Page 43 of Curses and Casualties (Hunters Hollow #3)

Georgia

T hat’s when Elder Gray makes his move.

Maybe he sees his last chance to salvage some control. Maybe he’s just stupid. But he yanks on Scarlett’s father’s collar, dragging the broken man to his feet.

“The Alpha is dead!” he shouts. “By pack law, the strongest takes leadership. I claim?—”

“You claim nothing,” Ryan says, each word clear and impossible from a wolf’s muzzle. “Your time is over.”

Elder Gray staggers back, eyes wide with terror. Around us, wolves and humans alike stare in shock.

“The old ways are dead,” I continue, Luna’s silver form radiant and glowing. “We offer a new path. Soul Bonds restored. Humans and wolves as equals. Magic free for all who seek it.”

“Stay and help us build this future,” Ryan adds, looking at each pack member in turn. “Or leave now with safe passage. But the time for half-measures is over. Choose.”

Some wolves immediately drop to their bellies in submission—those who’ve lost children, lost mates, lost hope under the old system. Others, mostly the Alpha’s strongest supporters, edge toward the forest with tails low.

“Go,” I say. “Run far and fast. But know this—the magic we freed tonight touches everything now. There’s nowhere left where the old cruelties can hide.”

They flee into the night, and I feel only relief. Elder Gray remains, still clutching the length of rope in his hands like a drowning man gripping driftwood. He’s been clever for decades, always betting on the side of cruelty, and now he looks old—broken—as the world pivots out from under him.

He drops to his knees. Not for show, but because he has nothing left to stand on. Ethan is quick to rush over and help Caspian.

In the sudden silence, the air tastes new.

Lighter. The heartstone dust spirals in the air, catching on the ragged clothing and hair and fur of every survivor.

The battle’s aftermath doesn’t look like the aftermath of any war the pack has ever seen.

There are battered bodies, yes, but also laughter, relief, wonder.

A few packmates, even some who bared teeth at us only hours before, begin to drift toward the crater, uncertain but drawn by a raw, animal curiosity.

“Your eyes,” someone gasps as Ryan and I shift back to our human forms.

“What does it mean?” another asks, voice hushed with reverence.

Ryan and I look at each other, and I see what they mean. His eyes now carry an oil-slick shimmer, shifting and changing with every angle like living opals.

“You have rainbow eyes,” I gasp, answering the question Ryan hadn’t even had a chance to form.

“So do you.”

“Are we stuck like this?” I ask, my eyes finding Amara.

Amara approaches us, her expression caught between awe and scholarly fascination.

“Not stuck,” she says, examining our eyes with the intensity of someone witnessing a miracle.

“Blessed. The rainbow effect—it’s the mark of a true Soul Bond.

It won’t always be visible.” She tilts her head, watching how the light plays across our irises.

“In normal light, your eyes will appear as they always have. But in moonlight, in moments of strong emotion, when you use your power… Then the rainbow will show.”

“So we can still pass as human?” I ask, relief evident in my voice.

“You can pass as anything you need to,” Amara confirms. “But this mark... it’s a sign that the supernatural world is at rights again. The Soul Bond lives, and with it, we all thrive. For centuries, we’ve been dying by degrees. No more.”

“What does that mean for everyone else?” Ryan asks, gesturing at the pack members still trickling into the crater.

“It means hope,” Amara says simply. “The heartstone dust you released carries the potential for new bonds. Wolves who thought they’d die alone will feel the pull of their mates.

Humans with dormant magic will awaken. The artificial barriers the Elders built are crumbling.

” She smiles, and it transforms her face. “You’ve given us back our future.”

Movement at the crater’s edge catches my eye. Caspian, bloodied but determined, is climbing down the broken stone. Each step clearly costs him, but nothing will stop him from reaching his daughter.

“Dad!” Scarlett looks up from where she’s still cradling Magnus. “Dad, stay there, you’re hurt?—”

But he’s already sliding the last few feet, landing hard but staying upright through sheer will. He crosses the distance between them in stumbling steps, falling to his knees beside her.

“My brave girl,” he whispers, pulling her into his arms without disturbing Magnus. “My fierce, brave girl.”

They hold each other, both crying now, and I have to look away from the raw emotion of their reunion. That’s when I notice.

“Where’s Elder Gray?” I scan the crater, the rim, the fleeing wolves. “He was just?—”

“Gone,” Ethan finishes, his voice hard. “That slippery bastard took off as soon as he saw me coming.”

“Should we go after him?” Erik asks, already moving.

“No,” Ryan says, freezing him in his tracks. “He’s lost everything—his Alpha, his power, his pack. Let him run. There’s nowhere left for him to hide that the new world won’t find him.”

“The coward will slink to whatever shadow will take him,” Amara agrees. “But his time is over. The world is changing, and dinosaurs like him will either adapt or become extinct.”

Ryan nods, though I can tell part of him wishes we’d ended Gray here. Still, we have more pressing concerns. Magnus hasn’t stirred in Scarlett’s arms, his breathing shallow and uneven. Caspian’s injuries need proper tending. And the pack—our pack now, I realize with a start—needs leadership.

“Amara,” Ryan says, “please help them. Both of them.”

The witches move forward, beginning their healing work. The silver-haired witch kneels beside Caspian first, her hands glowing with gentle green light as she assesses his injuries.

“Broken ribs, severe lacerations, but nothing that won’t heal,” she announces. “He’ll need rest, but he’ll recover.”

Jules approaches Magnus more cautiously, her expression grim as she examines him.

“The mate bond is what’s keeping him alive,” she says quietly to Scarlett. “His wolf pushed beyond every limit to reach you. Without supernatural intervention...” She trails off, but the meaning is clear.

“Do it,” Scarlett says immediately. “Whatever it takes.”

“It will drain me considerably,” Jules warns. “And there’s no guarantee?—”

“Please,” Scarlett whispers, and the word breaks on a sob.

Jules nods and places her hands on Magnus’s chest. Light flows from her fingers, brighter than the others, tinged with silver and gold. The strain shows immediately on her face, sweat beading on her forehead as she pours her power into the broken wolf.

Around us, the crater fills with wolves and humans, all waiting to see what comes next. The old order is dead. Pack members cluster in small groups, some tending wounds, others simply staring at the place where their Alpha died, trying to process the magnitude of change.

A young wolf, barely out of adolescence, approaches hesitantly. “What happens to us now?” he asks, voice small. “The pack... we don’t know how to live without the Alpha. And the Elders… How will we know what the Council wants?”

Ryan and I exchange a look, feeling the weight of what we’ve started. These wolves have known nothing but authoritarian rule their entire lives. The concept of choice, of freedom, is as foreign to them as flying.

“You learn,” I say gently. “We all learn together. No more Alphas who rule through fear. No more Elders deciding who lives and dies based on their own prejudices.”

“But who leads then?” an older female asks. “Every pack needs structure, needs guidance.”

“The pack leads itself,” Ryan says. “Those with wisdom guide. Those with strength protect. Those with compassion heal. But no one person holds absolute power over another’s life.”

“And what about the humans?” someone else calls out. “Surely someone saw what happened in the sky tonight. They’ll come looking.”

I smile, thinking of my old life, my research, the humans who have no idea magic exists all around them.

“They’re part of this world too, even if they don’t know it yet.

The magic we released tonight will awaken dormant abilities, call forth bonds that were suppressed.

But we don’t force it. We don’t hunt them or hide from them.

We coexist as we always have. And we prepare to welcome those who need our guidance. ”

A murmur runs through the assembled wolves. Some nod, understanding. Others look uncertain, even frightened. Change is never easy, especially when it upends everything you’ve been taught to believe.

“There will be growing pains,” Amara adds, addressing the group. “Other packs, other Elders who won’t accept this new reality. They’ll try to restore the old ways through force. You’ll need to be ready.”

“We will be,” Ryan says, and I feel his conviction through our bond. “But we won’t become what we fought to destroy. We defend ourselves, we protect the innocent, but we don’t conquer. We don’t rule through fear.”

Jules pulls back from Magnus with a gasp, her face pale but triumphant. “He’ll live,” she announces, and Scarlett’s sob of relief echoes through the pack bond. “Weak for a while, but the internal bleeding has stopped. The mate bond will do the rest.”

A commotion at the crater’s edge draws our attention. Owen, followed by a small group of humans carrying medical supplies, is carefully making his way down the rocky slope.

“Ryan!” my brother-in-law calls out, relief in his voice. “Thank god you’re alive. When we saw the mountain explode...” He reaches us and immediately starts checking Ryan for injuries, his medic training taking over. “Are you hurt? Either of you? That light show was visible for miles.”

“We’re fine,” Ryan assures him, but he submits to Owen’s examination. “Better than fine, actually. How did you get here so fast?”

“Started driving the moment the mountain lit up like a Christmas tree,” Owen explains, shining a penlight in Ryan’s eyes to check for concussion. “Figured you might need medical support, and I wasn’t wrong.” He glances around at the wounded. “This is going to keep me busy for a while.”

As Owen begins triaging injuries, assisted by the human volunteers he brought, I’m struck by how natural it looks. Humans and wolves working together, no fear or hostility, just people helping people.

“This is how it should be,” I murmur to Ryan.

“This is how it will be,” he corrects. “Starting now.”

The eastern sky is beginning to lighten, the supermoon fading as dawn approaches. Around us, the work of rebuilding begins. Not just the physical damage—though there’s plenty of that—but the fundamental structure of how supernatural beings interact with each other and the world.

It won’t be easy. There will be setbacks, resistance, those who cling to the old ways of power and control. But as I look around at the faces in the crater—hopeful, determined, ready to build something better—I know we’ve planted seeds that will grow into something beautiful.

“So what’s our first move?” Ethan asks, joining our impromptu leadership circle. “Other packs will have felt the magic shift. They’ll come to investigate, and not all of them will be friendly.”

“We prepare,” Ryan says. “We consolidate our people, establish safe zones for those who want to join us. We reach out to allies like the úlfhéenar, build a network of support.”

“And we document everything,” I add, my academic mind already spinning. “The ritual, the bond, what we’ve learned about magic and heartstones. If something happens to us, others need to be able to continue this work.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” Scarlett says fiercely, from Magnus’s side. “We won’t let it.”

“That’s what family does,” Ethan says. “We protect each other.”

The word hits me with unexpected force. Family.

Not just Ryan and me, bound by magic and love, but all of us.

Scarlett and Magnus, figuring their way back to each other.

Ethan, loyal and brave and steadfast. Caspian, who risked everything for his daughter and for us.

Owen, who followed us into danger without question.

Even Amara and the witches, Jules and the others who’ve thrown their lot in with ours.

We’re not just a pack anymore. We’re something more.

As the sun crests the horizon, bathing the crater in golden light, I feel the future spreading out before us like an uncharted map. There will be adventures, challenges, moments of joy and sorrow and everything in between.

But we’ll face them together.

The world might be waking up, but we’re going to help it learn to dream again.