Mated To An Enemy

Galen looked up at Ashleigh with surprise, and then he turned away.

She had been curious. After she had become numb to the pain of the vigil, she laid back in her bed and thought back on it. Replayed it in her mind. Watched as each person in Caleb’s life stepped forward and made their offering.

But she never saw Galen step forward.

They were best friends, brothers. She knew why she, Caleb’s mate, his wife, hadn’t made an offering, but she couldn’t figure out why Galen wouldn’t.

“I… made my own offerings, privately.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“Offerings?” she asked. “More than one?”

Galen swallowed and nodded.

“Several times over the past few months…” he said quietly.

Her curiosity now became a genuine confusion.

In Winter, they built a pyre and stood witness as their packmate was carried through the flames to the Goddess. They defended the pyre. They ensured it burned bright all night to guide them home to her.

When Ashleigh heard about the customs of Summer, she thought they were the same. But until she watched as each person placed their offering. Until she saw each precious connection to Caleb being burnt. She never realized how different they were.

Fiona had said that burning the offering was meant to share that memory with Caleb, to help his spirit know how loved he was in this life as he moved to the next.

But for Ashleigh, they were destroying what was left of him in this world.

“You just keep… burning your memories of Caleb?” she asked.

Galen looked up at her. He saw the confusion and hurt in her eyes.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No, that’s not… that’s not what…”

He paused and took a deep breath.

“Ashleigh, the memories don’t burn. None of us are getting rid of our connection to Caleb,” he sighed. “We add objects to the pyre, objects with meaning because they are just objects. They can burn. They can be destroyed. Just like his body.”

Ashleigh swallowed and lowered her gaze.

“But the memory remains with us,” Galen continued. “We keep it in our hearts and minds, just like we keep him.”

Galen swallowed, feeling the lump in his throat as he thought of Caleb.

“The offering is meant to comfort the one who is gone, Ashleigh,” he continued. “While we live, we keep those memories. We can think of him anytime we want. But the one that is gone has only one journey left in this life. So, before he leaves this life for a new one, we offer him all the good memories that came from it.”

Ashleigh closed her eyes. That painful weight in her chest was back.

She took a deep breath, letting it go slowly as the pain eased. She raised her eyes, looking at the man in front of her. His eyes were cast down toward the ground, and she could see the pain he carried, weighing his entire body down. It was familiar and oddly comforting.

Galen was Caleb’s best friend and brother. He may have accepted that life had to go on without Caleb, but she felt he might also understand her more than the others.

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Galen looked up at her.

Any other wolf in Summer would not have asked. The offerings made to the dead were personal and private. The way you grieved, the memories you shared. It was meant to be between you and the one you lost. Most of the pack would have been offended by Ashleigh’s question.

But Galen wasn’t offended. In fact, as he looked closely at her, he saw something different than before. She was still angry, still in pain. But her pain was different. Her anger was different. The question… was about the memories and what Galen was offering Caleb.

Ashleigh was asking to talk about Caleb in her own way and for the first time.

Galen swallowed and straightened his back. He looked into her eyes.

“I am planning to make another offering once I leave here,” he said. “If you would like… you could join me.”

Ashleigh’s eyes widened. She swallowed and looked away before nodding.

***

It had been fifteen minutes since Galen had brought her to the small room. The walls were painted in shades of blue. There were flowing lines of white and lighter shades of blue here and there. One small window let in beams of sunshine directly at the center of the room.

There were two cushioned and quite comfortable chairs and a small table between them. Other than the door that led into the room, there was one other door. That was where Galen had gone after telling Ashleigh to sit in one of the chairs and wait for him.

She found it a nice place, relaxing, calming even. Though she still felt anxious waiting, she could admit that this room took some of the edge away.

As she settled into the chair and relaxed, the door opened. She sat forward as Galen stepped into the room, holding a tray.

“Sorry it took so long,” he smiled, “I had trouble finding all the mugs.”

“Mugs?” Ashleigh asked.

He set the tray on the table as he came around the chairs. Ashleigh looked down to see three mugs, steam billowing from the top, a sweet smell in the air.

She furrowed her brows and looked up at Galen.

“Hot chocolate?” she asked.

Galen smiled and nodded.

Ashleigh looked back down at the mugs and shook her head.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought you were going to show me your offerings?”

Galen sat in the other chair and picked up the mug closest to him.

“I am,” he said as he blew on the hot liquid. “This is my offering.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brow, and she turned back to him with irritation. Was this some kind of joke?

Galen sat forward and set the mug down before looking at her.

“One for me, one for you… and one for Caleb.”