Warmth bloomed in my chest at his words, but I shook my head. “No,” I said firmly. “We’reone of a kind. Because whatever happens next, we’re in this together.”
Reed’s expression sobered, and he met my eyes with an intensity that made my heart turn over in my chest.
“Yes,” he agreed, his voice steady and sure. “Together.”
The truth of it settled between us like a promise.
Whatever came next—whether it was pack politics, monsters crawling out from the bleeds, or just learning how to live together now—we’d face it side by side. As equals and partners.
As mates.
EPILOGUE || REED
The bonfire crackled and roared, sending sparks spiraling up into the night sky. The full moon hung heavy overhead, so bright I could have read by its light alone. Harris and I had finished the novel we were reading together and were halfway through another, reading a chapter each night after dinner, like always.
All around us, the pack gathered in a loose circle around the flames, their faces cast in swirls of orange and deep shadow.
It had been a month since we’d killed the Algea—since Harris had been reborn as a wolf.
And tonight, we were changing again. We were officially welcoming a new member into our fold.
Harris stood beside me and Daniel faced us, looking nervous. His hands were clasped rigidly in front of him, his shoulders tight. But there was something else in his eyes, too.
Hope, maybe. Or relief at finally belonging to us. He had been denied true acceptance for too long and tonight we were putting an end to that.
Besides, the pack had been insular and closed off from the rest of the world for far too long. And it hadn’t gotten us anywhere good. Tonight was our first official step toward constructing a new narrative. One where we could try choosing community and trust over raw strength and isolation.
The pack stood at even intervals around us, facing the bonfire, waiting for my word to begin. Lindsey had come to watch, too, even though she wasn’t technically participating. She stood outside the circle, behind Emma.
Jeremy, in his capacity as the former alpha and my oldest friend, had come as well, bringing his mate, Thierry. We’d been talking weekly since defeating the Algea, and when I told him what we were about to do, I decided he belonged here with us. He consented when I broached the subject. After all, these were people he knew and loved, too. His new life hadn’t changed any of that. And as I was learning, it hadn’t changed much of anything at all. At the end of the day, he was still Jeremy.
And because it was his first truly official act as co-alpha of the Crescent Springs pack, Harris had invited Cole and his human mate, Eli, to witness as well. Cole was, after all, Harris’s best friend. And besides, when he’d heard what we were doing tonight, he’d practically invited himself. He’d been apoplectic at discovering how much danger Harris had willingly placed himself in, not to mention that Harris had become a supernatural being without any warning at all. But he’d eventually come around. Harris was right: Cole wasn’t really such a bad guy. Not entirely, at least. He was complicated and messy, like anyone else. All of our guests hung back from the rest of us, standing with Lindsey, watching the proceedings in respectful silence.
We were all here—everyone I loved most in this world and a few new friends I’d learn to love, given enough time. These were the people I would fight for and even die for, if it came down to that. And these were also the people I had—with difficulty—learned how to let do the same for me.
This was the first formal initiation ceremony the pack had done in four generations. Generally, folks joined the Crescent Springs pack through birth or bite. The last time anyone haddone this ceremony, it had been on the heels of a werewolf joining the pack through marrying its alpha at the time.
And this wasn’tanyinitiation. We were making a warlock a full member of the pack. Something that had never been done before, as far as I knew. No other supernatural creatures had ever joined our pack. Not officially.
The other alphas wouldn’t have done it. Not even Jeremy. He’d said so himself.
But I wasn’t them.
And that was okay by me. I didn’t need to be any of the alphas who had come before. I just needed to be whoIwas—as messy and confusing as that could sometimes be—and let that be enough.
Harris caught my eye and gave me a small nod, indicating he was ready.
He’d been practicing the ritual words for more than a week, determined to get them exactly right. I felt a rush of affection for him. He wasn’t letting any of this happen to him. He was actively choosing it. Choosing the pack. Choosing this life.
And the pack had chosen him back. They deferred to me out of habit and respect, but I’d watched them turn to Harris more and more over the past month. When I wasn’t around, they followed his lead without question.
Though Emma said she’d never heard of two alphas in one pack before, it was clearly possible under the right circumstances. The proof was standing beside me. Daniel and Sarah were still combing through decades of journals, looking for anything that might explain what had happened. So far, with no luck.
But unprecedented or not, it wasworking. Having Harris beside me—a partner in all meanings of the word—made the crushing responsibility of the pack easier to shoulder.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, and everyone went silent and still, all eyes on me.
“Daniel,” I said, my voice carrying easily in the quiet. “You’ve stood with us. Fought beside us. Bled for us. Tonight, we ask you to join us. Not as an outsider, but as pack.”
