Afterward

ALLIE

It’s been fourteen days since we defeated Ryan. I hadn’t been his only target. While we had been fighting him in the forest, his wolves had launched a full-scale assault on the Red Moon Pack.

Hoping that James would be distracted by Ryan’s attempt to kidnap me, his pack had attacked the Red Moon Pack House.

Christopher and thirty of the Red Moon Pack Warriors had repelled them with help from the lone wolves that had been granted sanctuary.

Alexander had been proven right—the loners had fought just as bravely as any of James’s warriors. Without their help, the Savage Wolves’ attack might have succeeded.

The Savage Wolves had been decimated, and with Ryan dead, those who had survived had scattered, fleeing for their lives.

Since then, I have kept myself busy helping the healers tend to the injured wolves and organizing work crews to mend the damage done to the pack house during the fighting.

Saddest of all had been accompanying James to visit the families of the wolves who had died.

We’d tried to comfort them in their grief, making sure that they received all the support that the pack could give them at this terrible time. It didn’t feel like enough.

We had been lucky. That’s what I keep trying to tell myself.

We defeated Ryan, and his Savage Wolves are gone for good.

There hadn’t been as many casualties as we’d feared. Our losses weren’t as bad as those suffered by Danielle’s old pack, or even as terrible as those following the battle that killed James’s father.

But I still can’t stop thinking about the nine wolves that died, and what a terrible loss it has been for their families and friends.

Nor can I forget Toby, one of my best friends, one of the first people to welcome me to Linton. He had helped make it my home. Toby didn’t deserve to die like that.

Everyone keeps telling me not to blame myself for his death, that it’s not my fault.

Maybe it isn’t completely down to me, but I can’t help but wonder if I had never come here, if I had never met Toby, would he still be alive? Ryan would have had no reason to target him.

I know that there is nothing I can do to change what happened. All I can do now is support my mate, my friends, and my pack, and do the best I can to help everyone get through this difficult time.

James has been amazingly supportive and caring, if a bit overprotective.

He’s eager for me to continue the luna training with his mother now that the threat from Ryan and the Savage Wolves has been lifted. He also wants me to get to know the wolves of the Silver Fang Pack.

Things have calmed down and the pack is in a more stable place, so we feel comfortable leaving the Red Moon Pack and spending the weekend at White Fang.

I’m looking forward to it, but I’m nervous.

This weekend I’ll meet the whole of his pack for the first time.

***

James wraps his arms around me. “Ready to go?”

“Yes, all packed.”

“There’s no need to be nervous, you know. My mother already loves you, and you met the ranking wolves the last time you were there.”

“I know, but I haven’t met the rest of the pack, and they might not be as welcoming as you seem to think. I’m still a loner to a lot of people. A rogue.”

“I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that everyone is going to love you straight away, or that no one will bring up your past,” he admits.

“It’s true that Karen isn’t the only wolf in the pack who hates loners, but there aren’t many of them left,” he assures me. “And they all know better than to insult my mate, their luna.”

“Most of them are excited to meet you. They’ve been hoping that I would find my mate for a long time.

“And the events of the last few weeks have proven to even the doubters that you will make a strong luna.

“The way you fought Ryan and his rogues, the way you were prepared to protect the Red Moon Pack when they were attacked—that’s what they expect from a good luna.

“They also know how hard you have been working to help the Red Moon wolves recover since the battle. They love the fact that you’re working by my side. That we are a team.”

I smile at him, feeling slightly more reassured. “Let’s go then. I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

Like the last time we visited the Silver Fang Pack, James drives us there in his sports car. He has assured me that there are no warriors following us this time. The threat is gone.

It was only a few weeks ago that we made this journey, but it feels a lot longer than that.

When we arrive, his mother rushes out of the pack house and pulls James into her arms to hug him tightly. I smile at how affectionate she is with him.

She hasn’t seen him since the attack, as he’s been too busy to visit, and it’s obvious how worried she has been.

After a few minutes, they break apart and she turns to me with a smile and pulls me into a hug as well.

“It’s so good to see you again, Allie. I’m so glad the threat from Ryan is finally over, and you’re safe.

“You need to tell me all about what’s been happening and the things you have been doing to help the Red Moon Pack.

“James is not the most communicative of sons, and I have only the bare facts about what has been going on.

“Let me take you inside so you can freshen up, and we can talk.

“I’ve arranged a full pack dinner for tonight, but I thought this afternoon I could take you to the school so that you can meet our young pups and see what a werewolf education entails.”

“I would love that!”

James leaves me with his mother and goes to meet with his ranking wolves to discuss pack affairs.

***

I’ve dressed carefully for the pack dinner tonight. I want to impress the Silver Fang wolves and make James proud of me. I’m wearing a long emerald-green chiffon dress and black high heels. I’ve decided to wear my hair up, and I’ve added a diamond necklace and bracelet that James bought for me to finish the outfit.

The clothes give me confidence, but I’m still nervous. Over three hundred wolves will be at the pack dinner tonight. All eyes will be on me.

James walks into the room and does a double take. “You look beautiful.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” I take in his toned body, which is shown off to perfection in his tailored evening suit.

“Are you ready to go? The pack is excited to meet you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I say, and beneath the nerves I know that I really am.

He takes my arm and leads me down the stairs and into the pack dining room.

The room has been formally set out with circular tables covered with linen tablecloths. Each table seats ten wolves, and they’re all full.

An expectant silence falls over the room when we enter, and all the wolves rise to their feet, their heads bowed.

James walks me to a long table at the end of the room, where his mother is already sitting with the ranking wolves.

“You look beautiful my dear. Exactly like the luna of this pack should look,” she murmurs as I sit.

“Thank you. I’m a bit nervous. There are so many people here!”

“The whole pack has turned out. They’re excited to finally meet their new luna.”

James rises to his feet to address the pack.

“It’s so good to be back among you once again. You all know how hard I worked to track down Ryan, and how determined I’ve been to defeat him before he could cause any more death and destruction.

“We’ve all had to make sacrifices, but now we’ve achieved retribution for the death of my father and for all the other pack members that he has killed.

“I’ve finally achieved that aim. Fighting him, with my mate at my side, I killed him and destroyed his pack of rogues, the so-called Savage Wolves Pack.”

All the wolves stand and cheer, proud and overjoyed that the enemy they’ve feared for so long has been defeated.

“I couldn’t have achieved this without my mate,” he goes on. “She fought alongside me, killing our enemies to keep her friends and our pack safe. There can be no more worthy luna than my mate Allie.”

I blush with embarrassment; I hadn’t realized he was going to say that. It was such an exaggeration.

I had fought against the Savage Wolves, but I wasn’t the one who’d killed Ryan, and I’m not sure that the fighting that I did had made that much of a difference.

When James sits back down, he can sense how uncomfortable I feel.

“I know you don’t believe me, but what I said is true,” he insists. “If Ryan hadn’t been motivated to come after you, he wouldn’t have attacked us directly. He’d have let his wolves do his dirty work.

“And when he did come for you, you didn’t submit to him. A lot of wolves would have surrendered. They wouldn’t have tried to escape or fight back when his wolves attacked.

“Don’t ever sell yourself short Allie. There are only a handful of she-wolves who would have acted the way that you did.”

“Yes, Luna. You should be proud of yourself,” Amy puts in.

“Indeed,” Eric agrees. I can tell that it pains him to pay me a compliment.

I’m not complaining, though. It’s so much better than his attitude toward me the last time we met.

“Now that Ryan has been defeated, we can start planning your mating ceremony and your official appointment as luna,” Eleanor suggests.

“Wait, what mating ceremony? Isn’t that a bit soon?”

“No, most wolves are marked and mated straight away, with their mating ceremony following days later. If they’re fated to be a luna of a pack, then this is often combined with the luna inauguration.”

I feel panicky, but James takes my hand and squeezes it. “This will be a celebration of our love in front of our friends, family, and pack. It will be a wonderful day that you’ll always remember.”

“I promise that you’ll enjoy this celebration,” Eleanor adds. “I’ll help you organize it. I’ll do everything to make it a special day for you and my son.”

I smile at Eleanor. She’s right.

With her help, it will be a great day.