The pack encircles us, murmuring and watching the sky, waiting.
It’s only eight thirty, but it might as well be midnight. The moon will be fully eclipsed in just a few minutes, and we’re all watching the circular shadow creep across its surface. As more of the glowing moon is gobbled up by shadow, it’s turned orange instead of stark white. With each passing second, the color deepens, and I squeeze Landon's and Jared’s hands while we wait.
I had no idea lunar eclipses took so long. Solar eclipses are over in like twenty minutes, and we’ve been out here almost an hour already.
Roxanne told me I have to make the announcement when the eclipse is at its peak. Tonight is a total eclipse, so we’ll wait until the moon is completely blacked out.
Then it’s game on.
Of course we’re hoping the curse will lift so we can go for our pack run immediately. It’d be pretty shitty if everyone has to leave and come back in a few hours.
Roxanne arranged for Harridan House to host a celebration in honor of completing this process and truly becoming alpha of Smoky Falls, so our worst-case scenario is that we’ll have the party before the run instead of after.
I didn’t sleep a wink last night, so I’m really hoping this’ll all wrap up neatly and I’ll be in bed well before midnight.
My eyes remain locked on the creeping shadow, so close to the other side there’s just a thin fingernail of red light remaining. Breath stills in my lungs and my muscles freeze. I’m afraid to blink, as if I’ll miss my chance in the millisecond it takes my lids to close and reopen.
When the last sliver of light disappears, I can practically hear the pack suck in a collective breath and wait, their eyes dropping to me.
It’s incredibly dark now. The sky is clear, so the stars are out, but without the moon, it’s virtually pitch black in every direction.
Jared and Landon squeeze my hands, and I feel two more warm, solid hands land on my shoulders. I know it’s Derrek and Milo without question. Something about having all four of my mates touching me at the same time sends a flood of security and strength washing through me as if we truly become one.
Not being able to see anyone almost makes what I have to do easier.
Delving into my power as alpha, I pull up the color map and feel my pack instead of meeting their eyes. When I speak, my body settles into the double-timbre of the alpha command without conscious effort.
“I am Lilliana Harridan, direct descendant of the first Harridan alpha who gave her blood to create the Smoky Falls pack. Tonight, before all of those in attendance, I claim my position as true alpha, a responsibility I will bear until I am gone from this earth.” I pause to breathe, and my voice seems to echo in the absolute stillness of the clearing.
“Tonight, I claim my fated mates for all time. From now until our death, we will be alphas of Smoky Falls, equally responsible for the safety and well-being of every member of this pack.”
I have no way to see them, but in my mind I picture each of their faces as I list them.
“Milo Vernice, I claim you as my mate. Landon Crews, I claim you as my mate. Jared Miller, I claim you as my mate.” I mentally stumble over the next part, but manage to get it out the way he asked. “Leaf Derrek Garrow, I claim you as my mate. As you are the alpha of Pack Montrose, your pack has become part of the Smoky Falls pack, and due our protection and loyalty.”
Just as I finish the last words of my speech, a bubbly sensation runs over my skin, as if I’d jumped in a glass of alka-seltzer. At first I think my eyes are playing tricks on me, but it only takes a few seconds to realize what I’m seeing is true: a glowing vapor rises from our bodies, pale blue and wispy. And not just me and my mates, but every member of the surrounding pack. The collective glow is so bright I can make out the faces of people in the crowd, and every single one of them is beaming in my direction.
The fizzy sensation dissipates, and I know instinctually that it was the curse dissolving into the ether. Heart leaping with joy, I’m about to announce the run when a familiar voice interrupts.
“If I may,” Dom starts, “I would like to share my own joyful news with the pack.”
I smile widely, even though I know he can’t see it. “Of course, uncle.”
He clears his throat. “I, Dominic Harridan, have asked Roxanne Penhart to be my mate, and she has accepted.”
Before he even gets the last few words out, a raucous cheer rises from the crowd. Even though he struggled to keep up with his alpha duties, the pack still cares deeply about him.
A sudden red glow appears overhead, making the clearing appear like a giant darkroom for developing film. I watch the red sliver of moon slowly grow while I wait for the whoops of celebration to quiet down. I have no desire to cut them off; we’re long overdue for celebration.
When it’s finally quiet enough for them to hear me, I raise my voice once more and shout, “Now who’s ready to run?”
Derrek
Naturally, Lilliana was right: the joining of our two packs indeed ended the curse that prevented them from shifting at any hour of the day. The subsequent run is absolute mayhem. Of course, the pack remains behind Lilliana and her four newly claimed mates, but the joyful yipping is a constant chorus for the entire circuit.
And then, as soon as we return to the clearing, the howls begin. I admit we probably started it, but in my mind it would be one celebratory howl and then we’d wait for the rest of the pack.
However, the pack clearly has other plans. As they reach the clearing, every wolf howls, and doesn’t stop as more arrive. Eventually, we catch on that the plan is to keep howling until every wolf has made it back. The din is wild, but somehow not annoying. It’s just pure happiness, and it radiates through my body, filling me up with so much enthusiasm I have to join in. We howl to the slowly returning moon, celebrating many things, but most of all, being alive.
Finally, when the stragglers have all made it back, there’s a beat of silence as the pack seems to pull in one giant breath together, waiting. Lilliana tips her head back and howls, and the boys and I join in, followed a beat later by the pack as if they have one voice.
We’re a team, the five of us the burning core of the pack. But Lilliana is like the beating heart, her light connecting to us and refracting out to the thousands that are now ours to protect.
Suddenly, I feel it. Or rather, I feel them. The pack, the people all around us, like a living, glowing organism that pours its hope and belief into us, buoying our sense of purpose to a height I’ve never experienced before. They need me, and I live for them. If I concentrate hard enough, I can isolate each individual, but the true glory is in the pack as a whole, their collective energy an incredible, almost overwhelming joy.
And in that moment, I know I’ve finally made it home.
THE END
***
