Epilogue

Castor

Six Months Later

He’d make a bad diplomat, but one thing he didn’t make? A bad dad.

He adored Sadie Elena Lilac Phaethon. Named for his mother and her maternal grandmother, she’d made her way into the world screaming and red-faced after a long, painful labor. Part of the warrior way of life was to walk through whatever pain you were handed without so much as flinching. He’d been able to do that, bear any strikes against his body. Broken bones, fire, bullets, torture—they were all nothing. They left scars, but he’d endured them, and he’d endured them in silence. Watching Briar May enduring excruciating pain to bring their daughter into the world? Every one of those hours had nearly been his breaking point.

All those long months of Briar May’s pregnancy, months where the peace between their packs had been painstakingly arranged with far more tact and gentleness then he ever could have managed, he’d worried that he’d be a terrible parent by merit of, well, his whole life.

Briar May just kept telling him that doubts and worries were normal. Every person had them before they were parents and long after too.

And then his daughter was born, and she was beautiful and healthy and not a difficult child in the slightest. He absolutely adored her and knew he’d do anything and give up anything for her.

The cabin was filled with friends and family and voices buzzed beneath them, but it was only the four of them upstairs. Briar May and Prairie Rose in the room beside the one he’d taken up with Sadie. There was a sort of unspoken need for the women to be alone for a short time right before their mating ceremony, that the rest of the family respected.

Shifter mating ceremonies weren’t like human weddings. There was no white dress, no veils, no long-winded vows that may or may not be kept, no silly traditions about not seeing each other before the wedding.

Castor was honored to be in the big cabin, along with just about all of Briar May’s family. He held his three-week-old daughter, sleeping soundly because her mom had swaddled her just right in a soft muslin baby blanket the color of sage. She smelled clean and fresh, and her warmth poured into him. She was small for her age—unlike humans, shifter pregnancies were shorter, and their young were born small. But they grew rapidly in those first few weeks and by two months she’d be the size of a regular two-month-old. As soon as she’d fallen asleep downstairs, he’d come up searching for a quiet room. Sadie wasn’t a great sleeper, and it was a bit of a marvel that she’d gone quiet for half an hour so far. He could hear Briar May and her sister talking in the room next door. He felt bad for listening in—but given how the sound traveled, he had little choice.

“Are you sure about this, Prairie Rose? You can still change your mind,” Briar May asked her sister.

“Agnar and the men who came with him are already in Sheridan. Kieran and Dad have been working on this peace for almost half a year. Today, we’re going to make blood oaths that will keep our packs in peace with each other forever. I’m not afraid to have him for my mate.”

“Brooke Wind is going to come sit with the twins and Sadie. I just hope Sadie doesn’t scream her ears off for hours. I’ve pumped and left everything she could need, but—”

“She’ll be a strong female, just like her mom.”

“I’m not the strong one. You are.”

“At least where I’m going, winter isn’t like this,” Prairie Rose responded, clearly trying to downplay her sister’s fears like she’d been trying to assuage everyone’s worries for months. The more he’d gotten to know her, the more he thought she would be a good mate for his alpha. She was strong and wise, but she also had a softer side that his pack so desperately needed.

“I can’t remember one being so bad. It’s not just frigid out there, the snow is crazy. It’ll be lucky if Brooke can even get here.”

“Dad went for her an hour ago. They should have been here by now, but they wanted to leave lots of time.”

“Maybe we’ll all get lucky and Agnar and his men won’t make it.”

The sigh Prairie Rose made could be heard clear through the wall. “The ceremony is going ahead, this is what I want. They’ll come, even if they have to run all the way here. Speaking of runs, you have to be so excited. I can’t remember a mating ceremony where we did a group hunt.”

“It’s just going to be Mom and Dad and Kieran and Zora besides us and our mates. It’s needed. And yes, I’m excited. I haven’t been able to shift for so long, and then when I tried to let the wolf out, it was like she was so pissed at me for holding her back for so long, she wouldn’t participate. I did shift a few times last week and Castor and I went for good runs through the snow. He’s learning our woods. He likes to pretend that he doesn’t know anything about our lands, but I know he spent more time watching us before we ever met than he’d like to admit.”

“You mean spying and tracking.”

That brought a reluctant smile to Castor’s face. He kept Sadie balanced in his arms just right, not daring to move one single muscle unless he woke her. She was exceptionally particular about not being jostled or she’d wake up and howl out her disappointment.

It hadn’t been as hard as he’d thought it would be to open up to Briar May. It was a slow process, but she was patient. Every day was different for them than the last. It was so strange being in a pack where no one was being sent out on raids, no one was killing and justifying that killing, no one was seeking justice or vengeance. It was strange how everyone pitched in and banded together, not because they were afraid of being dishonored or called out and put to a slow and painful punishment or death by their own kind, but because they truly loved each other and cared about making a good life together.

He’d thought that there wasn’t a place on earth where people planted, gardened, and harvested together, and that could also stand as a metaphor.

Briar May had been so horrified when he’d finally confessed that after returning home from his time in the military, his own father immediately put his skills to use. It was often him bringing the contracts to him. Half of them were personal to the pack, but the other half of those kills had been random work. He’d turned his own son into a sort of mercenary and put him out for the highest bid. Most of the money had gone to the pack to ensure their survival, or at least so his father said. That had been one of the reasons his twin had left to join the Rangers, it wasn’t so much that he was against the killing, but he wanted to live and kill on his own terms. That was one of the things that Briar May had difficulty understanding, that despite his brother leaving the pack, his father still wanted revenge for his death. But betrayal was one thing, blood was another and family honor had demanded retribution.

In Wyoming, he didn’t have to kill anyone. As part of the Nightfall Pack, he and Briar May had their needs met. He woke up in the morning to find a new path of peace and healing, knowing that unless the world shifted horribly, he was never going to be put on that path of bloodshed again. He hadn’t realized how chained his soul and his wolf were until he’d met Briar May. He ran free now, in more ways than just through the woods, though there was nothing like that. Not even the red desert soils of Arizona could compare.

“I heard he lives in a cave. Is that true?” Briar May’s voice cut through his reverie.

Prairie Rose snorted at the question. She must have pinched her sister because Briar May cried out. “Hey!”

“Cave or no cave, it’s going to be my new home. Oh! Here’s ’Dad coming now with Brooke. It won’t be long now. Agnar and his men will be here soon.”

***

Nearly an hour later, a small crowd stood gathered in the middle of the Nightfall woods. It was a different location from where he’d once run headlong into Briar May, entirely clueless of how she’d change his life. Half a year later, he was facing her, both of them wrapped in billowing black cloaks. They were made from heavy fabric, suede on the outside, velvet on the interior. They were made for warmth and clearly only used for ceremonies. When they’d all gathered, walking with Agnar and his small band of men out to the woods, the pack’s wiseman was there and he’d handed them out. The garments were large, made for either a man or a woman. The hoods kept some of the driving, blinding snow out of their faces.

Agnar, Ireland, Bathos, and Gideon had arrived shortly after Silas made it back with Brooke. She wasn’t going to join in the ceremony, as he’d thought. She’d come to watch the twins and help out with Sadie while the rest of the pack turned out for the mating ceremony. While the elderly healer was mother-in-law to the pack alpha, as a human she didn’t take part in the hunts. From what he’d learned of the Nightfall Pack, if she’d wanted to, then she probably would have been allowed to attend the ceremony. But sensing that it had implications that stretched beyond the Nightfall Pack, she had perhaps decided her presence as a non-shifter, may hinder, rather than help proceedings.

The whole of the Nightfall wolves were there, which in itself was quite a shock. They’d been given the option of attending or not, in a part of the woods well away from their usual ceremonial grounds. They had outsiders amongst them, and any wolf was notoriously mistrustful, at least at first, of those who weren’t of their own kind. He’d privately thought that many would stay home, and then the weather turned the day before and was enough to keep even the hardiest of them inside, but they were all there.

Most were dressed in heavy woolen sweaters, but some sported thick jackets. It looked like an outdoor festival was about to take place. The crowd assembled around them in a circle.

Kieran and Zora, as the alpha wolves, stood on either side of the wiseman.

“Today is a blessed and joyous day. We celebrate not one mating, but two. Mates, will you please grasp each other’s hands? Where one body ends, let the other body begin. Where one body begins, let the other body end.”

Castor’s hands were warm in Briar May’s, which were slightly cooler. She stared into his eyes and smiled widely. He knew how excited she was about this day. They’d come so far in so short a time. They’d gone from walking their own paths to walking together. They were a family now.

He didn’t look over to see if Agnar had taken Prairie Rose’s hands. Aside from a short greeting when they’d arrived, he’d said nothing to anyone other than Kieran. They’d gone inside Kieran’s office on the main floor of the big cabin for a few minutes, and when they’d emerged, they were ready to head to the woods.

Agnar’s men, his former packmates, were dispersed through the circle, watching on right beside Briar May’s brothers and sisters and all the wolves she’d spent a lifetime with.

“Mating is a solemn vow that must never be broken.”

The wiseman moved to them first. He dipped his finger into a cup that was water and ash to make a black paste. Ash to symbolize what they would all eventually become.

He painted an infinity symbol on Briar May’s forehead with a quick flourish. It took every bit of willpower he had to stand there and let his own forehead be painted. He still instinctively withdrew whenever anyone tried to touch him because that was his natural reaction, protection and defense. Anyone but Briar May. She alone could touch him however she liked, and every time she did, or even looked at him, his blood sang, and his heart swelled.

“I now join you as helpmates. You will be each other’s strength and foundation until the earth reclaims your bodies. You are two souls and will always be two souls, but now you walk one path. Two wolves, side by side.”

I love you, her eyes said, holding his steadily.

He squeezed her hand, pressing down on her heartline in her palm.

This wasn’t how a mating was done in his pack. It was more brutal, and it involved far more blood. The warriors would celebrate late into the night. They’d get drunk and rough fucking in very public places was a common occurrence. There was always a fire, always a feast, always much to celebrate. They fought hard and lived hard. They died just as hard. A mating promised new life. Just like any ceremony, it was a time to celebrate still being alive because they’d triumphed over their enemies and even fate itself.

The Nightfall Pack did their ceremonies in a vastly different way. Over the months, Castor had attended a few full moon celebrations with Briar May. No one in the pack drank, which was odd because the place had been founded off moonshine running back during prohibition, but over the years, it seemed like a sort of agreement had been reached about the problems it could cause. There was no temperance order in place. It was just understood that if a person was part of the pack, they governed themselves and didn’t drink or harm their bodies with drugs.

Also, a very different road than his pack walked, given that at ceremonies, certain mind-altering herbal concoctions were also imbibed quite heavily.

He didn’t feel it was right to face anyone other than Briar May. They kept their eyes locked on each other, faces glowing with the light of true happiness inside their hoods.

No matter how Briar May had struggled to accept that her sister was leaving them, she ultimately understood that it was Prairie Rose’s choice and that it hadn’t been a light undertaking. Her father and her brother would never allow to her go to another pack and be harmed or unhappy. She was to go with Agnar, who had agreed to the mating, not only to keep the peace, but because they felt it was right for them to enter into a bond with each other.

They’d met each other formally a few months ago, when Kieran had taken some of his men and Prairie Rose to a halfway point between both pack lands. They’d spent the afternoon in negotiations, and he understood that Prairie Rose and Agnar both agreed to move forward with the mating after meeting each other just once.

The wiseman’s words drifted to them. Briar May managed not to stiffen or look behind her with despair for her sister. She stood firm and focused on him alone.

“I’ll now seal the union between the Nightfall Pack and the Phaethon Pack. If both alphas would step forward…”

He and Briar May moved aside. Prairie Rose stood with them, their three cloaks whipping like black wings. Kieran wasn’t donned in the black garb which was only for the couples taking part in the ceremony. He had a dark blue woolen sweater on, which was so snow encrusted it made him look like he’d turned into a sheep. His pale hair whipped in the wind, but he didn’t so much as blink into the driving snow. He faced Agnar with a steely resolution. Agnar always looked like a proud warrior, and he was absolutely menacing in the black cloak.

“The Nightfall Pack and the Phaethon Pack are entering into a mating of their own. Each is now an ally of the other. Each will come to the other’s aid if called upon. They nobly swear never to make war on each other, never to steal or raid, harm, maim, or kill. They are as mates now. Two souls with many members, but one body, caring for each other. Phaethon means to shine like the sun. You might be as different as the day and night you represent, but from this day forward, that shall be put aside. You will walk the same path, shoulder to shoulder. You swear this oath in blood.”

Both alphas extended their hand. The wiseman drew out a sharp dagger and cut Kieran first. His blood dripped red into the snow. To his credit, he didn’t flinch. Of course, Agnar showed no signs of pain. Both alphas clasped their palms together and a great cheer erupted from the crowd at last.

There would be no feasting as a regular mating usually had. They’d opted for a private hunt because of the circumstances of having outsiders in their midst. There was a full moon celebration coming in just over a week, and there would be a great bonfire, communal dinner, and pack run then. In a way, it would also be a belated celebration of their mating.

Castor hoped Prairie Rose knew what she was in for when she arrived at their pack lands, but he had a notion that no matter how prepared she thought she was, she’d never truly be fully ready for what awaited her. He wished her the best and knew that Agnar would take care of her. He was a man of his word. He hoped Prairie Rose could do for Agnar, what Briar May had done for him. She’d worked goodness and light back into his life. She’d taken the dark night sky that he was and had strewn the stars back into it.

As the crowd broke up, Briar May’s brothers and sisters leading the Phaethon men back to the big cabin with them, the rest of them shed their black cloaks and returned them to the wiseman.

The women and the men split into two groups. They’d shift separately in the heart of the woods and spread out as wolves for the hunt.

Finding a deer wasn’t the object. It was just ceremonial and traditional to say they were doing so.

Castor followed Silas and Kieran, Agnar just behind them and watching them all. They stripped in quick silence and each of them let their wolves out. The crunch of bone and the reshaping of bodies was all but drowned out by the screaming wind.

Kieran and Silas were huge white wolves, gleaming almost silver in the swirling snow. They blended in well with the weather, almost like a mystical animal with their ruffling, flowing silver fur and their gleaming honey-gold eyes. Agnar was a rougher looking wolf. A grey with both black and white fur interspersed. He had light blue eyes, more like a husky dog, just like Castor’s. Although they might have similarities, no one could mistake their size and strength for a mere dog. His own fur gleamed a mottled grey, but with more white than his former alpha’s.

They broke away, loping through the woods.

The wind drove the scent of the scoured trees into his nose and the crisp electricity in the air rifled through his thick coat. He wondered if the snow was coming down too thick and the winds too brutal for him to find his mate, but it only took him ten minutes to pick up her scent. If Briar May was an ocean away, he’d be able to find her.

She wasn’t with her mother or with Prairie Rose. She was alone, in the middle of a clearing, waiting for him.

She froze when she saw him, a beautiful, magical silver-white being in her own right. Her hackles stood up and her lips pulled away from her teeth. Her golden eyes circled in on him through the driving snow. She lifted her head and let out a long, mournful howl that sounded like a battle cry and then she charged through the trees at him. It was so very like that first day when she could have run with the twins, but instead she’d let them flee and get to safety, wheeling straight for what she must have thought was her own death.

He ran to her too, huge paws loping through the snow. It was almost up to his belly, but he plowed through like she did. They were running to each other now, not to death, but to life. They crashed together with snarls and yelps of sheer joy.

She leapt on top of him, barreling him over, and he let her. She nipped at his face and his throat, which he let her do too, until he leapt up, unseating her. She ran and he gave chase. The wind drove hard against them, but in the cold, pine-scented air, he’d never felt more freedom. They clashed together, falling in the snow, biting and braying, snarling and wrestling each other down, running and chasing again, until a rough howl far in the distance signaled prey sighted.

It was fitting that the alpha found their kill on his own land. Silas’s boisterous howl and then the softer howls of Lilac and Prairie Rose immediately joined in, one after the other. There was a brief hesitation and then Agnar’s deep, booming howl came from somewhere far ahead.

They stood side by side, covered in snow, breath steaming out in thick white clouds, and lifted their heads together.

They sang their song as one, two cries that lifted into the air and turned into one long wail.

They raced together in the direction of their alpha.

He’d learned that he was more than a blunt force object, a bullet or the gleaming blade of a set of twin axes in the dark He was more than silence and more than strength and suffering. He was more than blood and death. He was also life. He was a mate, a man, a wolf, and a father. He’d done things for his own pack that he’d been asked to do. He was more than those killings. He was more than a killer. He was a man who loved his mate and loved his daughter and who had been adopted into a thriving pack in the heart of a beautiful, unspoiled wilderness.

His mother intended for him to be part of a constellation. Castor and Pollux in the night sky, shining bright. Except, he’d lost his brother and his pack.

Life wasn’t done with him, though. Destiny had marked him out as a ball of fire. That meant more than being a warrior. It meant being a man and a wolf with a flesh and blood heart. He was now living in a different night sky, part of a full and bright constellation of good people and good wolves, shining bright beside his mate. The End

. Thank you for reading!

Hope you enjoyed the book!

The next book in the Wolf”s Midlife Bond series is “The Alpha’s Arranged Bride”

Please check my panty-melting bear shifter romance series: ”Bear Mates Over Forty”