Every step is agony. I can barely walk. It feels as if my legs are blades, and the shooting pain causes me to collapse. I have no choice but to crawl into my bed.
My face is wet. I am crying. Tears streak down my face.
This is it. The end of my life.
I am dying.
My last moments of life are a blur of misery, regret, and longing. I can no longer hear the howling of my pack nor feel their warmth, but in the darkness that encroaches on me as I draw nearer and nearer to my final breath, I know that they will always remain in my heart.
No, not the Fierce Growlers. Other than Erasmus, they turned their back on me.
It is not he that I miss either.
Flora.
Florentina Lockhart.
Did she go back to the Hallowed Hunters? But why? Has she decided to try to go out on her own? Another pack of one?
It does not matter. My eyes close, and I can feel how my heart is beating slower and slower and will soon stop. I never thought that solo wolf would succumb so quickly, but perhaps the loss of my father and my pack and the hope I had for a new pack is too much for me to bear.
But then, I hear it, a single voice in the night, soft and gentle and yet stronger than anything I have ever heard before.
Flora’s voice.
She waited for me after all.
It is a struggle to open my eyes, but as soon as we make eye contact, everything else fades away, and I am filled with an overwhelming sense of relief. I will not be alone after all. I have been reunited with my one true love.
As she takes my hand in hers, a warmth spreads throughout my body that is more powerful than anything I have ever known before, filling me with renewed strength and energy. I had not even realized until now that the shivering stops that I had been freezing.
At this moment, nothing else matters but us. No pack or bond can compare to the connection we share between our two souls. Nothing can take away this feeling of absolute bliss that fills every part of me.
“I… I thought you were gone,” I say, my words whispered as if I lack strength yet.
She smiles and shakes her head, her eyes twinkling in the dim light of the moon visible through my window.
“I will always be here for you,” she says softly.
And with that, she leans in and places a single, gentle kiss on my forehead. It is a sweet gesture of companionship and love that I will treasure forever.
I sit up, needing to be closer to her. As our lips press together, all of my pain and sorrow dissipate from my thoughts as I am filled with an unknown peace that cannot be described in words. All the fear of being alone is replaced with the assurance that this amazing woman will be here for me through all of life’s struggles. Together, we will create something beautiful out of whatever life throws our way. Nothing can keep us apart now.
“I will always be by your side,” Flora adds, her voice strong and unwavering.
“And I yours.”
I embrace her tightly, never wanting to let her go. Her warmth radiates through me, completely enveloping my soul like a blanket of love and protection.
Still holding her even as I draw back to better observe her beauty, I cannot help the question that slips through my lips.
“Where had you gone?”
“You went to leave your pack,” she says simply. “I had to leave mine.”
I stiffen, drawing her close to me once more. “Your alpha…”
“I am no longer a part of the Hallowed Hunters pack,” she says. “No one else was willing to stand up against him, as I hoped, but as much as I knew you did not wish for me to join your pack, I knew that you joining my pack was not in our best interest either, and so I left. It was not easy, but it was necessary.”
I gape at her, marveling at her strength. Her words cause my heart to ache for her and all that she endured, but at the same time, I am filled with admiration at her heroism and courage to take such a bold step all on her own.
“I do still want to follow their code so far as keep others safe from any evil, whether human or supernatural,” she adds, “but we can decide what is best for us. We can make our own choices.”
“I thought I lost you,” I murmur. “Without you, without my pack, without my father…”
“Do you wish to speak about him?”
“He… He became lost to his wolf,” I explain. “For years, he was his wolf, and shortly after I hunted him down to beg him to return and be my father once more, he died.”
“I am so sorry.”
I hang my head. “What if I had not sought him out? Would he have possibly lived longer? Did his seeing me somehow break through the animalistic hold on his brain? I do not know.”
“And your mother?” she asks.
“She died.” My stomach twists. “Years ago, a pack traveled close to ours. She was out hunting, and a male wolf from that pack sought to make her his despite her being married. She refused to leave with them and killed the one who sought her before the other wolves killed her. It almost broke me. I cannot imagine what my father felt, but it would be years and years later before his wolf would take him from me as well.”
“How horrific!” She draws back, her eyes wide as her hands fly to her mouth.
“What about your mother?” I ask.
“She died giving birth to me. As for my father, I have started to wonder if his death had not been an accident, but even if he had been murdered, I want nothing more to do with that pack, and their alpha has agreed to release me from the bonds of their pack.”
I brush back her dark hair and cup her face. “I already feel a new pack bond forming between us.”
“Yes.” She turns her face slightly and kisses the palm of my hand. “But that you almost died so quickly… You were near death, were you not?”
I nod. “I think the bond between us, the pack bond, already started even while we remained in our previous packs, so I was lost to both packs for a period when I thought you had gone.”
“Never,” she vows, her dark eyes gleaming with certainty in the moonlight. “I will never leave you again. Nothing will ever keep us apart. Not a pack of wolves, not a murderer, nothing and no one.”
I smile then and embrace her to me once more. No matter what life throws our way, we will be together through it all.
Hand in hand, I lead Flora out of my bedroom and out of my manor entirely so that I can show her around her new home.
As the night grows silent around us once more and we look out over the stars that twinkle above us, it is clear from the contented looks on our faces that this moment of peace is something far greater than being a part of a pack. It is a union between two hearts.