Page 281 of The Dryad Storm

Quick as a flash, the Mages’ wands are charred to flame while several Lupines, Sylvan and Iris, a portion of Naga’s horde—including Raz’zor, Oaklyyn, and Ariel—and a whole host of his former-Mage Dryad’kin friends emerge from the Forest and surround them all. His friends Erin and Isil level branches at the Mages, the small black cat gifted to Isil by Wrenfir perched on his shoulder. Three Noi panthers prowl in with Isil, growls rumbling in their throats, and Erin’s lavender-spotted leopard kindred slinks in beside the panthers alongside a large purple moose kindred with impressive antlers, two bears, and several raptors, all of the animals poised for attack.

The Mages’ gazes dart around, taking in the Forest allies and kindreds.

“I’ve made my choice,” Valen says to his Mage’kin, staring his aunt straight in the eye. “I’ve chosen both my family and what I want to do with my life and my power. Your way isover.”

And then he turns and strides away, headed back toward his family.

“Wait, Valen... stop!”the woman cries.

Valen glances back and sees the Lupines, Wyverns, and Dryad’kin close in behind him, keeping the Mages at bay. He walks back into the clearing and strides up to Rafe, then stills before him and emphatically draws his tunic’s edge back from his shoulder.

Rafe studies him closely before nodding. And then Rafe straightens, his voice booming out over the clearing once more. “Valen Ulrich. Do you seek this Change of your own free will?”

A sense of anticipation builds in the air more intensely than before, and Valen’s heartbeat quickens.

“I seek this Change of my own free will,” Valen affirms.

Rafe draws nearer but pauses, Valen knows, to allow him time. To grant him this one last chance to step away.

But Valen is ready.

Surer than he’s ever been in his entire life.

Rafe’s smile broadens with parental pride as he takes firm hold of Valen’s upper arm once more, then lowers his teeth to the nape of Valen’s neck. Valen stiffens as his adoptive father’s canines puncture his skin, a sting chasing the motion.

He gasps as amber light bursts across his vision, his gaze drawn upward in a swooping rush that almost buckles his knees, the Xishlon moon seeming to enlarge above, his whole self drawn toward it. His chest expands with the deepest breath of his life as the entire Forest contracts inward to greet him in a euphoric tide. As the energy of the entire pack floods in and bonds to him, steel solid, connecting to his very core.

Rafe draws away, smiling, and the entire crowd bursts into cheers and applause as Valen’s internal Magelines and magic fade away and a new power rushes in, strengthening his already strong limbs, drawing the very Forest into his heart.

Suddenly the whole world is brighter, the moon’s glow more vivid as his every muscle is suffused with a tingling sensation that heralds his incoming shifter powers—power that will soon give him the ability to fully morph to wolf. The feel of Fern’s love for him rides out over the clearing in heady waves that he can newly scent on the very air, her flower-sweet aroma wafting toward him in an intoxicating rush that almost sweeps him off his feet.

And then he’s running to Fern and sweepingherinto his arms, the Forest’s love swooping in around them both.

Fern breaks into a delighted laugh before he kisses her ravenously,wolfishly, and she returns the kiss in kind. Valen draws back to look to her, his heart feeling moon bright, as he scents her heightened certainty.

Taking hold of her hand, he turns toward the rest of his loved ones. “I have an announcement!”

The raucous cheers die down, the scent of love and support rich in the air, Rafe and Diana beaming at him and Fern. Tears are running down both Elloren’s and his geomancer-aunt Bleddyn’s faces, the two friends clinging to each other as if joyfully waiting for what everyone likely anticipates is about to happen next.

Tears sheen Valen’s eyes as he takes them in. He knows how close Elloren andBleddyn were to Fern’s grandmother Fernyllia, Jules and Lucretia’s daughter’s namesake. And he knows what they all sacrificed to get Fern out of the Western Realm.

Hand in hand, Valen and Fern stride to the center of the clearing, everything washed in the loving light of Vo’s purple moon, and for a moment, Valen swears he can spot translucent white birds dotting the surrounding tree canopy. Swears he can feel the Ancient One’s and Vo’s and Oo’na’s and the Lupine Goddess Maiya’s combined light shining down on them all.

Clearing his throat, he launches into a recitation of his entire adopted lineage to all assembled, a look of grief briefly tensing Rafe’s, Elloren’s, and Trystan’s features when he gets to the names of the adoptive grandparents he’ll never meet—Vale and Tessla. And then Fern, in a voice clear as bell, recites her own lineage as well, Bleddyn and Aunt Elloren and others breaking into more intense tears as Fern gets to Fernillya’s name.

“Before my entire pack,” Valen announces, his heart thudding as he holds tight to Fern’s hand, “I take Fern to be my forever mate.”

A sound of joy escapes Fern, happy tears streaming down her cheeks, the entire crowd and even the moon above seeming to hold their breath.

“Before this entire pack,” Fern chimes in, “soon to be my own pack as well, I take Valen to be my forever mate.”

A roar of cheers rises as Valen pulls Fern into an enthusiastic hug, his beloved laughing and crying at the same time as he kisses her tear-slicked lips, the instinctual desire to set down a full mating bond surging and heating his blood.

But first, there is something he must do.

Something the Forest and the moon are calling him to do.

First, he must run.

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