Moon Sworn

Chapter 16

As eager as we all were to confront Blake, getting rid of him wasn’t simply a matter of walking onto Jenson pack land and challenging him. We had to stop his whole damn family, because Blake was simply one poisonous head on the Medusa. Cut him off, and another would grow in his place.

And whoever replaced him would probably be even more hell-bent on revenge.

To end the cycle, we needed to bring down the whole lot of them. Maybe then those who didn’t quite fit into the Jenson pack ideal could live free of tyranny and fear.

So we spent precious time tracking down every one of his siblings and his get. Where possible, Jack sent out vampires to read their minds and gather information. It quickly became apparent that the Jenson pack’s change of fortune hadn’t come from good management but rather blackmail, robbery, and even murder. And as I’d suspected some time ago, Henry Bottchelli—the man who’d hired the red Mazda driver to follow me—was one of Blake’s aliases. He had several others, as did Tyson and most of his sons.

We worked practically nonstop. We gathered our evidence, we stuck our fingers into their bank accounts, and we raided their computer systems, and slowly but surely we got ready to snatch the whole damn lot of them.

When Jack wanted vengeance, he went all out. And with the force of the Directorate behind him, it was a pretty awesome sight to behold.

In the end, it took us nearly three days to get to the Northern Territory. Quinn’s plane landed in Alice Springs at four forty-five, and by five, the three of us and our one bag had cleared security and we were heading out into the car park.

The air was clean and warm, and it smelled like home. I inhaled deeply, loving the crispness of it, the way the flavors and the scents suddenly seemed all that much sharper.

It would be nice to come back here occasionally. Maybe once Blake had been dealt with, we could. After all, we now had a reason. We now had family.

You always had family, Quinn commented. It’s just that it wasn’t by birth and blood.

He was right, of course.

When you hang around on this Earth as long as I have, you get to know a thing or two. He smiled, but his dark eyes were serious. Whatever happens after today, Liander and I will always be here.

I know. And it warmed the places deep inside that had been cold and empty for so long.

A large black SUV pulled up. Evin and Lyndal climbed out. Evin smiled when he saw us, but then surprise crossed his features.

“No guns?”

“We don’t need them,” Rhoan said, his voice calm. Yet an undercurrent of violence and excitement rode through every word and motion. The switch to guardian mode hadn’t been flicked yet, but he wasn’t far from it.

“But the minute we enter pack land, he’ll know,” Lyndal commented softly. “He’ll have shooters in place.”

“Which is why,” I said, opening the SUVs back door, “we asked you to rent this type of truck rather than just a car. You know all the locations of the border guards. You, Lyndal, and Quinn are going to go to each and every one of them and take them out as we stroll onto pack land.”

His frown increased. “But we don’t use SUVs to move from location to location. There’s no need to, when a good run is the best way to get anywhere or to finish a shift. They’ll know something is up the minute they spot it.”

“Blake’s still doing his surprise inspections, isn’t he?” Rhoan asked, resting a hip on the side of the SUV and crossing his arms.

It wasn’t really a question, because we’d already gleaned the answer from the minds of his family.

“Yeah, but—”

“But,” I said, “a recent car accident mangled his leg, and even though he shifted to heal it, infection has set into the bone and he’s recently undergone a series of operations to fix it. He’s been ordered to keep off his leg as much as possible, in either wolf or human form.”

Which is why he’d been limping when he’d confronted me at the truck accident. And why he’d looked so beaten up.

Lyndal stared at us. “How do you know all that, when even we didn’t?”

“We’re guardians,” Rhoan said blithely. “We know all sorts of shit.”

Evin raised an eyebrow, amusement warring with concern. “That doesn’t alter the fact that the minute we get close enough, they’ll know we’re not Blake and warn the pack.”

“Which is where this comes in,” Quinn said, and raised the bag he was carrying. “It’s a jammer. The minute I switch it on, all phones and radios will cease to work. And as we drive up, they will see Blake, not us.”

Evin stared at him. “You can do that?”

“Easily.”

“Wow.” He swallowed. Obviously, no one had ever told him just how powerful old vampires could be.

“Besides,” I added, “Rhoan and I walking onto the pack land will catch their attention and give you time. Blake won’t order us to be shot immediately. He’ll want the whole pack to witness our defeat.”

“But—”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. And you and Lyndal will be safe—Quinn will make sure of it.” I glanced at my watch. We were cutting it fine. Jack had his end of the whole show—arresting all various siblings and offspring who weren’t currently on pack land—set to go at six, and it’d take us nearly an hour to get onto Jenson lands.

“Now stop worrying, get in the car, and get us there.”

“I’m not worried about me and Lyndal,” he said, but climbed into the car and started it up.

It was a quiet journey out. I sat in the back between Lyndal and Quinn, with Quinn’s arm draped loosely around my shoulders and his fingers gently caressing my arm. It was comforting, that touch, and yet it gave me strength.

I’d spent most of my life avoiding the confrontation I was now driving toward, and it was damned good to know that I wasn’t doing it alone.

Was I scared?

Hell, yeah.

I’d seen wolf fights. I was well aware of how bloody they could get. How deadly. And while I had faith in both my fighting skills and Rhoan’s, I wasn’t trusting fate. I wasn’t blithely walking in there thinking everything would go our way.

We would both get hurt doing this, I knew that.

But deep inside me, there also burned a hunger to be done with it.

This was the last step in washing my hands of my old life. From now on, I could focus on me, Quinn, Rhoan and Liander, and the pack and the life we were creating for ourselves.

And more than anything else, that’s what drove me past the fear.

The flat red landscape soon gave way to red outcrops of rocks and the soaring hills that filled pack land. The twisting anxiety in my stomach grew the closer we got, and by the time Evin pulled over to the side of the road, I really thought I was going to be sick.

“This is it,” Evin said, looking back at me through the rearview mirror. “We’re five minutes away from our border. We need to cut inland here if we’re to get to the first outpost.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Then let’s do this.”

Quinn opened the back door and climbed out. The evening air swirled around me, thick with the rawness of nature. I took another deep, steadying breath, then climbed out.

“Good luck,” he whispered, his arms going around my waist as he gently kissed me. “I won’t tell you to be careful because, given what’s about to happen, that’s a pretty useless sentiment. But do try to not get too slashed up. The full moon is in a couple of days, and we have a sunset wedding.”

“I have no intention of either missing our wedding or being too messed up to enjoy our first night as a mated couple.” I kissed him again. “Although you do realize that, since I’ll be a wolf once the moon rises, it’s not going to be the usual human type of night.”

He smiled and ran a finger lightly down my cheek. “We have the rest of our lives to celebrate sexually. That night will be a celebration of an event I never thought would happen.”

“Riley,” Rhoan said softly behind me.

I kissed Quinn quickly one more time, then spun around and looked back at Evin. “Quinn will tell you when it’s safe to approach the compound.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

I glanced at Lyndal, who was looking decidedly nervous, then caught Rhoan’s hand and walked away without looking back. When we crossed the invisible line that marked the beginnings of pack land, something within me stirred—an eagerness, a hunger that, until now, had remained in the background.

The wolf within me wanted this.

Wanted it bad.

We let go of each other and broke into a run. We didn’t run at top speed, simply because we actually wanted to be spotted. Blake needed to know we were coming—and give the all clear—before Quinn, Evin, and Lyndal got to the scouts and put them out of action.

The sensation of being watched soon began to grow, until my whole neck itched with it. The tension emanating from Rhoan suggested he felt it, too.

I kept running, but my gaze swept the barren landscape, looking for watchers that Evin mightn’t have known about. After all, Blake would more than likely have introduced stricter security measures once his plot against me had started. He was smart enough to realize the Directorate would retaliate the minute they found any connection.

It’s just a shame he wasn’t intelligent enough to keep his anger and need for revenge to himself, rather than actually acting upon it.

We started up the long slope that was the final division between us and the place we’d grown up. My stomach was still in knots, and my heart was beating nine to the dozen. We reached the top and, as one, slowed.

Below us lay the valley of our childhood. In many respects, it looked more like a large ranch with lots of outbuildings than a city like Dunedan. The old, wood-shingled buildings blended in with the red of the surrounding countryside and contrasted sharply against the bright pockets of green—the football oval, the cemetery, and the few acres surrounding the dam that had always been the swimming hole for every kid who grew up here.

There were people out and about but, as yet, it didn’t appear that we’d been noticed. My gaze went almost with a will of its own to the ramshackle but beautiful old house that sat one behind—and slightly to the side—of the main gathering house. That’s where we’d grown up. It had been our grandfather’s place, but never really our home, as much as our mom had tried to make it seem otherwise. Our grandfather had tolerated us, he’d fed us, and he’d educated us, but he’d never really loved us. We were half-breeds and, in his eyes, a tarnish on the Jenson name.

Maybe that was why he’d turned a blind eye to so much of what Blake and his family had done to us over the years. He’d always stopped it from going too far, but I think that had been more for Mom’s sake than from any real need to protect us.

Mom.

For the first time since all this had begun, I actually began to think about her. Neither of us had seen her for well over ten years. We didn’t communicate, didn’t share birthdays or Christmas or Easter.

And yet I knew she’d loved us.

How was she going to react when she saw us? When she realized what we were going to do?

How the hell were we going to react when we saw her?

I shivered and rubbed my arms. Rhoan hugged me fiercely. Then, without saying a word, he wrapped his fingers around mine and started off down the hill.

We were spotted about halfway down. Initially it was nothing more than people briefly pausing for a look, then getting on with whatever they were doing, but word of who we were must have gotten around fairly quickly. By the time we’d hit the valley bottom, we’d drawn quite a crowd.

But it was a silent one, and that was weird.

Rhoan released my fingers as we neared the first of the outbuildings, but he kept close, our arms brushing each other as we walked. The tension that had been riding him earlier had gone, and he walked with the loose-limbed ease of a predator who knows his prey cannot get away.

I wished I could imitate him, but it simply wasn’t possible.

Scents swirled around us, rich with familiarity and memories. I closed my mind to them, concentrating on the silent figures watching us, wondering what they were thinking but not daring to find out. Their expressions were closed, unreadable, and for one uneasy moment, I wondered if we’d misjudged the pack. Wondered if we’d bitten off more than we could chew.

We continued up a slight incline, heading toward the main gathering hall. Blake could have been anywhere, but the hall was the seat of power for the pack. It’s where business was handled, where justice was meted out, and where major events were celebrated.

If he knew we were coming—and he surely did by now—then this is where he’d be.

Of course, our confrontation would not happen in the hall itself, but rather in the arena behind it. It was here where the blood disputes were handled and where the challengers to leadership were heard and decided.

Blake had killed my grandfather and taken over the leadership there, and now it was where he would meet his own death.

Behind us, the crowd continued to grow, sweeping in behind us and effectively cutting off our exit. The scent of wolf and home and anticipation swirled around me, filling my lungs and twisting my stomach. I flexed my fingers, but it didn’t do much to help me relax.

Then two figures appeared out of the building above us. Both were males, broad of shoulders and strong of build. Both wore contemptuous expressions.

Blake and his brother Tyson.

I glanced at my watch. It was after six. Jack’s half of the operation had already swung into action. If Blake had any suspicion that his empire was crumbling around his ears, he wouldn’t be standing there so calmly.

We stopped when there were still ten feet or so between us, with Rhoan slightly behind me. This was my gig, my revenge. He was here as my second and my backup, though in truth he was a better fighter than me. And he’d need to be to take out Tyson, who was almost half his width again.

“You trespass, wolf,” Blake said, his voice booming out across the windswept silence.

“And you, Blake Jenson, stand accused of fraud, kidnap, and murder.” I took a piece of paper out of my pocket and threw it at his feet. “You may read the charges if you wish.”

He didn’t bother looking at the paper, just left it fluttering at his feet. “So you’re here to arrest me?” His expression was mocking. Contemptuous. “You and I both know that pack land rights give you no such power.”

“Pack land rights give the police no power,” I corrected. “But we’re not police. And we’re not here to arrest you.”

“Then what are you here for?”

“To carry out the sentence.”

A murmur went through the crowd, rising and falling like a tide. Neither Blake nor Tyson seemed concerned.

“As I said, pack law gives me protection. Kill me, and my family will see to it that you, the Directorate, and everyone in your family pays for it—legally and monetarily.”

I smiled thinly, my expression no doubt as contemptuous as his. “Right now, both your family and Tyson’s—

every son, daughter, brother, and sister—are being rounded up by Directorate personnel. Their fate very much depends on just how deeply they’ve been involved in your schemes. Personally, I wouldn’t care if they wiped out every last trace of your DNA from this earth.”

That wiped the smiles off their faces. Blake clenched his fists and took a step forward. “You wouldn’t dare.”

I stepped forward, meeting him glare for glare. “I warned you what would happen if you came after us again. And this is just the beginning.”

“What do you mean?” Tyson said, and just for a moment, there was doubt and uncertainty in his expression. But Tyson, for all his size, had never been half the powerhouse that his brother was.

“I mean,” I said softly, my gaze not wavering from Blake’s, “that I challenge you to ad vitam aeternam.” Which was an old Latin phrase that meant to eternal life.

In other words, a fight to the death.

His eyes widened ever so briefly, then he threw his head back and laughed.

Laughed.

The man was a bigger fool than I’d thought.

No one else seemed to find it funny. Not even his brother, whose expression now wavered between uncertainty and fear. Tyson obviously had some sense of the trouble they were in. Blake didn’t.

“Riley, Riley, Riley,” Blake said, wiping at his eyes as if there were tears of mirth there. “I couldn’t have asked for a better solution to our problem.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Because I’ve been going out of my way not to kill you, and here you hand me the perfect opportunity with no chance of repercussion from the Directorate.” He shook his head, as if he couldn’t quite believe his luck. “I shall enjoy ripping your throat out, in much the same way as I enjoyed ripping out your grandfather’s.”

“If you last that long, you’re welcome to try,” I said softly, and stepped back.

Rhoan took my place. “Tyson Jenson, I challenge you to ad vitam aeternam.”

Blake frowned. “You can’t. He now no longer lives on these lands—”

“No, he runs his own pack in Queensland,” Rhoan said smoothly. “But he is here, and therefore falls under the rules and regulations of this pack. We checked.”

Blake’s expression darkened. “I know the rules—”

“Where is your son Lodden?” Rhoan cut in.

Blake’s fists clenched. “He played no part in my vengeance. He has no role in the arena.”

“The jury is out as to whether he was involved in what happened to Riley, but we have evidence of him being fully immersed in your other schemes.” Rhoan paused, but Blake didn’t waste breath denying it. “So he has the choice. He can take his chances in the arena with me, or he can be arrested and risk pleading his case to the Directorate.”

And if the Directorate—in the guise of Jack—thought his crimes were bad enough, then Lodden would die regardless. No ifs, buts, or maybes.

“Where is he, Blake?”

There was a flicker in his eyes, but it was too fast to identify. It could have been fear, it could have been cunning. Maybe even both.

“He isn’t here. He’s checking the boundaries.”

Rhoan glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. He didn’t believe Blake any more than I did. But it didn’t matter. Lodden could hide for now. We’d find him easily enough later.

“What is your answer, Tyson?” Rhoan said.

He had no choice, we both knew that. Once a challenge was issued, there was no walking away from it.

“Yes. The answer is yes.” Tyson shook his head and gave his brother an almost bitter look. “You’ve killed us all with your need for vengeance.”

Blake swung around to face him. “We will win this. Have no doubt of that.” He glanced back at us, and spat. The globule landed at Rhoan’s feet. “We’ve beaten this trash before. We’ll do it again.”

Rhoan merely smiled. There was nothing warm or pleasant about it. “Then let’s get to it.”

“Yes, let’s,” Blake said, all arrogance. “I have somewhere to be later this evening.”

He spun around, presenting his back to us, showing his contempt. I shared another glance with my brother, saw the slight twitch of his fingers as temptation called, saw the deeper hunger and anticipation in his eyes. But he didn’t say anything, and neither did I. We simply followed our nemesis around the meeting hall to the arena at the back.

There was already a crowd gathered there. My gaze swept the sea of faces, but I couldn’t see anyone familiar. If our mom was there, she’d changed beyond recognition.

But I very much suspected she wasn’t there. She’d no doubt been forced to watch Blake rip her father apart, and she probably had little faith that we could win this one. No one in their right mind would want to see such violence again.

The arena was just over an acre in size, and positioned on a slight incline. The ground was strewn with boulders and broken trees, and no grass ever grew in the soil. It was if the blood of all those who had fought and died in this place had made the earth barren.

The gate slid open as we approached.

“Left corner,” Blake said, as the four of us walked through.

The left corner was prime position. It was close to water and situated at the top of the incline. We’d known Blake would claim it, even though as challengers, the call was legally ours.

We trudged down the hill, watched by the silent crowd, surrounded by their anticipation and tension. I flexed my shoulders, trying to not let it get to me.

“We need to end this fast,” Rhoan said softly. “There can be no chances, no mistakes, and definitely no doubt in anyone’s mind of the consequences should anything like this ever happen again.”

“Blake’s ruled for years, and he knows this arena well.” I shook free of my jacket as we neared the other end of the arena. “And he packs more weight than me. That’ll tell in this fight.”

“He may be bigger, but you’re faster and stronger.” He gripped my arm. “You’ll be fine.”

“I know.” I also knew that it wasn’t going to be as easy as Rhoan believed.

I rolled my shoulders, flexed my legs. Prepared, as much as anyone could prepare for the brutality that was a wolf fight.

Halfway up the arena, a green flag went up. A horn sounded immediately—its note haunting and poignant—

informing all those not already aware that ad vitam aeternam was about to start. As the final notes drifted away on the breeze, the flag dropped.

Rhoan and I jumped forward as one, flowing from one shape to another as we raced up the hill. Blake and Tyson were already halfway down, suggesting they’d jumped the flag, their growls and fury staining the crisp air.

I swerved to the left, getting out of Rhoan’s way, running at an angle across the hill. Blake moved to intercept me, taking several gigantic strides before he leapt. I met him in the air, our chests crashing together, the sound cracking across the arena like a whip. I bared my teeth and lunged at his face, snapping and snarling. His teeth slid across my nose, tearing into flesh as we dropped to the ground. I dove away, twisted around, rearing up on my back legs as he came at me. Again our chests met as my paws clawed his side and my teeth sank into the ruff of his neck. He pulled away, but I hung on, twisting and shaking my head, trying to tear flesh. He snarled and slashed with his jaws, his canines ripping into my ear. I released him, jumped back. Felt the blood coursing down my neck, thick and warm.

Saw, out of the corner of my eye, the glint of silver on a distant rooftop.

A rifle.

Aimed at Rhoan, not me.

Fury swept me. I should have known the bastard wasn’t going to play by the rules.

Blake lunged. I twisted around, rolling under his leap, then ran, with every ounce of strength I had, toward Rhoan. Heard the crack of a gunshot, and dove, shifting shape as I did so, straight at my brother. I hit him just as he was leaping at Tyson, heard his grunt of surprise as I grabbed him with both arms and rolled us both out of the way. Tyson flew over the top of us, but Blake was right behind.

The bullet that had been aimed at Rhoan’s head went through my leg instead. It was silver, and it burned like a bitch, but it also went in one side and came right out the other without appearing to do any serious damage. For once, fate was giving me a break.

“Sniper on the rooftop,” I said, releasing his midriff and rolling to my feet. He scrambled to his, meeting Blake’s charge chest first as the big red wolf leapt, knocking him to one side before twisting around to meet Tyson’s charge.

I kept in human form and ran, every sense I had focused on the sniper. He was aiming again. There was only one way to stop him. I threw open my shields and hit him with every ounce of telepathic power I had. I felt the brief resistance of a nanowire before it shattered under the force of my attack and I plunged into his mind. This was no gentle attack. It was hard and fast and brutal, and his mind snapped as easily as the nanowire.

Lodden Jenson wasn’t dead, but his mind was.

I bent, scooped up a rock, then twisted around and threw it at Blake. I moved so fast he didn’t even see it coming, and the rock smashed into his face full force, shattering his nose and jaw. His furious growls turned to a high sound of pain and he stuttered to a halt, shaking his head to clear the blood that was spurting into his eyes.

“We gave you the chance to play fair, Blake. We were obeying the rules of the arena when, by law, we could have just walked in here and killed you both. You chose to fight dirty, so that’s exactly how I’ll kill you.”

And with that, I shifted shape and lunged at him. He saw me at the last minute and jumped away, but anger fueled my movements now and he was far too slow. I hit his side and sent him tumbling. He rolled, desperately trying to regain his feet and get away, but I hit him again, knocking him back down.

And then I repeated the process, again and again, driving home the point that he couldn’t get up and couldn’t beat me.

He kept trying, I’ll give him that.

I hit him one more time, then shifted shape, crossing my arms as I watched him slowly climb to his feet. Across the arena I was aware of low growling, then there was a godawful howl that cut off abruptly.

Rhoan, finishing off Tyson. It was just me and Blake now.

He climbed to his paws, his head snaking low and broken teeth bared. There was anger in his eyes and tension in his body. He was waiting for the final blow.

“As I said, you started this dirty, so I intend to finish it that same way. Blake Jenson, shift shape.” The words were barely out of my mouth when I hit him with every ounce of psychic strength I had left. It crashed through the barriers of his nanowire and swept into his mind. His eyes widened a fraction before the fist of my thoughts wrapped around his. Change shape, I whispered into his mind. Become human.

He had no choice. His fury lashed around me, useless, impotent, as his body shifted from one form to another. In human form, his face looked more battered, and his gray eyes gleamed with maliciousness and fury. But he couldn’t move. My grip on his mind was too strong.

I walked forward until I was nose-to-nose with the man.

“This is for our childhood,” I said softly. “For the innocence you snatched away.”

I raised a hand and chopped it across his neck. Felt muscle and flesh give away as his throat collapsed inward. He made a low sound of pain, but he still couldn’t move. Couldn’t fight.

Part of me wanted to end it swiftly, to just break his neck and walk away from him and everything bad he represented. But I couldn’t.

I needed this vengeance. Hated it, but needed it.

“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.