The next time Jacob sees Mackenzie isn't until Harry Clearwater's funeral. He sits in the second row, behind the Clearwaters, Charlie Swan, Mackenzie, and his father. His pack members sit on either side of him, Sam on his left, Embry on his right.
Directly in front of him, his imprint sits next to Seth, who's in hysterics beside his sister. Who though obviously hurting, wears a blank, distant face. Jacob's inner wolf isn't too pleased with the closeness of it's mate to another male, but Jake understands what it is to loose a parent. Seth will need all the comfort he can get. Sue warned them of the phasing signs arising in both her children since their father's death. It seems it won't be too long before Seth joins them, despite his age. His elder sister though, Sam's ex-girlfriend, is another matter all her own.
Mackenzie on the other hand looks completely exhausted, sitting there in her knee-length contrast-collar, black dress. Jacob knows his imprint hasn't slept much in the two days since Harry's death. He'd only been able to see her at the window-seat of her bedroom, since the night he'd imprinted on her. Sam had increased patrols, tightening the shifts to leave no gaps for the redhead to catch them by surprise.
Meanwhile, his mate has been with the Clearwaters for days, along with her father and Jacob's father. Charlie and Billy tried to help Sue with Harry's arrangements, while Mackenzie had been there for Seth and Leah. And, by night she was so sad, and angry, and stressed out she couldn't sleep. So she stares into the forest each night and watches after the wolves that have taken to wandering into the tree-line behind her home. They come every night, as if checking on something, one in particular that always stays longer than the rest.
She thinks it's strange, scary even. That huge, wild wolves are so close to her home each night, that she can spot them from her window. Even stranger that they linger, until she falls asleep and they're gone again by morning. But, for some reason she doesn't feel threatened.
Jacob can see how strained she looks, how tired she is. The way she fights the tears and tries to be strong, tries not to break down. The tears slip through anyway. So he reaches his hand out and touches her shoulder. Keeps it there through the entire service, like an anchor.
And, when Sue, Seth and Leah climb into the black town-car together as they head for the cemetery, Jacob finds her. He leads her into his car to ride with Embry and Quil, and climbs into the back seat with her. He can barely fit, crammed into the backseat of his Volkswagen Rabbit, but he needs to be close to her.
Jacob pulls her into his chest again, the way he did the night he imprinted on her, and lets her sob into his dress-shirt. He puts both arms around her and holds her together.
Without him, Mackenzie feels like everything will fall apart.