Midnight Wolves

Chapter Forty Six: Endings

Kennedy had tried to convince her to sneak in. To use the cover of night to enter her uncle's packlands and locate the cub.

Callie opted for something a little louder.

As the sun hung high in the sky, she marched towards the perimeter, letting the power of her wolf swell and pour out ahead of her. The wolf on security duty hit the floor, whining as they passed, and every wolf they came across in the meantime followed suit.

"This is only going to put us all in more danger," Kennedy furiously whispered to Callie as they headed for her uncle's tent. Of course, had Callie had the mind to trust Kennedy, then she may have mentioned that Vik was currently sneaking onto the packlands using the shadows to blend in and secure the cub.

But, as it was, Callie couldn't trust Kennedy as far as she could throw her.

"What the hell is this?" her uncle Fitz demanded as he stumbled from his tent, his knees wavering under the weight of her power. Around him, his wolves fell to the floor like dead flies. He fought, holding out for as long as he could before his knees wobbled and folded beneath him.

"Callie, please," he seethed, begging for her mercy as though she'd grant it.

"You used as cub as a bartering tool. You tried to take my packlands from me. I'm here to tell you that won't be happening." She eyed every wolf around them, narrowing on any who didn't immediately look away.

"If any of you make another move against the Shadow Valley pack, you will be met with force. And you, Fitz, Kennedy is officially leaving your pack, with her cub."

Where she thought he might cower and apologise he instead simply laughed. "You think I'll let her or her cub leave aliv-oh."

His voice drifted out into silence as Vik walked forwards with a small boy in his arms. Kennedy made a strangled sound and ran towards him, her knees skidding across the dirt as Vik placed the cub on the floor. She wound her long arms him, dragging the boy to her chest. Upon seeing his mother, the cub had burst into tears.

Even Callie had to blink back her own as Vik joined her side, squeezing her hand lightly as he did so. "Thank you," she whispered.

"As you can see, we have both Kennedy and her cub. And we're leaving. Don't make me kill you, Fitz. I will if I have to." Callie turned on her heel, ready to walk away when suddenly she paused, her arm jarring forward when Vik kept going.

She turned back over her shoulder. "And should you care, Henderson killed my mother."

Fitz curse was quick and vicious.

Callie turned and went to walk away when he spoke.

"Is he dead?"

She paused, her free hand flexing as memories flooded her. A flash of blood and claw, the taste of victory – coppery and sweet. "Yes."

"Good. We're more alike than I thought."

She tried to ignore the way those words cut her, in the same way that she'd been trying to ignore the weight of Henderson's admission and subsequent death – but like the flashes of memory, both past and present, she couldn't avoid it any more than she could her next breath.

"Come," Vik whispered when she hadn't moved, tugging on her arm gently.

Callie nodded, to herself more than him and kept walking, leaving Fitz's packlands for the last time.

Kennedy and her cub trailed them, the young boy softly sniffing on every other breath.

They paused in the space between the packlands and Callie turned to face a woman she'd once have called a friend – and potential packmate.

"I can't thank you enough, Callie," Kennedy began but Callie raised her hand to silence her.

"I didn't do it for you. No cub deserves to be separated from their parent." Vik's arm wound around her shoulders before she'd even realised her voice was wavering.

She relaxed for a moment in his hold before clearing her throat. "Goodbye Kennedy."

The she-wolf began walking away, the little boy taking a moment to wave over his shoulder – at Vik, Callie realised as she caught her mate waving back. She bit the inside of her lip to hide her smile, but he blushed at being caught.

"Kennedy," Callie called.

The she-wolf turned, hope filling her eyes which only made guilt rise in Callie.

"Head to Rootbridge. They're expecting you."

Kennedy's eyes were wide, already filled to the brim with tears. "Callie, I-"

Callie turned and left Kennedy behind, heading back to their packlands. It wasn't until they crossed the border that Callie could truly breathe easily. And upon doing so, she turned into Vik's embrace and let the last few days catch up with.

The sobs tore at her, strangling the breath from her lungs until she was a hiccupping mess. Yet still he clung onto her, holding her together, just as he'd helped piece her together bit by bit since she'd met him.

He held her until she'd calmed down. Then held her a little more. Eventually, as the afternoon sky was tinged with pinks and oranges, he turned to her, his hand ghosting down her cheek. "So, what's next?" he asked her.

Callie took a deep breath and looked out over their lands - at the gnarl of weeds and long grass built around them a fortress separating them from the rest of the world.

For so long she'd lived haunted by her childhood, by her moonmate, by everything she'd seen or done and yet, despite Henderson, despite her uncle, she finally felt...at peace.

With him. Only ever with him.

"Live," she whispered. "Next, we live."

The End