Lance Lakota wakes me in the middle of the night. "Lance, Lotus wants us to follow her lead. I have no idea what is going on, but she has never steered me wrong," she says through the mind-link, and I get up without asking any questions. If Lotus wants me there, it has to be for a reason. We warn one of the Warriors that we will be back soon before we let Lotus lead us away from our campsite. She leads us deeper into the forest, to an area we know doesn't belong to any Pack close by, and I strain my hearing to figure out why she needed us to follow her. We make slow progress as we have to climb a few rocks every now and then. I decide to take a chance to see if I can get an answer from Lotus. "Lotus, any idea what is going on?" I ask. "I don't know, Lance. All I know is that it is important for me to get there and that we shouldn't be alone," she answers. Lakota looks at me in shock as it is very unusual for us to be able to hear another's Wolf or Lycan, but for some reason, Bolt feels reassured that we can communicate with Lotus, and I just keep following her. We have left the campsite about half an hour ago when she stops dead in her tracks, and I hear faint whimpers from behind some rocks. "Mate," I hear Lotus yell in my head, and I run after her as she starts climbing the rocks in front of us. I don't ask her anything; I just follow her as the whimpers become louder, and as I look over the rocks, I see a male on the ground with blood all over him. "Keir," I shout through the mind-link. "Grab Alice and follow Lakota's scent; we found a male that is their Mate according to Lotus." I close the link immediately as I jump down the last few rocks, and Lakota nearly crumbles when we step closer to the male. She kneels down next to him and places his head in her lap as she starts crying. "Lotus, is there anything we can do?" I ask, and she says, "No, Lance. He is dying; the only thing Lakota and I can do is make it as comfortable for him as we can. I think it is the reason why we can tell that he is our second chance Mate." His breathing is ragged, and I can hear his heartbeat slowing down, but he opens his eyes to look at Lakota. "I am sorry," he says. "I wish I had met you sooner, my Mate." Lakota can't say a word because of her crying, and I ask him what his name is after I introduce myself to him. "My name is Jake," he manages to say, and I kneel down on his other side. "Please, give these to my Mate when you get home. I want her to know about me and my family," he says as he pushes a small bag towards me, and I promise him that I will keep them safe for Lakota. At that moment, Keir jumps down the rocks, and I see Alice and Quinn following him down. I introduce Keir to Jake as I step away from him to give Alice some space to work. I already know there is nothing she can do for him, but I don't tell anyone what Lotus told me. Lakota is crying uncontrollably as she is rocking Jake in her arms; I feel my heart break for her as I hear his heartbeat slow down even further. "Thank you for easing my pain, Lakota. I love you," Jake says, and after she has told him she loves him too, he takes his last breath. Lotus lets out a mournful howl. Keir and I join her in expressing the loss of Jake, and soon more howls join ours, even though most don't know what happened just yet. "Quinn, head back to the campsite and inform the others. I will find a spot around here to give him his send-off to the Goddess," I tell her through the mind-link, and she climbs back up the rocks. I ask Alice to hold onto the small bag for me as I go in search of a place where we can burn his body and release his spirit back to the Goddess. I have just rounded the rocks when I see an excellent spot, and I head back to Lakota. "Lakota, I know this is not something you want to hear right now, but we have to send him off to the Goddess," I say, and she jumps into my arms, crying her heart out. "Keir, there is a perfect spot just around these rocks. Can you move Jake there?" I ask him through the mind-link as I pull her face against my chest, making sure she doesn't see her Father moving her Mate's body. Quinn has returned with all of our Pack-members, and even the Pups are with them. Kobal walks over to me as Lakota is still clinging to me, and once he realizes she isn't letting go of me, he just kisses the top of her head. "Where is Alpha Keir?" he asks me through the mind-link, and I tell him where he can find our Alpha. Once everything is set, I get a link from Keir to bring Lakota over. I am sitting on the ground with her in my arms, and I cup her face to make her look at me. "Sweetheart, it is time to say goodbye to Jake. Your Father has prepared everything; are you ready?" I ask. She shakes her head, but she tells me that she is ready. I know no one is ever ready to say goodbye to their Mate, and Lakota is no exception; she just knows that this is the circle of life. I can tell that they cleaned him up and put clean clothes on him; I think this will make it a little easier for her to deal with. I am still holding her in my arms as I turn sideways so she can see Jake. "Lance, can.. can you kneel.. down next to him?" she asks, and I do as she requested; I kneel down next to him. She reaches out her hand to caress his cheek and softly whispers her goodbyes to him. Keir recites a prayer to the Goddess to give his soul peace and to give his Wolf a new Human somewhere down the line. "Goodbye, my Love. May the Goddess watch over both of you," Lakota whispers, and as I step back with her in my arms, Keir lights the wood. Kobal is the first to send up a mournful howl before the rest follow his example. Slowly, the others leave the site to head back to our campsite, but I keep standing there with Lakota in my arms until there is nothing left and the sun starts peeking through the trees. I say my goodbye to Jake and tell him I will keep an eye on his Mate. I have to take the long way back to our campsite with Lakota in my arms, but I don't mind at all and would carry her the rest of the way home if that is what she needs me to do for her. She is fast asleep by the time I get back to our campsite, and I sit down against a boulder with her in my arms. Keir walks over with a blanket and as he is wrapping it around her, he tells me we will be staying until after dinner to give her time to rest. Josh and Lynn sit down in front of me, both of them placing their heads on Lakota, and I understand that this is their way of giving her comfort. I just lean my head back to shut my eyes for a moment; Bolt is focused on Lakota, and knowing he will warn me if she needs me, I drift off to sleep. "Lance, she is slowly waking up," I hear Bolt say, and I open my eyes to see that our backpacks are all lined up while everyone is softly talking to one another. She is stirring in my arms but not quite awake yet, and I see the tears slowly making their way down her cheeks. "Has this been happening all night?" I ask Bolt; he confirms that she has been crying on and off during the night, and I slowly sit up straight, knowing it will wake her. I look into her eyes to be met with a dull look; Bolt is whimpering in my head at the sight, and I pull her closer to my chest. The sparkle in her eyes is gone now, something even Jace wasn't able to do with his rejection, and I have a feeling she will need the distraction of being an Alpha now more than ever. We both slept through breakfast and lunch, so we both get a huge portion of food for dinner, and I have to keep telling her to take another bite. "You and Lotus need to finish that food; we still have a long way to go, and you need this to keep up your strength," I tell her through our mind-link. She doesn't answer me, but she continues eating, and slowly but steadily, the food disappears from her plate. Lynn takes our plates once we are both done. Kobal tries again to pick her up, but she just buries herself deeper into my arms, and we both realize she is not ready to let me go. A few changes are made to who carries who; Cian is going to carry Lynn and Josh so Keir can carry Mylana and Rory, and Kobal is going to carry me and Lakota. I tried to object until Quinn pointed out that Lakota wouldn't be able to hold on to me if I carried her on my back. "Lance, this is my way of helping out. For some reason, she needs you more than she ever needed me in her life, and we all want her to get to our new territory in one piece," Kobal says before I finally accept the fact that I will need to travel on the back of his Lycan. Lakota doesn't speak, but from time to time, I see tears running down her face, and I know it will take some time before she can come to terms with this.