The wound healed completely.
His heartbeat slowed.
Joe said, “I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. I was lost in the dark, and you were the sun finally coming out again. I found my way back because of you. Now you have to do the same for me. Come back. Come back to me.”
For a moment, nothing happened.
Gavin clutched my hands.
And then Oxnard Matheson sucked in a great breath.
The pack bonds vibrated wildly.
He opened his eyes.
Red. They were red.
He blinked once. Twice.
He turned his head to look at all of us crowded around him.
Our Alpha smiled and said, “It is finished.”
home
My mother said, “Will deserves it.”
I looked to her. “Really?”
She nodded, touching the back of my hand. “He was one of us. A wolf.”
I built the pyre myself. The others wanted to help, but I told them no. Gavin stayed with me, watching me with a knowing gaze. He sat with his back against a tree, his breath streaming out from his nose and mouth in a white cloud.
Will didn’t have family. He was the last of his line.
But that didn’t matter.
He had us.
He had me.
Once the pyre was finished, I was sweating. My back hurt, as did my heart.
Gavin came to me then.
He said, “Good man. Will.”
I wiped my eyes. “He was.”
He nodded toward the pyre. “This is for important people.”
“Yes.”
“Kings and queens. Alphas. Shannon. She had one too.”
“Yes.”
He said, “Will not a wolf. Not a king. Not a queen. Not an Alpha. But still important.” He wrapped his arms around me as I started shaking. I told myself it was from the cold.