I took a breath. “We rebuild today,” I told them, voice steady. “We repair what they broke. We reinforce the ridges. We stand beside each other. And when the Council comes again”—I let my gaze sweep the clearing—“we greet them with teeth.Again.”
The ones gathered looked at each other, nodding, murmuring that I was right, feeding each other strength, and taking support from each other.
Wolfe’s hand rested on my shoulder. “That’s my mate,” he murmured.
But I could barely hear him over the pack’s voices, loud enough now to make the trees shiver.
The Hollow pulsed again—this time warm and approving. And for the first time since the smoke rose over the ridge, the pack stood a little taller.
We weren’t healed. We weren’t ready.
But we weren’t broken either.
Chapter 20
Wolfe
The cool morningair felt like a slap when we walked outside the house.
The morning wasn’t bright. Just…sharp. The kind of cold, pale light that made every wound look deeper and every shadow look like a threat.
As we approached the pack hall, I’d sensed they were gathering, could feel their fears. The clearing looked different too. Not destroyed—the pack seemed to have worked through the night to make sure of that—but still, it felt…changed.
Ash still hung in the air; I could still taste it on my tongue. I saw a dark smear of it against the trees. The grass near the training ring was trampled flat. Through it all, no matter the new day or how hard you tried to mend what was broken, you could still feel it in the air—the scent of smoke, blood, and exhaustion.
And my pack? They looked like they’d been dragged through a war and were waiting for the next round. Whichcould be a good thing, because it’s better to be raw than complacent.
I had let Rowen speak first. She spoke well, and it still amazed me that the very wolves who cheered for her now were the same ones willing to set her aside because she was female. She had led this pack for years, but the old ways and traditions had made them blind to the fact that their pack leader was right in front of them.
She’d gone inside the pack hall, eager to see that the kitchens were alright, that her pack would be fed, and in her own way, touch base with them all so she could mourn with them for those they lost.
She didn’t look back at the ones who lingered—the fighters, the warriors, the vengeful. No, she left those for me.
I stepped into the center of the clearing, feeling their eyes follow me. Diesel sat on a fallen log, arms crossed, a tic in his jaw pulsing with impatience. Killian stood near the edge of the group, quiet but alert, assessing everything. Brand had already broken away and was setting up for early morning training. He was stripped to the waist and was checking the younger wolves’ stances—muttering corrections under his breath with zero patience for anyone who flinched.
More pack members had gathered. Rowen’s message would have spread. Males and females who had returned from patrol were now present. With Diesel and me both on the ground in the Hollow, the boundary was set. Any stragglers from the attack had been dealt with during the night, including Tyler. He would not return to his father’s home.
I saw a flash of brown hair and watched Adair slip around the corner of the pack hall. When I looked back, Isaw not only Diesel’s eyes tracking her movement but Axel’s as well.
I wasn’t getting involved in that. I thought about it. It could cause a problem, so I’d tell Rowen, and she could handle it.
I turned my attention back to the fighters, then felt a pang of guilt. There was no such thing as man’s work or woman’s work; I’d deal with the Adair situation right after I spoke to my pack.
Some stood tall. Some looked bone-tired. But all of them were here.
“Circle up,” I ordered.
They moved instantly, forming a wide ring with me at the center. No hesitation. No dragging their feet. Even those who weren’t usually in the training ring stepped in closer.
“Look around you,” I said, voice echoing through the clearing. “Every shifter here worked through the night. Every shifter here faced an attack meant to break us.” A few heads dipped in acknowledgment. Others held my gaze, steady and unflinching. “And you showed up.” My eyes scanned as many as I could as I turned slowly in a circle. “You cleared the dead, built the pyres, and cleared the Hollow of the debris they left, all before dawn. You ran patrols through the night, clearing out any lurkers, you ensured our boundary held, and then you carried our fallen enemies outside the Hollow.” I watched them all. “My pack…” I shook my head, letting them see how proud I was of them. “You stood together when the Council thought fear would make you crumble.”
Diesel snorted. “Because they forgot,” he mutteredloudly enough for everyone to hear. “Forgot who our alpha is and what our pack stands for!”
“Exhaustion?” Cody mumbled with an eye roll, and a few wolves huffed out tired laughs in agreement. I grinned, grateful for my brothers, who knew as well as I did that the pack needed that crack in the tension.
“I know, we’re tired,” I said, seeing my own weariness in their eyes. I turned again, keeping their attention on me. “The Pack Council sent them when they knew that Rowen and I would be gone. They knew about the boundary, the safety that the Hollow provides—that with me gone, anyone can enter. They knew because, in this pack, there were traitors.”
The pack rumbled with discontent.
