Wolves had gathered outside the building, gazing at the rubble and the ruins of the library.
“Nev!” Sabine shouted, waving at two wolves who bounded past the others.
Nev and Mason skidded to a stop near our huddled group. The appearance of Shay’s long-lost parents had thrown us into a stunned silence. No one had worked up the courage yet to ask how Tristan and Sarah had gotten out of the portrait to stand among us.
I didn’t know if we were afraid of offending them or too shocked to muster any questions. Only Shay seemed unruffled, his smile childlike in its exuberance.
Mason shrugged off his wolf form, shaking a fist at Connor. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Huh?” Connor frowned at him.
“You had a bomb and you didn’t tell us?” Mason shouted. “We had no warning. Do you have any idea how far that blast went? Part of the wall crushed the Bane I was fighting. It almost killed me!”
“It wasn’t a bomb, Mason,” I said.
“Then what the hell was it?” he asked, still glaring at Connor.
“And why am I getting blamed for a bomb?” Connor began to laugh. “What the hell would I know about bombs?”
Nev shrugged. “We discussed it and decided that if anyone had snuck in a bomb, it would have been you.”
Connor look at Adne. “What do you think? Is that the sort of thing I should say ‘thank you’ for or do I just slug them?”
“Shut up, Connor,” I said. “Mason, the wall blew out when Shay closed the Rift.”
“Dude.” Nev turned his gaze to Shay and grinned. “Nice.”
Mason was still frowning. “So the Elemental Cross was actually a bomb?”
“Mason!” I snarled. “There was no bomb!”
“Just magic.” Adne smiled at him.
“A magic bomb,” Mason grumbled, and ducked when I swung at him. “Hey! You didn’t almost get pancaked by half a house falling on you.”
“Believe me,” Ethan said. “We had more than our share of trouble in here.”
“But you did it.” Nev was still looking at Shay. “This means we won, right?”
“I guess.” Shay’s smile faded. “I don’t know what happens now.”
“Speaking of winning, what about the Banes?” I asked. “I mean, the ones that didn’t come to our side.”
“When the house blew up . . .” Nev threw me an apologetic glance as Mason mouthed “bomb” again. “They panicked. I guess seeing the Keeper fortress crumbling made them panic.”
“We were winning anyway.” Mason grinned.
Nev shrugged. “Yeah. We probably were.”
He frowned, looking around our group. His eyes rested on Shay’s parents for a moment, but then returned to me. He drew a long breath.
“Where’s Ren?”
I looked away. Bryn slipped her arm around my waist. I hadn’t forgotten Ren. But I’d had to push his death out of my mind to make it through the fight. Now a pit of emptiness gnawed at my belly as the truth crashed over me. I swayed on my feet. Bryn leaned her head on my shoulder.
My father answered, “He fell in battle.”
Nev’s fists balled up. “How?”
“Emile killed him,” my father said.
Mason snarled. “Is Emile dead?”
“Yes,” I said.
“We saw Dax and Fey’s bodies outside,” Nev said quietly. “Did you?”
“We had to fight them to get in the house,” I said, nodding.
We fell silent, the weight of so many deaths settling on us.
I shivered, glancing at my packmates. “Follow me.”
Shifting into wolf form, I led my packmates to the place where Ren’s body lay. To my relief he hadn’t been buried in rubble. Debris encircled him in a ring of destruction without encroaching on him, as if the wild fury of the Elemental Cross had shielded his body from its chaos.
We spread out around him, forming a circle. I paused, letting myself gaze at the wolf I’d known from childhood, who I always had expected to be at my side leading our pack.
My father was standing beside me. I looked at him, waiting.
No, Calla. His quiet words entered my mind. This is your pack.
I turned back to Ren, dropping my head low to honor the fallen alpha. The circled wolves did the same. I lifted my muzzle first, my howl singing out the pain of Ren’s death, mourning him. One by one my packmates joined the song. Our howls filled the library, spilling out into the winter night. The death song grew as the wolves still outside raised their voices to honor the lost young warrior. The chorus of wolf cries, full of heartache, swelled in the night, carrying Ren’s memory to the very stars.
I shifted back into human form. Listening as the song continued, even as the howls began to quiet, the chorus echoed on the wind.
A hand encircled my wrist. Adne gazed at me. “Can I?” She gestured to Ren.
I nodded. She slid to her knees beside him, stretching the length of her body against the huge gray wolf. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his fur.
She hid her grief from us, but I watched her shoulders trembling, wishing I could give her back the brother with whom she’d been granted so little time.
Shay was standing apart from us. Tristan had an arm around his son’s shoulders, while Sarah was still clasping Shay’s hand. I met Shay’s gaze, finding his own sorrow there. And a question.
It was a question flickering in my own heart as well.
Had Ren’s death changed what I felt for Shay?
Meeting his moss green eyes, I had my answer.
Love wasn’t forged by circumstance or changed by sorrow. It simply was. Fierce and free as the wolf within me.
My love for Ren had been real. We shared a bond, a history. Losing him would leave scars on my heart forever. But I was a warrior, and love’s scars weren’t so different from battle scars.
At so many junctures I’d been given a choice: to follow my heart or leave Shay behind, forsaking my passion for the life I thought I was destined for. Every decision had drawn me closer to him and pulled me away from the world I’d known.
Those choices had led us here. I stood in the rubble of my well-ordered life, gazing at the boy who had changed everything.
And knew that I loved him still.
As Adne knelt beside my packmates near Ren’s body, I went to Shay. He held out his arms to me and I stepped into them, lifting my hands to touch his face.
“Nev!” Sabine shouted, waving at two wolves who bounded past the others.
Nev and Mason skidded to a stop near our huddled group. The appearance of Shay’s long-lost parents had thrown us into a stunned silence. No one had worked up the courage yet to ask how Tristan and Sarah had gotten out of the portrait to stand among us.
I didn’t know if we were afraid of offending them or too shocked to muster any questions. Only Shay seemed unruffled, his smile childlike in its exuberance.
Mason shrugged off his wolf form, shaking a fist at Connor. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Huh?” Connor frowned at him.
“You had a bomb and you didn’t tell us?” Mason shouted. “We had no warning. Do you have any idea how far that blast went? Part of the wall crushed the Bane I was fighting. It almost killed me!”
“It wasn’t a bomb, Mason,” I said.
“Then what the hell was it?” he asked, still glaring at Connor.
“And why am I getting blamed for a bomb?” Connor began to laugh. “What the hell would I know about bombs?”
Nev shrugged. “We discussed it and decided that if anyone had snuck in a bomb, it would have been you.”
Connor look at Adne. “What do you think? Is that the sort of thing I should say ‘thank you’ for or do I just slug them?”
“Shut up, Connor,” I said. “Mason, the wall blew out when Shay closed the Rift.”
“Dude.” Nev turned his gaze to Shay and grinned. “Nice.”
Mason was still frowning. “So the Elemental Cross was actually a bomb?”
“Mason!” I snarled. “There was no bomb!”
“Just magic.” Adne smiled at him.
“A magic bomb,” Mason grumbled, and ducked when I swung at him. “Hey! You didn’t almost get pancaked by half a house falling on you.”
“Believe me,” Ethan said. “We had more than our share of trouble in here.”
“But you did it.” Nev was still looking at Shay. “This means we won, right?”
“I guess.” Shay’s smile faded. “I don’t know what happens now.”
“Speaking of winning, what about the Banes?” I asked. “I mean, the ones that didn’t come to our side.”
“When the house blew up . . .” Nev threw me an apologetic glance as Mason mouthed “bomb” again. “They panicked. I guess seeing the Keeper fortress crumbling made them panic.”
“We were winning anyway.” Mason grinned.
Nev shrugged. “Yeah. We probably were.”
He frowned, looking around our group. His eyes rested on Shay’s parents for a moment, but then returned to me. He drew a long breath.
“Where’s Ren?”
I looked away. Bryn slipped her arm around my waist. I hadn’t forgotten Ren. But I’d had to push his death out of my mind to make it through the fight. Now a pit of emptiness gnawed at my belly as the truth crashed over me. I swayed on my feet. Bryn leaned her head on my shoulder.
My father answered, “He fell in battle.”
Nev’s fists balled up. “How?”
“Emile killed him,” my father said.
Mason snarled. “Is Emile dead?”
“Yes,” I said.
“We saw Dax and Fey’s bodies outside,” Nev said quietly. “Did you?”
“We had to fight them to get in the house,” I said, nodding.
We fell silent, the weight of so many deaths settling on us.
I shivered, glancing at my packmates. “Follow me.”
Shifting into wolf form, I led my packmates to the place where Ren’s body lay. To my relief he hadn’t been buried in rubble. Debris encircled him in a ring of destruction without encroaching on him, as if the wild fury of the Elemental Cross had shielded his body from its chaos.
We spread out around him, forming a circle. I paused, letting myself gaze at the wolf I’d known from childhood, who I always had expected to be at my side leading our pack.
My father was standing beside me. I looked at him, waiting.
No, Calla. His quiet words entered my mind. This is your pack.
I turned back to Ren, dropping my head low to honor the fallen alpha. The circled wolves did the same. I lifted my muzzle first, my howl singing out the pain of Ren’s death, mourning him. One by one my packmates joined the song. Our howls filled the library, spilling out into the winter night. The death song grew as the wolves still outside raised their voices to honor the lost young warrior. The chorus of wolf cries, full of heartache, swelled in the night, carrying Ren’s memory to the very stars.
I shifted back into human form. Listening as the song continued, even as the howls began to quiet, the chorus echoed on the wind.
A hand encircled my wrist. Adne gazed at me. “Can I?” She gestured to Ren.
I nodded. She slid to her knees beside him, stretching the length of her body against the huge gray wolf. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his fur.
She hid her grief from us, but I watched her shoulders trembling, wishing I could give her back the brother with whom she’d been granted so little time.
Shay was standing apart from us. Tristan had an arm around his son’s shoulders, while Sarah was still clasping Shay’s hand. I met Shay’s gaze, finding his own sorrow there. And a question.
It was a question flickering in my own heart as well.
Had Ren’s death changed what I felt for Shay?
Meeting his moss green eyes, I had my answer.
Love wasn’t forged by circumstance or changed by sorrow. It simply was. Fierce and free as the wolf within me.
My love for Ren had been real. We shared a bond, a history. Losing him would leave scars on my heart forever. But I was a warrior, and love’s scars weren’t so different from battle scars.
At so many junctures I’d been given a choice: to follow my heart or leave Shay behind, forsaking my passion for the life I thought I was destined for. Every decision had drawn me closer to him and pulled me away from the world I’d known.
Those choices had led us here. I stood in the rubble of my well-ordered life, gazing at the boy who had changed everything.
And knew that I loved him still.
As Adne knelt beside my packmates near Ren’s body, I went to Shay. He held out his arms to me and I stepped into them, lifting my hands to touch his face.
