Mourning

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Once Zoe's father was no more than ashes, she left it there and numbly walked back to the van.

Xavier didn't follow her this time. She half expected him to but didn't wait for him.

Xavier knew that the disappearance of Alpha Peterson would have been noticed by this time. This meant that even if his team had arrived after Zoe and Xavier left and cleaned the crime scene. Peterson's people were going to eventually get worried and start connecting the dots. Which meant that Zoe was not safe anymore.

He wanted to be with her, to be there when she broke apart in her grief. But he knew that she needed some space as well. Also, he wasn't sure how she would react to his help. So far, she had been ignoring him and keeping her distance without a word.

He knew she now knew that they were mates and he had told Spike not to tell her animal that they had known all along but Spike had been overjoyed to meet her animal that he answered her every question truthfully.

Zoe drove the van to