Page 89 of To Keep A Wolf
She nods.
“And that’s when you cursed us,” Levi adds quietly. There’s no judgment in his tone, though. Only understanding.
Rina sighs. “It wasn’t my proudest moment. Or most mature. But yes. The curse meant, as long as a Clemons was alpha, their mate bonds would be weakened. As a loophole, Arthur decreed mate bonds were forbidden. He thought by refusing your fated mate, the pack could still be strong. He demanded it, in fact.” She glances at my mother and then me. “But he was wrong.”
“You broke the curse when you killed Jadick,” Levi tells me.
“I don’t know what to say,” I admit. “When I drank that poison, I thought for sure we’d failed.” Levi winces, but I turn to Rina. “When you said you’d made a blood oath to Jadick to end the curse…”
She smirks. “Didn’t I keep my word?”
I shake my head. “You put an awful lot of faith in us.”
“I put faith in you, Mackenzie. And it was rightly placed.”
My mom steps up and slides an arm around my shoulders. “It was,” she agrees. “Thank you,” she tells Rina.
“The women of our family were brave in their choices,” Rina says. “I’m glad to see those choices have made you stronger. Our people were always meant to lead this pack. You put things right again and have given me peace.”
“The Mac pack,” Tripp says, and a few cheers go up.
I glare at him. “Absolutely not.”
“Right.” He ducks his head.
Levi tugs my arm, obviously entertained. “So? One pack then?”
“Please don’t make me choose, Mac,” Tripp puts in.
Grey shakes his head.
I hesitate then look back at Rina. “You were banished because you were an alpha’s mate,” I say. “With no authority of your own.”
“Back then, it was tradition that the male ruled the pack,” Rina says.
“Well, times are changing, and so are we. If we combine the packs, we do it as dual alphas. Equal in title and authority.”
Levi grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
EPILOGUE
The memorial is crowded. Even with the winter chill still lingering into early spring, the entire pack has shown up for what is unquestionably a historical event. Despite our early arrival, I haven’t seen Levi in hours. From the moment the guests began to arrive, we’ve been pulled along for small talk, introductions, congratulations, and, of course, commendation for the way we’ve handled the alpha house. Or, as my brain will forever refer to it, the Clemons house.
I couldn’t live in it.
Not for a single fucking day.
As soon as the dust settled on the events leading up to my becoming alpha, Levi and I knew two things: First, we’d never try to tell anyone who to love, and second, we’d never live in this damned house.
In fact, I didn’t even want to leave it standing.
Now, seven months later, it’s not.
The house itself was taken down two months ago, and since then, a memorial sculpture was erected along with markers for each member of the Clemons family. I might not want to live in a house full of violent, painful memories, but I also didn’t want to forget.
The future was about not repeating the past.
I intended to show everyone where we’d come from so they knew exactly where we weren’t going to go.
