Chapter Forty-Three

KEYARA

She followed Luca and Ash up the mountain. She could hear the sound of the trail of wolves behind her breathing heavily in the thin mountain air.

Her own breath clouded in front of her with every exhale, but the cold did not touch her through her warm coat of fur.

Only her paws felt the cold, crunching through the wet ice that was melting in the sun on the path beneath her feet.

The trail was often extremely narrow as Ash had warned her, once even a rock ledge that was no wider than a human foot.

Even though she had no trouble following it with the steady and agile steps of a wolf, she found herself wondering how Luca’s human mate had made the journey.

She suddenly remembered the mind-link, realizing she could ask him.

~“Luca?”~ she attempted hesitantly, concentrating on who she was trying to reach. She had never linked anyone but Ash before and was not totally sure how to manage it.

~“Yes, Luna?”~ came his immediate reply.

She was pleasantly surprised with her success.

~“How did you get Jill here?”~ she asked him curiously. “~I see why the humans have never seen your castle.”~

~“She rode on my back,” ~came his reply.~ “She was scared out of her mind the whole time.”~

~“Luca,” ~she scolded him harshly. The wolves were big enough, that was true, but she couldn’t imagine it was a pleasant trip for Jill. “~Surely there must be a better way?”~

~“We have a pulley system we use to haul up all our supplies from the base of the mountain,”~ he said. ~“She could have ridden in that instead. But she chose to stay with me.”~

Keyara let out an exasperated bark at his attitude. ~“You’re lucky she puts up with you,” ~she scolded him lightly.

~“Trust me, I know,”~ he replied with amusement.

They rounded a final turn in the mountain path, and suddenly the castle of the Kodia Pack came into view before her. Her steps slowed as she took it in, and Ash swung his head around to gauge her reaction to his home.

The castle seemed to have developed naturally from the stone on the side of the mountain. Snow clung to the rough edges of the rocks in the wall, highlighting it against the darkness of the mountain.

The towers seemed to rise straight from the icy peaks, and torches were glowing along the wall at even intervals. It was wide and vast, seeming to encompass the whole side of the mountain.

She remembered the caverns Ash had described that tunneled through the rock, making the castle even larger, and she found herself wondering just how big his pack really was.

They reached the end of the path, passing beneath a raised gate of the castle into a small room. There was a warm rug on the floor and hooks along the walls. A few sets of clothes were hung on them already.

The men began to shift back into human form, pulling off their packs of clothing and dressing quickly, their voices rising in conversation. Their excitement at being back at home was clear.

Key stayed near the door in her wolf form, shuffling her feet uncomfortably at the sight of the naked men around her.

She realized it was something she would have to get used to, nudity being a necessity to her new way of life. It wasn’t just the idea of being naked before them however, as she wasn’t entirely sure how to shift back.

Ash appeared in front of her as a man. He had taken the time to pull on his leather pants, but his chest and feet were still bare.

His hands brushed over her fur lightly, wiping off the last remnants of snow that clung to it. Most of the men had already made their way into the castle, leaving them relatively alone in the entry room.

“You shift back in reverse,” Ash told her, sensing her dilemma, running a warm hand over the fur of her neck soothingly. “Picture yourself as a human instead of a wolf. It works the same way.”

She closed her eyes and did as he said, suddenly feeling her body shrink back down to her human size. The room suddenly felt much colder when the air touched her bare skin. She could barely believe how easy it was.

She pulled the leather pack off her body, opening it and dressing quickly.

Ash pulled on his clothes as well, and he turned to face her when they were both dressed. She finished lacing up her boots, standing to move close to him.

They were alone in the small room, the others having left them to greet their family after so much time away.

She pressed her forehead against his, and she felt his arm wrap around her waist, gripping her close. Being here felt surreal after everything she had gone through.

“Welcome home,” he told her, kissing her softly.

***

ASH

His excitement at finally returning to his home with his mate at his side was dulled by the uncertainty of what they would soon have to face from the council.

The council was made up of elders, one representing each of the packs. Most were former alphas, who had already passed their leadership on to the next generation.

Since Ash’s father—the former alpha of Kodia—was no longer living, their council representative was the former beta, Luca’s father Ethan.

That gave Ash some sense of relief, knowing at least one person would be on their side.

But there were eleven packs in total, and any decision they made would only need a majority vote, so it would mean very little if the others failed to agree.

He told himself to push it out of his mind, as they had at least a few days until anything would happen.

The farthest of the packs were very far away, given that Kodia was on the edge of the territory, and it would take days for their representatives to travel to them.

He wanted to show Keyara everything he could before the members of the council arrived.

They left the changing room through a small curving hallway and entered the main hall of the castle. To one side of the vast room was a wall of curved windows looking out over the side of the mountain cliff.

It gave the appearance of being perched in the sky and let an abundance of light into the room. The other side was the sloping and uneven stone of a cavern wall, with an opening leading into the hallways carved into the caves.

Across from them was a massive fireplace where a large fire was burning, keeping the cold at bay.

His men were there, those with mates and young ones affectionately reuniting, along with many other members of the pack who had come at the news of their alpha’s return.

As they entered, everyone snapped to attention, even the pups, giving them a respectful greeting.

“Alpha,” they all said. The women stole curious glances at Keyara, and he squeezed her hand as she stood beside him, feeling her nervousness at having so many new faces in front of her.

“I would like to introduce my mate, and your new luna,” he said, raising his voice to fill the room over the crowd before them. “This is Keyara.”

KEYARA

At Ash’s introduction, she forced a friendly smile onto her face, wanting to make the right impression on the members of his pack who stood before her, but the truth was her legs were shaking with nerves under her skirt.

For her entire life she had tried to fade into the background, and now she was the center of attention. It was a feeling she was very unused to.

“It is nice to meet everyone,” she managed in a steady voice, not trusting herself to say more without giving away how nervous she felt.

Everyone seemed to approach them at once, and she forced herself to keep her feet planted, fighting the urge to run away from the crowd.

She shook hands and greeted children, names slipping out of her head almost as soon they were given, and she wondered how she would ever learn them all.

Bringing up the rear was Luca, with his arm around the shoulders of a short woman with red hair and freckles dusting over her nose and cheeks. She was relieved there was at least one name she would be able to remember.

“You must be Jill,” Key said warmly, grasping the woman’s hand when it was offered. “Luca has told me a lot about you. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

“I’m so glad to meet you as well, Luna,” Jill responded.

“Luca told me the alpha had met his mate in Levia when he returned early last week. We all could hardly wait for you to arrive after you were further delayed. It will be nice to have another human around!”

Keyara exchanged a glance with Luca, who shook his head at her to indicate he had not told his mate about the latest developments.

Ash had told her they had kept it from the pack over the last week, but she was surprised that included Luca’s mate as well.

“Well, ummm…” She faltered, not knowing if she should say anything or not, considering their previous secrecy on the matter.

“There’s some update to that, actually,” Luca said lightly, saving Keyara from making the decision.

Jill frowned slightly, clearly confused by his statement, but there was a brief pause where they looked into each other’s eyes, and Keyara was almost certain he had been telling her something through their mate link.

Jill’s eyes suddenly flashed back to hers with a slightly startled expression.

“The alpha and I will have an announcement to make soon. Please gather back here in an hour,” Luca continued, raising his voice and speaking to everyone who was still present in the main hall.

They all murmured and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I need to gather the pack,” he told Jill as he lowered his voice to address only their small group once more.

“Why don’t we let the alpha and luna clean up from the trip here. You ladies will have plenty of time to get to know each other later.”

Jill nodded, smiling at Keyara and giving her hand a light squeeze. Keyara felt herself comforted by the friendly gesture.

“Come, Keyara,” Ash said, placing a hand on her lower back to guide her. “I’ll show you to our quarters.”

She let him guide her to the hallway that led into the tunnels of the cavern. They wove through, passing wooden doors and entrances that branched off to other corridors.

She knew it should be dark, but her newly enhanced eyesight made it easy to find her way, along with the torches that were lit in recesses carved into the walls along the way.

Finally they came to the base of a staircase carved into the stone. It turned up and out of sight. Ash smiled over his shoulder at her and took her hand, leading her up.

At the top was a large set of double doors. The wood was ornately carved to depict a mountain scene. The copper handles glowed in the light of the torch at the top of the stairs.

She briefly wondered who kept them all lit, thinking about her previous tasks back at the castle in Levia. It would be an extremely time-consuming job, she mused.

The door creaked open, and sunlight spilled out of the doorway. Ash strode quickly inside, going straight to the wardrobe against one wall. She followed him inside slowly and tried not to gasp at the room that greeted her.