had taken another path in his hate and his rage and it had ended in blood. Not, however, in the execution of an innocent man. That was what mattered.
• • •
Testing confirmed Russ’s and only Russ’s fingerprints on the piece of paper on which the plan had been diagrammed and written out. An hour after that, they printed Shane’s knife case and discovered Russ’s prints on an inside surface as well as on the outside. Put together, the two pieces of evidence erased any and all lingering doubts that Russ had been the mastermind behind his own death.
“Oh, Russ,” Athena whispered when told, her eyes bruised and her skin pale. Crying into her hands, she allowed Shane to comfort her, and, in a humbling act of generosity and forgiveness, both attended Russ’s memorial service that night. There was no reason to delay it any further—he was a changeling, needed to be with the earth, not stuck in a cold refrigerator.
Wrapping him in a shroud made of natural fibers that would ease his passage to becoming one with the earth, they laid him to rest under the rain, beneath the spreading branches of a tree that Athena told them Russ had liked. “He said it had a mathematical ratio that made him happy,” she said before placing a bunch of white roses on Russ’s gently wrapped body. “I hope you find perfection in whatever lies on the other side of the veil.”
Letting Athena have the last word, since those words had been touched by the echo of a love that had faded while leaving an imprint, Garnet helped lower Russ into the grave she, Kenji, Revel, and two other packmates had dug.
They placed no marker after the burial was complete. Changelings rarely did. Those who’d known Russ and would want to visit would remember the site, and those who didn’t know—namely, the pups—would play near it and their laughter and voices would carry on the cycle of life. That was the SnowDancer way, though if a packmate wanted a marker, that marker was placed without question. Everyone grieved differently.
Walking back through the rain after a potent, solemn silence once it was done, Garnet wanted to go straight to her room and have a hot shower, wash away the pain and the anger that had colored each and every one of Russ’s actions. What stopped her was her driving need to ensure her packmates were all right, her wolf an inch from her skin.
Sometimes only the most senior person in the den could give needed reassurance. Kenji’s presence helped, but in this den, their packmates looked to her first. And today, even the strongest among them was shaken. Many just wanted a hug; some needed to talk through their emotions; others, just to be close to her as she did what she’d been born to do.
Kenji, her semiretired right-hand woman, Sabrina, and Revel stayed with her throughout, as did Lorenzo.
Her hair and clothes were drying by the time she finally returned to her quarters. Kenji came with her.
Chapter 11
Entering Garnet’s quarters with her, Kenji watched her kick off her boots and shrug off the jacket that had been no real protection against the rain. He hated seeing her so drawn, sorrow yet heavy on her features for a packmate who had chosen such a bitter end to his life. All he wanted to do was hold her.
But if he did that, he wasn’t certain he’d ever let her go. He wasn’t that fucking strong. “I’ll head to my quarters, get—”
She froze in the act of tugging up her tee. “Don’t go.”
Kenji cupped her cheek. “I won’t take advantage of you when you’re emotionally bruised.” Yes, she’d messed with him earlier, made it clear she wanted him, but right now, she was hurting.
Rising on her toes to nuzzle his throat, that vulnerable area he never allowed anyone else to touch, she spoke, and her breath, it was hot against his skin. “We’re pack, Kenji. I need skin privileges.” Her hands on his chest, her voice soft. “But if you don’t feel like sharing them with me, that’s okay.” No judgment in her voice, no demand. “A hug will be enough.”
“Garnet.” Enclosing her tightly in his arms, this strong woman who carried over a thousand lives, young and old, on her shoulders, he rubbed his jaw against her temple. “I’m sorry for being an ass. Come on, get out of those clothes.”
She held on to him for a while longer and he could feel