Teddy took a moment to absorb that. "They fired you?" he asked incredulously. She worked at a branch of the Ministry making potions. "That can't be legal."

A cruel smirk twisted her lips. "If I contest it then even more people will know I'm a potential werewolf. What would you do, Teddy?"

He wasn't sure. Maybe the same thing that Kamya had done. He didn't want to deal with the stigma of being a werewolf anymore than she did. Still, there had to be other options than smuggling. "So the only answer is becoming a criminal?"

"We can't all be ruddy Aurors," she snapped.

"Look, I'm trying to do this without pulling the whole Ministry into pack business," Teddy replied, trying to be reasonable.

"Well, I suppose you're the pack's savior then?

"There are actually a lot of benefits of having me in both the pack and the Ministry."

Kamya took another sip of her beer and looked unimpressed.

"With me on the case, there is a good chance we'll actually catch Lilith's killer. I can help with other things too, without exposing the details of the pack. Just tell me what is going on with the smugglers. The Ministry doesn't have to know it came from you."

Kamya raised an eyebrow, her expression otherwise unchanged. "Right, I'll just entrust all my secrets to the government snitch."

His anger was rising and Teddy knocked back the rest of his whiskey in one swig. He set it down, careful not to slam the glass, while his throat burned. "I'm not a snitch," he said, trying to be calm. "I'm an Auror to help people." He winced as he remembered Lilith. He met Kamya's gaze. "Or at least avenge them when I cannot," he said with a tone much more steely than he had meant.

She regarded him coolly for a moment. "Well, I hope you do that, Teddy, but you can't ask me to sacrifice everything for that vengeance."

That took Teddy back for a second. He was still trying to formulated a reply when Kamya stood up.

"As fun as this little Auror game has been," Kamya said as she set down her beer. "I'm going." She turned and said over her shoulder, "Besides, it's much easier to wallow in your sorrows without a partner."

And so Teddy was left with Kamya's second bottle and the realization that Lilith had been exactly the reason he needed a beer in the first place.