door, then stopped. “But I’ll be waiting. I’ll come back. If you, if you find a way--”
*No,* he interrupted, harshly. *No false hope. Need to know that you will move on. Mourn what might have been, but make your own life. Need to know that you will be happy. Please.*
She was silent for a long moment.
“Okay,” she said at last. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay. You’ll be okay too, Fenrir. You still have your friends. Promise me you won’t run off again. Promise me you’ll let them help you.”
He didn’t want their support, even if they’d been willing to give it. He’d almost been hoping that they would drive him away, exiling him for his betrayal.
But he had to give his mate any scrap of comfort that he could. *Promise. Will stay with the pack. If they will have me.*
“They will. They’re mad now, but they’ll forgive you. That’s what family does.” She put a hand on his flank, one last time. “Goodbye, Fenrir.”
The door closed behind her, leaving him in the dark, alone.
Oh, my sweet son. Faint, hissing laughter, echoing up from the depth of his soul. You will never be alone.
Chapter 38
“I wish you wouldn’t go,” Edith said. She was rocking from foot to foot in a tight, worried movement. “It doesn’t seem right. You and Fenrir are true mates.”
“That’s exactly why we can’t be together,” Darcy replied. She handed Callum the USB stick she’d prepared. “That’s everything I found on Lupa. You’ll make sure your shifter agent friends get a copy?”
“I already called Min-Seo,” Callum said, accepting the data stick. “She and her partner are away on another case right now, but she promised she’d follow up on this as soon as she can. She was impressed with your work. If you were a shifter, I think she would have offered you a job.”
“Tell her that I was happy to help.” Darcy turned to Rory. “I’ll let you guys know if I discover anything else.”
The hotshot squad leader looked just as unhappy as his mate as he clasped her hand. “You’ve found out more than any of us could have imagined. It’s going to be hard without you, and not just for Fenrir. You’ll always be welcome here, you know.”
“Excuse me, which one of us was the Superintendent of this hotshot crew again?” Buck paused, and then added, in rather less acid tones, “Though he’s right. Was nice having someone sensible around the place.”
Joe swept her up in a bear hug, lifting her clean off her feet. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
“I won’t,” she gasped, as best she could with her ribcage being crushed. Sliding back down, she exchanged a more sedate handshake with Seren. “Thanks for, you know, saving my life and everything.”
“I believe that the debt still stands in your favor,” the shark shifter replied. “We all owe you a great deal.”
Darcy had never been great at accepting praise. She managed a kind of embarrassed wave, and moved on to Blaise as quickly as she could.
She half-expected that the firefighter wouldn’t turn up. She wouldn’t have blamed Blaise for never wanting to see her face again, after last night. Despite Fenrir’s reassurances, Darcy still felt just as much to blame.
If I hadn’t pushed him…if I’d mated him…if I’d at least realized that he was taking serum…
If, if, if. Useless regrets crowded her head. She didn’t know what to say.
Blaise surprised her by holding out her hand. Shadows still smudged the hollows under her eyes. Darcy had only gotten a few hours of rest herself, but she was pretty sure Blaise hadn’t slept at all since the attack last night.
“I’m sorry how it all turned out,” Blaise said. She offered Darcy a wan smile. “Look after yourself.”
Blaise’s palm felt as hot as sun-warmed metal against her own. “I’m sorry about your dad. I know you have every right to be angry, but…don’t be too hard on Fenrir, okay? I promise, nothing you could say could make him feel any worse than he already does.”
Blaise let out her breath. “I know. I’ll…try.”
That only left Wystan. Concern filled the unicorn shifter’s blue eyes as he shook her hand in farewell.
“Please stay in contact,” he said. “I know that you and Fenrir feel that this parting is necessary, but this must still be traumatic for you both. Mate separation distress does not only affect shifters. I am worried for you as much as him.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, with as much of a smile as she