Chapter 31: Aislin

Chapter 31: Aislin

The effect of the marking ritual was distinct and immediate. The swirling, volatile angers within me met their match in the preternatural bond granted by the Moon Goddess, and the inferno of my fear and fury became tamed. I was eternally bound to Everett. My wolf would never have to run alone again.

That first night, I slept better than I ever had. Snuggled up against Everett’s warm, comforting chest, I finally felt at home with him, and I was ready to live this feeling for the rest of my life. Everett March, the stoic Alpha of Eastpeak, was my mate.

After meeting with Sebastian, I felt the compulsion to do more. There was only so much we could depend on the Mythguard for. Everett and I shared that thought. While he got our packmates ready for the hunt in the yard and we waited for Gavin and Billie to bring my mother home from the hospital, I sat by myself in Everett’s home office. In the chair where he usually pondered his next move, I gazed out across the world that had for so long been his—and now was mine. The mountainside dark with twilight, stars glistening between dim cotton clouds and the faintest glow of the sliver of the new moon. This would become my domain. As the Alpha’s mate, I wanted to be known for the actions I would take, too.

I gazed up at that dark sliver of the moon and sighed. The marking ritual had made me feel closer to the Moon Goddess than ever before. It reminded me that she was real, however intangible an entity she was, her magic was true and flowed through my veins as well as Everett’s. She was looking down on us, wise enough to choose the perfect fated mate for us. Aware of us… and aware of what was transpiring with David and the wicked dragons.

Closing my eyes, I reached out to the Moon Goddess with hope in my heart. “Luna, if you can hear me… please, please don’t grant David and Lothair their Lycan powers. You know as well as I do that it’ll only cause more death, and we’ve already suffered so much. So many wolf shifters—your shifters—have had their lives ripped away. Our packs are broken. If you let him succeed, then everything you have already done for us… for me, for Gavin… will be in vain. Please listen to me, Luna, heed my prayer. We are your children. And we want to live.”

I fell silent, waiting for a response. Nothing happened.

Even when I opened my eyes and gazed down the mountainside, I hoped to see some sign that the Moon Goddess had heard my pleas, but there was only stillness in the dark. I wasn’t sure if it was futile, making this prayer to her, or if she even cared… but at least I could rest assured knowing I had made the plea, rather than doing nothing at all.

I walked downstairs in the same moment that Gavin walked through the door supporting my mother on his arm. My heart leaped, whatever disappointment I faced from the Moon Goddess’ silence overwritten with joy to see my mother. Racing down the stairs, I greeted them with a warm smile. “Hi, Mom.”

My mother was still wrapped in bandages, walking frailly beside Gavin. She might be healing faster due to being a shifter, but she was still pretty fragile, and I could tell from the slowness in her body that her burns hurt her terribly. She looked at me and mustered a small smile, reaching out for me. I all too quickly took her from Gavin, carefully embracing her where she wasn’t burnt. “Aislin. It’s good to be here and out of that noisy hospital,” she said softly.

“It’s good to have you here. You’re all I’ve been thinking about.” Well, Everett was heavily on my mind too, as was the safety of our packs, but mostly, I had been worried about my mother. Every minute I was away from her, I ached over what we had both lost.

“I suppose we’ll be spending a lot of time here for the foreseeable future, hm? How does Everett feel about that?” my mother asked quietly.

I pulled back and searched her eyes, rubbing the side of my neck to draw her attention to the scar there. “He’s happy about it. We’re mates now.”

My mother’s eyes lit up and glistened. “Oh, Ais. That’s wonderful. Since when? How much have I missed…?”

“Not much,” I laughed softly. “It was only last night.”

She drew me into another hug, tighter than before. Her love was expressed in the long, silent seconds she spent wrapped around me, so purely happy for me and relieved that there was an inkling of positivity in the face of all the darkness. It was unspoken, but I felt it. “Before I know it, you’ll be getting married, moving into his house, having his babies…”

“One thing at a time,” I joked. “I still want to spend time with you. Don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily.”

“Of course not. You’re all I have left,” she murmured, withdrawing again to place a hand on my cheek. I clasped her hand, but the smile we shared was tinged with sorrow.

Gavin stepped up beside us. “You still have us,” he said. “Aren’t Billie and I your family too?”

My mother brightened a little, reaching out to touch Gavin’s cheek too. “Of course.”

“And you know, I’m going to be depending on your wisdom and guidance from here on out,” he added.

It needn’t be said what he meant by that. My mother didn’t even need to think about the offer, either. She gave a nod of understanding, accepting her new role as Gavin’s Beta.

“Come on,” I said. “Everett’s going to lead a hunt tonight. We’re all taking part.”

“You don’t expect me to shift like this,” my mother said.

I chuckled. “No. But we still want you there.”

I bet she’d been itching to get some fresh air. Even if she couldn’t transform, she could still watch us from afar.

The four of us went to the yard to join everyone else. Their eyes all fell to us, and to our surprise, even the Eastpeak wolves received my mother’s arrival with exclamations of warmth. Everett’s mother Lyssa quickly joined my mother’s side, walking with her toward the group. “You and I will sit together and watch, hm?” she suggested.

“I’d like that,” said my mother.

Everything seemed to be falling perfectly into place. My mother and mother-in-law would become fast friends, even if Lyssa had been hesitant to accept me at first.

Our two packs then underwent our transformations into wolves. Each one of us shed our clothes and morphed in the darkness, leaving behind our human anatomies for the wild bodies of our beasts. Pain flared up my front limbs but was soon dulled when fur filled in the missing flesh—or maybe it was my connection with Everett that allowed us share the pain equally. By the time my transformation was complete, I rose as a wolf and looked to my mate, his powerful timber build standing tall. Steel grey eyes met mine. No matter the pain we shared, we were strong enough to endure.

He took off in a jog toward the woods at the edge of the yard. I followed him, and behind us were Gavin and Billie, and then our packmates. We already had been keeping tabs on a herd of deer roaming across the mountainside. It didn’t take long for us to find them.

The grass was soothing on my paws, the wind leafing through my autumn red fur. I tipped my ears forward and listened to the symphony of the night, crickets trilling and frogs uttering their final songs of summer’s end. In a single file, the wolves traveled between the trees like ghosts, led by my mate who was swift as a shadow and silver even in the faint light of the moon. Our tails waved like banners, our noses to the air in pursuit of the scent of meat. Hunger stirred within us. It had been too long since we’d hunted, any of us.

The moment we spotted the herd dispersed through the forest, we clustered and made a silent plan. An injured doe would be our target, and though it was hardly enough of a meal for fourteen of us, it was the start of a new tradition of hunting together. I already knew that Everett and I would forego the meal for our packmates to fill their stomachs. It didn’t matter to me that I wouldn’t eat. All that mattered was the unity of victory.

We burst into a run, working in tandem to isolate the doe from the rest of the herd. Any that weren’t our target vanished into the shadows, and our heightened numbers allowed us to surround the doe with ease. We ran alongside her, tongues lolling from our mouths and teeth glinting, each of us searching for the opportunity to strike. My heart raced. I felt alive again, running as a wolf beside my mate. Our paw steps beat as one.

Everett lunged at the doe and sunk his teeth into her flank. I marveled at the deftness of his feet and the muscles surging under his ashy pelt. Alongside him, I snapped at the doe’s haunch and got a solid grip just above her ankle, fortunate enough to avoid getting kicked in the head. Then the rest of our packmates closed in. Gavin raced beside us on the opposite side of the doe, grabbing her neck where it met her shoulder. Billie kept pace too, taking a mouthful behind the doe’s arm on the same side as Gavin. The four of us each had a hold on the doe that weighed her down until she could no longer run. Our packmates swelled around us, barking with enthusiasm and encouragement. The doe came to a halt, catching her breath, but the battle was already lost. Gradually, she succumbed to our teeth and collapsed into the grass.

Usually, Gavin would have bullied his way over top of the prey to make the kill. But this time, he stayed back, releasing the doe and stepping away with Billie. With just me and Everett latched onto the doe, I caught his eye and growled playfully. He rumbled back at me, the tip of his tail flicking with amusement. We tugged and feinted, baiting each other for a reaction while the others milled around us, increasing the volume of their excited bays. Finally, Everett moved his grip around the doe’s throat and squeezed, suffocating her and bringing an end to the game. When she fell still, he released the doe and looked out at all of us around him.

His head tipped back. With a great breath in, Everett erupted in a victorious howl, declaring our success—our survival—to the world.

The rest of the wolves sang with him. We poured our heart and soul into this declaration, announcing the pride with which we continued to breathe and hunt. We could not be vanquished so easily by the dragons, or by anyone—we refused to be. We were stronger than what David made us out to be. Through all our trials and tribulations, we were still alive, and we weren’t going to allow him to destroy us.

Our howls filled the night beneath the gaze of the Moon Goddess. It was a promise that we were still here, and we would be here for a long time.

United, we would survive the night and see the sun rise on our packs once more.

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“The wolf who attacked me. Black fur, blue eyes. It was him.”

“Colt,” breathed Aislin, repeating his name for me. “Colt Hexen.”

“He attacked me in the dream too.”

Aislin shook her head. “You just can’t catch a break. Of course it had to be him. What are we going to do?” She looked at Everett.

The Eastpeak Alpha leered pensively past us at the wall, but hesitated to say anything.

“What did this Colt Hexen do?” I asked.

“Oh, what hasn’t he done?” Aislin replied angrily. “I’ll tell you everything he’s fucking done.”

“Ais, wait,” said Everett. “Perhaps this is a conversation best had with Billie.”

“Who’s Billie?” I interjected.