Page 50 of Never Tamed
Did it give him a stronger purpose?
I glance back at him.
Maybe. It certainly made him more focused.
My claws dig into the snow, propelling me forward, the air cold and invigorating in my lungs.
Those two haven’t said much since last night, Dax and Mathis. Who the hell knows what happened between them; no one says shit to me, and Mathis keeps our bond blunted. It was powerful. I know that much.
Beyond the typical alpha and beta dynamic. They’ve always been more than that, haven’t they? Like real brothers.
I could ask. I want to ask. But I won’t. I’m not sure they’d tell me anyway.
The trek back to the old YMCA camp isn’t exactly quick. We knew it wouldn’t be from our position, but it’s easier than I thought. The snowstorm stopped and the clouds gave way to a constant stream of warm sunlight and a peacefully quiet forest.
This is the kind of winter day you’d see in one of those kitschy landscape calendars. Serene. Beautiful. And we don’t slow until the faint scent of fire and roasting meat filters through the air.
Exhaustion? Fuck it. Sore muscles? Who gives a shit.
Homeis waiting.
Everything else falls away as Torin crests the ridge. We pull up beside him in a single line, Ren a white wolf between us, peering down at our camp-turned-refuge.
If someone ever told me I’d want to be here, I’d call them an asshole.
But this is where both our packs had settled after Andras’s attack on Steel Tower. I pause and lift my face to the sky, drawing in a deep breath.
I don’t know what I expected, but nothing’s burning. No one’s fighting or at each other’s throats.
It’s just… life.
The Grey Valley wolves and the Steele Claws are spread across the camp’s center hub around a few roaring fire pits, all working together like they’ve done it for years.They’ve combined supplies, built up the perimeter. Someone’s reinforcing a fence while another pair organizes crates of canned food into stock piles.
There's talking, planning,laughing, even.
All without their alphas and betas to direct them.
Children laugh and play along the lakeshore glittering with frost and ice.
Ren shifts back into her human form first and straightens, her shredded clothes slipping over her. “Wow.”
Wow, indeed.
Clearly our packs’ old hatred hasn’t poisoned our people’s drive for survival. They’re working as one, like a single pack. Surprise filters through me and clears away the last cobwebs of old resentment.
We all change except Dax. He trots down the hill ahead of us, cutting a path from the forest to the clearing near the outbuildings.
Once we’re in eyesight, one of our Steele claws, Donovan, spots us and waves us down. “You’re back!” he calls out.
He’s one of our gammas who helped immensely when Andras blew up our building, and he’s been an asset in the adjustment phase.
“So we are…” Torin trails off, cautiously scanning the organized commotion. He must be thinking the same thing I am. “You’ve been busy.”
“We have,” Donovan replies with a smile. He looks out over the camp like he still can’t believe what he’s seeing. “Something changed while you were gone. People started listening—and working—together.”
Torin side-eyes him. “Are you sayingweare the problem?”
“Oh, no, Sir. No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he adds, snapping to attention. “We just realized that we may be two broken packs,but we have the numbers to become a strong one, if we work together.”
