Epilogue

Our claiming moon began as the barest waxing crescent, and by the time the orb was fully circular I'd nearly forgotten about Justin, Haven, and all the shifters we'd left behind. Instead, my mate and I spent full days in lupine form, working in tandem to bring down deer, romping through deep grasses, or just lazing together along the sunny banks of a mountain stream.

Then we shifted two-legged, twigs tangled in our hair as our bodies twined together atop the blanket I'd drug along to keep some semblance of civility even here deep in the woods. Later, we lost the blanket and came together again in the sheltered crevice behind a waterfall, the roar of pounding water overwhelming our cries of pleasure as the water's spray coated us in a fine mist.

By the time the moon began to wane, I'd forgotten all about the blanket and remembered nothing but the luxury of spending twenty-four hours a day joined body and soul with my mate.

In the end, our claiming moon turned out to be even more joyous than Wolfie had promised. And the month was productive for our pack's sake as well. Because I could feel an almost visible tether growing stronger between myself and my mate with every passing hour, a bond that caused contentment to coat my skin like a silken shirt with each breath I took.

Other facets of our relationship changed during our honeymoon period as well. For months, I'd been able to assess Wolfie's thoughts by simply gazing into the eyes of his inner wolf, but now I didn't need visual contact in order to tell whether he was happy or sad. It was almost as if my mate's spirit had taken up residence within my mind along with my own inner wolf, as if he was a part of me but was also able to walk on his own two (or four) feet at will.

And I realized in the process that I'd been naive to think that my wolf and I would be dominated by a mate tied to us by a claiming moon. Perhaps this was why the old tradition had fallen out of favor—most strong shifters weren't willing to share their powers even with their own spouse. Instead of losing myself to the mating bond, in fact, it quickly became evident that Wolfie would never have been able to use this tether against me even without the promise imparted by his courtship gift.

No, a true mating connection built us both up rather than tearing either of us down. As Wolfie had promised, he and I were individually and jointly more powerful with it than without it.

But all good things must come to an end. One morning, I lifted my lupine nose from where it was nestled in my mate's ruff, and I knew it was time to go home. As if called by a subtle change in my own scent, Wolfie rose four-legged beside me and didn't bother shifting to human form so we could speak. Instead, we simply began loping and then galloping in tandem, our noses raised to the wind as we raced toward the rising sun.

By evening, we came into the more familiar woods of my childhood. There, we shifted and donned the clothes I'd cached in the spot where I'd previously hidden a cell phone from my father in an effort to stay in contact with my mate. The memory made me smile as I remembered how young and weak I'd felt just a few short months earlier.

Gazing at the man beside me who had helped me grow into my own four feet, I could barely resist dragging him back into the wilderness to enjoy a second claiming moon. The mischievous smile on Wolfie's lips proved that he wouldn't be terribly hard to convince if I was so inclined.

But I could almost smell my stepmother's cooking from half a mile distant, and my heart flipped over as I realized Ember would now look like a young teenager rather than like the little girl we'd left behind. No, Wolfie and I had stolen all the time we dared away from our duties. There would be opportunities for many more joyous runs through these woods, both amid our pack and just between the two of us. But for now, the hour had come to return to our friends and family.

"It's good to be home," Wolfie said simply, stilling the worry that was already niggling its way into my belly at the thoughts of Haven business long postponed. And at my mate's touch, I could almost feel the leaf mold beneath my bare feet permeating my skin and filling me with the bloodling's calm assurance. Another benefit of our new and improved mating bond.

We met up with Haven's first sentinel mere moments later, a distant cousin who ran home before us in lupine form to alert the pack. So when Wolfie and I walked into the central green of Haven's village, everyone was waiting to greet us.

The grass was freshly mown and the sweet scent of honeysuckle permeated the air, partially covering up the excited aromas of dozens of shifters. Even though I couldn't smell each and every one of them, I could see smiling faces and could hear their roar of joy as we came into view. In fact, try as I might, I couldn't catch a single unhappy aroma amid the entire crew.

"Everything's exactly the way you left it," Cricket murmured in my ear as she came up beside me, my father's wolf alert by her side. The birdlike hands of the former fluttered through the air, and I surprised us both by pulling the older woman into a deep hug.

"Ethan's been teaching me to make smoke bombs," Keith interjected, sidling up to join us a bit uneasily, as if I might have forgotten my favorite (and only) nephew during my four-week absence. I wasn't quite sure how to reassure him, but Wolfie solved the problem by the simple expedient of grabbing the boy's neck and giving him a quick noogie.

And even though I'd rather my brother had taught his relative something a little more constructive while we'd been gone, I smiled benevolently on both young miscreants. After all, I didn't currently smell any smoke or see raging flames anywhere...which wasn't a given with the Barn rat contingent around. Yes, Cricket had done an admirable job taming the wild beasts.

Then our little girl came trotting out of our own cottage, a house that appeared to have grown an extra room while we'd been gone—a bedroom for the wolfing in question perhaps? But I had eyes only for Ember, who I'd expected to have shot up at least a few inches during our absence. After all, if five months as a wolf had matured the youngster to approximately nine human years of age, surely another four weeks would have made her equivalent to a human middle-schooler.

But, instead, our daughter looked much the same as when I'd seen her last.

Well, my wolf added with a pointed glance at our beaming stepmother, Ember is definitely a little bit cleaner.

"I decided I didn't want to grow up any more until you came home," our daughter proclaimed loudly as she flung herself into my open arms. Then she leapt with monkey-like agility a foot to the side to end up latched onto my mate's torso as she continued her tactile greeting.

"So I stayed human the whole entire time," she continued without missing a beat. "Well, except for a time or two when I was just so bored to have to walk that slow."

Wolfie's pet limpet finally sucked in a single breath to fuel her continued explanation. "So I figure that means I've spent six hundred and ninety hours as a wolf...which should mean I don't have to be a girl for at least two years now. Right, Daddy?"

"Good try, Butterfly," Wolfie growled, pretending to bite her little snub nose. The girl giggled and nestled deeper into his shirt. "One hour a day is still the rule. But I do appreciate you choosing to share your childhood with us."

"We heard from Fen," Cricket spoke up, beginning to run through the news we'd missed due to cutting off all connection with the outside world. "She and her pack are fine, although that Tribunal member is still sniffing around." At another growl from my mate, this time a more serious one, the clan's unsung matriarch added, "Fen says she can handle him, though. And I believe it."

Beyond our little huddle of immediate family, the rest of our welcoming party was slowly beginning to drift back to their daily lives, giving us space to speak in privacy. Galena offered a quick wave and a smile that promised catch-up gossip in the near future before she stuck one dirty hand back into the crook of her mate's elbow and headed toward Haven's voluminous garden to continue her usual daily chores. Behind them, Lantana tumbled across the lawn, seemingly no worse for wear after her close call a month earlier. And the Barn rat contingent—smaller numerically now, but no less rowdy—was building a shifter pyramid with the express purpose of gazing into the bedroom window of the prettiest young pack princess who had refused to join them in their bachelor quarters.

Looking out across Haven's rapidly clearing green, I felt a twinge as I noticed how different our pack was from the one Wolfie and I had shared only two months earlier. And that had been a different assemblage yet from the found family Wolfie had opened to me when I'd first returned to shifter-kind after a decade spent in the human world.

In the interim, our clan had grown and then shrunk, changing day by day as each werewolf found his or her own path through the world...or perished in an attempt to let others live in peace. One day soon, I knew, our pack would grow and shrink and change again.

But I had my wolf and my mate and my family around me now. So I knew I'd not only survive that uncertain future. I—and every werewolf I cared about—would thrive here in Haven. Together.

***

Did you enjoy Terra’s story? If so, you won't want to miss the spinoffs. Up next is Fen’s adventure in the Alpha Underground Trilogy, or you can jump ahead to Ember’s cupcake-filled journey in the Wolf Legacy Quartet.

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