It had been another long run through the woods, but this time I felt as though I could have kept running all day and all night long without a break. Behind me were hundreds of shifters, including most of the MacLaren clan. But, most importantly, alongside me were Cora, Rafe, Anton, Ethan, and Luke, along with the mercenaries that remained. The people who’d made this possible.

My heroes.

“Where do we go?” James had asked me when the dust had settled. “After this, I mean. It took my father years to make this place a reality. I’m not sure I can just walk away from it like that.”

“With us,” I suggested, and he snorted, dismissing it at once.

“What, back to the Kellum compound?” He looked up at me, and suddenly seemed a hell of a lot older than he had just a few moments before. “They hate us. There’s no way-”

“You’re surrounded by them right now,” I reminded him gently, and he lowered his gaze. I wasn’t about to tell him that I wasn’t going to be there. Right now, he needed support and guidance.

“I guess you’re right,” he mumbled, and just like that he was a boy again, a boy carrying the weight of the choices he’d made and the pack that was behind him. I had no idea where his father and his handful of minions had gone, but he had left his son behind to pick up the pieces of his foul reign. I respected that James was sticking around to do that. He was more of a man than a lot of the men I’d encountered over my time in the real world.

So we led them back to the Kellum compound, and Cora and I demanded another meeting with my father.

“I’m surprised to see you back here in one piece.” He eyed me and shook his head.

“Me, too,” I replied, and he nodded slowly.

“You won, then?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me pointedly.

“Yes, we won,” I replied. “MacLaren underestimated us and he paid for it.” The horrors of what I’d seen that day – the people saved from those cells, the bloodied corpses of the loyalist guards that we had burned outside the compound walls, the sight of my friends and lovers bloodied and beaten and hurt for what they had fought for – were imprinted onto my memory. We’d lost a dozen or so of the ones who had left to fight with me, and their names were engraved onto my brain for good.

“And what do you want from me now?” He spread his hands wide. But for once, it didn’t seem like he was asking that question to challenge me, to dare me to demand something from him. It seemed as though he was asking it in good faith, for once. I blinked. I had expected to have to fight my ground once more, as I had done so unsuccessfully the last time the two of us had met. But this was different.

“It’s not what I want. It’s what your people want. They want you to take them in,” I replied firmly.

“The MacLarens?” He shook his head. “We’ve fought for so long-”

“And now the war is over because they turned against their own,” I reminded him. “They’ve got nowhere to go. No soldiers, no guards, no leader-”

“What happened to him?” My father leaned forward with interest. “Was he killed in the attack?”

“No,” I admitted. “He ran like a coward. But the mercenaries have vowed to make it their sole purpose to find him and punish him. They’ve already left to begin the hunt. He won’t be in hiding for long.”

“What about that kid of his?”

“He’s standing in to lead the pack for the time being,” I explained. “And he’s doing the best that he can but he’s only a child. We need someone who can lead them, make them feel safe – someone who’s not going to hide the truth from them.”

“And you think that person is me?” he asked with a harsh laugh. “I’m old, Arianna. And far too set in my ways. I allowed my own anger and bitterness to control my actions and failed as both a ruler and a father. My own pack is split in two right now.”

His new perspective made me both sad and hopeful at the same time. “Mistakes were made, Father. In order to unite them again and help the MacLaren’s adjust, they all need to see unity and strength.” This was where it would get tricky, and I sucked in a breath. “I believe that you should announce your intentions to help with that transition, and that you’ll be stepping down for a new alpha to take over.”

“A new alpha?” he asked, brow arched. “You?”

I let out a laugh, even more hopeful that he hadn’t shut me down instantly.

“No way. I don’t want the job, and this isn’t my clan. Not anymore,” I said, waiting for the stab of longing in my chest that usually accompanied that thought. But it never came. I couldn’t wait to get back outside to my true pack. The sooner I got this done with, the better. “I mean Cora, Father.”

He drew back, surprised at first, and then nodded thoughtfully. “Cora...”

“They would’ve followed her off a cliff yesterday. She’s a natural.”

“And far braver than I,” he said softly. He shook his head and frowned. “But I don’t know where we’ll find room for them all if we take them in,” he muttered. “The walls are-”

“Walls can be re-built,” I cut him off bluntly. “Be Cora’s right hand and help her expand. It might bring some new life to this place. Out with the old…”

He fell silent for a moment, and then looked up at me. I could see something in his eyes, something close to fatherly, something that I knew had lived in him all along, despite everything he’d done.

“And you?” he asked. My heart flipped in my chest; I’d known for a long time now that this question was coming, but I wasn’t ready for it.

“What about me?”

“Will I ever see you again?” he asked. I closed my eyes for a moment.

Looking to the future now was a woozy, discomforting experience, something that unsettled and excited me in equal measure. Would the Kellums be a part of that future?

“I have my own pack now. It’s small, but I owe them a lot. Once we’ve settled and healed and had some time together, I’ll come visit.”

And then maybe we could heal, too.

“All right,” he replied gruffly, looking away from me. “Tell the MacLarens to come in and then send Cora to me. We have much to discuss.”

My stomach jiggled with anticipation as I nodded. “I’ll go get her.”

When I stepped out and looked into the faces of the crowd, I lifted my hand high and waved.

“Enter!”

It was pandemonium for a short while, with people streaming back into the compound – some were mourning their losses, some were helping the injured and sick, and others seemed just glad to be home, whether it was a new one or an old one.

I stood by as they trailed in, one by one, filling the place with noise and conversation and the occasional bark of laughter. I saw one of the Kellums who’d come with us to fight with his arm tucked beneath an injured MacLaren woman – the both of them were smiling at each other, despite the circumstances, and I knew watching them that it was going to be alright. We had more in common than we knew. We just had to keep looking for that common ground everywhere we could.

I scanned the space for Cora and grinned when I caught sight of her. She strode to my side, shaking her head in awe. She had been the one to free most of the experimented-on and I knew she had seen more than she ever wanted to in that regard. But here she was, tired but smiling.

“I knew you could twist his arm.” She waved her hand. “All of it. Look at them. They’re all just…accepting it.”

“Did you think he would say no?”

“I guess I thought that old habits died harder than this.” She shook her head with a sigh. “All this time and we’d been led to believe that we were so different and so at odds with each other and…what for? We’re the same, all of us.”

“Yeah, we are,” I agreed. “I think my father has had a change of heart. Do you think you can find it within you to forgive him someday?”

“I already have. I know he felt that sending an army after me would result in too many casualties so, as misguided as he was, he was trying to protect the pack. If he is allowing the MacLarens in now, he is showing a willingness to change. That’s a big step.” Her solemn expression gave way to one of determination as she looked around the place. “Now, I’ve got to go make the rounds and see how everyone is adjusting.”

“First, you need to go see him. He’s asked for you.”

I wanted to tell her why, but it wasn’t my place. This was between her and my father. She nodded slowly and straightened her shoulders.

“All right. Are you staying for a while? Will I see you before you go?”

“No, we’ve got to head out, but I’ll visit as soon as I get the chance,” I said, and drew her into a bittersweet hug. I closed my eyes and squeezed tight.

“Or I’ll come to you. Either way, we’ll see each other soon,” she promised, and I knew we would. “Thank you, Ari. For everything.”

I watched as she vanished into the crowd, off to find my father. I grinned as I watched her go – she had grown so much since this all started. We all had…

“What happens now?”

I turned and found my men standing behind me, watching the crowds file in. Up until that moment, something had been missing. As soon as I saw the four of them together, the last of the ache inside me faded and I was filled with joy. Luke was shoulder to shoulder with Rafe, having fashioned a makeshift patch for his eye out of a strip of cloth torn from his shirt.

“You make one sexy pirate,” I murmured. It was a major injury, and the result would take getting used to for him. I knew that. But he was such a trooper, he grinned.

“Arrrr. Now let’s get back home so you can shiver me timbers.”

We all laughed and I nodded.

“Ready, then?” I asked them. Anton looked over at the three of them, the people closest to him in the world, and smiled.

“So ready,” he replied. And just like that, the hustle and bustle around me seemed to drop away to nothing as I stared at these four men.

My men.

“Back to the cabin it is, then,” I breathed, so full of love, I could hardly contain it all.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that place since I got taken,” Rafe sighed. “All I want is to go back there and live a quiet fucking life again.”

I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes and squeezed him close. I felt them all reach out to touch me, laying hands on my back, my waist, the nape of my neck. I pulled back, and realized that tears were pricking my eyes.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I murmured.

“Let’s,” Ethan agreed. And with that, we turned and made our way out of the Kellum compound to begin our journey home.