Page 26 of Red Hood, Bad Wolf

"I was wrong about you," he told Rowan three days later, catching her alone in the pack house kitchen. His voice was gruff but sincere. "Both of you." He nodded to Alder as he entered. "The pack needs this alliance with the Red Hoods. Needs you both."

Through their bond, Rowan felt Alder's surprise and relief. Thomas had been the hardest to convince, his distrust of Red Hoods bone-deep after decades of Mae's influence.

"The pack's healing," Alder said quietly, echoing their private conversation from days before. But this time it wasn't just words—they could see it in Thomas's acceptance, in Serenity's determination to learn proper herb lore from the Red Hoods, in Monica's dedication to building new bridges between their communities.

His father's ring caught the morning light as he pulled Rowan close, its spelled silver warm against her skin. Through their bond flowed shared hope, shared purpose, shared certainty that together they could build something new from the ashes of Mae's destruction.

Chapter 10

Two weeks after Mae'sdeath, with the pack healing and bridges forming between communities, Alder found Rowan in his study reviewing alliance documents between the Red Hoods and werewolves.

"Enough paperwork," he said, pulling her to her feet. The mate bond between them tickled with anticipation—he'd been planning something, she realized. Something that made their bond spark with nervous joy.

"It's the full moon," he said softly. "The pack is already gathering. And your Red Hood sisters arrived an hour ago."

Rowan's breath caught. They'd discussed a formal bonding ceremony but hadn't set a date. Through their bond, she felt his certainty that tonight was right. Even with his wolf rising, fighting to emerge under the moon's pull, he wanted this.

"Now?" Her heart raced. "But I'm not prepared—"

He smiled, that special smile that was only for her. "Serenity arranged everything before she shifted. Including your dress."

The traditional Red Hood ceremonial dress hung in their bedroom—crimson silk that shimmered like liquid fire. Monica had worked with Rowan's Order to combine Red Hood and werewolf bonding traditions, creating something unique for this first-ever union between their kinds.

An hour later, moonlight silvered the ceremonial clearing, turning everything to pearl and shadow. Red Hood witches in their ceremonial cloaks formed an inner circle, their magic creating soft lights that danced in the air. The pack gathered in their wolf forms, forming a larger circle—a ring of silver-touched fur and gleaming eyes. Their energy soared with acceptance and hope, their occasional soft howls harmonizing with the witch-lights above.

Only Alder remained in human form, fighting his wolf's urgent need to shift. He would speak their vows as a man, though the moon pulled at his blood. His father's ring gleamed on his finger, blessed silver keeping his change at bay for these crucial moments.

High Priestess Elena stepped forward, her crimson cloak flowing like blood in the moonlight. She alone would speak the ceremonial words, while the pack's voices would rise in wolfsong at key moments. The combination had never been attempted before—witch words and wolf song joining in blessing.

"Under the full moon," Elena intoned, "we gather to witness the binding of two souls, two traditions, two peoples long separated by fear and misunderstanding."

The wolves howled in harmony, their voices rising to the moon. Red Hood magic spiraled upward to meet their song, crimson light twining with silver moonbeams.

Alder took Rowan's hands in his, his skin fever-hot with the effort of holding his wolf back. The mate bond between them sang with all the love and certainty that came with finding your true match. Before all their witnesses, they spoke the words that would bind them forever.

"From the moment I first caught your scent," Alder said, his voice rough with emotion and the wolf's rising power, "my wolf knew. Even when I was fighting it, fighting you, something in my soul recognized its other half. You came to my territory hunting a monster, but you found your mate instead." His hands trembled in hers. "You showed me truth when I was blinded by lies. You fought for justice even when it hurt. You are everything my wolf could want, everything my heart needs."

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