52. FORTY-SEVEN

FORTY-SEVEN

Wren

ThewarinKalista was over.

A devastating war with three different contenders had started and ended within one year.

It was almost unbelievable. The Supernatural Council had been deemed the winning party, the dragons in Blezen had an official—better—change in leadership, and the humans with nefarious intentions had been forced to surrender while the humans with the faction desiring equal footing had entered the fold. It had been one of the Supernatural Council’s demands after the war, that they would adopt newer, more inclusive ideals from this faction and employ them within the human syndicate so Kalista would truly be at peace.

While I had been tasked with destroying the relic, my mates had to face their own battles—and I was so immensely proud of them for what they’d accomplished.

Rowan had faced Roak and put an end to him and his crazy ideals about the Dragon God. Blezen had been taken over by another dragon who had good intentions and was now part of the council alongside Rowan. The mates of dragons were now able to live without fear, and that was something incredible. Rowan was finally able to confront the dragon who had been the sole cause of pain for him, but it wasn’t without sacrifice. Rowan had lost a few scales in the fight, and it took him two weeks to fully recover. When I came to after the war, I was in a bed next to him in the academy infirmary, and the amount of devastation that slammed into me at his prone form lying there had been scary. Though, of course, he was more concerned about my health than his.

I had been dangerously low on magical energy. While the relic wasn’t able to actively drain my magical energy due to my powers, I wasn’t able to replenish my energy at a fast enough rate as I was using it, and it caused me to black out.

Kian had stood against the necromancer village with Shade and had to kill his own father. He’d witnessed his mother’s corpse be destroyed by Claude, and little Shade used a fatal spell on Claude with magical energy he’d been saving up. We were all impressed with him, but my heart ached for Kian and what he’d endured. I was also immensely proud of him. He walked around as if a weight had been lifted from him, even though he was now the only known necromancer in Kalista.

Lachlan had been struggling with the events of the war, but he and his father had gotten closer than ever. His mother had chosen his sister’s side when she brought the human specimens to the camp. His mother and sister being dead hung over him, but he knew it was out of his hands. The werewolf pack had managed to keep most of their members alive, but there were much more casualties than there would’ve been, thanks to Lily’s intervention.

Thorn had leaned into a different side of himself. A side he’d only learned about with the war. He seemed much more free, and it was like he finally found what he’d been searching for. He’d never truly wanted to become king, that much was obvious now. Birch had decided to give him full command of their army, and he was more than happy to accept that role. Plus, he would be a permanent resident of Kalista henceforth.

Alister had a strained relationship with his mother after the war, and he had told me it was because she knew the necromancer would try to stop me and didn’t tell him until after I had already gone into the room for the relic. I didn’t really know how that made me feel, but the whole situation was a work in progress. Rebeka had apologized to me several times after, and she was actively trying to be in Alister’s life.

Rhett and his father had become closer as well. Evidently, fighting with their pheromones against the sirens had been the trigger in developing a relationship. I think it was because his father finally saw how great Rhett was, and while he was too late, I thought it was a good thing for both of them to have that relationship.

Damien’s parents had been hovering over him ever since he’d let it slip about the decapitation at the dig site, which I understood completely. It made me sick to remember the event, and I encouraged Winnie’s desire to baby him—much to his distaste. And he made it a point to punish me after they left each time—and I definitely wasn’t complaining.

Rowan’s rules about pain with Damien and me had been forfeited, much to the guys’ displeasure.

Trixie and Norman had also made it official. She’d been struck with a bolt of magic from a necromancer during the battle, and Norman witnessed it. Instead of helping her, he just marked her as his mate immediately. It was unexpected, and she was so angry at first. But when she told me, I saw the love and excitement shining in her eyes.

Dad and I had been rebuilding our relationship as well. We didn’t shy away from the bad things that had happened during our separation. Rhett had told us it would make us closer. He was right. I finally had my dad back, and it was amazing.

Not to mention, ever since the war, my mates and I had been around each other constantly with little interruption. Rowan had shut down the academy for two months, and he was working on restructuring the purpose into being an academy to keep the peace—much like the goals of the Supernatural Council. The hierarchy was officially banned, and all supernaturals—humans included—were seen on the same level.

“One more week, fledgling,” Rowan murmured, sticks crunching beneath our feet. His hand covered my eyes as he and the rest of my mates led me through the forest.

“Make it two weeks,” I whined. He’d kept his word. He took a month off of everything to rest, and I was more than grateful for the uninterrupted time with him and the rest of my mates.

“How about this,” Rowan started with a chuckle before coming to a stop and lifting his hand from my eyes. “One week of absolutely nothing but you and all seven of your mates making our home in this cabin?”

My eyes fluttered open to take in the clearing within the Bestial Forest that Rowan had showed me back when I battled dark magic within me. In the center of it, a large log cabin sat.

The cabin was beautiful, and the wind rustled through the forest around us as a pine and earthy scent hit my nostrils, and I swallowed hard.

I turned to look at them. Each one had a blinding smile on their face, and my heartbeat echoed in my skull. “This is amazing. Truly amazing. You built this for me. For all of us.”

“I cut down the trees needed to make the logs,” Damien bragged. “And I put them together.”

“With all of our help,” Kian reminded him, and he chuckled.

“My telekinesis made it easy to do most of the work.”

They rolled their eyes at him.

“That’s not all,” Rhett said before he dropped his pants.

I sucked in a sharp breath, and the guys rolled their eyes before doing the same.

A small squeak left my lips before I noticed what they were showing me. On each of their thighs was a white mark of a fox with iridescent flakes around it, identical to my own mark.

“We wanted to do this as a symbolism. You’re ours, Wren. But we are also yours,” Rhett explained.

Tears flooded my eyes. “Thank you.”

Thorn reached out and encased my tears in ice before flicking them off my cheek. “I love you, Kit. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve worried about the future, and you’ve worried about being alone. How do you feel now?”

“I feel blessed that I’ve had you almost my whole life and that we ended up here.” I kissed his cold lips softly.

“And how do you feel about me, little bird?” Damien pulled me away from Thorn and cupped my cheeks as his lips descended upon mine. He bit down on my lip until it drew blood, and he took away the pain with a moan.

“Like I’ve found someone to push my limits and watch me always. You make me feel safe.” I smiled at him.

Rhett sucked in a breath as he wrapped a hand around my throat and tugged me from Damien to him. “I didn’t believe in love, but you changed my mind about all of that, and I am so fucking grateful to face all of my fears about intimacy.”

His kiss was slow and sensual, but his grip on my throat was hard.

Then he stepped back, and Lachlan took his place as air flooded my lungs. “You exceeded everything that I thought my mate would be, and more than that, you are the pack I always wished I had.” Lachlan’s kiss was hungry and possessive before he passed me to Kian.

“Just like Lachlan said, you are the family that I always wanted. I’m so grateful for you, sweetheart, and I love you.” He kissed my lips softly.

“I love you so much,” Alister growled as he gripped my hips and pulled me into him. “I became obsessed with you from the moment you stepped foot on the campus. And all you have done since is impress me. You’re so much stronger than anyone gives you credit for.” His fangs sliced into my lip as he kissed me and sucked the blood from it with a groan.

Rowan stepped forward with a relaxed smile as Alister spun me in his direction. “Fledgling, I had gone so long alone. I never thought that it was possible for me to find anyone. But then you walked into my office and my life had more meaning than I had ever thought it would. I wanted to do something to show you how much you mean to all of us. So we all built this cabin to make a home for all of us.”

Excitement, love, and acceptance filled my throat before he kissed my lips and pulled back.

“I love you. All of you.”

They echoed their I love yous in sync, and my heart swelled.

“So this is home?” I asked, and they nodded.

“This is home, Wren,” Rowan murmured. “This is where we’ll live and where our future offspring will grow up.”

My tail and ears popped out, and they chuckled. “I’m sorry! I’m just getting really worked up.”

“I know a way that you can expel that energy,” Damien teased.

Alister smacked him in the arm. “How about a run?”

“A run might be nice, but I’d love to see the cabin.” I glanced around at the forest that was now part of our home.

“You’ll have plenty of time to see it later.” Rowan chuckled.

At the snap of Kian’s fingers, Rhett and I were naked.

Rhett blinked at him, and I covered my mouth with a giggle.

Kian held his hands up in defense. “I was just trying to help. I figured you were both going to shift. I was just trying to be helpful. I didn’t mean to be weird about it,” Kian started to ramble, but I stepped forward and cut him off with a kiss to his lips.

“Thank you, Kian.” I shot a look to Rhett.

“Yeah, thanks,” Rhett grumbled, gaze dropping to my body as I felt the familiar tingle of magic as I shifted into my arctic fox form, and Rhett took his bat form next to me before flying into the air.

“So fucking adorable,” Lachlan murmured as the rest of them agreed.

Whirling around, I snapped my teeth at him with a growl.

“You know she’s dangerous,” Damien corrected with a teasing tone.

I yipped and rushed into the woods with their footsteps behind me and Rhett’s wings flapping above me.

We had finally made it. We were home. We were together—and Kalista was at peace.