Page 40 of Bound By the Moon

“Death has come to visit again. Only this time, onthe heels of a warrior’s passing, another has been reborn to us.Death is not kind, or just, it simply is. Death has given us bothcause to mourn and rejoice today. We have lost our own, Jameson St.Marks. We have also gained one of our own back, Jack Reynolds.Today, we honor them both for their sacrifices.” I hated that itwasn’t me addressing the pack, or my mother, but neither of us wasin a place to do it yet. My mother had asked Mikael to start offthe ceremony tonight instead.

Eileen St. Marks walked up to the edge of the lakethen, to stand next to Mikael as I kept my position in thesemi-circle my pack had formed. “As the Alpha’s mate, it is myright to choose another to take his place with his passing.” My momchoked up a little on the last word, but otherwise she was doingfar better on the outside than I felt on the inside. “Normally, Iwould say that our daughter, Jessica, should take his place. Shehas a far greater calling though, as the White Wolf Ruler. In herstead, I would choose Mikael De’Lune to take his place as master ofthis pack. She leaned in, and kissed him on his left cheek, thenhis right before stepping back. “All hail your new pack master.Mikael of the De’Lune Pack.”

Those who were still in their human form took a kneewhere they once stood in the semi-circle. Those in wolf form, boweddown on their front two paws.

“St. Marks Pack.” Mikael corrected. “The name willstay, as is, in honor of the leader who gave his life to save hispeople.”

My mate couldn’t have possibly honored my father ina better way than that. The pack seemed to agree as a round ofhowls went up and joined into one singular voice. When it was timeto honor my father’s death, Ashley took Willow from me so that Icould shift with the others. No sooner had I shifted than Jack, whowas standing beside me, also took his wolf form. There was noquestion that he was something else altogether when seen in thatform. He was a wolf, and yet, he wasn’t. The ethereal quality ofhis being was mesmerizing. I stood there, just taking it all in fora moment. His wolf was now white, and oddly translucent with shocksof blue lightning flowing through him. The eyes that had beenpeering out of his human shape earlier were now somethingaltogether different too. They were solid white with one, tiny,round circle of brilliant blue. It was a blue that matched thelightning that shot through his wispy being. I don’t even know if Iwould have had words for what I was seeing, had I been human andable to communicate them. Instead I just took it all in, knowingthat he had no clue what I was seeing.

Something must have caught his eye, because hisfocus shifted from me to something just off over by the lake’sedge. He nudged into me, and after a quickening jolt of electrifiedenergy, I was able to see what he was staring at. Jack wasabsolutely straddling the world of the living and the dead, and notjust walking in both worlds, but connecting them. Standing there,by the edge of the lake, I saw my father. He acknowledged my lookwith a tip of his head before blowing a kiss in my direction. “Thewhite wolves send their blessing. They had enough juice to allow meto come say goodbye. Tell Mikael…” my father, even as a spirit, wasclearly humbled by the showing. “Tell him thank you for me” Itipped my head down to let him know I understood. Then I nudgedJack towards my mother. He seemed to understand immediately, andwent to make contact with her then. I’m not sure what my father wasable to say to my mom, but when Jack finally pulled away from them,she let out the loudest, most pitiful mourning yelp I’d ever heardfrom a wolf. The sound of my mother’s raised wolf voice carriedover the mountains beyond our pack’s borders, and was quicklyjoined by a chorus of howls that were sent up into the night sky tohonor my father, and my mother’s loss. My voice carried with them,our extended family, voicing our anguish and hope all once. Itfilled my heart to bursting, knowing that my father had built apack so strong.

We had faced so much as a pack in just a short time.As a family, we had been dealt more than any one should ever haveto endure in a lifetime. Yet, there we were, enduring, and movingforward. I took it all in, as we ran together that night. The scentof damp earth and pine needles pervaded my nostrils. The waves ofenergy that rolled off my pack mates, smashed into me, and brokeoff again in waves that reached out to the next in line. Eachcrashing wave of energy drove me forward that night. We ran deeperinto the forest than we usually did, all of us needing an outletfor our anger, our loss, and our search for a hopeful future.

I knew we wouldn’t find the end of our hardshipsthis night, but I vowed to the stars and moon above, and towhatever greater beings there were beyond us, that my people wouldfind peace. We would know a calm for a time, because we had earnedit. We earned it through hardship, and flexibility, throughtolerance of others, and the ability to come together under theworst of circumstances and see ourselves through to the otherside.

My vow to my people, spoken under the stars, wouldstick. I knew it would, and I stopped mid-run and sealed it with adetermined howl that was echoed back by the wolves of my pack. Theywould rally under Mikael, just as the rest of our kind would rallyunder me. I swore that I heard my father’s voice calling back inthat cacophony of sound, and maybe I did. I was sure he wasenjoying this one last run with us, even if we couldn’t see himthere.

***

EPILOGUE

17 years later…

“Willow, I need you to come somewhere with metonight.”

“But, mom, it’s the full moon, and I told Drea Iwould run with her.” When she saw that I wasn’t going to budge shethrew in, “But, it’s her first full moon run since she shifted.” Asif I didn’t already know that.

“I have it on good authority that Asi and Ashleyplan on running with Drea this time. She’ll be fine.”

“Seriously, mom?” Willow rolled her eyes at me intypical teen fashion. She turned her back to me as she lookedthrough her things for the tiny little piece of electronics shecalled a cell phone. “You would think it’s cool to make your firstrun with your parents, but it’s totally not! Remember when I firstshifted? I had you on one side, dad on the other, and freakingglow-in-the-dark Uncle Jack bringing up the rear. I’m lucky I haveany friends at all.” Her velvety brown hair was currently hangingdown to the middle of her back, with slight waves to it today. Icould tell she had been a little wind-whipped out on the lakeearlier with her friends. Luckily, the winds were dying down, andwere supposed to be non-existent by the time the full moon reachedits apex tonight.

I couldn’t help myself as I started laughing. Willowwas the only child I had. The coldness I felt in my bones never didleave me permanently. My body temperature was down well below whata normal werewolf was. I actually ran a little on the low side fora human now too. Needless to say, that low of a body temperaturewasn’t enough to ever sustain a werewolf pregnancy again. Mikaeland I had resigned ourselves to only having Willow to dote on, butthat wasn’t entirely true either. We also had Jack Jr., and Ashleyand Asi’s kids to spoil. We were living very fulfilled lives, butwe were all probably a little too over-protective of Willow becauseshe was our one and only. Thanks to the obligation Jack had as ourWraith Guardian, he was just as overbearing as having a thirdparent who couldn’t let go.

“Drea will be fine. I’m sure Luke will see to itthat she gets some space from them, and Jack Jr. will too.”

“Being rescued by her brother and cousin from herparents…” Willow huffed out her indignation. “Drea’s going to hateme.” She started whining which only made me want to laugh again. “Ipromised!” Now, I totally understood the drama I always put off onmy own mom.

“Willow, I promise you that she won’t hate you.Ashley is going to explain things to her, but you and I havesomewhere to go, and it’s important.”

“Ugh, fine!” Willow stomped off out of her room, andI went to my own to get everything prepared for the night. Sincethe future white wolves would be cut off from our ancestors, I tookit upon myself to write down their histories. Serena aided me inwriting their stories all the way back to the very first whitewolf, Aislynn. To my surprise, they weren’t all rosy stories fullof optimism and wonderment. Not all the white wolves had been goodpeople. Of the ones that more closely resembled myself, most metwith a quick end. Serena and I had finished up with the last whitewolf that came before me weeks ago. Since then, I continued to addmy own story, including how I found out that I was a whitewolf.

During the writing of the book, I had shoed Willowaway more times than I could count, telling her she wasn’t ready toread it yet. I knew a time would come when she’d want to know thecomplete history. Sadly, there would come a time when she wouldhave to know it. I suppose that’s why it took me so long to writeit. I knew when that time came, it would be because my baby girlwas about to transition into a woman, a white wolf in her ownright.

I had been feeling the change coming on for monthsnow. She was going to go through her final transition soon, andwhen she did, she would need all the knowledge she could grasp ather fingertips. I didn’t want her to be as blind to her powerscoming into play as I had been.

“Tonight is the night, then?” Serena had come for avisit a few days ago, and I let her read the last part of the book,my part. She chastised me for seeing the hero in most of the otherwolves, and not so much in myself.

“Yes, I’ve been feeling her final transition comingfor a while now. It’s time.” I smiled at Serena. “It must be oddfor you to be able to be a part of all this after so manygenerations of having to watch your lineage from the shadows.”

“It is both strange, and wonderful, my dear.” Serenasmiled, as she touched the book we wrote together.

“I find it odd that my mother sought redemption theway she did too.” When I finally found a moment alone with Serenaall those years ago, I was able to tell her the message that Keziahad sent back with me. ‘I was wrong, and this girl, finally one tobe worthy of our line, proved it to me. Do what you must.’ I stillwasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but Serena seemed to know, andever since that day a burden had lifted from her shoulders. Thechange was evident to everyone who knew her. It was good to seeSerena happy. After all, she had saved my life in more ways thanone.

“I found Kezia to be odd all around. Who’s to sayshe was even trying to redeem herself?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Her words brought me untold peace,surely that amounted to something on her end.” Serena moved awayfrom the book again, to look out my bedroom window.

“Serena, will it always be like this for our linefrom now on? Or do you think the reign of two will end with Willowand I?”

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