“We will attack on the night of the new moon,” Michael announced. His voice was proud and strong, carrying to every last wolf gathered at the meeting place. “It’s in two weeks. That gives us more than enough time to prepare.”

“Yes, and it gives the cats time to prepare as well,” Dell grunted from where he sat on the ground. Night in Montana was no dainty thing. It was so cold it hurt his teeth and froze his nose hairs. Wind sliced through his clothes as if he wore nothing, lashing his skin raw and red. “Let’s abandon tradition. It hasn’t gotten us anything but a bunch of pain. It’s just like I told that damned Blackwell panther. This is now. Leave the past in the past.”

But Michael shook his head. “This is the one tradition we can’t break. Battles will always be commenced on the new moon. It’s our way of remembering from whence we came. You know that, Dell.”

Yes, he did know that. And he thought it was quite stupid, too. There was no honor in being picked off one by one, but there was also no glory in setting down an appointment to fight. It took away any advantage that might be gained.

“How do we know the cats will keep to the new moon agreement?” he demanded. “What’s to stop them from attacking us in broad daylight tomorrow?”

A third speaker entered into the argument. Dell winced. Ugh. Jefferson.

“Ian Blackwell spoke of retribution for wrongs done in the past. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would want to get his revenge out of turn. He would wait. As will we.”

Chief Michael nodded. He was the alpha of the pack and his word was law. Jefferson cut a smug look across to Dell, who curled his lip at the man and then looked away. He hated the bastard even more now that he had come home recently and discovered his scent on Corey. Add to that the fact that Corey was acting much colder to him than normal and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two had shared some words. He didn’t know what those words had been, or why the deputy had done it, but it had turned the omega against him.

With a massive effort, Dell refocused on the meeting. Every single wolf in Eureka was here, even the babies and toddlers and the elders. They occasionally gathered in these secluded hills in the middle of the night when something needed to be discussed, using only the light of the moon overhead to guide them.

Michael stood on a low boulder that put him above everyone else, as was his right. The rest formed a semicircle around his feet, listening to him speak as he discussed the coming battle. It would signal an end of the children’s peaceful lives. Hell, it signaled an end to peace for all of them. They would be out here constantly, practicing their fighting moves and deciding upon a strategy. Anything less than utmost preparation was suicide.

Dell glanced over at Corey, wondering with a pang in his heart what the omega thought. He wondered if he was frightened about his first battle, if he really knew what was going on. If he fought alongside the pack, as he would be expected to—since they had sheltered him all this time—then he would truly be one of them.

I wish you would talk to me instead of pushing me away. Whatever lies Jefferson has fed you, I need to undo them.

However, every time he tried to talk to the kid, to his omega, it always ended in avoidance and frustration. He hadn’t quite realized how much it meant to him that they had grown so close until it was all taken away from him. His heart ached.

The meeting concluded, not that Dell had heard any of it. He stood up and started for Corey, his heart lodging up in his throat. He couldn’t stand this any longer. They had to put this right somehow, before he went insane from misery. Screw being a lone wolf. Screw being the big tough guy. He just wanted his omega back.

However, before he was even halfway there, Jefferson appeared between them. Alpha and omega exchanged a few words before walking off into the night together, transforming into wolves as they went back to town. Dell hung his head, smiling bitterly because he didn’t know what else to do with himself. They looked like such a fine pair, fire and the smoke beside it. Maybe all this time he’d just been fooling himself.

Someone approached his shoulder and he turned to see Tim at his side, Michael’s mate. He held their daughter in his arms, her face lax with the deep sleep only a child can have. Dell looked down into her sleeping face and felt his heart wrench at the sight of her. She was such a perfect blend of both her fathers, so precious that he didn’t know what to do with himself. If he had children someday, would they be like this? Would they have his hair? Corey’s eyes? What would their wolf look like?

“Are you just going to watch them walk away?” Tim asked, quietly. He rocked his daughter in his arms, glancing down at her. His gaze was so full of love that it was painful for Dell to see, almost like he was looking at something he had no right witnessing.

“What choice do I have?” Dell replied. “I screwed up somewhere and Jefferson moved in.”

“But Corey hasn’t been claimed yet. There’s still time. You can still save it.”

Dell shrugged. The sandy-haired man at his side just didn’t understand. His romance had come easily because he had wanted it from the very beginning, had always known that he wanted a family. “It’s not right of me to force it, is it? Corey’s young. He’s allowed to do what he wants.”

“And you want him to do Jefferson?” Tim said, sarcastically. “Don’t discount him just because he’s younger than you are. Hell, it’s age that makes us confused about what we want from life.”

“What kind of life could I give him, Timmy?” Dell turned to look at the other man, blinking into his eyes and searching for the answer. “I don’t know how to be in love. I don’t know how to keep anyone happy. Not even myself.”

A month ago, he wouldn’t have admitted that he wasn’t happy, but what did it matter now? He was on the verge of being alone, as he had always wanted, and it took that long for him to realize just how much he didn’t want it.

“You could give him the life he wants, instead of whatever lies Jefferson’s feeding him. Man like that just can’t be trusted.”

Dell just shook his head and then headed off to his home. Corey wasn’t there.

The next day, preparations for battle began. The wolves took turns patrolling Eureka’s perimeter, and a group went out into the hills to hold the first battle training session. Dell was amongst their number, as he was one of the strongest. Jefferson was to lead the session, and of course Corey tagged along in his shadow. The omega looked exhausted and miserable; their eyes met once, but he just looked away again, leaving Dell alone once more.

Jefferson wandered amongst the group, pairing up the wolves and setting them up to spar. Dell watched with a grimace on his lips as he was the last one left alone.

“Looks like you’re training with me,” Jefferson said, loftily. He tossed his head and looked down at Dell, managing to do so even though they were the same height. “Try to keep up. I don’t play fair.”

“So I see,” Dell growled. He shifted and immediately threw himself at Jefferson. Jefferson shifted as their bodies collided and they went rolling across the grass. Someone had to leap out of the way as they went barreling toward them, bodies tangled together. Though the other wolves were all sparring, exchanging blows and practicing their dodges, Dell and Jefferson ripped at each other with abandon. Their muzzles met, fangs pushing together as they vied.

Dell braced his paws and then shoved forward with all his strength. Biting down, he wrenched his head around to the side. Pain from the strain of the effort lanced down his spine, but he was rewarded with a resounding thump as Jefferson crashed down hard onto his side.

“Bastard!” Dell snarled. He ran at the fallen alpha, claws outstretched to rip his exposed stomach wide open.

“Stop!”

A sleek silver shape dashed in front of him. Dell raised his paw to slap the other wolf aside, until he saw who it was. Black ears, black legs, piercing eyes. It was Corey he was about to strike down, and with enough strength to break his spine if it landed right.

Fear lodged in his throat and he pulled sideways so fast that his neck snapped around and he almost passed out. He collapsed onto his stomach and then looked up at Corey.

The omega stared down at him, hate and fury in his eyes.

Please understand. Please. Please understand the truth. See it on my face.

It was a useless endeavor. Corey snorted at him, turned his back on Dell so that his tail tip smacked him in the face, and then he walked over to Jefferson. Their heads bent together in a gesture of tenderness and affection.

Dell felt his heart snap in half. All of a sudden, he couldn’t stand to be here in the presence of these two. The two pieces of his heart drifted down to the bottom of his chest and lay there dead, never to be used again. Rising to his paws, he turned and ran off for the hills as fast as he could. Everything had come full circle. He was the one running this time, trying to escape part of himself. The difference was, no one would care enough to chase after him.

Maybe he would just keep running until his heart gave out, until he turned feral.