Page 97 of Wolf's Providence

“Eamon?”

“Mm-hmm?”

Emotion once more had me in its clutches. “Will you help me clear out the cabins?” I reached blindly for the bottle. “I haven’t been… I can’t go inside them. Not again. Not alone.”

His hand clasped my shoulder. “I’m here.” His hand dropped away. “We’ll do it together.”

“Thank you.” With a deep inhale, my nose filled with the smell of burning wood. “Today, we cleanse the packlands.”

“And tomorrow?”

“We rebuild.” Looking over at him, I raised an eyebrow. “You with me? Or do you want to go? Your choice, I won’t force you.”

“Force me? Try asking me,” he said, taking a drink and realizing we’d finished the bottle. He stepped back and threw it into the flames.

“Will you stay?” I asked, unsure of his answer.

“Willow’s right, youarean idiot.” He walked past me, turning away from the hall and heading to the cabins. “You never needed to ask, Alpha. I’ve been here all along. You’re just finally ready to see it.”

I stood there for a moment, my heart too full to move. The flames danced in front of me, as they burned the tomb of my sins away. I felt a tug on the bond, knowing it was Willow and she was still irked at our behavior. It made me smile. She wasn’t really pissed. I could feel her sense of relief that I was okay too.

Then I felt another tug. Fainter. Slighter. I hadn’t felt that kind of pull in a long time.

Pack.

Eamon disappeared into the tree line, but I knew exactly where he was. Tears filled my eyes as my knees went weak, and emotion threatened to overwhelm me. “Holy shit,” I breathed out, dashing tears away before they had a chance to fall. “Luna…thank you for this gift,” I told her solemnly.

“You better not be standing still back there,” Eamon shouted through the trees. “I’m not doing all the work alone!”

“I’m coming!” I yelled back, sending another prayer of thanks to the sky as I hurried to catch up to him.

“What are we doing?” Willow’s voice sounded from across the way.

“Cleansing the cabins,” Eamon shouted back.

“I can help!” She sounded closer. “I heated up some stew I found in the freezer. Should I bring it?”

“Obviously!” Eamon called back. “I’m starving.”

My smile turned to a grin as I jogged across the clearing towards something I never thought I’d get.

A second chance.

TWENTY-NINE

Willow

In the quiet aftermath,the air felt sharper, fresher—like the storm had finally passed. I looked over at Caleb, standing there beside me, tired but unbowed, his strength radiating in the stillness of the forest around us. We’d spent almost two weeks emptying the cabins, laughing at the stories he and Eamon had of the ones who had lived here, and feeling the weight of their passing.

The final confrontation was behind us, yet the path forward was somehow clearer than it had ever been.

I caught him watching me, and he gave me a small smile. It was that same smile that had always stirred something in me, had always pulled me in, even when I’d tried to keep my distance.

“I guess that’s the last of them,” he said, his voice both relieved and steady, and it anchored me in a way I hadn’t realized I’d needed.

I took a breath, stepping closer, the weight of all that we’d been through settling in a way that felt whole, complete. “It is,” I replied softly.

Caleb looked at the last cabin as it burned, tugging me into his arms. We’d cleared out some cabins, others we’d burned.“It’s because of you, both of you; I couldn’t have done this alone.”

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