Black smoke from the fire choked me as I made my way out the exit. While I was struggling to catch my breath, skinny arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tight.

“Oh my! I was so worried I’d lost you,” Mom said. Her voice was tight and tinged with familiar layers of panic I hadn’t heard in way too long. She released me enough so she could look at me. Exhaustion puckered the edges of her eyes, causing her wrinkles there to deepen. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I nodded as she smoothed a few stray hairs away from my face.

“Good.” She squeezed me against her again, her hand smoothing over my hair. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t made it out.”

Sirens sounded in the distance.

“We need to get out of here,” Eli insisted as he made his way to the driver side of his truck. The engine rumbled, waiting for us to get in and go. “I don’t think it would be wise if we hung around to explain things to the cops.”

“Agreed,” Tate insisted. “I’m out.”

Mom clasped her hand in mine and pulled me along with her to the truck. When we all climbed in, I found myself sandwiched between Eli and my mom. It seemed like a good place to be. Smooshed between two people I loved. Eli shifted into drive and we pulled away from the burning building. A group of people across the street caught my eye.

The humans who’d been compelled to work for Regina.

They stared at the burning building with wide eyes as they murmured things to one another. Confusion still clouded the majority of their faces.

“Was your dad sending anyone?” I asked as I continued to stare the doctors in their lab coats.

“Yeah,” Eli insisted. He pointed to an older baby blue car I’d seen before. It belonged to Julian Montevallo. The vet I’d met the other day. “Actually, they’re already here.”

I caught sight of Julian. His hair was gelled to spiky perfection again, and he still wore a set of dark-framed glasses. Did he even need them? Or were they a part of his plan to not draw suspicion to himself and his family?

There was a younger woman close to my age standing beside him. It was clear from her inky black hair and similar facial features she was one of Julian’s siblings.

“Why are they here? Do either of them have the power of compulsion?” I asked without taking my eyes off them. Something about them fascinated me.

“The girl does,” Eli said as he drove past them only offering a finger lift by way of a wave.

I glanced at the girl. The Montevallo family was one I found more interesting as time went on.

The sirens continued to grow louder as we made our way down the street. We passed a few police cruisers as well as a couple of firetrucks. I prayed to the moon goddess everything inside the building would be destroyed before water extinguished the flames. She’d offered her help so much tonight I took comfort in the thought of her hearing me and listening.

A yawn slipped past my lips. Now that I was seated and safe, the events of the night were catching up with me. I laid my head on Eli’s shoulder. Before I knew it, my eyes were closed and I was drifting into a deep sleep, lulled under by the feel of him beside me and the movement of his truck. When I was caught somewhere between being asleep and being awake, I heard my mother speak.

“The two of you finally imprinted?” she asked.

“We did,” Eli answered.

“I knew you would.”

“I think everyone did. Well, except for Mina,” Tate insisted with a chuckle.

“No. I think she knew. Deep down,” Eli said. “She’s just stubborn as hell.”

“That’s my girl,” Mom said. The smile in her words warmed me.

It was the last thing I heard before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Someone’s warm fingers brushed against my cheek as they called out to me. “Hey, Mina. Wake up.”

My eyes fluttered open to lock with Eli’s bright green ones. A smirk pulled at the corners of his lips.

“What? Was I drooling?” I asked as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

Eli chuckled. “No, but you were talking in your sleep.”

“What did I say?” Panic nipped at my insides. I hoped it wasn’t anything embarrassing, but from the look on his face, I had a feeling it was.

“How much you love me. How I was your hero.”

“Oh, whatever,” I snapped, knowing he was pulling my leg. I shoved him playfully and then glanced around, trying to figure out where I was.

Eli’s truck. I was still in the cab. My head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to the inside, and my mouth was thick and sandpapery. I rubbed my temples. Someone else should be here. Who?

Mom!

“Where’s my mom?” I asked Eli. Icy panic trickled through my chest. Had I imagined finding her?

Eli stepped to the side and glanced over his shoulder at something. I followed his gaze. Mom was embracing my dad. She was wrapped in his arms, their lips fused together.

Everything seemed right in the world suddenly.

Gracie stood near them. Her eyes were glued to them, but her fingers were entwined with Cooper’s. Tears tracked down her cheeks, and I knew she was as happy to see our parents reuniting as I was.

Violet stepped in the way, blocking my view of my family. She wedged herself between Eli and me. “Gran wants her inside. It’s her turn to be doctored up.”

“Your ankle!” I shouted. She was walking on it. Without help. No pain seemed to be visible in her face. No bruises or cuts. Was she fully healed now? Did that mean her wolf had come back?

“All healed up. Well.” Violet rolled her eyes. “Like ninety-nine percent anyway. Gran says I still need to take it easy for a few days.”

“That’s great!” I slipped myself out of Eli’s truck and winced as pain radiated behind my eyes. A sharp stabbing sensation hit me in the ribs next.

Yeah, I was in desperate need of one of Gran’s healing concoctions.

“It is,” Violet insisted. She wrapped her tiny arm around my waist and proceeded to distribute some of my weight on her. “Let’s get you inside to see Gran. She’ll heal you right up.”

“I can help her inside,” Eli offered.

Violet snubbed her nose at him. “No. I have it. It’s the least I can do after everything she’s done for me.”

Eli tossed his hands up in surrender. “Okay.”

“You said it’s my turn with Gran. What about everyone else? Are they okay?” I asked as we started toward the steps to my front door.

“They’re fine,” Violet said. “See for yourself.” She paused in front of the steps, allowing me a second to find everyone else who’d escaped from Regina’s hell hole with me.

Frank stood with Felicia. The twins were in his arms. They were laughing at a silly face he was making, and Felicia was in tears. Happy tears. Sabin and Max were beside them, chatting with Eli’s dad. Smiles were on their faces. Mom was still locked in Dad’s arms. I didn’t think he would be letting her go anytime soon.

The only person missing was Glenn.

“Glenn? What about him? Is he okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine,” Violet said. We started up the steps, and she reached for the door. When she opened it, we stepped inside.

The sharp scent of herbs tickled my nose. Warmth swept through me. That scent was home. It meant Gran was nearby.

She stood in the kitchen, stirring a pot of something with one hand while mashing up herbs in a ceramic bowl with another.

“Glad to see you’re finally awake,” Gran insisted as she glanced over her shoulder at me.

“I’m glad to be awake. Honestly, I’m just glad to be home.”

God, was it the truth. I’d worried I might never see this place again.

“I’m sure you are.” Gran smiled. “We’re glad to have you back, safe and sound. How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” I admitted.

“Where does it hurt? I need details so I know how to fix you, you know this.”

“My head feels like there’s a jackhammer going off inside it. Pretty sure I have a concussion. And my ribs hurt,” I said as I felt them tenderly with my fingers. “I think some of them are broken, but I’m pretty sure my werewolf healing has started to kick in already.”

“I’ll get you fixed up,” Gran insisted. “Take her to the recliner.”

Violet steered me toward the living room to help me get situated in the recliner, but the sight of someone on the couch stopped me in my tracks.

“Alec? What are you doing here? I thought Dorian was supposed to take you to the hospital.”

A lopsided grin formed on his face. “Don’t be pissed at me, but I told him not to. I’m okay, really. All I needed was a little help from your Gran, apparently.” He held up a coffee mug, and I knew it was filled with one of her herbal teas.

Violet pulled me to the chair. Pain sliced through my side as I sat, and I winced. I couldn’t wait for Gran to work her magic on me.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Violet asked Gran as she made her way to the kitchen.

“Gracie should be in here helping,” Gran mumbled.

“She’s out there with Cooper,” Violet said.

“She’s always with Cooper.” Gran released a heavy sigh. “The child has gone nuts over that darn boy.”

“I think they’re cute,” Violet insisted as she took over stirring whatever Gran had going in the pot.

Alec cleared his throat before taking another sip from his mug. It was awkward he was here, in my living room, drinking an herbal concoction Gran had made him. It wasn’t something I could’ve ever imagined happening.

“You know, I always thought you were brave,” Alec insisted as he stared at me from over the rim of his mug. I could feel his eyes on me, but it was difficult to bring mine to his. He knew too much. About me. About my pack. About the world of the supernatural. I wasn’t sure it was a good thing. “But I never knew how brave you are until tonight. I swear, you weren’t even the tiniest bit scared when you went up against that vampire.”

“I was scared, not of him, but that I might not win. I didn’t want anything to happen to you.” I glanced at him then. “I didn’t want you to ever step into this world. That was never my intention when I started hanging out with you.” Dating seemed like a heavy word. Too heavy.

“I was already in this world before you, even if it was just by my big toe,” Alec said.

I shook my head. “Everything that happened to you tonight was too much. You shouldn’t have been involved in any of this. You should’ve been home, safe and sound.”

“Hey, nothing that happened to me tonight was your fault,” Alec insisted.

Who was he kidding? It was all my fault. Everything.

“I’ll be okay. I’m a big boy.” A smile stretched across his face, but it was forced. It didn’t reach the corners of his eyes, and I noticed how it made his chin quiver. He held up his bandaged hand. “I’ll heal. I’m a little shaken up, I’m not going to lie, but I’ll be okay.”

Would he?

Alec’s entire world had been burst wide open with the events of the night. He saw things most humans would go their entire life without witnessing, things no one should ever have to see.

His eye twitched as he continued to stare at me. It let me know he was more than a little shaken up. He was haunted.

An apology built on the tip of my tongue, but it disintegrated at the sight of David coming down the hall. I couldn’t believe Gran had let him inside. Didn’t she know who he was and what his part in all of this mess was?

“Thanks for letting me use your restroom to clean up. I feel a hell of a lot better,” David said to Gran not having noticed me. She ignored him.

From her cold shoulder, I gathered she did know about him. So then, why was he here?

David wiped his hands on his jeans and started toward the living room. I imagined him thinking he would check on Alec, but instead he spotted me.

Part of me still loathed him for the role he’d played in everything, but a part of me was also grateful he’d been willing to help me get Alec to safety. I was torn.

“I should probably get going,” David said, his gaze never wavering from mine.

“Maybe you should,” I muttered. My words sounded harsher than they should.

“I’ll be the one to tell you when it’s time to go,” Gran insisted in a firm voice. She shifted to face Violet. “Continue stirring the pot. Don’t let it stick.”

I glanced at her. Why would she want him to hang around?

Gran started toward me with the ceramic bowl I’d seen her crushing herbs in when I came inside. She wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Lift your shirt, exposing the ribs bothering you,” she said in an all business tone that was too cold and sharp for me to ask her any questions involving David. “I’ll rub this on and within a few minutes the pain should lessen significantly.”

The front door opened and the Montevallo sister I’d seen with Julian in the city stepped inside without knocking.

“Sorry it took me so long to get here,” she said. Her voice was friendly and kind, making her seem more like an old friend instead of a stranger. “I had a few things to take care of before I could come.”

I knew she meant she had to compel the doctors who’d been working in Regina’s underground lab first.

Wait. What was she doing here? Was she here to compel someone?

Gran’s eyes flicked to mine as I thought the question. I knew then exactly what the Montevallo sister was here for—or rather, whom.

“She’s been asked to compel them?” I whispered. “Alec too?”

Gran nodded. “It’s for the best.”

I glanced at Alec. He sipped his tea, oblivious to why the dark-haired girl was here. Did he think she was another member of my pack? His hands shook as a brought his mug to his lips. His eyes were dark underneath, and his face was slightly pale.

He was still in shock from the events of the night.

Gran was right. He didn’t need to remember any of this. He didn’t need to remember me.

For a long time, I’d held onto him as though he were mine. I’d unintentionally brought him into this world of mine, one he shouldn’t have ever been a part of. It wasn’t safe for him to know the things he did, mentally or physically.

“If you care anything at all about that boy, you’ll let him go. For good,” Gran instructed in a hushed whisper.

Tears swelled in my eyes, but I blinked them away.

My heart was breaking. Not only was I losing someone I cared for, but he was also a friend. Alec had treated me well. Even knowing everything he did about me, he’d still treated me with respect. He’d treated me as though I were normal. There had been a connection between us because of it. One that was hard to explain. However, I knew it was time to let him go. It was for the best. He didn’t deserve to be haunted the rest of his life by everything he’d seen tonight.

I needed to, for once, not be selfish where he was concerned.

“Okay,” I whispered.

As I said this, I realized the Montevallo sister had already begun working her magic on David. Alec was too out of it to notice. Maybe the tea he was drinking was for more than just his concussion. It was possible Gran had slipped him something to sedate his nerves as well.

“You know nothing of the supernatural world. You will never again hurt another creature, in fact…” Her gaze shifted to me and she winked. “From this moment on, you’re a strict vegan who despises meat or animal-based products. You will allow me to give you a ride home. Once home, you will fall asleep and when you wake, everything I said will take effect.”

I chuckled as I watched David’s face, making sure everything she said had sunken in. When his pupils dilated, I assumed it had.

I watched the vampire move to Alec next, and my body tensed. When she sat beside him, Alec barely acknowledged her presence. David didn’t move from where he stood.

The vampire placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder. He glanced at her, and I knew from how quickly his face grew slack she had him locked in her clutches already. “Everything you witnessed tonight will be forgotten. You spent the night at home, watching a movie on your cell while lying in bed nursing your hand which was injured during a four-wheeling accident,” she said. Her eyes drifted across the room to lock on mine. I knew she was about to tell him to forget everything he knew about the supernatural world, including everything to do with me. My stomach twisted and a knot the size of my fist built there. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to forget everything. I still wanted us to be friends. “You will forget everything pertaining to the supernatural world you’ve learned in real life over the years.”

“Will he remember me?” I asked even though I knew I should be quiet while she worked.

Gran pushed harder than she had been on my sore ribs as she caked on another layer of her herbal paste. It was her way of telling me I should be quiet.

“He can, if you want him to. He won’t remember anything that has to do with you and the supernatural world, though. It’s for the best. What do you want me to have him remember about your relationship instead?”

“How did you know we had one to begin with?” I asked.

Her lips twisted into a small smile. “While I can clearly tell you belong to someone else, there will always be a tiny piece of you that belongs to him.”

I swallowed hard, knowing she was right. Alec had been my before—before I was moon kissed, before I fell into all of this craziness of my missing pack members, before I knew how much Eli meant to me—and I would never forget him.

He would always have a piece of me.

“Tell him we realized we were better off as friends,” I whispered, my words sounding thick and raw. “That there wasn’t a romantic connection between us, but a great friendship instead.”

“Okay,” she said as she shifted her attention back to Alec. “You and Mina Ryan dated, but it didn’t take long for you both to realize you were much better as friends than a couple. You ended things mutually and on good terms. You are good friends. You will come with me now, and I will take you home. When you get there, you will fall asleep and everything I have said will take full effect.”

I hated it had come to this, that there had been a need to wipe Alec’s memory. Deep down I knew it was for the best, though. No human needed to know monsters truly existed. Now Alec could live a normal life. He deserved that much. I was thankful there had been a way to make it happen for him.

To reset things.

“I’m proud of you,” Gran whispered as she placed a kiss to my forehead.

I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath. “Thanks.”

When I opened my eyes again, the Montevallo sister was directing Alec and David out the front door. “I hope you heal fast and well, Mina. You did a good thing for your pack tonight.”

“Thanks,” I said. “For everything. I’m glad you were there to help those people Regina had compelled tonight too. And David and Alec. My only question is: Why? This wasn’t your battle.”

“Anything to do with vampires is our battle. Especially when it involves Mirror Lake. This is our home, too.” She gave me another wink. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to discuss something with your alpha before I leave. You know as well as I do everything comes with a cost, even if we do share a home or a battle.” She exited the trailer without another word.

“What do you think the cost will be?” I asked Gran as she placed a bandage over my ribs, securing the stinky paste to my skin.

“Probably a future favor. That seems to be the going rate nowadays,” Gran said as she made her way back to the kitchen.

“It seems fair, though, doesn’t it?” Violet asked. She still stood at the stove, stirring the pot. I’d forgotten she was here. “A favor for a favor.”

“It does,” Gran said.

I dropped my shirt to cover the bandage and watched as Violet stepped out of the way so Gran could look at the concoction she’d been stirring. Gran reached for a mug and ladled some into it. Once it was full, she started back to where I sat.

“Here, drink this. It should have your head feeling better in no time.”

“Thank you.” I took it from her at the same time someone knocked on the front door.

“Come in,” Gran shouted as she headed back to the kitchen to help Violet clean up.

The front door opened and our alpha poked his head in. “Hey, there. I wanted to let you know we’re doing a traditional potluck meal tonight in celebration of Mina’s courage and all of our missing pack members being returned.”

“But it wasn’t just me who did all of this. Everyone was brave—Eli, Dorian, Tate. Even my mom, Glenn, Frank, Sabin, and Max. It took all of us to get out of there alive,” I insisted, not wanting to take the credit on my own because it wasn’t fair.

Eli’s dad smiled. It was a sweet smile, one that said I wasn’t giving myself enough credit. “Either way, tonight we celebrate. I thank you for your part in bringing everyone back safely. Also, we will be saying goodbye to Old Man Winters now that we know his passing was certain.”

He disappeared and closed the door. I leaned back in the recliner and took a sip from the warm concoction Gran had given me, hoping it would get rid of my headache.

“That’s it, relax,” Gran insisted. “You deserve to.”

I didn’t argue with her.

Another soft knock sounded at the door. Eli stepped in before anyone said he could. His eyes sought me out. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” I flashed him a crooked grin.

“I had a feeling you would be. Gran’s stuff is pretty magical.”

“You got that right,” she muttered from the kitchen.

Eli sat on the couch, and I stood to sit beside him. My head swam as I walked, making the room spin. Once I was curled into his side, comfort washed over me though.

“You ready for the celebration potluck tonight? You’re a hero,” Eli said as his fingers stroked my hair.

“I’m not a hero. Not anymore than you or anyone else involved is.”

“But you are,” Eli insisted. He placed his lips to the crown of my head. “You were the one who knew something was wrong. You were the one who didn’t give up on trying to figure out what it was. It’s because of you, and your persistence, we have our missing members back.”

“No, it’s because you believed in me,” I whispered.

“I’ll always believe in you, Mina. Always.”

“I know. It’s one of the reasons I love you so much,” I said before taking another sip of Gran’s tea. My eyes grew heavy. Was it because of the tea or was my exhaustion catching up with me again?

“I love you too, Mina Ryan. I always have.”