From the moment I woke up, I wasn't ready for this day. The things Gabriel and I had shared the night before—the love, the emotion, the closeness—could all be ripped away from me just as quickly as I'd found them. The weight of this realization sat heavily on my shoulders and coiled tight in the pit of my stomach. Though Gabriel maintained his usual calm, stoic exterior, I could tell by the way he could hardly bring himself to let go of my hand that he was nervous, too.

We were meeting the shaman deep in an old growth forest near the coast. It wouldn't be more than a half-day's drive, but that felt both too long and far too short. I wanted it over now. I didn't want to do it at all.

Gabriel walked ahead of me, carrying both of our overnight bags out to load into the car.

"I'd hoped our first trip together would be a bit more romantic," I teased him as I locked his front door. When I heard him stop walking, I looked back over my shoulder.

Victor was standing outside of his car in the driveway.

Gabriel had dropped both bags to the ground and his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. I moved to him and urged one open so I could slip my own hand into it. His chest rose and fell with increasing speed.

"You're not talking him out of this, Victor." I spoke for him, stepping between the two. "His mind is made up; you shouldn't even be here after yesterday."

Eyes cautiously locked on Gabriel's, Victor reached into the backseat of his car with slow, deliberate movements. I tensed and pressed back against Gabriel protectively. When he straightened back up and swung the door closed, Victor was holding a backpack.

"I'm not here to stop you," he said. "I'm coming too."

I let out a long breath I hadn't realized I was holding and I felt Gabriel do the same behind me, his ruffling my hair. I let go of him and he stepped around me to advance towards Victor. When he stopped in front of him, the two clasped hands fiercely between them.

"Thank you, brother." Gabriel's voice was heavy with gratitude; he'd sorely underestimated how much he needed the support.

"You didn't have to be so dramatic," I complained. "You could have called ahead."

"And miss seeing this look on his face? Not a chance," Victor laughed.

Despite my protests and Victor's best attempt to convince him otherwise, Gabriel insisted on driving. I knew that he needed to keep his mind occupied, so I didn't fight him too hard. Victor spread out in the back and I sat as far to the left side of the passenger seat as I could so I could keep one hand on Gabriel's thigh as he drove. We both needed the contact.

An hour into the drive, as I was navigating for Gabriel with a map book in my lap, Victor's phone rang.

"It's Dmitri," he said.

"Pull over," I told Gabriel, directing him to the shoulder of the highway. I turned the hazard lights on and both of us twisted in our seats to face Victor, who now had the phone pressed to his ear. He hummed every few seconds as he listened to Dmitri speak, then passed the phone to Gabriel.

"What is it?" I mouthed to him silently.

I wasn't great at reading lips, but I thought he mouthed back good news.

Gabriel listened quietly for several minutes before thanking Dmitri and hanging up, handing the phone back to Victor. I looked between the two of them, annoyed that they were likely holding a full conversation across their link.

"Either of you want to tell me what's going on?" I couldn't keep the annoyance from creeping into my voice.

"The team went in early this morning and arrested Erick, Alanna, William, and two witting Councilmembers," Gabriel said. "Odette and the other members were questioned but Dmitri determined they hadn't known about Erick's plan."

"It went smoothly? No one was hurt?" I pressed.

"They didn't see it coming at all. Didn't even have a chance to put up a fight." Victor sounded triumphant. The relief was plain on Gabriel's face. I knew he harbored some guilt for not going with his soldiers; if anything had gone wrong, he would have blamed himself without question.

I squeezed his forearm where it rested on the center console. "So what happens now?"

"Dmitri will meet with the remaining members of Cascade's council to determine a path forward. Their pack has no natural Alpha heir that I'm aware of, so they'll likely be absorbed," Gabriel explained.

"By Sawtooth?" I was hopeful that would be the case. I had no doubt Dmitri and Constance would do an excellent job handling something as sensitive as a pack merge.

"Possibly. I sure as hell don't want anything to do with it." Gabriel pulled back out onto the road and Victor snorted.

"And here I'd put in your name for diplomat of the year," he joked. "You were so polite and tactful at the Alpha gathering." Gabriel glared at him in the rearview mirror.

Victor's lighthearted chatter—a bid to keep us all distracted, I was sure—slowly faded as we neared our destination. The old growth forest stood in front of us, trees like aged sentinels guarding the sacred space I knew was hidden within. As Gabriel's car ventured further into the forest, a sense of enchantment overcame me. Towering evergreens stood tall, their massive trunks hung thick with mossy coats. Sunlight filtered through the canopy above and cast swirling rays that danced across the fallen logs and rotting leaves on the ground.

I cracked open my window to let a breeze blow through the car. The air carried with it a crisp, earthy scent, all pine needles and damp soil. I thought I could just barely smell the salt of the ocean, too.

The path grew narrow as it wound its way deeper into the heart of the forest before it eventually opened up to a clearing bathed in soft, dappled afternoon sunlight. Nestled in the midst of the glade stood the shaman's cabin—a small, rustic hut that blended almost seamlessly with the trees.

The shaman's dwelling appeared as if it had grown from the very earth itself. Its walls were constructed of weathered timber. Moss and ivy crawled along the surface of the structure as if nature itself sought to reclaim it.

The three of us sat in the car in silence once Gabriel cut the engine off. My eyes focused on a gentle wisp of smoke that curled from the cabin's chimney that carried with it the scent of burning herbs. The way the light caught on the swirling, twisting motion was mesmerizing. Finally, I tore my gaze away to look at Gabriel. His jaw worked as he ground his teeth back and forth. I pulled his hand to me and pressed my lips to the back of it.

"Let's go," I said. He gave me a tight smile and nodded.

Intricate carvings and symbols were etched into the doorframe and around each dusty window and they imbued a sense of peace in me as we approached. When Gabriel was either unable or unwilling to do so himself, Victor stepped forward and swung the heavy metal knocker against the wood.

The shaman, a small, hunched old man whose skin closely resembled the bark of the trees that encircled the clearing, looked the three of us over before stepping out of the way and beckoning us inside. As we stepped into his cabin, the air seemed to change, charged with mystical, ancient energy. It was dim; the sunlight could scarcely pierce through the dust and lichen that coated the windows. Soft candlelight flickered, casting looming shadows around the room.

The walls were covered with woven tapestries depicting ancient rituals, and sagging shelves held jars filled with dried herbs, roots, and stones, each with their own purpose and power.

I stayed close to Gabriel's side, one hand wrapped tightly in his and the other gripping his arm. I tried to settle my breathing and be calm for him; I knew he'd be feeling my nervous energy and I didn't want it feeding into his own.

"You brought company," the shaman pointed out. He looked Victor and I over curiously.

"This is Kiera, and my Second, Victor." Gabriel introduced us and we each gave the man a polite nod.

He approached me and gripped my chin between his rough, age-worn fingers so that he could study my face closely. His eyes, green as moss, darted back and forth between mine. "I see."

I was unsure whether it was a positive interaction or not. When he released me and stepped back, I cleared my throat and said, "Thank you for doing this for him."

He looked up from where he was tying a thick bundle of herbs over his kitchen table, one eyebrow cocked. "Don't thank me yet. The beads?"

He was looking at Gabriel now, who reached into his pocket and withdrew a bracelet of tiny black beads. I'd noticed him wearing it before, sometimes around his wrist, other times wrapped around his bun as a hair tie. I'd never thought anything of it. He passed it to the shaman who looped it twice around the bundle of herbs.

"I'm going to prepare the ritual space; I'll return shortly to bring you all back. Make yourselves at home." He hobbled out of the room through a curtained doorway at the back of the kitchen.

Gabriel kissed the top of my head then pulled his hand out of mine to go to where Victor was peering closely at one of the threadbare tapestries.

"I need you to make me a promise," he said low, as though I couldn't hear across the tiny room.

"Of course," Victor agreed.

"Swear that you'll take care of Kiera if this goes wrong. Take her back to Sawtooth, give her my house, whatever she wants."

His words were like a dagger to my stomach. Victor nodded solemnly and reached out to shake Gabriel's hand, but I slapped it out of the way and planted myself between them so I could glare up at Gabriel.

"Don't fucking say that," I warned. My voice wavered, threatening to break.

"It's just a precaution," Gabriel put his hands on my shoulders in an attempt to soothe me but I shook them off.

"I don't care what it is, don't fucking talk like that or we're leaving." I crossed my arms tightly and dug my nails into my elbows.

"Okay," he conceded gently. "You're right."

"I know I am," I shot back.

Gabriel pulled me in to lean against his chest and rubbed my back while we waited. The sun was beginning to set outside, and the charge in the air had become so thick it was difficult to breathe. The three of us waited in heavy silence for what could have been minutes or hours before the shaman finally reemerged.

"We're ready for you." He crooked a finger at us and we followed him through the curtain into the dark.