Rhys’ for the last three days.” Sterling tossed him the key.
Remi stood there, his mouth ajar, and let the key hit him in the chest.
Stepping up beside him, Jake picked up the key. He took Remi’s hand and put the key in it.
The bike was for him? No one had ever given him something like that. Hell, he didn’t own anything as nice as— What was he thinking? He couldn’t accept it. Jake had already done so much for him.
“Stop shaking your head. I’m not taking it back.” Jake kissed his cheek and squeezed his shoulders.
“But—”
Jake growled. “Just say, ‘I love you too, Jake. Thank you. What a great bike.’ Then go look at it before we go hunt.”
Remi turned around, still thinking about arguing. He couldn’t let Jake buy him—
Everyone else sank into the background talking to one another. Some even started undressing, preparing to shift. They all pretended not to listen, but Remi didn’t miss the sideways glances.