In the end, the board fired Doug and had him arrested.
Jeremy was also placed on probation for not bringing it up sooner, which gave him enough time to sort things out with me and the other packs.
The wolves that tended to Dani’s wounds knowingly agreed to give the heart to a human. Those same wolves were the strays Fallen warned me about. Strays like Coren.
Coren probably offered them a place at his side once he took over our territory, which was why they helped him in the first place. His plan backfired the moment I took on my first shift.
“Are you ready to go home?” Fallen asked once we were through.
“To see Val?”
“Considering how well your wolf’s behaved, I suppose we have time for a short visit. Unless you disagree.” She gave Ash and Zander a pointed look.
“It’s okay with me,” Ash said, sounding exhausted.
“I’d like to meet this Val,” Zander agreed.
“Then it’s settled,” Fallen said with a huge smile on her face. “Let’s go and see Val.”
Epilogue
The morning of our ceremony, my stomach was in knots.
After everything that had happened with Coren, Fallen was even more determined to finish our bond. Before anything else can happen, I could almost hear her say.
The other packs were reluctant to side with our story, but once Zander went over the details, the other wolves slowly dispersed. Everyone except Coren.
No one explained where Zander was taking him, but knowing how upset the white wolf had been, I had a feeling it wasn’t just to place him under arrest.
Coren knowingly put all of the other packs in danger. If any of the wolves were to fall during an attack because of Coren’s little rumor, he would’ve been banned for life.
Wolves without a pack were one thing. Ones without a home and completely kicked out of all territories? That was something else altogether.
Needless to say, when Fallen mentioned the ceremony to Ash and Ash agreed to officiate it, things moved pretty fast.
And now, after a long day, it was almost over.
“Well, that was…” Jeremy trailed off, completely at a loss for words.
“Interesting,” Val offered, smiling at me and Fallen. “It’s certainly not the kind of ceremony I’d expected.”
Me either. Well aware of ribbon tying ceremonies, weddings, and everything in between, this was the first time I got to experience the bind between wolves for myself.
Much like my hunt with Fallen, we woke fir
st thing in the morning, leading a morning howl with the rest of the pack.
A pack hunt took place shortly after that, our wolves running as one while Fallen and I chased down and finally killed my first buck. It was freeing an exhilarating all at the same time, but it couldn’t compare to the run we shared with Val and Jeremy.
According to Fallen, it was what solidified the bond not only with her but the rest of the pack, and seeing as Jeremy and Val were a big part of mine, they got to go along with us.
“So do you have to run like that all the time?” Jeremy asked, reclining in a chair next to our bonfire.
“If my wolf needs it, yes,” I said, smiling at him.
“Oh, before I forget. Luke told me you could have your old job back. If you want it, I mean.”
I considered it a moment, then took Fallen’s hand in mine.