Jamie knelt next to me, whispering words of comfort, but there was nothing anyone could say that would make me feel better until Liam was no longer in agony and was back in my arms. Sera still appeared calm and I tried to explain to my wolf that if something was terribly wrong, then she would have been freaking out, too. Neither my wolf nor I was easy to reason with.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my mate. If they had known this was going to happen and nobody had bothered to warn me, someone was going to get gut-punched.
Liam’s body began to relax after several minutes, but Aiden was still unconscious. We weren’t out of the woods by any means, but I was glad to see Liam’s pain lessen.
Finally, Aiden’s eyes opened, and Liam’s body was fully relaxed. He was hunched over, but his eyes were open, and that was enough for me to know he was going to be okay. The whole process took less than five minutes, but to my heart, it felt like hours had passed when I couldn’t function without knowing if the exchange would work.
When Criselle removed her hands from them, I wasted no time standing back up and rushing toward Liam. I carefully lifted his face, so I could see his green eyes. My heart broke at the depth of pain I could see within him. Tears trailed down his cheeks, causing my own to fall.
I leaned my head against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”
He had done this for me and I hated that it had hurt him so much. He had given up so much for us to be together. I didn’t understand how he thought I was worth it.
“Shhh,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around me. “Everything is fine. It was just a lot more intense than I imagined. I’m okay.”
I lifted my head back up. “Are you sure?”
“I am.” He turned toward Aiden. “How about you, brother?”
Aiden grunted. “You could have warned me.”
Liam laughed. “I wasn’t prepared, either. I figured you could handle it.”
Aiden pushed up from the chair and flipped Liam off before walking away toward the others.
“What should you have cautioned him about?” I asked.
“The reason for my tears wasn’t because of how much the process hurt physically, but emotionally. When I became alpha, my sense of our pack members increased exponentially. Even though I only had access to it for a couple days, watching them all disappear from inside me was quite the experience. Overwhelming to say the least.”
I let out an audible sigh. Liam and Aiden were okay. I still worried Liam would one day regret this decision, especially after what he just said, but for now, I would take the win that they were both alive and we were moving forward. I stood up and reached out a hand to Liam.
“Why don’t you kids go get cleaned up and ready for the burial?” Sera suggested. “Meet me in the family room in an hour.”
“We’ll at least take some of this bigger stuff back to Criselle’s first,” Liam said as he picked up the chair he had been sitting in.
His brothers did the same, Aiden taking the other chair and Caleb taking the stand that had been between them.
“Thank you, Criselle,” Liam said before we left.
She smiled. “It wasn’t a hardship for me. I want to see you boys happy and I’m glad to help.”
We left then, taking a small detour to drop the items off at Criselle’s home. When we got back to the house, he explained their pack preferred more traditional funerals and he had asked Addie to get me some outfit choices.
I was glad he had, because I would have stood out like a sore thumb in the items I had brought with me. Nothing in my bag would have been appropriate for what he described.
I chose black pants and a grey blouse over any of the dress or skirt options. If things went sideways at any point and I needed to defend myself, I much preferred the pants options.
I went into the bathroom to get ready and, when I came out, Liam was already dressed in a suit. The sight of him took my breath away as I leaned against the doorframe taking all of him in.
“You should wear a suit more often. It’s sexy on you,” I said.
“When this is all over and I can take you on a real date, I’ll wear another one just for you, as long as you wear a dress.”
I nodded. “I’ll take that deal.”
We met in the middle of the room and he held on tightly to my hand as we headed for the family room. It hadn’t been an hour yet, but there was no point in staying in the room by ourselves.
Liam was still quiet, and I hoped that even if he wasn’t ready to talk about how he was feeling with me, that he and his brothers would at least open up to each other. Aiden and Caleb were the only ones to know exactly how Liam was feeling.
We were the first to arrive and took a seat on the curved sectional couch. Aiden arrived next, followed by Caleb and Jamie. She wore a black dress, similar to the one that had been laid out for me, and looked stunning with her blonde hair pulled back. It made me feel a bit underdressed, but I was comfortable and to me, that was more important.
Sera arrived last, and my heart hurt for her when I saw her appearance. She was dressed appropriately, and everything on the outside was presentable, but the hunched set of her shoulders, the haunted look in her eyes, and the black runs from old makeup told another story. She’d done her best to cover it up, but there was no hiding three days of heartbreak.
I stood and welcomed her before the guys could. I opened my arms to her and she practically fell into them. I hugged her tightly and silently cried with her. We were quickly joined by the others, which caused Sera to start laughing.
“That’s enough hugging for now,” she said. “I have to make it through this, and then I’ll lock myself away and take the time to mourn, but my time isn’t yet. The pack still needs us all together.”
Each of us nodded and we followed her out the front door. There was an SUV waiting and we all piled in. The driver took us to the burial ground on the pack property.
There was already a crowd gathered when we arrived a half-hour early. Liam had explained earlier that the burial would be just for Elijah today. Tomorrow, there would be another service for the other fallen shifters, but I could already see the plots. There were seven lost. Seven too many.
A row of seats had been left empty for us, but Sera led us to the back to work our way through the crowd and proceeded to thank people for coming. She held her head high and handled herself with a grace that I knew I wouldn’t have been able to summon had it been my mate we were burying.
Liam gently grabbed her elbow after a while. “Come on, Mom. It’s time to take our seats.”
She nodded and let us guide her down the remainder of the rows without stopping. There was a sleek black casket with silver adornments on risers, along with flowers and a few well-placed photos of Elijah with his family.
I squeezed Liam’s hand as I admired the happiness showcased in the photos and hated that he would get no more happy moments like those with his father.
An older man began the ceremony, followed by several pack members who spoke in high regard to their alpha. Finally, it was supposed to be Liam’s turn to speak as the new alpha, but Sera had decided that since the pack was all present, there was no reason to pretend things weren’t changing.
She, Aiden, and Caleb joined Liam on the platform as a united front, though Liam was still the one to speak first.
“Thank you all for coming to remember my father for the great alpha he was. We couldn’t have asked for a better dad growing up to show us how to be the men we’ve become. I’m deeply sorry my brothers and I weren’t here when the attacks happened, but I promise you we were doing everything possible to put a stop to all this. We had just finished fighting Declan and some of his people, putting a serious hurt on his ability to best us again. We won’t let him get away with what he has done to the packs.”
Murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd as Liam paused.
“I know I am supposed to be up here as your new alpha, but I must announce that is not the case today. While I was away tracking down Declan, I met my mate and have decided to join her pack, making Aiden your new alpha.”
“You’re leaving us when we need you most?”
“Why are we just learning this now?”
“Why can’t your mate move here?”
Questions from the pack members shot out in rapid fire. I hung my head forward, unwilling to meet any of their stares.
Liam cleared his throat and waited for the crowd to quiet. “It was not an easy decision, but it was one we made together as a family. I truly believe Aiden is the better man for the position. Don’t forget how involved he has been, right alongside me during my trainings. I’m not leaving you to fend for yourselves. My mate and I will be fighting Declan, but it won’t be from here. We will be wherever we need to be to track him down and help to protect the West Coast pack that has also suffered great losses.”
Sera stepped forward. “We’re sorry to throw this information on you now, but we didn’t want to lie today as we said goodbye to my mate. I hope you can understand there was no time to do it differently.
“We have a reception planned at the pack house and we welcome anyone who has questions to please join us. Aiden and I will be available the rest of the day. As my son previously said, we thank you for being here. I know Elijah would be proud of the way we have all come together, and I hope this announcement does not change that. Do not let what Declan has done to our pack tear us apart. We are better than that.”
Liam stepped down from the podium and took his seat next to me as Aiden, then Caleb, stepped up and said their piece. The pack members had calmed some, but I was sure there would be trouble later. I hated that our love had done this to their pack, but Liam hadn’t wanted to be alpha, even before I came along. It truly was for the best. I tried not to feel guilty, but it didn’t work, no matter how much I knew it was right.
When the speeches were over, Liam, Aiden, and Caleb, along with a few of their close pack guards, lowered Elijah into the ground. As people left, they each took a handful of dirt to throw on top of the casket. Sera and her sons were the last to drop the dirt after Jamie and I took our turns. Two of the men who had helped lower the casket took shovels and finished the burial.
The ride back to the house was expectedly somber. A decent amount of their pack was already present by the time we arrived, and I saw Addie flitting around the open family room, making sure everything was as it should be.
When we entered the room, several eyes turned in our direction and the whispers began. Liam tugged me closer and I tried to ignore the stares once more.
Sera pulled us aside. “If either of you feel at all uncomfortable, you don’t have to stay here. Most of them mean well; they’re just curious.”
I smiled. “I told my dad we wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, so there is no rush today.”
For the rest of the late afternoon, we let people come to us instead of intruding on those who might not be ready for the change. Most of the pack was pleasant; only a few snide questions were asked, which Liam quickly deflected.
As everything came to a close, Liam spent some time with his brothers, and I stayed with Jamie and Sera.
“Thank you both for being here and loving my boys,” Sera said. “I’m not sure they would have gotten through today without you. Aiden has always been the resilient one. Caleb likely would have made a scene with one of his inappropriate jokes, and Liam might have punched someone if neither of them had their mates to keep them in check.”
Caleb overheard that last part and butted in. “As much as I wish to deny that statement, I can’t, but I can take my mate and head for bed. It’s been a long day and we’re up early tomorrow to take Liam and Taya to the airport. Our normal pilot had to cancel due to repairs.”
We said our goodnights, and then it was just Sera and me. I was glad I wasn’t uncomfortable around her anymore.
“Are you sure it’s okay for us to be leaving so soon?” I asked. “I can schedule some meetings with my dad by phone, and I’m sure we can get some things done from here, too.”
She laid her hand on top of mine. “I think a clean break from the pack at first is what they need. If Liam hangs around for too long, it might interfere with what Aiden needs to do. There’s a traitor we must look into and, from the sounds of it, you need to do the same. It’s best we all begin doing our part as soon as possible.”
She was right. In the back of my mind, I had been wracking my brain for who we needed to really look into first when Liam and I got home, and the only person who had stood out to me was Rick. He hadn’t been behaving normally since Cord died.
I had previously chalked it up to grief, but now that I had more information, I was afraid that wasn’t the case. We were in for some hard decisions when we arrived home. I feared how deep the betrayal went and knew that once we had answers, our pack would never be the same.
I wasn’t stupid enough to think that Rick was our only defector.