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Strong, angry words.
And then we just decided to accept it, and moved on. Stealing women from Earth wasn’t exactly a steady or healthy way to strengthen our society, after all.
When the first few babies were born, a few pregnant women and some women with infants from the Peaks had moved down to join our pack, so their sons would grow up around little girls their age.
As more babies were born or conceived in our pack, more women in the other pack got pregnant, and moved in.
So, there were kids to deal with.
Lots of kids.
But I knew how to deal with kids, and the fact that they could shift into wolf pups made them the most adorable little creatures on the planet. I loved playing with them, and luckily, most of them seemed to like me too.
Ivaylo and I agreed we were nowhere near ready to make one of our own, but he was even better with the little monsters than I was, and I loved seeing him with them.
But anyway, our final single pack member was mated.
And now, Ivaylo and I were celebrating with a vacation we’d been talking about for years. He was taking me to one of the beaches outside the Shattered Hills, and we were going to spend a week with the sand between our toes and the suns shining on our skin. There would be plenty of beach sex to round it out, too.
I had started seeing bits of the ocean on the horizon a few minutes earlier, so I knew we were getting close.
Finally, we broke through the tree line, and let momentum carry us down the last of the hills. The reddish-brown dirt transformed into thick, soft sand of the same color, and I shifted without hesitation.
My eyes closed as my feet sank into the sand, bringing back memories upon memories.
Not of my difficult time in Savannah, but of all the fun I’d had as a kid, my grandma and grandpa laughing with me. Memories of the sandcastles we’d built, and the steady love I had felt.
It was hard to believe that my life had transformed into the one I currently lived.
One where I was an alpha wolf shifter, with people depending on me and a mate I loved more than I had ever imagined was possible.
Ivaylo’s hand captured mine, his fingers sliding naturally into the gaps between my own. “I knew you’d love it,” he said with a grin.
His emotions drifted over me—pride, happiness, and contentment.
“It’s gorgeous,” I admitted, staring out at the huge, crashing waves. “And damn, I’m proud of you. You kept those guys alive, and now, they’re going to stay that way.”
His grin remained fixed. “We all kept each other alive. I was just the… choreographer.”
I laughed. As far as either of us knew, there was no such thing as a choreographer in Evare. The shifters had probably learned more about Earth than they had ever wanted to, but it made us feel more understood, so all of us enjoyed it.
“Even choreographers usually get flowers and chocolates after a show. Especially one that lasted half a century.”
His expression grew slightly wistful. “I lost a lot of friends before that half-century. I wish all of them could’ve made it here to see this.”
My throat swelled as the strength of his grief washed over me.
The wolf shifters were finally starting to grow again, but I didn’t think any of them would ever forget their losses.
And honestly, I didn’t think loss was meant to be forgotten. I think it was meant to remind all of us that life is short, and in the grand scheme of things, only a few things really mattered.
I stepped closer to Ivaylo, and he slid an arm over my shoulder, tugging me to his side. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said simply, brushing a kiss to my forehead before looking out at the water.
“So am I.” I leaned my head against his shoulder.
We both knew grief.
We both knew loss.
