Chapter 45

Chapter Forty-Five

Gray

I have no desire to stay in the Canis pack's den, even to recuperate. I cannot get the stench of their blood off me, and I am craving the fresh air.

They have been punished. The alphas are gone or have been slain, leaving only the betas, who offered their submission to me, for what it is worth. They will likely lose much of their territory, as the surrounding packs, learning of their downfall, carve into their lands. It is the way of pack life. They no longer have the numbers to defend such a large territory, nor do they need it.

Along with the barbarian warriors we camp in the forest not far from the den. Here, we tend to our wounded and send our dead to the Goddess.

We are tired. It is a victory, but it is also bittersweet. Through the greed of one man, my father is dead, and so are too many others. I allow myself to grieve as we hold a ceremony for those lost over the course of this conflict on the shores of a lake.

Callum

As the ceremony finishes, the recently freed shifter families of his pack begin to come forward, seeking a word from Gray. It is not long before he has a crowd, including a gaggle of children who hang on his every word. It is a side of Gray I have not seen before.

As if sensing my study, Gray turns to Ada and me, where we stand a little on the side. He lowers the girl he is holding to the ground before taking her hand. She beams up at him in the manner of one regarding a hero.

It dawns upon me then that this is what he is to them.

"I would like to formally introduce you to someone." Gray holds his hand out to Ada. She takes it, slipping from my arms and to his side. "This is Ada. She is my mate."

The women bow to her as though she were a queen. Perhaps that is what she is in their eyes, in their customs, in their ways.

Then Gray looks toward me. "And this is Callum: Ada's other mate."

"What pack does he hail from?" a young shifter male asks.

Gray's lips tug up.

I swallow, knowing what is coming and suddenly feeling fucking nervous. I am not a man who particularly enjoys attention being brought upon him. Having ginger hair, I get plenty of that.

"Do you forget your lore, lad?" Gray asks. "He is a shifter, and his eyes are green."

One woman gasps before clamping her hands over her lips. She takes a deep bow.

"Goddess, be praised," she says. "Is it true?"

There is a babble of conversation, gasps, and more deep bows as the rest of those gathered catch up to the news.

"Callum," Gray announces, his voice full of pride, "is the last shifter with royal blood."

His pride surprises me.

The open adoration of the pack members makes me deeply uncomfortable.

I can avoid neither as I am catapulted into the role of a lost royal shifter returned from hiding.

Gray

There is a sudden parting of the crowd, and a group of shifters I recognize from the Canis pack step forward.

"We want to pledge," the man at their head announces, his wary eyes shifting from me to Callum and back again. His throat works. "We despised Rufus and everything he stood for. Lower shifters like us were worthless in his eyes. Please, there is nothing for us here. We cannot hope to hold any of this territory without alphas. And, to be blunt, none of us wants to stay. We have considered trying for one of the barbarian villages, but we are pack members at heart. All of us are hard-working and not afraid to graft and to prove ourselves."

"They helped us," a young beta woman from my pack says. She has a babe in her arms while a young alpha stands attentively close. "Snuck us food and blankets for the babes. I would vouch for them."

"And me," another voice adds, this one a young woman with a toddler and no mate in evidence. "They were kind to us and at great risk."

"How many of you are there?" I ask.

"All of us," the Canis man says. "Thirty-two in total… and all the supplies." He flushes. "Many of which were stolen from your pack."

"They aided our escape," Ada says, adding her voice.