I stared at the phone that Luka had given me, unsure of where I should start. We were on our way back to Fortis and the phone calls I was going to make was going to be hard. No one should have had to make the calls I was going to do and I was just glad that I would be the one dealing with it and not Luka or Shey. They were cracked and broken right now and it was something they didn't need to worry about.

Lilith shifted on the seat beside me and I glanced down at her, her hair was still in wild tangles and she was still dressed in that white robe and blue shawl. This was a strange situation, I was thankful that Luka and Shey hadn't questioned her presence too much. She had stuck to my side, unwilling to let me go as we had walked towards the SUV from the house she had been staying in. Everything was in an upheaval but I couldn't leave her, I could feel the bond tying us together, holding our souls so close I could feel hers pressed to mine. Once there was that, I couldn't leave her behind.

I turned back to the phone and dialed up Benji with a heavy sigh. Luka and Shey were in the back of the SUV, laying down with Amelia's little body between them. It wasn't entirely the safest way to travel but Ambris said we would make it home fine and they needed to grieve and spend time with her. The phone rang in my ear and I rubbed at my forehead feeling a headache building.

"Hello." Benji's voice was slightly gruff but I didn't blame him because it was far too early in the morning. I knew I probably woke him up but this couldn't wait

"Hey, Benji." I gave another heavy sigh and slowly shook my head. "Can you inform everyone in the pack that Amelia has passed on?" My voice cracked slightly as I said it and my chest felt heavy and my eyes burned. There was a sharp inhale on the other end of the line before a heavy silence fell between us. "We are on our way back but we need to have..." I gave a small cough to try and clear my throat from the lump that had grown in it. "Everything needs to be ready when we get there." I didn't want Luke or Shey to have to deal with setting up Amelia's funeral, they needed time to simply grieve without having to worry about the details. When you lost something so precious to you the details rarely mattered.

Benji cleared his throat, "We will get it done, Micheal. Let... let them know that the pack is behind them with this." I could hear the heavy sadness in his voice and I felt it deep in my chest.

"I will, Benji. I need to make some other phone calls." This one was hard enough but I had to phone the rest of the family and those phone calls were going to be just as tough, if not more so.

"Alright, Micheal, I'll let you go. We need to get everything set up for when you guys get back." With that the call ended and I closed my eyes, pressing the phone to my forehead as I breathed out, trying to control my emotions from rising up as it felt heard to breathe.

I felt Lilith shift on the seat and when I looked over at her she was sitting on her knees, looking over the back of the seat towards where Shey and Luka were with Amelia. I frowned slightly and shifted to grasp her before Shey gave a low growl. "What do you want?" Her voice was cracked and broken but it was hard as she looked at Lilith peeking over the back of the seat.

Lilith gave her a sweet smile before reaching over the seat and brushing her fingertips over Amelia's white curls. "She's such a pretty little female." I watched as Shey's face crumpled and she gave a small sob before she pulled Amelia's little body closer, burying her face into her curls as her shoulders shook, her sobbing renewed.

I felt a surge of irritation rise up in me as I grasped Lilith's arm and gently turned her in the seat. "You need to sit down, Lilith. Properly." She didn't fight me and allowed me to shift her to sit down before I rebuckled her into her seat belt. She started humming lightly, picking at her nails as she brought her knees up to her chest.

"She's a special female." The priest driving glanced over his shoulder with a small smile. "She's been touched by the moon. She hears more than most." I noddes at him but Shey's faint sobbing was grating on me. I could hear Luka shushing her softly, speaking to her in low tones as she made anguished keening sounds. Lilith didn't seem to be reacting to the sounds Shey was making and I clenched my jaw.

I didn't know what to do with her. She was mad, there wasn't anything else I could call her. She heard Mene in her ears and if Ambris was to be believed, she was difficult to keep track of because she would wander off. I tried my best to relax my jaw, it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault that we were bound together or that she wasn't entirely sane.

Ambris had explained it to me, how Lilith had been mistreated and abused by her previous mate. She had told me about how he had broken her down, driven her to madness, carved everything out of her until she was a shell. If that wasn't enough, he had violated her body. He had raped her repeatedly until he had forced a pregnancy onto her. One that she had removed.

The thought was unsettling, that she had brutally removed the child from her own womb, that she had brutalized herself like that. It was unsettling for me but my wolf didn't particularly feel strongly about it. He, like her, viewed it as an infestation that needed to be removed. He had flashed his teeth, his chest rumbling as Ambris had carefully explained what Mene had told her about what had happened to her. She had been abused, severely. Not like how Maricella had been abused but a different sort of abuse, no matter what it is was, it was horrible. No one should have had to endure that. Yet the small female beside me had endured a type of physiological torture that not many females escaped from.

I slowly shook myself out of my thoughts before I lifted the phone, dialing Jace's number. I pressed it to my ear and the phone rang in my ear and Lilith shifted beside me. I reached over without thinking, placing my hand on her knee to keep her still in her seat. She froze, tilting her head as she stared at my hand before she slowly reached up and grasped my hand with her own, seeming to study it.

I did my best to ignore her slight exploration of my hand with her fingertips as I focused on the phone call. It took a fair bit before the phone was answered. "Jace Lawrence." At the gruff greeting I steeled myself.

"Jace, it's Micheal." I inhaled deeply, fighting back the lump in my throat. "Amelia has passed away. We are heading back to Fortis and Shey and Luka would like for you and the rest of the pack to be there for the funeral." They were going to need everyone to help get them through what was coming.

"Funeral going to be shortly after you get back home?" His voice was gruff and I could hear the emotions he was trying to keep under control. Amelia was a special female whose life had brushed against so many others and her loss would be felt across the shifter world.

"Yes." I gave a small cough, my eyes starting to burn again. I couldn't break down right now, I needed to keep going and push forward to help Shey and Luka through this. "Delta Benji has already been informed and everything should be ready for when we get there." It was a hard time for the Alpha pair but it was just as hard a time for the pack. Heidi and Amelia had been such a wonderful addition to the pack, a highly loved part of it but I knew the pack would do right by Amelia. They would do their best to ease the burden their Alpha couple would be experiencing.

"We will get there before you arrive. Tell Luka and Shey... tell them that we are with them for this." Jace's tone turned soft with a heavy sadness that I felt mirrored in my own chest and I nodded.

"I will, Jace. I need to make more phone calls." There were others that needed to be informed, others that needed to be called.

"We will see you." He hung up the phone and I stared at the cellphone, feeling weary and pained to my very core. Lilith slowly squeezed my hand and when I looked over at her she slowly glanced up at me, those fractured and swirling irises of hers drawing me in as I let out a heavy sigh. She slowly leaned against me, watching me carefully before she broke our gaze, resting her head against my shoulder. I felt a small wry smile tug up the corner of my mouth at her attempt at comfort. She didn't release my hand, only continued to squeeze it gently and rhythmically.

I looked at the cellphone again, bringing up Councilman Jovan's number and dialing it. I pressed it to my ear, half listening to it ring and half listening to Shey's shuddering breaths and Luka's low murmuring as he tried to comfort her despite the hitch in his own voice. I could hear the phone being picked up and I gave another sigh. "Jovan-"

"It's Amelia, isn't it?" His voice cracked on that and I tilted my head back, looking at the roof of the car as I tried to blink the tears away.

"Yah. She passed a few hours ago." I could hear the older shifter give a small curse before a heavy silence fell.

He gave a small sniffle before clearing his throat. "We will be there right away." His voice was thick with a heavy sort of sadness that only ever emerged when a child had died. "How... how are they?" Jovan had always been an emotional shifter, he was caring and compassionate so it didn't surprise me that this loss hit him hard. He had taken Shey and Luka underneath his wing and he cared for them deeply, as he cared for Heidi and Amelia.

"They are... holding on. This isn't a loss you get through without pain." A deep and raw pain that made it feel like you would never be okay again, that you would never be able to breathe right again. This was a loss that would only take time to heal and even then the scar it left would be deep and harsh.

"No it isn't. We will be there, Micheal. Let them know." Emotions coated his tone thickly and I couldn't help it as I let out a shuddering breath, the burning tears escaping despite me wanting them to go away.

"I will, Jovan. I will." I nearly choked on the words before I ended the call and set the phone on my lap as I wiped at my eyes with my free hand. Lilith rubbed her head against my shoulder, giving my hand another heavy squeeze before she started humming once more. I sniffled, unable to help the sound before I picked up the phone again. I dialed Azrael's number, dreading the call I was going to make.

It took a fair amount of time before the call was answered and there was a moment of silence. "Algus pack, Uriel speaking." At the unfamiliar voice I closed my eyes as my heart squeezed in my chest. I had wanted to speak directly to Azrael, to get it out quickly.

"This is Micheal, Luka's Beta. I need to speak to Azreal." I tried hard to keep my voice from wavering as I said it but it was hard.

"Alright, I will get him." I could hear the phone being set down and I leaned my head back, breathing as evenly as I could to try and calm myself down as the seconds seemed to drag on. The longer the wait drew on the larger the lump in my throat got and it took a few minutes before the phone was picked up.

"Micheal." At the harsh statement of acknowledgement I let out a hissing breath.

"Sorry to bother yo-"

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" Azrael's voice held a hard edge of concern and I swallowed hard, unconsciously squeezing Lilith's hands with my own. "Micheal." He stressed my name hard, it was a demand for an answer and I did my best to calm down.

"Amelia passed away and Luka and Shey need you." A new flood of tears escaped me and I set my jaw as Azrael inhaled sharply.

"I-I... What? How did this happen?" His voice pitched up with a bit of frantic panic. Luka was like a brother to him, we had photos of him with the twins in the pack house. He loved them just as much as he loved his own children. That wasn't to mention the pictures of his own kids that dotted the walls. The Mountains believed in family and Luka had been adopted into a large one. Amelia would be sorely missed by all of them.

"She was deteriorating quickly and we took her to Altia to make it better and... And she's gone. Mene took her back." I could feel that lump in my throat want to turn into a sob but I held it back.

"Why? Why now? She's just a baby." Azrael made a low keening sound, not unlike the sound Shey had made earlier.

"I don't know. I can't answer that, Azrael, all I can say is that they need you. They need everyone they can." I could hear the phone being put down and Azrael's muffled sound as the mountain Alpha cried for the loss of the child he had claimed as his family. I let out several shuddering breaths, unwilling to sob, not right now.

My hearing caught some muffled sounds, a sharp voice before the phone was picked up. "What happened? What did you say?" Lace's voice was cold and sharp and my shoulders shuddered from the emotions that were pushing through me.

"Amelia has passed." At the words there was a small sound of acknowledgement and comfort from the usually severe female.

"We will be there." She hung up the phone and I allowed ti to fall into my lap again before I pulled my hand from Lilith's and rubbed hard at my face, pressing my fingers to my eyes to try and stem the tears. I felt cracked open and raw and I wanted the pain to stop but I knew it couldn't not yet.

I could faintly hear a clicking sound and Lilith shifted on the seat beside me once more. I let my hands drop and she was once again turned around in the seat, looking back at Luka and Shey. Her eyes were intent on Amelia as Luka brushed her white curls from her face, kissing her cheek softly. "Mene is happy." The words came out softly, sweetly and Shey and Luka slowly lifted their heads to look at Lilith. I couldn't help myself either as I stared at her. "Amelia's soul is so bright and beautiful. Mene is happy because she was loved lots and she was taken care of well. Mene is happy because she has never seen such a sight as her. She is proud of you." Lilith's words were strange and I wasn't the only one to think so as Luka shifted in his spot.

"How... how do you know that?" Luka's voice was slightly rough as he said it, his eyes on her intently and Lilith settled slightly in her spot before she tilted her head.

"Mene told me. She told me about her soul and her happiness and pride. She told me." She said it lightly and with an almost childlike quality. I had known that Lilith could hear Mene, that the goddess spoke to her but it was a completely different thing to see it happen.

There was a heavy and confused silence that fell before I touched Lilith's elbow gently. "Can you explain, Lilith?"

She looked over at me slowly frowned, her head tilting to the side again. "Explain what?" She sounded just as confused as I felt and I paused, staring at her intently.

"Can you explain what you meant about Mene being proud of Amelia's soul?" I watched as her eyes narrowed a touch further and the confusion radiated off of her so thickly I could nearly taste it in the back of my throat when I inhaled. "Do you not remember saying that?" I asked it softly and there was a sudden shame that radiated off of her as she started picking at her nails.

She stared at her hands as she hid behind her tangled hair. "I'm sorry." She seemed to choke on the words and my heart turned over in my chest at the forlorn and shamed quality her voice had. "My mind is not my own." She said it softly before she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. "I try but it doesn't work properly. It doesn't work like it should." She peeked at me through her hair before her gaze skittered away. "Don't put me in the dark." Her voice lowered to a near whisper and I let out a heavy sigh as I looked at her.

"I won't but let's get you buckled back into your seat." I gently guided her to sit properly and once again buckled her in before she brought her knees up to her chest once more and rested her head on them, facing out the window. I looked over the back of the seat and Luka caught my gaze.

What is wrong with her, Micheal? The question pushed into my mind from him, his eyes intent on my own.

She has been broken, Luka. An Old Way Alpha had her before she came to Altia. He was not kind to her. I didn't wish to explain it all to him now, not while he was grieving the loss of something so precious to him.

Why is she with us? He glanced at the back of her head as she started humming again and I sighed as I glanced at her as well.

Because I am to be her blessing, her sanity. It was a task I wasn't sure I was capable of undertaking. It is what Mene has willed of me. And there was nothing I could do to change it.