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Klaus registered all this distantly, as if through a dream. The moment his body stopped functioning, his soul burst out with a vengeful cry. Angry and decided, Klaus attacked.
* * * *
Clay could not believe his eyes. He watched Klaus’s limp body fall, a large, gaping wound where his heart had been. The organ lay in a pool of blood mere inches away.
Not even spirit wolves could recover from that sort of wound.
Klaus was dead. And yet, Clay saw Klaus’s wolf jumping on Joseph, more powerful than ever. Joseph fell, obscenely close to Klaus’s body. The animal shone with bright light and it tore at Joseph viciously, its claws and fangs leaving trails of burnt flesh on Joseph’s skin.
Joseph tried to push the beast away, but he didn’t have a chance.
He turned into his animal form as well, his spirit dueling with Klaus’s. Clay ached to help his mate somehow, but their connection had never been fulfilled.
Ross crawled to his side. “What’s happening?” he asked in a weak voice.
Clay didn’t answer. He simply couldn’t find words. The overflow of emotions robbed him of the power of speech. He just sat there, staring as the two wolves battled.
It was over sooner than Clay expected. The light emanating from Klaus’s wolf engulfed Joseph completely. An agonized howl—almost a screech—swept through the room, shattering the windows. The high pitched sound made Clay’s ears hurt, his sensitive hearing for once a downside.
But Clay felt too lost in his shock to care. He clutched Ross’s hand absently, his gaze on the same spot, trying to figure out the result of the battle. A spark of hope lingered inside him. Perhaps once Joseph was defeated, Klaus could somehow be revived.
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Footsteps sounded behind him, drawing him out of his trance.
Klaus’s sacrifice would mean nothing if Clay and Ross were killed by other ferals. He got up, fully intending to protect his remaining mate.
He needn’t have worried. In a few moments, he noticed the Magistrate approach, Dietrich and more spirit wolves close behind him. Clay had never thought he’d ever be happy to see Wolfram, but he knew that if someone could help Klaus, it was their leader.
Clay waved at the approaching figures. “Here. Please, help.”
Wolfram reached them and took in their appearance with one stoic look. He then stole a peek inside the room. His demeanor changed, and he visibly tensed. “What happened?” he asked.
Clay opened his mouth to explain. It had been all his fault, and he knew it. If only he’d managed to move out of Joseph’s reach faster, this would have never happened. His bad decisions and lack of appropriate training led them all to his disaster.
Another voice answered in his stead. “Joseph attacked me,” Klaus said. “I managed to defeat him. Unfortunately, I suffered a severe injury in the process.”
Klaus’s transparent figure appeared in front of them. He smiled gently at Clay and Ross. “It’s okay now,” he whispered. “It’s all over.
My task is done.”
“Joseph is dead?” Dietrich asked.
Klaus nodded, pointing to the second body in the bedroom, Joseph’s. Clay couldn’t be certain, but he trusted Klaus’s assessment and guessed the feral was dead. Distantly, he noticed Dietrich’s voice trembled a bit. Perhaps Dietrich felt bad about Joseph’s demise. The feral remained his father, no matter what happened.
The thought made him furious, but he refrained from vocalizing his anger, choosing to ignore Dietrich instead. “My Lord,” he told Wolfram. “Please, help Klaus. You can do it.”
The Magistrate stepped inside the room, passing right by Klaus’s spirit form. He knelt next to Klaus’s body and gently took the abandoned heart. Clay held his breath as Wolfram placed the organ
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back into the chest cavity. Taking a deep breath, Wolfram closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating on the still body.
In his spirit form, Klaus sighed and shook his head. “Don’t, Wolfram. This is beyond you, and you know it. You’re not a god.
You can’t resurrect people.”
For a little while, Wolfram continued his efforts, but then, his shoulders slumped. He got up and looked at Klaus. “My friend…”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Klaus said again. “I have one request, if you would grant it of me. Please, protect my mates in my absence.”
Wolfram nodded. “It will be done.”
Clay trembled, certain he wasn’t hearing things right. “Klaus, no!
He can help. Someone can help. There has to be a way.”
Klaus knelt next to him. “I’m sorry, my love, but there isn’t.”
Ross tried to reach out to Klaus, but his hand fell limp. The virus was getting to him, and Clay could sense every lingering strength seep out of his young mate.
Klaus’s ghostly hand caressed the side of Ross’s face. “I wish things could have been different,” he murmured. “I wish I could have loved you like you deserve.” He laughed lightly. “In a way, I already do. You and I, we knew each other before we even met.”
Ross leaned into the caress and nodded. “K–Klaus…”
“Shh… It’s okay.”
Klaus pressed his lips to Ross’s in a brief, almost chaste kiss.
Instantly, Clay sensed the transfer of energy. The feral insanity clouding Ross’s mind dwindled, and Clay once again felt his mate whole and human.
It was almost as if Klaus claimed Ross through their one brief kiss, but Clay knew it didn’t work that way. While Klaus’s spirit managed to clear Ross from the virus, their bond remained just as distant as before.
Klaus broke apart from Ross then took Clay’s hand. His touch felt cool, but still so familiar on Clay’s skin, like the whisper of a cold
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breeze in a summer morning. “I’m so sorry about this,” Klaus said. “I hurt you, and I’ll always regret it. Please forgive me.”
Clay wanted to throw his arms around Klaus, to tell his mate he’d forget all about their previous conflict, if only Klaus stayed with him.
Unfortunately, Klaus’s figure began to dim, until Clay no longer felt his mate’s touch. He tried to keep his hold on Klaus’s hand, but his fingers went straight through.
“It’s time for me to go,” Klaus said. “Take care of each other.
Remember, you’ll always have my love.”
“Klaus, no,” Ross tried to say. “Please…”
But it was too late. Klaus’s form dissipated, leaving just open space where he’d been.
Acute sorrow hit Clay, choking him, making his vision dim. He hadn’t truly acknowledged his mate’s death until Klaus’s soul left as well, but now, he felt it deep inside. He couldn’t move and couldn’t think. Everything became dark, and the only reason he didn’t follow Klaus into death was Ross.
People shuffled around them, talking in low voices. They seemed to be making arrangements to wrap the operation up. Someone knelt next to him and Ross, but Clay couldn’t hear the words the person in question spoke. He thought it might have been the Magistrate, but right now, he didn’t care.
People with body bags appeared and removed Joseph’s body.
Clay just watched them impassively, but he snapped out of his trance when he saw them start to work on Klaus. Their hands on his mate…
Cold, uncaring touches, from people who couldn’t possibly understand. He would not allow it.
Clay and Ross shot to their feet at the same time. As one, they rushed to Klaus’s side. “No!” Clay shouted. “Don’t touch him. You’ll disturb his rest.”
The spirit wolves around Klaus backed away slowly. The Magistrate approached them and waved the soldiers off. “Clay, he’ll
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be honored best once we get home,” Wolfram said. “I assure you I will do my best to care for him.”
Clay wanted to say that Wolfram should have acted when Klaus still lived, not now, when it was too late. Where had Wolfram been when Joseph attacked them? Wolfram occupied the position of Magistrate. He should have battled the strongest foe, not Klaus.
“I’m so sorry,” Wolfram whispered. “I almost defeated Joseph, but I let my guard down, and he broke free. He seemed to have a shortcut through the building. I just… I wish things could have been different. You have no idea how much.”
An apology seemed out of character from anyone occupying the position of Magistrate. Something in Wolfram’s eyes gave Clay pause. He saw genuine pain there, and he respected it. It was born out of affection for Klaus. Even if Wolfram had once been his rival, Clay could no longer maintain the energy to hate now.
He nodded at the Magistrate. “Thank you. We’ll finish things here.”
Together with Ross, Clay put Klaus’s remains inside a body bag.
It hurt him physically to cover Klaus’s handsome features, so dear to him, in the black plastic. He forced himself to do so, clinging to the thought that his mate would receive a decent passing ceremony.
From then on, everything became a blur, the only points still real in his life were the body bag and Ross. He followed the Magistrate out of the building like an automaton. The spirit wolves seemed to be doing damage control and ensuring the humans didn’t become too involved in this mess. Clay didn’t pay attention to the hustle and bustle. The existence of his people could be revealed for all he cared.
Wolfram led them to a car and loaded the bag inside. Logic might have told them it should go in the trunk, but instead, Wolfram put it on the back seat. The car’s size allowed both Clay and Ross to squeeze next to their mate. It should have been gruesome, but instead, it consoled Clay, insofar as he could find comfort in any way.
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Dietrich appeared next to the window, and Clay overheard the exchange.
“I’m taking Klaus back to the Den. Can you stay and look after things here?”
“Sure, Wolfram,” Dietrich replied. “Take care, all right?”
Wolfram nodded. Dietrich stepped away from the vehicle, and the Magistrate started the car. “We’re going home,” he murmured.
Clay didn’t know who the Magistrate spoke to—him, Ross, or Klaus. In the end, it didn’t matter. As Wolfram drove off, Clay leaned against the window and allowed his mind to shut down.
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Ross had never been to the Magistrate’s Den. A different time, the sight of it would have left him in awe. Now, he just took it all in with indifference, the majestic building unable to move him. He felt tired, so very tired, and so cold inside.
He’d barely known Klaus. They’d spent maybe fifteen minutes together before circumstances forced them apart. And yet, in his heart, Ross had always sensed the other man, just beyond his dreams.
Perhaps that had been the only thing keeping him sane during his captivity with Joseph.
He’d wanted to try to explore the connection between them, to somehow understand why Klaus acted the way he did. But now, the man was dead, leaving Ross and Clay behind in an abyss of sorrow.
During the trip to the Den, Ross managed to doze, but every time, he awoke after a few minutes, tormented by visions of Klaus’s bloody corpse. He felt thankful they finally reached their destination—for his mate, at least. He knew Clay’s family would be waiting to comfort him.
Indeed, when the plane landed and they followed Wolfram out, they were met by a distraught Hart clan. Everyone was there, from Clay’s parents Marion and Grant, to his siblings and their respective mates and families. Ross winced. The last time he’d seen them, he’d tried to kill Paul Blunt and insulted Clay and Amy in front of Ashton.
He received a few ugly looks, but other than that, no one paid him any heed. Or so he thought, until Paul Blunt and Linden Rivers appeared by his side.
“Hi,” Paul said awkwardly. “I’m sorry to hear about Klaus.”
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“I’m sorry I tried to kill you,” Ross replied. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. Besides, he didn’t deserve to be included in this, anyway. Ross would do his best to support Clay and honor Klaus, but beyond that, he did not belong with these people.
Paul shrugged. “Water under the bridge.” He paused and gave Ross an unreadable look. “I can’t claim I know how you feel, but if you’d let me, I’d love to be your friend.”
Out of all the people at the Hart compound, Paul had always been the most approachable one, with the exception of Clay, of course.
Ross didn’t welcome the young human’s inquisitiveness, but neither did he have the energy to fight. “Okay,” he said simply.
To his surprise, Linden took his hand and pulled him through the crowd. “Come on. Right now, the person you need most is your mate.”
Ross followed the other man, acutely aware of all the eyes on him.
In front of him, Clay stood hugging a weeping Amy. Neither of the two siblings spoke, but their connection was clear, and Ross felt uncomfortable interrupting them.
Surprisingly, it was the Magistrate who broke up the moment.
“We’re going to have to make arrangements now.”
Clay broke away from Amy’s embrace and nodded. “Of course.”
His voice sounded as hollow as Ross felt. Ignoring everyone else present, Ross reached out for his mate’s hand. Clay took it, and together they followed the Magistrate inside. The procession of the Harts did the same, and in the lull of activity and voices, Ross found himself drifting in memory and want. In his mind, he saw the first night he’d met Klaus, but the end of it changed. Instead of Klaus leaving to ask for Wolfram’s help, the man stayed with them. He imagined the three of them traveling together and finding a hiding spot away from everything else.
Perhaps Burma would be nice. Joseph would not be able to reach them there. Klaus must have visited, but he didn’t think Clay had.
Ross would have to remember to ask. Then again, no matter where
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they went, Ross would be happy, as long as he had his mates by his side.
Ross smiled to himself. He was a very lucky man, indeed, having the affection of such handsome, wonderful men. Sure, they might have their issues, but what couple didn’t? He could see it now, him, Klaus, and Clay, alone together, just enjoying each other’s presence within the magnificence of nature.