I woke to the smell of blood and herbs.
My body screamed. Every muscle, every bone, every inch of skin. I was wrapped in bandages, propped against Kael's chest, his arms around me even in sleep.
The battle was over. We'd won.
But the cost...
I closed my eyes. Saw faces of wolves who wouldn't come home. Felt the pack bond heavy with grief.
Kael stirred.
"Elena?"
"Here."
"You're crying."
"Am I?" I touched my face. Wet. "I didn't notice."
He held me tighter.
"I know." His voice was rough. "I feel it too."
We lay there, holding each other, letting the grief flow through the bond. Shared. Borne together.
---
The day was long.
Wolves to bury. Wounded to tend. Survivors to free from their chains. The pack worked together, silent and determined.
I helped where I could. Carried water. Tended wounds. Held wolves who'd lost mates, parents, children.
Through it all, Kael was everywhere. Leading. Comforting. Doing what Alphas do.
But at night, he came home to me.
And I held him while he cried.
---
The freed wolves stayed.
They had nowhere else to go—their packs destroyed, their families gone. Kael welcomed them without hesitation.
"They're pack now," he said. "Ours."
I agreed.
Sasha helped integrate them. Jax trained them. The pack absorbed them like water soaking into soil.
One of them—a young wolf named Lia—latched onto me.
She'd been collared the longest. Her eyes still held shadows. But when I was near, she calmed.
"You remind her of someone," Marnie said. "Her mother, maybe. The one who didn't survive."
I didn't know what to do with that. So I just... stayed. Let her follow. Let her sit beside me.
Kael watched it all with soft eyes.
"You're good at this," he said one night.
"At what?"
"Being Luna. Being mother. Being—" He touched my face. "Being you."
"I'm just doing what feels right."
"That's exactly what a Luna does."
---
Two weeks after the battle, we held a ceremony.
For the fallen. For the freed. For the pack, rebuilt and stronger.
Kael spoke first.
"We lost good wolves. Brave wolves. Wolves who gave everything for this pack." His voice carried across the clearing. "We honor them. We remember them. We carry them with us, always."
Torches were lit. Names were called. Howls rose to the moon.
Then it was my turn.
I stepped forward, Lia at my side.
"We gained new wolves too. Wolves who suffered. Who fought against their will. Who survived against all odds." I looked at them—the freed ones, watching with wary eyes. "You're not alone anymore. You're pack. You're family. You're home."
Lia leaned against me. Others moved closer.
The pack howled again—welcoming this time.
Kael caught my eye across the clearing. Through the bond, I felt his love. His pride. His hope.
We were healing.
---
That night, we made love for the first time since the battle.
Slow at first. Tentative. Both of us still healing, still sore. But the need to connect, to reaffirm, to remember why we'd fought—it burned between us.
"Kael." His name was a prayer.
"I know." He kissed me. "I feel it too."
He entered me gently. We moved together, the bond blazing with love and relief and desperate gratitude.
Afterward, he held me close.
"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered. "When that wolf had me pinned—I thought I'd never see you again."
"You didn't lose me. I'm here."
"I know." He kissed my hair. "I know."
"Forever."
"Forever."