A loud cheer arose from the crowd as two of the Dark Moon she-wolves succeeded at capturing their opponent’s flag.

“Well done!” Jasper shouted beside me.

Vivian and Eloise were in their fifties at least, but they had managed to outmaneuver men half their age in the ring. For the past year, all the women of the pack had begun to train alongside the men.

Our pack no longer operated under separate rules by gender. Actual families were scarce in the pack, so Jasper had encouraged everyone to form family units within the community when we had moved into town. Within each home, everyone worked together for the good of all, utilizing their strengths to care for each other and create a safe environment where everyone could hone their talents and learn new skills.

Even better, abuse and harassment had nearly been eradicated from the pack. Any hint of mistreatment was taken with the utmost seriousness—not just by the pack’s alpha, but by all.

In short, the entire community was thriving.

As the last of the night’s skirmishes ended, I bid farewell to my Sparkle Hollow friends as they went back to their vehicles and headed home. The wolves living in Pinedale filtered out slowly, chatting amongst each other as they exited the trees.

“Ready to go?” Jasper asked, appearing at my side.

I nodded, and we headed back to our house in silence, enjoying each other’s company. It didn’t take long for us to arrive at our house on the hill, where Jasper unlocked the front door and held it open for me to go inside.

“Another successful night,” I said as we went to our bedroom to get ready for bed.

“I still have to pinch myself sometimes to convince myself that all of this is real,” Jasper replied.

I leaned over and squeezed his side as he removed his t-shirt.

“Ouch!” he yelped playfully, tossing the shirt in my face.

“Just checking,” I teased with a grin. “Seems pretty real to me.”

He pulled me toward him and wrapped his arms around me, reaching up my back to put a hand at the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes as he kissed me deeply.

“Mmm,” he murmured. “Very real, indeed.”

“I almost forgot to tell you,” I mumbled against his lips. “Mila had a message from Sparkle Hollow.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jasper replied, barely listening as he began to remove my clothing.

“They want to have a meeting with us soon. Lex and Grace want to begin peace talks between our packs,” I told him.

In the time it had taken me to pass along the message, Jasper had managed to get both of us completely naked.

“Okay,” he said. He pressed his lips against mine once again, placing one hand on the small of my back and the other on my breast.

I kissed him back before biting his lip lightly. He pulled away with an eyebrow raised.

“What was that for?” he asked, bringing both hands down to my backside and lifting me into the air so that my legs were wrapped around his waist.

“Are you even listening to me?” I teased as he carried me to bed.

“Of course,” he said in mock offense. “I always listen to my luna. Sparkle Hollow. Peace talks. I’m totally in.”

I laughed as he tossed me on top of the covers and climbed onto the bed. “I should start telling you everything while I’m naked,” I joked. “I think you’d agree with anything I said if I did.”

“April.” He leaned over me and stared into my eyes, all seriousness. “You don’t have to be naked to get my attention. You are everything to me. Anything you want is yours.”

I placed my hands on his waist and tilted my head up to kiss him. “I want you,” I told him.

I moved my hands to his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist instead. He leaned back slightly so that he could grab my hands, intertwining our fingers together.

“I want you,” he repeated.