[Rock]After changing quickly, I went back to the room. The woman was still breathing, but her breaths were shallow and labored. The cat and dog were curled up next to her, almost as if they were protecting her. The werewolves were digging through her bag as they were still talking to her. They were filling the silence, so she would know she wasn’t alone. Gemma opened a beaten wallet and pulled out a card. “Her name is Willow. This ID expires this year. She’s our age,” Gemma said softly. “I’m sorry your life is ending like this, Willow,” Carmen whispered. “I wish we could have saved you.” Willow was a very fae name. A lot of us had nature names. I knew at least three Willows just in the fae lands. This human was only in her very early twenties. I wondered what had happened to her to cause her to be homeless. We stayed with her, talking to her and reassuring her. Her heartbeat started fading. The animals were getting agitated. The werewolves offered their comfort to them, as well.  I could scent the death of our guest before it happened. I knew they could smell it, too. Everyone started getting quiet. There was a high-pitched whining sound that filled the room. It wasn’t just the dog, but the werewolves. They didn’t even know her, but they mourned her passing as if she were a friend. For every rescue like Austin’s, there was a failure like Willow’s. Maybe she would have ended up becoming friends with my mate and become part of the community. There was still so much for her to experience, but someone had cut that short. Victor had changed a lot in the region, but he was still relatively new. I didn’t know who did this, but I did know that Victor would find out. This was an insult to him as the leader of the vampires in this area. There was no way he would let it slide. Willow’s heartbeat started slowing more and her breathing was sporadic. Carmen closed her eyes and started whispering a prayer to the goddess for Willow to be accepted into her realm since the humans had forsaken her. Gemma and Austin started doing the same. If she ended up in the goddess’ realm, then she might have the chance to be reborn as a supernatural and have a life where she was loved and something like this wouldn’t happen to her. I raised my face up and asked the goddess to accept her. Soon, her breathing stopped and so did her heart. The dog lifted its head and howled mournfully. The werewolves did the same and even the cat yowled in a sad way. Austin put his arm around Gemma when the howling was done. They held each other. I went to Carmen and she stood up, wrapping her arms around me. There was nothing we could do to save this human. I hoped there was something that could save the next. “We’ll let her body rest in this room for tonight. I’ll talk to Queen Maeve in the morning about Willow’s final resting place,” I told the wolves. They nodded and said their goodbyes before leaving the room. I stood next to the bed and looked down at the woman I couldn’t save. Gemma and Austin came in with two bowls each. Gemma put her two bowls on the dresser and Austin put his on the floor. One bowl had food and the other had water. I knew the animals would probably get hungry after a while. There was no telling when their last meal was. We left the room, but left the door open. I went to the back door and opened it. If they needed fresh air or to do their business, then it was available to them. We would look into Willow’s past and find out what we could do with her animals. I went to my bedroom and found Carmen sitting up in bed. It had been a very long night. We had almost salvaged it, but there was no coming back from this. Taking off my clothes, I joined her in bed and wrapped my arms around her. Carmen buried her face in my chest and held on to me tightly. I held her as she cried for the young woman who died tonight. As I held Carmen, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt. If only we had found Willow sooner, maybe we could have saved her. Maybe we could have given her a second chance at life. But now, all we could do was mourn her passing and make sure her animals were taken care of.“I was supposed to be a seer, but I didn’t see her. I didn’t help her. Why didn’t I see her, Rock? We could have saved her if I had seen her,” Carmen sobbed. “It doesn’t work like that for those seers who weren’t born fae, Carmen. All of the other seers have told you that. You saw something when you held her hand, didn’t you?” I asked. She nodded. “She suffered so much. She came out to her parents when she was eighteen. She was still in high school. They kicked her out of the house. A few of her friends took her in, but she moved here with a girl she thought she was in love with. That girl dumped her and moved away. She lost their apartment and then lost her job because she had nowhere to live and no car. It was such a struggle for her. If we had found her, she wouldn’t have had to have suffered. The animals are strays who adopted her in the late fall. She didn’t have them long, but she loved them.” I held her closer, trying to comfort her. “We did what we could, Carmen. We made her feel loved in her final moments. And we’ll make sure her animals are taken care of. That’s all we can do now. I honestly believe the goddess listened to us and that Willow is happy in her next life, now.”Carmen sniffled and cuddled closer. “I know. It just hurts to see someone suffer when we could have helped. But thank you, Rock. Thank you for being here with me.”I kissed her forehead. “Always, my love. Always.”We stayed like that until Carmen fell asleep. I put her on her pillow and laid down next to her. I held Carmen’s hand, tracing over her delicate little fingers. She was so small and fragile. Seeing that human die reminded me that werewolves were still a lot more fragile than a troll or most fae. A vampire couldn’t bite a troll and drain them, but they could drain a werewolf. That thought sent a shiver through me. Taking her out to that road was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it. Carefully, I got out of bed, put my pants back on, and headed out of the house. I went to the front yard and looked around. I couldn’t see or sense Wylder, but I was sure he was out there. “Wylder. I need to talk to you. Show yourself,” I demanded. A shadow in the yard shimmered and he appeared. He was just as massive and deadly looking as I remembered. I headed over to where he was. Wylder looked a mix of bored and pissed. I didn’t think that was a thing people could do, but he pulled it off. “What do you want, halfie?” “How are you following us? I need to know that you’re able to keep tabs on Carmen at all times.” “Trade secret. I can’t tell you, but I was with you the whole time. I saw everything. That tusk thing was kinky,” he chuckled. “Then you saw the situation with the human?” He shook his head. “Only what happened when you came back with her. I stayed with your mate to protect her. What happened to the human?” “She was dying, so I took her home so she could die clean and warm, surrounded by people,” I replied. “She was dying and obviously a homeless human.... Why didn’t you just eat her?” Wylder asked incredulously. “I’m half human. I don’t do that sort of thing.” Wylder rolled his eyes. “Whatever. So what do you want from me?”“I just wanted to make sure you were able to stay with Carmen no matter where she goes. There’s a vampire out there draining people. Will you keep an eye out for that, too, or is it beyond your purview as Carmen’s guardian?” I asked. He was silent for a moment. “The job is to protect her from the cult, not from some vampire. If I see something like that, though, I’ll stop it. Don’t worry about your little wolf. Get back inside. I don’t have anything else to say to you.”Wylder disappeared into the shadows again. I turned to the door, then back to the yard. “We’re taking in the cat and the dog for now. Don’t eat them,” I said to the empty yard. There was no answer, but I didn’t need one. I knew he heard me. Turning back to the house, I went inside. It was dark and quiet. On my way back to my room, I stopped by the guest room where Willow’s body was and saw the dog and cat were eating. I moved on without disturbing them. As I entered the bedroom, I saw Carmen was still sleeping soundly. I sat down on the edge of the bed for a moment, watching her breathe. She looked peaceful, and for a moment, I forgot all about the danger that was lurking around us.But then, my mind went back to the cult and the vampire, and I knew I had to be vigilant. I couldn’t let anything happen to Carmen. She was my entire world. After taking off my pants again, I climbed into bed and pulled Carmen against me. She was there and she was safe. I wouldn’t be acting impulsively from now on. Carmen needed me to be diligent and responsible. Once this was all settled, we could go back to the way things were before. Drifting off to sleep, I could only look forward to the good things. If I started focusing on the dangers, I wouldn’t sleep well. We would be married in May and taking our honeymoon shortly after. Those were the last thoughts before I fell asleep.When I woke in the morning, I had a new sense of determination. I got up before Carmen and went to the living room to call Queen Maeve after I dressed for the day. Nothing too special. A t-shirt and some jeans that were nearing the end of their life. The phone rang for a few moments before she answered.“Queen Maeve, last night I took in a homeless human who was dying. She passed in the night, but I was hoping we could bury her in the fae graveyard. Her human family abandoned her. Her whole community abandoned her. She only has the animals that claimed her as her family,” I told her after we greeted each other. “It is rare that we permit non-fae to be buried there, you understand that, right?” she asked. “I do understand. I just felt she should have something better than whatever the humans would do to her body.” She was quiet for a while. I understood that this was a hard decision, but we needed to get the corpse out of my house before it started to smell and leak. If she said no, I would take her to the woods outside of the fae lands and bury her there. Finally, Queen Maeve spoke. “You have done a good deed, and for that, I will allow it. Bring the body to the fae graveyard and we will have a proper burial for her.”“I appreciate your kindness, Queen Maeve. I will prepare her for the trip now. I will need to figure out what to do with her animals after she’s buried. Do you have any ideas?” She chuckled. “I think this is the most talkative you’ve been with me in your entire life. Even when you were dealing with pressure from me and the wolves, you were more stoic. It seems Ms. Rosen has been a good influence on you. I have no ideas about the animals. Humans have shelters for them.” “Human shelters don’t guarantee them a safe home. If they would be willing, I would gladly offer them a place in my home.” “That sounds like a good plan. What is the human’s name?” “Willow,” I answered. “She will be put in an appropriate place,” Queen Maeve told me before hanging up the phone. I went back to the bedroom. I needed to get Carmen up and we had to take Willow to her final resting place. The animals would come with us. It was only right that they went with her to the end.