Gavin and I found our way past thethrongs of people to the bunk house and opened the door. My mom was lying inthe bed watching Mason do some horrible celebrity impersonation. He wasthrusting his hips and talking in a weird accent as Avery sat on Jaxon’s lapand they all laughed. The moment we opened the door everyone looked our way andmy mom just opened her arms. I let go of Gavin’s hand and crossed the room silently,falling into bed with my mom so that she could hold me. When the world had goneto shit around you, sometimes you just needed to spoon your mom.
“I’m sorry about Nahuel,” I whispered. Mymother was behind me, but I knew she heard me, because she flinched slightly.
“I’m just glad you and Gavin are safe,”she replied, but her voice was thick.
Jaxon, Avery, and Mason were quiet.Unsure of what to say, I’m sure.
Finally, Jaxon spoke. “It looks like thehumans have let a lot of the werewolves go. The rest are awaiting a responsefrom the government.”
I nodded. It was good news. I justcouldn’t fully absorb it with Nahuel’s death. So much loss.
I lay there with my mom, staring at thewall in front of me as Gavin sat at the foot of the bed staring at the manila envelope.Jaxon, Avery, and Mason spoke to each other quietly in the corner of the room.We stayed like this for over an hour until there was a knock at the door. Whenmy father stepped in with Shamus, my mom and I sat bolt upright.
“Tell me,” my mom said nervously.
My dad grinned. “Werewolves haveofficially been given the same rights as humans. We are permitted to heal thesick, given that they have proper documentation from the government who willvet the process and must be capped at a certain number each year. Any humanbeing caught treating a werewolf like an animal will be charged with a felony.And lastly, any families of any humans who may die during the change will notbe allowed to sue us or hold us accountable.”
My mom squealed and leapt off of the bedand into my dad’s arms. Shamus just grinned next to my dad and I could see afew more wolves outside of the door patting him on the back. It felt like theweight of the world lifted off my shoulders then. Mukesh was dead and I had ahand in keeping the peace between the humans and werewolves. It was done. Gavinstood and crawled over to the bed, taking the place my mom had once been. Hesnuggled in beside me and wrapped me in his arms. Feeling those warm, tightarms around me after so long of feeling so far away from him, it brought tearsto my eyes.
“Come on, let’s give them some privacy,”my mom whispered. She shooed everyone out until it was just Gavin and me. Aftera few minutes of lying there, he sat up and grabbed the manila envelope.
“I’m ready,” he said.
Sitting up, I spread my legs, scoochingbehind him so that I could peek over his shoulder. He opened the seal andpulled out a stack of papers. On the very top was a hand-written letter inNahuel’s writing.
My dearest grandson,
I am sorry I couldn’t have found yousooner, been there for you when you needed me. I can feel that my time on thisearth is near its expiration and there is so much I wanted to teach you, to seeyou through. You will just have to learn yourself, as I know you can. I havebeen entrusted the deed to the one thousand acres of sacred land in Canada. Ithas been passed down within our people for ages. But now I am leaving it toyou. You and Anya will be its sacred keepers and I could pick no better. Tendto her trees, drink from her rivers, fill her with the laughter of yourchildren.
I will never truly be gone, I am one withEarth Mother now.
I love you,
Grandad.
Gavin’s breath was coming in and out inuncontrolled stutters as he tried to rein in his emotions. I was blubberinglike a fool, tears streaming down my face, sobs escaping my throat. Finally,Gavin shifted his body to face me. I looked down and saw the stack of papers hewas shuffling through. One was a deed, one was proof of Native American heritage,another was an application for Canadian citizenship for Gavin under the groundsthat he was Nahuel’s grandson and of important cultural heritage to thecountry. It had been approved a month ago with a brand new passport.
Gavin reached out and pulled my chin up, staringinto my eyes with his own. “You wanna move to Canada?” He gave me a lopsidedgrin and I laughed.
“Sounds perfect.” It was.
I leaned forward and kissed him, a realkiss with no fear of whether or not he was going to close down the matebond orwondering where Mukesh was. It was just pure love pulsing through our bond.
After I pulled away, Gavin held up theCanadian passport. “If you want one of these you’re going to have to legallymarry me.”
I smiled. “Well, are you asking?”
He looked my body up and down in a waythat sent a pulse of heat right between my legs. “I’m telling.”
I gave him a rakish grin and pulled myshirt off. “Remember when you asked me if I wanted to take a shower and I askedfor a rain check?”
His eyes were molten yellow as he lookedat my braless chest. My bra was shredded somewhere on that mountain.
Gavin undressed quickly and I walked backto the bathroom getting the shower to warm. When I felt his back press upagainst me, I smiled. We were good again, back to our normal selves and it feltamazing.
“You haven’t answered me,” he growled inmy ear.
I laughed and spun around as the steambegan to trickle out of the shower and fog up the bathroom.
