Yeah, as it happened, she was. In truth, Ally was feeling a little off-balance today. As usual, she had woken up wrapped in strong arms. What wasn’t at all usual, however, was that she’d woken up in her bed. Yep, she’d spent the whole night in bed. That hadn’t happened since . . . well, since before her childhood pack was slain. She didn’t know what that meant. Did it even mean anything? Was she overthinking it? Probably.

Nick, looking as pissed with these wolves as Ally was, turned to Derren. “Ready to go?”

Derren nodded. He’d paid his respects to the parents he’d once had as a kid. There was no longer any reason to—

“Shit, what the fuck does this asshole want?”

Roni’s words had Derren tracking her gaze to find a stout, elderly male shifter pausing a short distance away. Derren realized it was an old friend of his father’s.

“You shouldn’t have come,” the man stated firmly.

Ally waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, keep walking.” The aging shifter blinked at her, clearly surprised. “You get to feel how you feel. You don’t get to offload those feelings on other people.” She ushered him away with her hands. “Shoo.” The male actually did.

Unable to help it, Derren pressed a kiss to her temple. “Thanks, baby.”

“Here we go again,” grumbled Roni.

Another shifter stopped close to them. It was a female this time, and Derren easily recognized her. He nodded stiffly. “Roxanne.”

“Derren.” She cleared her throat, and a brief smile flickered on her face. “A lot taller than when I last saw you.” Seeing that her mate was fast approaching, she quickly continued. “Mom and Dad . . . they had a will and—”

“I don’t want anything from them, Roxanne.” Derren didn’t speak with bitterness or anger. He was simply stating a fact. “I just came here to pay my respects.”

Her mate placed a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, it’s time we left.”

Roxanne bowed her head. “Yes, Warren.”

Warren eyed Derren suspiciously. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Derren would bet he had.

“I don’t know how you heard about your parents’ death or the funeral”—so Roxanne had gone against the crowd for once in her life—“but you had no right to come here.”

Derren tilted his head, his tone steady and calm. “What makes you think your opinion has any relevance whatsoever to me?”

“It is kind of odd that he expects you to care,” agreed Roni.

“They were my parents,” Derren said to Warren. “I have every right to attend their funeral. The fact that you’re shitting all over this day by causing a fuss at their graveside . . . Not sure they would thank you for that.”

Roxanne tugged on her mate’s arm. “We should leave.”

Warren sneered at Derren. “Do these wolves here with you know what you did?”

Ally spoke up. “Know that he was prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit? Yes, we do.” She gave him a bright smile. “So you can run right along.”

Warren narrowed his eyes at her. “Blind faith can be a dangerous thing.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ally shot Roxanne a meaningful look, and she actually flushed. Apparently the female did in fact wonder if she’d done wrong by her brother. “Wondering” wasn’t enough, in Ally’s book. Roxanne should have acted on that sliver of doubt. He was her baby brother, for God’s sake.

“Let’s just leave,” Roxanne told her mate.

“Yes, let’s.” Warren straightened his shoulders. “I have no wish to be in the presence of these people.”

Ally smiled at him again. “How awesome for you. Bye now.”

Warren looked to the two bulky, blank-faced wolves that the Alphas had assigned to “escort” Derren. Translation: they were there to watch him closely. “Escort them off our territory.” The wolves didn’t appear impressed to be receiving an order from a male who was barely dominant and, as such, had no authority over them. They dismissed him with a look.

Derren was more than happy to leave. “Let’s get out of here.” He took Ally’s hand in his as they all made their way to the SUV that was waiting outside the pack’s territory. He paid close attention to their “escorts.” One walked in front of them while the other walked behind them.

There were also other wolves—who apparently thought he wouldn’t sense them—padding through the forest to their right and keeping pace with them. Noting that Nick, Roni, and Ally occasionally flicked their gaze in the direction of the forest, Derren knew his pack mates had also sensed them.

When he finally crossed the border, Derren’s wolf stopped prowling in apprehension—though he remained watchful and on guard.

“What a pack of utter assholes,” remarked Roni. “You know, Derren, if your sister hadn’t been so disloyal to you, I’d feel sorry for her for having that pompous bastard as her—”

The breath left Ally’s lungs as Derren’s body crashed into her, and she hit the ground hard behind the SUV as he yelled, “Down!”

There was swearing, grunting, loud snaps cracking the air, and the sound of tires screeching away. It took her a few seconds to process what had happened. Someone had fucking shot at them.

“Ally, are you all right?” Derren asked, frantic as he searched her body for injuries.