Page 59 of Wishes in the Moonlight (Rocky Mountain Wolves #4)

~Amanda~

The morning sun spilled golden light through the pack house windows as Troy and I descended the staircase, hand-in-hand.

My muscles still ached from the battle and the effort of channeling my Alpha authority the day before, and my thoughts were still tangled in everything we’d survived, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was carrying the weight of it all alone.

In fact, I was pretty sure I’d never have to do it alone again.

Muted voices and the faint scent of woodsmoke met us in the foyer.

The Crimsontooth warriors had gathered near the front doors, most of them spilling onto the deck outside.

Felix gave instructions with his usual cheerfulness, Evalina at his side.

Darius leaned casually against the wall, speaking with Savannah and Jasper.

And off to the left, behind them, stood Leo and…

Kalo.

I stopped short at the sight of him. In the rush of everything that happened after the battle, I’d forgotten to ask for an update on the genie. Seeing him alive and whole should’ve brought nothing but relief, but something about him had changed.

Not just the clothes, which were now modern. Not just his eyes, either: still golden, but lacking that otherworldly glow.

No, something else was different, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I noticed, just above the collar of his shirt, a mark.

A werewolf’s mark.

Leo’s mark.

My eyebrows shot up, and when Kalo turned and caught me looking, he tilted his head slightly, letting me see the mark more clearly, as if he knew exactly what had caught my attention.

Doing my best to pick my jaw up off the floor, I stepped closer. “I’m glad to see you’re still in one piece. I owe you more than I can say. You protected my people and you gave us time when we had none. Thank you.”

His head dipped in acknowledgement. “Thank you for keeping your word. You gave me my freedom… or something close to it, anyway.”

His golden eyes flicked to Leo beside him, and the Gamma’s shoulders tensed. In his stiff posture, I couldn’t see any of the happiness a newly-mated wolf normally radiated, and my gaze darted between the two of them, trying to work out the situation between them without asking directly.

“Are you leaving us, Kalo?”

He nodded. “I need to figure out what comes next for me. That means going with the Crimsontooth men, at least for now. But I’m glad things worked out for you, Amanda. I’m glad you got what you wished for.”

This time, his eyes found Troy, who had gone to talk to Felix, and his meaning couldn’t have been clearer. He wasn’t talking about the wishes I made with him; he meant the one my heart made, seven years earlier, on that night in the moonlight when Troy and I first met.

With a wistful smile, the former genie bowed his head once before stepping outside to join the others.

Leo watched him go, a mixture of longing and regret on his face. Since no one else was nearby, I didn’t bother dancing around the issue any longer. “What happened?”

His jaw tightened, as if the prospect of speaking about it pained him, but he spoke the words anyway. “After your last wish, Kalo started fading. I don’t mean metaphorically; he literally faded , like his body was being pulled out of this world one thread at a time. I could feel it. He was dying.”

I had a sinking feeling where this was going. “So, you marked him to anchor him here?”

He nodded. “I didn’t ask his permission. I didn’t have time. It was either mark him or lose him forever.”

Although I could understand the desperation he must have felt, perhaps better than anyone else, I still winced. “Leo…”

“I know,” he said, almost too quickly. “I know it was wrong. Rule number one of being a werewolf: never mark your mate without consent. And I never would have done it under any other circumstances, but it was the only way to keep him alive.”

“And now he’s angry?” I guessed.

“He’s quiet,” Leo corrected grimly. “Which is almost worse. He looks at me like I betrayed him, like I took away his freedom all over again, but I was only trying to save him.”

I knew a little about what it meant to take someone’s choice away. What it had felt like when Troy walked away all those years ago, thinking he was protecting me by choosing for me. I knew how easy it was to confuse protection with callousness, and how the feeling of betrayal could linger.

But I also knew the power of the bond, and that wounds could heal when you were honest and brave.

“Give him time,” I suggested gently. “It’s a lot to adjust to, but time has a way of untangling even the messiest knots. If it’s meant to be, he’ll come around.”

Leo looked down, and I could have sworn it was because he didn’t want me to see the tears in his eyes. “I hope you’re right. Take care, Alpha Amanda.”

Keeping his head bowed, he turned and followed the others out the door, staying close enough to Kalo to keep an eye on him but not too close.

My heart ached for them both, and with a deep sigh, I made my way over to where Troy stood with Felix, Evalina, Jasper, and Savannah. They all turned to me with warm smiles, and a strange feeling of belonging warmed my chest, chasing away the melancholy that had just been there.

These were my people, a strange sort of hybrid family bound together by chance and by choice, and I couldn’t be happier that they were all in my life.

“I want to thank you both,” I said to Felix and Evalina. “You went above and beyond to help us here. Tell Vaughan that if he ever needs help from Ravenstone, all he has to do is ask.”

Felix wore his usual grin. “We might just take you up on that. The last few months have been anything but ordinary.”

“No kidding,” Savannah said. “Spirits, the fairy realm, genetic experiments, and a genie? And every one of us finds our mate in the middle of it.”

“Fate has a strange sense of humour,” Jasper added.

Evalina beamed up at Felix. “It’s not a joke, though, so I think it must be by design.”

Felix squeezed her against his side, still smiling, but I could see concern lurking in his eyes.

“One thing’s certain: the world around us is shifting.

All this supernatural activity and the way the mate bonds have aligned…

it has to mean something. I don’t know what, but I have a feeling we’re going to find out soon, whether we want to or not. ”

That sobering thought silenced us all for a beat, until Troy slipped his arm around my waist.

“Normal or not, I wouldn’t change a thing about the way things have turned out.”

On that, we could all agree.

Outside, the Crimsontooth men began to disperse, disappearing into the trees as they marched back to the border to begin their trip home. I could see Kalo’s white hair bobbing among the crowd and Leo following a few steps behind him. Kalo never looked back at his mate.

When we could no longer see them, Troy leaned down to kiss my forehead. “So, Alpha, what do you want to do today?”

I took a breath, letting the peace of the morning settle deep in my bones. “Honestly? I’d like to go right back to bed and make up for even more of that lost time.”

He chuckled in a way that made it clear he agreed. “I’d love that too, but unfortunately, we’ve got a pack to run.”

We had a pack to run.

Goddess, how I loved the sound of that.

~The End~