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Sadie’s eyes widened at me as Navin kissed the top of her head, a rare smile appearing on her face.
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
“Hear, hear,” Ora said, raising their mug and pausing. “We’re going to need some stronger drinks.”
We all chuckled. I glanced around the muddied and bruised group. We’d narrowly escaped the jaws of death and even more battles lay ahead.
“Good. I doubt I’ll sleep tonight,” I said. “Tomorrow we’ll be in Olmdere.”
“What are we going to do about that?” Hector tapped his finger on the wanted poster sitting in the center of the table. “These were all over town. I’d imagine the Rooks at the border will have them, too.”
“You could hide in the wagon,” Ora offered.
“And if they search it and find me, you’ll all be imprisoned.” Grae shook his head. “I can’t risk that. I’ll pass through on foot.”
“There is no passing through on foot,” Navin warned. “The Sevelde forest is filled with Rooks and booby traps. And being caught is a fate worse than death. The only way in or out is under.”
My mouth dropped open. “Through the mines?”
“But that is not without its risks, either.” Navin’s eyes grew haunted. “Though maybe for Wolves it won’t be as treacherous.”
“So we’ll split up and meet you on the other side,” I said, cutting Grae off with a look. “I swear to the Gods if you suggest I stay behind, I’ll throttle you.”
Grae’s lips twisted. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“We’ll come, too,” Sadie rasped, leaning forward.
She was met with a chorus of nos.
“You look one bad sleep away from death,” Navin insisted, pulling her in closer. “There’s not a whisper of you two deserting, nor Calla for that matter. Only Grae.”
“Why?”
“Maybe they want us to flip?” Hector picked at his dirt-stained fingers. “Maybe they’re hoping we’ll turn him in?”
“Well then, he’s an idiot,” Sadie growled. She looked at me. “Will you be okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” I assured her. “We’ll meet you in the capital. It’ll be easier for us to travel on four paws anyway.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively.
“You two should shift once you pass through the border,” Grae said. “We’ll need all the strength we can get when we reach Olmdere.”
“I can’t believe it,” Navin said, shaking the hair out of his eyes. “We’re finally going home.”
“Home.” My chest tightened as I nodded at him. “I’ve never known the true feeling of it.” Grae released my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulders. “But right now, here with you all, I think I’m beginning to understand.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Ora said, returning with two bottles and an assortment of teacups dangling from their fingers. They made quick work of passing them out and we raised our chipped teacups to one another.
“To the Gold Wolf pack,” Hector said, winking at me.
“No.” I shook my head. “No more packs.” I lifted my teacup higher. “To the Golden Court. To our family.”
They cheered as our cups clinked together and we swigged back our wine. I thought the Silver Wolves would make me feel this sense of belonging, but instead I found it in the back of awagon with mud-stained human musicians and chipped teacups. And I would fight the Moon Goddess herself to protect that feeling of finally being home.
The first thing I saw of Olmdere was the golden trees, the leaves of every hue from honey to amber to rust. A perpetual autumn blanketed the Sevelde forest despite the humid summer air that made my ringlets coil tighter. Beyond the marigold canopy and peeling white bark, the undulating hillsides of Olmdere waited for me... but first we’d have to cross the border.
The air was fresh, the sweet damp scent of earth after a rainstorm. We stopped at the edge of a forest, finding a creek that had turned into a rushing river from the storms. We were all in desperate need of a wash. As I stepped my bare foot into the cool water, I wondered if the ashes from the fires washed downhill in the water swirling around my ankles. The stories of Taigos and the villages above us flowed downstream to where I now stood.
