It didn't take long for us to start shivering. We clung to each other, both for support and what little warmth the other could provide. I was more than grateful when Shirah paused for a breather.

  "Desire look, a lycan."

  I forced myself to look up. A light gray wolf peered over the hilltop ahead of us. She stood up, staring at us before turning and bolting down the opposite side.

  "Did that look like Soulflight to you?"

  I nodded, "Yeah, definitely Soulflight." An exhausted smile slipped on my features, "We made it."

  Shirah let out a short laugh that was interrupted by a howl. Within moments others appeared on the hilltop. The woman waved a hand in greeting. An instant later I was yanked away, tackled into the snow by a massive white form.

  "Submit!" the albino lycan barked.

  A sharp ache spread through my back and chest. I groaned in pain, but couldn't stop myself from grinning.

  "I submit, Alpha," I panted. My fingers ran through the fur of his neck. Long claws slipped under my back, pulling me up so he could hook his head over my shoulder. Tears rolled down my cheek, slipping off my chin and into his soft pelt. "I missed you," I whispered against his side.

  Cerberus turned to sniff at my injured arm. His eyes narrowed as he fixed me with his crimson glare.

  "It hurts a lot less the damage you caused."

  His ears flicked back. He looked confused. "How?"

  "You fell on me." I let out a pained snort at his quiet whine, "It's not your fault."

  Sheepskin gloves hooked under my arms, hauling me to my feet. "Sorry Hellhound," Cyrus said as he took me in his arms, "But it's my turn." He bent down, kissing me through the fabric of his mask. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him close.

  "I'm sorry."

  He pulled back looking me over. "You're all wet."

  "Difficult escape."

  Cyrus pulled his furred coat off. I tried to protest, only to be silenced by his masked lips as he threw the garment over my shoulders, wrapping me in its warmth. He hugged me to his chest. Resting his chin in my head, he looked over to Shirah, "Thank you for bringing her back to us."

  She gave a sheepish smile as she bowed her head, nodding.

  Cyrus sighed, "Claw and I have been trying to find a way in that place all day. How'd you get in?"

  The woman hesitated. I spoke before she could find the words. "The old world dug a subway tunnel into the city. We had to fight our way out."

  Shirah blinked, then hurriedly nodded again. I felt Cyrus shift his grip, but if he doubted our story he made no comment. I hurried to change the subject.

  From the corner of my eye I spotted a mottled gray form. I turned as best I could to face him. "Hello Graniteback."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The wild lycan bowed his head, "Welcome back Lady Desire."

  Beside him was a tan captivebred. Upon meeting my eyes he released the toddler he held in his paws. She crashed into my calves.

  "Dessy! I missed you!"

  I laughed, reaching down to touch her blond curls, "I missed you too." I scanned the area, finding two members of our company missing. "Where's Nightmoon and Jared?"

  The way she looked at me, as though I had slapped her, shook me. Tears sprung up in those innocent eyes, staring at me with a pain I couldn't understand. When I looked to the others for answers, I found all gazes were fixed on the forest floor.

  "Desire... " Cyrus began, then paused, dragging his eyes up to meet mine, "Jared's gone."

  I heard Shirah's strangled gasp behind me. I struggled to speak around the sudden lump in my throat. "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

  "The first night you left he..." he sighed, "Nightmoon is over by where we buried him."

  My lips trembled. An ache I never wanted to feel again gripped at my heart. "Where?" I choked.

  He silently pointed to a set of tracks. I pulled away, stumbling down the path. Cerberus made to follow. I stopped him with a wave of my hand.

  I crossed up and over the next hill before I found the source of the tracks. Nightmoon lay with her head rested on frost covered leaves, staring at a small patch of disturbed earth covered by a mound of stones. A crudely made cross stood at its head, the remnant of an old world religion.

  Her eyes glanced my way, but she made no indication of moving. I pulled Cyrus's coat tighter around me and make my way over to sit beside her. There was a full minute before the lycan chose to speak.

  "I am glad you escaped, My Lady."

  I nodded, but couldn't find any words to say. So we sat in silence once more.

  "He promised to help me raise my cubs," she suddenly said. "He didn't want me to have trouble with my first litter. We were talking about what to name them... then he just slipped away." Her tail curled around her legs. "I was right next to him, and I couldn't stop it."

  I didn't know what to do. My chest held the crushing weight of grief, just as heavy as it had ever been. Surely hers must be just the same. I reached out, resting my hand on the fur between her shoulder blades.

  "I swore to protect you." Her voice cracked. "Then I abandoned you. I swore to protect Jared and now he-" Her quiet whine tore my heart in two. "I failed again."

  "It's not your fault," I whispered. "I swore to him I'd save him too. We were so close." I ground my teeth together, fighting the cries which threatened to escape my throat. "But now it's too late."

  "I'm worried for your adopted cub, she had more head pains while you were away."

  I closed my eyes. I didn't need to hear that, not now, not after this.

  "My father thought Blood Eye vulnerable because of his concern for you. He was right." The black and white female heaved a great sigh. "Blood Eye proved it also made him fiercer. But Thorn never got to learn how this, companionship and loyalty, was worth the weakness."

  I bowed my head. "I wish it wasn't." And I truly meant it. Life was simpler as the cold Lady of the Lycan Mountains, back when the whole world was my enemy. Everything I had ever done was selfish. I tried taking revenge on Askance. In Preene, I felt sorrow over the lycans’ captivity, but ultimately freed them to rid myself of my own guilt. Now I had friends, people I cared about and fought to protect. Yet, with this, I felt I had already lost. "I wish it wasn't, because then it wouldn't hurt so much."

  "A week ago I wouldn't have cared; he was just another human. Now I'm trying to imagine life without him." Her shaking breath shifted the leaves in front of her face, "But even through all this pain, I can't bring myself to regret it."

  I brought my knees up to my chest, "I used to think of the decisions and regrets, gains and losses, happy and sad endings. Now it's just time and what we do with it." I felt hollow and brittle, as though a slight breeze would cause me to crumble away. "Jared knew that, and he knew he didn't have much time left. So I am honored he chose to spend his last bit of life with us."

  Nightmoon lay her ears flat against her head. Her striking blue eyes Jared first commented on swirled with the remnants of a connection so quickly formed and lost. "I am too. I only wish I could have had more of it."

  I leaned against her. My head rested on her shoulder as we watched sparking flakes fall from the sky, settling on the stones of Jared's grave. The dusting formed a kind of shroud, more pure and beautiful than anything humans could produce. The boy lay there, not able to feel joy but also no longer able to suffer. For that I was grateful. He deserved peace, even if it were only to be found in nothingness, blanketed in the last of winter's glory.