Chapter 174: Tomorrow

Ivy POV

The valley dissolved around us until the warmth, the green fields, and the sound of the river gave way to snow and the familiar outline of Blackwood below.

Neither of us spoke as we stood on the overlook. I kept staring at the place where Elara had been, hoping some part of her would still be there. The wind answered instead, carrying snow across the hillside.

She was gone. Not hidden. Not waiting for another conversation. Her journey had ended, and ours would continue without her.

Vuk's farewell had brought relief because his burden was finally over. Elara's left something quieter behind. She had shown me where our people began, trusted me with the truth, and then placed the future in our hands.

Caden slipped his fingers through mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You all right?"

"I think so."

He studied me for a moment."You don't have to be."

A small smile found its way onto my face.

"I already miss her."

"So do I."

We looked down at Blackwood together. Smoke curled from the chimneys, and the sound of work drifted toward us on the cold air.

After a while, Caden nodded toward the village."Ready to go home?"

I looked at the people moving through the streets below and realized the word no longer meant a place I was responsible for protecting. It meant the place where I belonged.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's go home."

We walked down the hill together. The gates stood open when we reached the compound. Cars drive in carrying timber, blankets, and food from neighboring packs.

Pups chased each other through the snow without paying attention to which pack anyone came from. Their parents worked nearby, passing tools back and forth as though they had known each other for years.

The rebuilding no longer depended on one person giving orders. Everyone had found something they could do. Inside the council hall, Maya and Lucas sorted through records from the summit, preparing copies for every territory.

Sera met with warriors who would travel to other packs to help organize local councils, while delegates packed their belongings and discussed the work waiting for them back home.

Watching them, I realized something. Nobody was waiting for me to tell them what came next. The thought should have made me happy.

Instead, it left me standing still. Maya found me on the balcony overlooking the courtyard.

"You've been quiet all morning."

I rested my arms on the railing."I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

She leaned beside me."You mean now that no one's trying to kill us?"

A laugh escaped before I could stop it.

"I spent so long chasing the next crisis that I forgot there could be a day without one."

"And what does that feel like?"

"I honestly don't know."

She smiled."That sounds like progress."

I looked at her."It does?"

"For months, every choice you made was about surviving. Now you get to ask yourself what you want instead."

The question stayed with me long after she walked away. Not long afterward, Caden appeared carrying my notes from the afternoon meeting.

"You won't be needing these."

I reached for them, but he pulled them behind his back.

"Caden..."

"No."

"There are still things to do."

"They'll still be there tomorrow."

"The council..."

"...has more than enough people to survive one afternoon without you."

He took my hand before I could argue again and led me toward the gates. The nearby town had settled back into its ordinary rhythm.

Shops were open, people greeted one another in the streets, and pup's played outside while merchants called to passing customers.

Nobody looked at us twice. We bought coffee and wandered without deciding where we were going. We stopped to watch a street musician play for a small crowd, shared lunch at a quiet café, and spent the afternoon talking about everything except councils, prophecies, and rebuilding.

The conversation changed as we walked through a park where pups were building snowmen. Caden looked at me."When everything settles down, what do you want?"

The question caught me off guard because it wasn't about duty. It was about me. I thought about it for a long time.

"I want to finish uni."

He smiled as though that answer was exactly what he had hoped to hear."Then you should."

I laughed.

"That's all?"

"What else would you like me to say?"

"I don't know. I expected a speech."

"You've had enough speeches."

He brushed his thumb across my hand. "I just want you to have the chance."

I looked at him."What about you?"

His answer came without hesitation."A small house." He smiled. "You."

His eyes stayed on mine."And someday, a family."

Something tightened in my chest. After everything we had survived, his dream wasn't built around power or titles. It was built around a quiet life.

By the time we returned to Blackwood, the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, and lanterns glowed along the paths leading through the compound.

I stopped for a moment before going inside. The pack carried on around me without fear, without panic, and without waiting for someone to rescue it.

Elara had told me to live. Standing there, watching pups race home for dinner while workers finished repairing the last roof before nightfall, I finally understood what she meant.

The future didn't need me to carry it alone anymore. It only needed me to be part of it. Sleep came easily that night. Sometime after midnight, I woke without knowing why.

The room was silent except for the crackle of dying embers in the fireplace. Moonlight spilled across the floor, and the mark on my back remained still.

Then a voice drifted through the darkness.

It carried no age and belonged to neither man nor woman. It simply existed.

"One farewell remains."

I sat up, my pulse quickening. I knew that voice.

Veyra.