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"And for my mother, who had no recourse against your treatment of us; for my grandfather, who was an old man when you slaughtered him in this arena; and for my stepbrother, whose mate you kidnapped and tortured. For all of them, I give you the inglorious justice of being killed in the arena in human form." I paused, letting my words sink in. Watching the hatred and fury and finally fear roll through his eyes and his mind. "Maybe you will find the hell in afterlife that you gave us in life, Blake."
And with that, I hit him a final time, crushing his larynx and breaking his neck. He dropped like a stone, dead before he actually hit the ground.
I took a deep breath and released it slowly, then looked up.
Straight into my mother's eyes.
She was standing at the fence, her face serene and her gray eyes giving little away. I might have been a stranger for all the emotion she was showing, and I guess in many respects I was. After all, I was still a teenager when I'd left. Now I was an adult, and a trained killer besides.
But she hadn't changed all that much - there were a few more lines around her eyes and mouth, and perhaps a little gray in the red of her hair, but otherwise she was still very much as I remembered her.
I continued to stare at her, unsure what to do, what to say. Unsure if I even wanted to say or do anything. Awareness prickled across my skin, and I knew without looking that Rhoan was approaching. He stopped beside me, his fingers weaving through mine, then he, too, stared at the woman who had given us life.
After a moment, she smiled - a short, warm smile that said more in the few seconds it appeared than any words ever could.
I took another shuddering breath and felt like the weight of the world had lifted off my shoulders.
The horn rang out again, haunting, mournful. As the last notes died away, I said, not raising my voice, "By this death, and by right of ad vitam aeternam, I now lead this pack."
My gaze swept around them. No one looked away. No one countered or objected. They were all tense, waiting. It made me wonder just what Blake had told them about us.
I continued on in the same soft tone. "And my first order of business is this: The Jenson pack will no longer suffer the rule of one man, or one wolf. By my right of leadership, I declare that from now on, the Jenson pack will be ruled by a council of three."
A murmur ran through the crowd, a sound that was excitement and satisfaction and surprise all mixed together. For a pack that had been ruled for so long by tyranny, being given the right to have a say had to come as a complete shock.
"I hereby declare that Evin and Rayanne Jenson will rule in my stead until formal elections can be organized and held. These will happen within two months." I paused, my gaze sweeping the arena, searching for my stepbrother. He and Lyndal were standing near the gate, and there were tears in Evin's eyes. We hadn't told him this part of the plan. "Evin Jenson, do you accept the duty?"
He stood up a little straighter, his eyes shining. "I do."
My gaze returned to my mother's. "And Rayanne? Do you accept the position?"
"In honor of my father, who would be so proud of what his grandchildren have done here today in this arena, I most certainly do."
Tears stung my eyes and I had to blink them back. Proud was a word I'd never thought to hear when it came to our grandfather and us.
Rhoan squeezed my hand lightly, and I cleared my throat. "Then I formally step down from the leadership and hand over control to you both."
A roar erupted, the sound almost deafening. Rhoan tugged me into his arms and hugged me fiercely. "It's done," he said. "We made it."
I didn't reply immediately, just held on to him as reaction set in and my body shook. After a while, the awareness that someone was near grew and I pulled away, turning to see Evin and Lyndal.
"Come and meet your brother and sisters," he said softly, then spun around and walked away.
"Brother and sisters," Rhoan said, a silly grin on his face as he glanced at me. "How damn good does it feel to say that?"
"Brilliant," I said, as we followed Evin.
And it was brilliant. This place might not be home anymore, but we had family.
Finally, after all those years in the wilderness, we belonged somewhere.
Epilogue
The wind meandered through the treetops, filling the dusk with the whisper of leaves. The mountain air was cool, fresh with the recent rain and rich with the humus of the forest.
I walked through the trees, my bare feet sinking into the grass and leaving a trail of wet prints behind me.
In a couple of hours, the full moon would rise and I would become a wolf.
