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His lips twitched into a smirk, and he nodded his head, but it was the grief in his eyes that had me confused.

But then again, not one part of tonight has made sense.

Chapter Forty

TAYLOR

"Pack meeting on a Thursday? I wonder who has caused trouble this time," I complained to Ebony as we pulled into the pack house parking lot.

"Well, it can't be Zane, as he is too hell bent on that Winters chick."

"Her name is Allie."

"Her name is Trouble." Ebony didn't hide her distaste for Allie."Can't you see what she is doing to him?"

I wasn't stupid. Iknew Allie was causinghis pain. "Well, maybe it's time we stepped up and forced him to talk to her."

She scoffed.

"For someone who is strugglingto deal with her own mate, you sure are being cold-hearted about this," I gave her a pointed slap of reality as surely she could see the similarities between the two.

Her eyes instantly narrowed."Don't bring him into this."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, don't be such a bitch about Zane and Allie, and then I won't have to."

I unclipped my seat belt, but she had alreadyslammed the door and left, not waiting for me. I swear thatwoman had become morehormonalsince she found her mate.

I slowly dragged my way up to the pack house. A compulsory meeting never meant anything exciting.

***

I didn't know what to say.

I didn't know how to bring it up, so I just sat beside him, staring aimlessly at the lake. I hadn't ever seen him this withdrawn. Hearing Allie was dying must be killing him. Here we were all expecting a boring compulsory pack meeting, and it was all about Allie and how we were now under new orders to never mention what we were.

There is even a scripture that is read when a pack member is to be forgotten. Once said, you couldn’t talk to that person regarding anything to do with our werewolf side.

Apparently, her memory was being wiped tonight, and as of tomorrow, she will only see us as people she goes tohigh school with.

She will still know our names, but that's about it.

I swallowed sharply, trying tobreak the silence. "It's not your fault this happened, Zane." I gave him a sideways glance. I knew he would be beating himself up about this. Blaming himself.

"I've lost her," he mumbled under his breath as small teardrops slid down his cheeks.

"Look at the bright side, at least you didn't mark her then this would be a hell of a lot harder."

As soon as the words came out, I knew I had said the wrong thing.

His expression and eyes darkened.

"Zane, I didn't mean it like that." I planted a hand on his shoulder. "All I wanted you to know, was I am here for you."

The anger didn't drain from his eyes, but something told me the anger he was holding onto was directed at himself.

***

"Is it just me, or does the air smell better today? The grass is greener and the sky brighter." Ebony smiled broadly walking beside me, taking deep breaths in soaking in the 'better air.'