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Tuesday ushers us in through the back door of The Antler, where I’m greeted by a very startled Shep and an excited Ciro, who spends far too long looking at my naked mate.

My mate. It still doesn’t feel real. Fated mates were a fairytale, you told children. I never believed they were real, but here I was with one.

When his teeth had sunk into me and he had claimed me as his, it was like the ache in my chest dissolved into a thread that bound me to him. I’ve never experienced anything like it. When he said he loved me, he meant it, and even if I didn’t believe him with my ears, there was no denying what I felt through the bond.

Was this why he had been so sure every step of the way that everything between us would work out? I think back to all the times he called me love. Had he known then? Had it given him confidence that what we had was inevitable?

Shep returns from his apartment above the bar with a bundle of clothes, handing them to me and Madoc so we can cover up our filthy bodies. We needed showers, and possibly a few stitches, but it would have to wait. Whatever had Ciro bouncing from foot to foot, and Tuesday grinning like the Cheshire Cat had piqued my interest.

“What on earth is going on?” Madoc demands as we hear grunts and a muffled wail coming from the bar.

“Now, we’re going to need you to have a very open mind.” Tuesday says with a wicked gleam in his eye as he plays with his snake bite piercings.

“What have you done?” I ask my best friend, who was not always known for making the most rational choices in life.

Ciro slaps me on the back with an easy grin. “It wasn’t just Tuesday. Don’t you know, we protect our own in Aurora Pines?”

Entering through the back of the bar and out into the main area, I realize that The Antler is closed. All the curtains are drawn and the front door is still locked. There are no diners or patrons, but there is a crowd gathered around something in the center of the room.

As we get nearer, people step back, parting the crowd to reveal the High Leap, bloody and bruised, tied to a chair. This man had plagued me, and hunted me for years after torturing me under the guise of calling education and care. I’d been terrified of him as a child, and even earlier today my body had filled with fear when I laid eyes on him.

He whimpers, and I detect the stench of piss in the air. The person in front of me was nothing more than a scared coward who wielded power over those weaker than him.

His mouth is gagged, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to speak as he glares at me, yelling something I probably didn’t want to hear anyway. Stubborn and prideful until the end.

Burt steps forward, smacking the back of his head.

“Shut the fuck up.” He barks.

I blink. Was this the same lumberjack who asked for Alphabet Spaghetti to be added to the lunchtime menu?

Jaxs leans in and flicks Abiel on the forehead while Nerys leans against the bar, her mouth drawn into a scowl while she watches with her arms crossed.

Over by the main doors, I recognize Betsy, Mr. Jones and a few familiar faces from the coffee shop and the hardware store. What was going on?

“Nerys heard this old man here talking on the phone about how he’d been out to your cabin and had torn it to pieces.” Ciro says as he sits on one of the dining tables and starts swinging his legs.

How are they all so relaxed when there is a man bleeding and gagged in the room?

“Nasty man,” Nerys tuts, as if she’s chastising a child.

“Bastard,” Ciro spits, and I find myself shocked. I’ve never heard him so angry before. Were these the same people I’d gotten to know and love over the last year?

Stepping forward, Shep holds out his hands to motion to everyone in the room. “Blue, we’re not asking you to get involved and I’d rather not implicate you, but we also felt you deserved a chance to know just how much you’ve come to mean to all of us here in Aurora Pines.”

My eyes prickle and burn as emotion wells up in my chest. They were trying to protect me? They didn’t even know me.

“Why?” I ask, feeling like there’s a rock lodged in my throat. Madoc reaches out and places his hand on the small of my back, his warmth soaking into my skin. Down the bond, he sends waves of love and reassurance. “I’ve lied to you all.”

“Everybody here has secrets.” Mr. Jones chuckles, clapping Madoc on the shoulder as they share a small smile. “We don’t care if you’re called Blue. You can change it to purple if you like.”

Abiel grunts again, fighting against the ropes that bind him, and I stare into his eyes. I don’t understand. How could this town love me more than my own species? How could they protect me, when this man, my elder, wouldn’t have in the same situation?

Betsy offers me a kind smile. “When you showed up every day for work, that wasn’t a lie. When you made an anonymous donation for the new school roof, that wasn’t a lie either. When you helped purchase another defibrillator for the town hall, was that a lie?”

Mazie’s behind the bar, wiping down the worktop as if this is all entirely normal. Just another day at The Antler. “Your actions speak louder than your words.”

Placing a large hand on my shoulder, Shep smiles. “Leave this fucker to us. We’re going to make sure you never have to run again.”

“What about the others who were with him?”

The bear shifter coughs awkwardly while his father snorts, “We protect our own in Aurora Pines.”

“It’s not that simple. If you get rid of him, another one will take his place and they will send people looking for him.” They didn’t understand. The Husk never gave up. They would keep looking for him. Looking for me. If they found out what had happened to Abiel, they would destroy Aurora Pines.

Tuesday clicks his tongue as he pulls out his phone. With a dramatic sigh, he says, “If only we knew a tech genius who could help us cover up what we’re about to do.”

Rolling his eyes, he puts his phone on speaker. If Tawny could make it seem like Abiel was never in Aurora Pines, if none of the Buck made it here, then we might be able to keep everybody safe.

“Bonnie Blue,” T croons down the line and I’m relieved to hear his voice. “I hear you have an unwanted guest in your quaint little town. Well, besides the cat.”

Tuesday huffs and flips him off even though he can’t see it over the phone.

“Can you make him vanish?” My voice is shaky. He knows what this means to me. He’s the one who helped me escape my life at the Warren and gave me a way out. Back then we had been children, looking for a way to escape our demons, but things were different now. We were adults, and we weren’t alone anymore.

“Of course,” he scoffs, his smugness making me feel more confident that we could get the situation under control as he furiously taps away on his keyboard. “Excuse me a mo, my asshole neighbor is back at it again.”

There’s a pounding noise, and he must be banging on a wall or a door as he yells, “If she’s screaming that fucking loud, she’s faking it!”

Everyone in the room chuckles softly as Tuesday and I share a look.

“Urm, is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Just peachy,” he hisses through gritted teeth before his tone becomes softer. “Blue, I think it might be time to cash in that insurance policy of yours.”

Hidden away in my vault was my lifeline. My little black book was a way to tug at the thread weaving throughout The Warren in the hopes that it would unravel the entire tapestry. It contained documented evidence that would send The Husk into a tailspin.

As I glance at the faces smiling at me around the room, at the people willing to kill for me, to lie for me, I realize that I don’t need to cling onto a lifeline like that anymore because I’m not alone.

“That insurance plan of yours, do you need some help getting it into the right hands?” My mate asks, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and we both grin.

Turning, I pull Madoc into a quick kiss. “If only I knew someone who had connections at an intelligence agency who operated globally...”

Somewhere behind us, Tuesday makes a retching noise. “Ew.”

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