“The patrol assignments…”
“The detention supervisions…”
They shared a quiet laugh at the memories.
“We were blind,” Larissa murmured.
“We were scared,” Malcolm corrected.“Of this.Of us.Of how right it feels.”
“And now?”
“Now we do what we should have done years ago.”His lips curved.“We stop fighting it.”
“Just like that?”
“Unless you want to push me off another swing first.”
She laughed, the sound full of joy and possibility.“Imighthave outgrown that particular strategy.”
“Learned some new ones?”
“Want to find out?”
Instead of answering, Malcolm closed the final distance between them, capturing her lips in a kiss like coming home.Like every challenge and competition had been leading them here, to this connection.
When they finally parted, Larissa’s eyes were shining.“Ms.Everett really would be insufferably smug right now.”
“Worth it,” Malcolm murmured, pulling her closer.
Nick stepped forward once more.“As our coalphas seem to be busy at the moment, I’ll act as alpha one last time to ask, What do you say we seal this new chapter with a pack run?”
Malcolm and Larissa broke apart with a laugh, and the pack’s answering howls echoed across the desert night, the sound heavy with victory, of justice, of a new era begun.
The tingle of anticipation that always preceded a shift shivered through Malcolm’s skin.He looked to Larissa, seeing the same excitement mirrored in her face.
“Race you to the valley?”he challenged, already feeling his bones begin to shift beneath his skin.
Larissa’s laugh was cut short as her form blurred, replaced by her sleek wolf, fur gleaming in the moonlight.Malcolm followed suit.
It’s time to run.
As one, the pack surged forward, a river of fur and muscle flowing down the mesa.
Malcolm ran at the head of the pack, Larissa at his side.Their paws pounded the earth in perfect synchronization.
For the first time in longer than he could remember, Malcolm was truly, completely at peace.The cool night air rushed through his fur, holding the promise of change.
Gregory and Hannah’s defeat wasn’t just an ending—it was proof that their new way of leading, of being pack, was stronger than the old.Together, they had faced their past and emerged triumphant.
The future stretched out before them, as vast and full of possibility as the star-filled sky above.And Malcolm couldn’t wait to see where it would lead.
Because sometimes, he thought,the best traditions are the ones you make yourself.
EPILOGUE
THREE WEEKS LATER, ANDERSstood at the edge of Sunburst Mesa, cataloging details with his usual automatic precision.
The pack gathering for the monthly full-moon run displayed distinctly different body language from the tense assemblies under Vincent’s reign—relaxed shoulders, easy laughter, casual groupings rather than defensive clusters.
