Page 84 of Curses and Casualties
“You can pass as anything you need to,” Amara confirms. “But this mark... it’s a sign that the supernatural world is at rights again. The Soul Bond lives, and with it, we all thrive. For centuries, we’ve been dying by degrees. No more.”
“What does that mean for everyone else?” Ryan asks, gesturing at the pack members still trickling into the crater.
“It means hope,” Amara says simply. “The heartstone dust you released carries the potential for new bonds. Wolves who thought they’d die alone will feel the pull of their mates. Humans with dormant magic will awaken. The artificial barriers the Elders built are crumbling.” She smiles, and it transforms her face. “You’ve given us back our future.”
Movement at the crater’s edge catches my eye. Caspian, bloodied but determined, is climbing down the broken stone. Each step clearly costs him, but nothing will stop him from reaching his daughter.
“Dad!” Scarlett looks up from where she’s still cradling Magnus. “Dad, stay there, you’re hurt?—”
But he’s already sliding the last few feet, landing hard but staying upright through sheer will. He crosses the distance between them in stumbling steps, falling to his knees beside her.
“My brave girl,” he whispers, pulling her into his arms without disturbing Magnus. “My fierce, brave girl.”
They hold each other, both crying now, and I have to look away from the raw emotion of their reunion. That’s when I notice.
“Where’s Elder Gray?” I scan the crater, the rim, the fleeing wolves. “He was just?—”
“Gone,” Ethan finishes, his voice hard. “That slippery bastard took off as soon as he saw me coming.”
“Should we go after him?” Erik asks, already moving.
“No,” Ryan says, freezing him in his tracks. “He’s lost everything—his Alpha, his power, his pack. Let him run. There’s nowhere left for him to hide that the new world won’t find him.”
“The coward will slink to whatever shadow will take him,” Amara agrees. “But his time is over. The world is changing, and dinosaurs like him will either adapt or become extinct.”
Ryan nods, though I can tell part of him wishes we’d ended Gray here. Still, we have more pressing concerns. Magnus hasn’t stirred in Scarlett’s arms, his breathing shallow and uneven. Caspian’s injuries need proper tending. And the pack—our pack now, I realize with a start—needs leadership.
“Amara,” Ryan says, “please help them. Both of them.”
The witches move forward, beginning their healing work. The silver-haired witch kneels beside Caspian first, her hands glowing with gentle green light as she assesses his injuries.
“Broken ribs, severe lacerations, but nothing that won’t heal,” she announces. “He’ll need rest, but he’ll recover.”
Jules approaches Magnus more cautiously, her expression grim as she examines him.
“The mate bond is what’s keeping him alive,” she says quietly to Scarlett. “His wolf pushed beyond every limit to reach you. Without supernatural intervention...” She trails off, but the meaning is clear.
“Do it,” Scarlett says immediately. “Whatever it takes.”
“It will drain me considerably,” Jules warns. “And there’s no guarantee?—”
“Please,” Scarlett whispers, and the word breaks on a sob.
Jules nods and places her hands on Magnus’s chest. Light flows from her fingers, brighter than the others, tinged with silver and gold. The strain shows immediately on her face, sweat beading on her forehead as she pours her power into the broken wolf.
Around us, the crater fills with wolves and humans, all waiting to see what comes next. The old order is dead. Pack members cluster in small groups, some tending wounds, others simply staring at the place where their Alpha died, trying to process the magnitude of change.
A young wolf, barely out of adolescence, approaches hesitantly. “What happens to us now?” he asks, voice small. “The pack... we don’t know how to live without the Alpha. And the Elders… How will we know what the Council wants?”
Ryan and I exchange a look, feeling the weight of what we’ve started. These wolves have known nothing but authoritarian rule their entire lives. The concept of choice, of freedom, is as foreign to them as flying.
“You learn,” I say gently. “We all learn together. No more Alphas who rule through fear. No more Elders deciding who lives and dies based on their own prejudices.”
“But who leads then?” an older female asks. “Every pack needs structure, needs guidance.”
“The pack leads itself,” Ryan says. “Those with wisdom guide. Those with strength protect. Those with compassion heal. But no one person holds absolute power over another’s life.”
“And what about the humans?” someone else calls out. “Surely someone saw what happened in the sky tonight. They’ll come looking.”
