Epilogue

Belle had been right about the pack alphas being unhappy with the council. The council was alerted that the survivors had made it to the packs and told their alphas that the council had pulled the investigation and that concerned citizens had carried on using their own time and resources to free them. The council had said they had only halted the investigation to get more information and locations on where those people might be. Their actions were quick and immediate. Several teams were formed to find those left of the previous slaver ring.

An extra benefit was that some of those found were from the current slaving ring. It was terrific when the council backed the activity and how quickly multiple places were found full of slaves. Several properties were owned by people involved, and the council immediately grabbed and sold them. They also managed to get bank accounts and other properties and, in the end, actually made money off the whole thing. A small portion of that money went back to victims and paid for those they hired, like Harry and Tyne, to get the job done quicker. Tyne also got rewards from wolf criminals and used them for food or to give his people cash bonuses for their work. Belle got the fae, Harry, and the witches that were wanted by the witch council. Tyne also got the wanted humans, but most of those bounties paid poorly since they were low-level criminals.

Sean, who had released Star from the slaver"s prison, was also on their team and stuck to Star like glue. It didn"t take long before the investigation, and the release of prisoners was complete. I was sure that it would be an ongoing activity since while we had identified many of those active, those that we had been able to capture had not been those running the thing. All those at the highest level had escaped, and I was sure they would continue their legal activities. Wasn"t that what criminals did?

As far as my personal life went, my mating was complete, and I had moved in with Lou. She had agreed to travel with me whenever it was appropriate, and her attitude toward life seemed to have changed. My mate had gotten a manager to take care of her business and was now giving her second in the coven more responsibilities. The family had hired someone to backtrack to discover where the red wolf blood had come from, and that person would also keep up with the current family.

Her scent had changed, which was expected since she had turned wolf. I still hoped it was something more. We had finally found the time we needed, and we stood in her backyard, which butted up against a forest. It was just the two of us, and no one else was around. There was no doubt that she had turned wolf, and we were going to discover what her wolf looked like. I had gotten a lot of advice on handling various things, and the main thing to get her to turn properly was to relax. The easiest way to do that had been for the mate to kiss the person about to change. That was no hardship because I loved kissing my mate often.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Yes, let"s get this over with." Her outlook was not the best.

I pulled her into my arms and dropped my lips to hers. I held her tight as I teased her mouth until it opened and then her tongue. She had already been told that when the time came, she should imagine her wolf and keep that picture in her head. Apparently, she had because she dropped from my arms, and I looked down and saw the cutest red wolf possible. It came as no surprise to me that she was completely red. My mate was the red wolf.

She looked up at me and then began to walk. In a few seconds, she walked well and then started to run. I morphed and took off after her. We ran and played. It was amazing to have my wolf mate by my side. If I was honest, I had never been sure she would change. My happiness was almost complete. I knew we would have children someday, and I suspected that one was already on its way. Lou had given me everything a wolf could ask for.