Welcome to the latest installment in the Wolf series. Thanks and hugs got out to my betas, Wolfmusic and ReeseisLAVAhot. Love you both!
Sadly, Bad Robot owns Person of Interest, not me.
Prologue
Jocelyn Carter knelt down and carefully placed the bundle of flowers at the foot of the weeping angel headstone that marked the grave. She remained kneeling, sitting on her lower legs and ankles with her hands folded in her lap, as she stared at the inscription. It simply said Tibor, followed by the approximate year of his birth and the year of his death, this year. Underneath that, Joss had insisted they add Never Forgotten, because she would never, ever forget him or forgive herself for failing to save him. Finch had not been so sure that inscription was good idea, but Joss had been so insistent that he had given in.
Joss remained staring at the headstone for the longest time. Tibor's birth year was a guess, even Finch's thorough record search was unable to find a birth record of the Little Lost Wolf as Joss had come to call him. He had no last name, his adoptive family had been horribly abusive and Joss insisted they not use that name on his headstone. Finch had agreed with her, so the boy was just Tibor for now. Finch had hired a man in Hungary to find Tibor's family, if any of them were left. Until such time as his family was found, the space for his last name was left blank.
Joss knelt quietly for a while, letting the tears fall and grieving for the child who'd never known love or the company of pack mates. She was so wrapped up in her grief and guilt that she didn't notice the approach of her beloved mate, John Reese, as he walked across the cemetery to her. She didn't even know he was there until a pair of strong arms encircled her from behind and a soft voice whispered in her ear, "It's been months, are you ever going to forgive yourself?"
Joss placed her hands on his arms. "Would you?" she whispered.
John held her tight. "No. But then I would be getting a lecture from this bad-ass detective telling me that it wasn't my fault." John kissed her temple. "It wasn't your fault. They killed him, not you."
"If I just held on little longer, a little tighter…"
"You did everything humanly possible. Don't do this to yourself, please."
"I don't know how to move past this John. A child died." Joss wiped a tear away.
John stood up and pulled Joss up with him. He held her tightly against his chest while she cried. "All we can do is fight the hate that killed him."
And then he held her until she couldn't cry anymore.
