Newly thawed from a late winter snowstorm, the ground was still wet beneath my paws as I climbed up to the ridge. Mammoth Forest lay before me in its lush, green glory. Behind me, in another valley far below, tourists streamed in from Cave City. They would traverse the public caves by the hundreds today, marveling at the huge stalagmites ornately carved by what seemed like a divine hand.

They had no idea what had happened in the hundreds of miles of undiscovered passageways, separated from them in some places by no more than a few dozen feet of Kentucky limestone.

As I stood there waiting for the others, it was hard even for me to fathom what had happened in those caves. We came here for shelter. To hide. To heal. Instead, we started a revolution.

Today, we came to honor those who hadn’t reached the other side with us. Shifters. Humans. Enemies. Friends. And one woman, without whom, I wouldn’t have had the courage to even start.

“I feel her today too.” Another woman, just as brave and beautiful stood beside me. Smiling up at me, Rowan took my hand. My heart swelled with love, pride and wonder. Keara had given me the strength to start this journey. But, it was Rowan’s love that carried me through.

Her eyes flashed silver as she scanned the woods with me. We were the first to arrive. Even that seemed fitting. Her ear twitched, pricking toward the sound of approaching footsteps. Such a strange being Rowan Wilkes was. My wife. My love. My mate. She was born without a name of her own. Now, she honored me by taking mine. When the mood struck her, she could be almost as physically strong and fast as I was. Her keen senses matched mine. Rowan had enough of her shifter essence left over after her blood mixed with the dragon’s. But, her pain was gone. Her body was strong, vibrant, vital. I said a silent prayer of thanks as I did a hundred times a day.

“I see Liam!” Rowan pointed. Sure enough, Liam’s red wolf burst through the tree line down below. His pack was with him. It had grown in the last year. Six more of Valent’s betas had petitioned to join him. He and Molly had settled back in Shadow Springs. My new construction company built them the house she’d always dreamed of. White picket fence and all. They were working on filling it.

A black Jeep Wrangler wound down the trail. It came to a stop and Molly got out of the driver’s seat. Stretching, she put one hand on the small of her back, the other on her growing belly. She was due in two more months.

Eve, Lena and Jett got out of the car after her. Eve leaned over and struggled with a car seat in the back. I couldn’t help but laugh. Little Daniel was putting up a hell of a fight. His inner wolf pup didn’t like being restrained in that thing. He arched his back when she lifted him out. The minute his two chubby legs hit the ground though, he was off and running.

Mac’s red and gold wolf walked slowly out of the brush to greet him. Danny growled. His shifter was awkward and gangly, but he managed all right with his father there to guide him. Danny’s wolf was also red just like his father and half-Uncle Liam. There was a good chance Molly’s son would be too. They’d had the news confirmed by Suzanne’s ultrasound machine, but Liam and Molly had known it was a boy from the moment of conception.

“Impending fatherhood suits him,” Rowan softly laughed beside me. Liam had shifted. Molly tossed him a change of clothes. He was all over her with kisses.

Gunnar’s pack came next. There were just the four of them and Jett. The bond Gunnar forged with the men he’d busted out of Able’s POW camp was just as strong as anything he shared with us. I was happy for him. They were good men. All of them. Jett had formed a little human pack of her own and there was a wedding on the horizon. A second SUV pulled up alongside Molly’s Jeep. Three women got out. I’d only met them briefly, but they’d played their part in supporting our band of resistance fighters. They were among the women who’d escaped Birch Haven. After the Battle of Heartland, Jett had found them again. Melanie, Vera and Caroline.

Gunnar’s second, a man named Finn, rushed out from behind Gunnar and went to Caroline. I could see her blush from here. She went into his arms. Two days after the Gathering, we would celebrate Finn and Caroline’s wedding in a little chapel in Shadow Springs. Even betas could find fated mates, it seemed.

“I’m going down to help Lena,” Rowan said. She rushed ahead of me, eager to meet with the others. We had all found places to settle in different parts of Kentucky. It had been strategic, and was one of the things we were here to discuss.

Lena’s face brightened when she turned and saw Rowan. I was glad of their deep and growing friendship. Once upon a time, Lena was one of the few people who had understood my darkness. Now, we both walked in the light.

Payne, Gunnar, Mac and Liam turned their gazes up to the ridge as they saw Rowan rush down. I raised a hand and waved. My heart soared with joy and a fair amount of relief. Rowan and I had stayed away from the caves since last summer. I’d worried a bit how I’d feel coming back here. In the end, it felt good. My ghosts were good and buried. Hope and love had swept them all away.

After some hearty hellos and bone-crushing hugs, the five us walked to the cave entrance together. Our footsteps echoed through the empty passageways. Molly had cleared out all of her supplies. She ran the veterinary clinic up in Shadow Springs. Liam did the books for her and was starting up a carpentry business.

Later that evening, we assembled in the great rotunda. The LED lights blared though hardly any of us would have needed them to see. Vera, Caroline and Melanie took little Danny into a different cavern. This was pack business. They would always share protected status as friends of the Mammoth Forest packs, but we already had an unspoken rule that only pack members would attend the Gathering.

After a time, our laughter quieted. The mood shifted, and we worked our way to more serious topics. There was no leader here among us. We were all equals. And yet, eyes seemed to drift to me. I cleared my throat. Rowan sat beside me. She squeezed my hand in encouragement.

“Well,” I said. “I don’t know any formal words for this. But, let’s just say we’ve called to order the very first annual pack Gathering. I’ve said most of this all before, but maybe never to all of you at once. The men in this room...you are the best there is. Every one of us here has fought hard...and lost much...to be where we are today.”

As I spoke, Eve moved quietly around the room. She had a bottle of bourbon in her hand. The good stuff. Kentucky made. Lena rose to help her, passing out little plastic cups. Payne raised an eye when Lena poured a tiny amount for herself and another for Molly.

“Shh,” Lena said. “It’s just a sip.” Joy flooded through me as I realized what was afoot. She wasn’t showing, but Lena had a tiny new life growing inside her too. When Lena handed me my bourbon, I pulled her into a hug. Her eyes misted with happy tears as she pulled away. Rowan was far less subtle. Practically sobbing, she threw her arms around Lena.

“Get on with it, Jagger!” Mac yelled. “We’ve got some shit to celebrate.”

“I guess we do,” I laughed. “Okay. Maybe someday we’ll be more organized. For now, I’ll just speak plain. We’re here because each and every one of us knows what could happen if someone like Able Valent ever tries to get a foothold here again. As the last of the Alphas of Kentucky, we have a responsibility. We’re the only ones strong enough to stop it. So, we’ve agreed. We’ve got a long way to go to have things running as smoothly as they do in places like Wild Lake up in Michigan. But, thanks to Payne...oh and also Liam, Mac and Gunnar, those boys up there consider us friends. Allies. So, I suppose one of the toasts we make today should be to Wild Lake packs. Maybe next meeting, we should invite one of them as a guest.”

“I like it,” Payne said. “But I also like that this weekend is just about our people.”

“Right,” I said. “So, let’s get on with it. Things are quiet near Heartland. There are a few lone shifters in and around Lake Barkley, but it’s calm.”

They were glad to hear it. Mac gave a similar report about the towns surrounding Birch Haven. He and Eve had decided to settle there. When Daniel was a little older, she was going back to school. Mac had taken a job as the town sheriff. With most of Able’s men gone, there was a shortage of law enforcement statewide.

Gunnar and Jett were both working on becoming cops too. They’d settled in Lexington. Payne and Lena had gone north, finding a suburb they liked outside of Louisville. Payne had had the most trouble figuring out what he wanted to do. It didn’t surprise me. Of all of us, he’d suffered under Able’s control the longest. Lena helped him back. Something in his expression told me he might have news. When I locked eyes with him, he cleared his throat.

“Lena and I have talked long and hard. We’re staying in Kentucky for now, but that might change. There are still men out there, Jagger. Bad ones. We haven’t accounted for all of Able’s top generals. Some scattered and crossed the border. Maybe only a handful, but I don’t want to wait for them to cause trouble.”

“What do you propose?” Liam asked.

Payne rubbed one thumb against the opposite palm. When he lifted his eyes again, they were filled with fierce determination. “I’m forming a security agency. We’ve all heard rumblings. I can’t be the only one who has gotten contacted. We have a reputation now, the wolves of Mammoth Forest. Like it or not, people look at us as some kind of heroes or champions. If it’s within my power to be one, I’d like to try.”

Lena beamed up at her husband, giving me the answer to the only question I had. If she was happy, so was I.

“A shifter security agency. I like it. You know if there’s anything I can ever do to help, you know where to find me.” A round of hell yesses went around the room. Payne sat a little taller. God, he was really one badass looking dude when he wanted to be.

And our meeting was all but done. We were whole. We were safe. And a new generation was on the horizon. Clearing my throat, I raised my paper cup, swirling the amber liquid in it.

“Okay then...let’s have our toast. To the shifters of Mammoth Forest. I owe my life to each and every one of you.”

“We owe it to you right back!” Liam shouted. “And everyone else here!”

Several voices joined in shouting, “Here, here!”

“Right,” I said, laughing. We stood together. Alphas, pack members, mates, partners, wives, husbands and now mothers and fathers. We drank to our future, our present and our past.

Later, Rowan took me by the hand. “You’re good at this,” she whispered, going up on her tiptoes.

“At what?”

“Speeches.” She smiled. “Leading men. Do think you’ll ever want a pack of your own someday?”

I couldn’t quite read her expression. Would she welcome it? Or, had she had her fill of shifters other than me?

“I don’t know,” I said. “For now, I like things the way they are. I figure fate’s had a pretty big hand in my life. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. In the meantime, come here, woman. I’ve kept my distance long enough.”

Growling with desire, Rowan came to me. Her hard nipples pressed against my chest. As always, she had me hard and ready with just one look. God, would I ever get enough of her?

“I’m making it my personal mission to make sure you never have to find out,” she said, reading my mind, of course. By the state of my arousal, she wouldn’t have needed my marking to put that together. I slipped my fingers to the back of her neck. The mark in question flared hot, mirroring the desire pulsing between her legs. I knew if I touched her there, I’d find her wet and wanting.

“Come on,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to do something ever since we got here.”

She took my hand and led me out of the rotunda. It was pitch dark back here now. We’d only left the lights in the main room. Growling with laughter, I sensed where she wanted to go.

Deep down the curving passageways, we found our way to the chamber with the hot springs. “Woman,” I whispered. “I like the way you think.”

“I know,” she said putting a finger to her lips. Then, with one agile jump, she was in my arms and pulling off my clothes.

I took her many times that night and marked her once again. Beautiful Rowan. My life. My love. My hope.

As we came together, I let out a great howl. Rowan joined me. As the sound echoed through the caves, my ears pricked. Far off, in the woods and valleys above us, I heard the answering howls of Mammoth Forest wolves. They called for me. They called for the women they loved. They called for their freedom. They called for the packs they were born to lead.

Liam, Mac, Gunnar, Payne. These men were not my brothers. We were not pack. But, they were my brothers in arms. We owed our lives, and our freedom to each other. I knew in my heart, the battles we fought and the bond we forged would last forever. The love I shared with Rowan would last forever too.

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