The next two days were a blur.
Clara worked from dawn until dusk, walking the boundaries, reinforcing the wards, pouring her power into the symbols until her hands glowed and her head ached. Elara walked with her, silent and steady, her presence a comfort Clara hadn't known she needed.
"You don't have to do this," Elara said on the second day. They were at the eastern boundary, where the forest opened onto a rocky slope. The sun was setting, painting the sky orange and red. "Complete the bond. You could wait. See what happens."
"There's no time to wait."
"There's always time." Elara's voice was gentle. "Margaret thought there wasn't. She rushed into things with Kael's father. She loved him, but she never fully trusted the bond. Never let herself be all in. And when he died, she spent the rest of her life regretting it."
Clara turned to look at her. "You knew her well."
"I knew her better than most." Elara smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. "She was my best friend. The sister I never had. And I watched her make mistake after mistake because she was too proud to ask for help. Too scared to let anyone in."
"I'm not scared."
"Yes, you are." Elara touched Clara's face, her hand warm. "And that's okay. Being scared doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. What matters is what you do with the fear."
Clara leaned into the touch. "What did Margaret do with hers?"
"She let it control her. Let it keep her from being truly happy." Elara dropped her hand. "Don't make the same mistake. If you love Kael—truly love him then don't hold back. Give him everything. Not because of Riven, not because of the magic, but because you want to."
Clara thought about it. About the last three months. About waking up next to Kael every morning, about falling asleep in his arms every night. About the way he looked at her like she was the sun and the moon and the stars all at once.
She loved him. She wasn't scared to admit that anymore.
"I want to," she said. "I want to be with him. Not because of the bond. Not because of Riven. Because he's the person I want to wake up next to for the rest of my life."
Elara smiled. "Then do it. And don't look back."
That night, Clara went to the mansion to find Kael in the study. Maps were spread across his desk, marked with the positions of Riven's scouts, the weak points in the wards, the places where the pack was most vulnerable.
He looked up when she entered, and she saw the exhaustion in his face. He'd been working as hard as she had, preparing for what was coming.
"You should sleep," she said.
"So should you."
She crossed to his desk, pushing the maps aside. "Tomorrow is the full moon."
"I know."
"Are you ready?"
He stood, coming around the desk to face her. "I've been ready for eighty-four years."
She laughed, the sound surprising her. "That's a long time to wait."
"I didn't know I was waiting. Not until you drove into town." He took her face in his hands, his thumbs tracing her cheekbones. "I thought I was just surviving. Day after day, year after year. Protecting the pack, holding the territory, keeping everyone alive. I didn't realize I was waiting for something until you walked into Elara's inn and the whole world shifted."
She put her hands over his. "What did you feel? When you first saw me?"
He smiled, and she saw the boy in him then. The boy who had watched his mother die, who had buried his father, who had become Alpha too young and carried the weight of it for too long.
"I felt like I'd been drowning my whole life," he said. "And suddenly, someone had thrown me a rope."
Her eyes burned. "That's beautiful."
"It's true." He kissed her forehead, soft and slow. "I've spent three months trying to be patient. Trying to give you space. Trying to be the kind of man who doesn't push. But I'm tired of waiting, Clara. I'm tired of being careful."
She looked up at him. His eyes were amber, glowing, the wolf so close she could almost see it.
"Tomorrow," she said. "On the full moon. We do this the right way. Margaret's way. The old way."
"What does that mean?"
She took his hand and led him to the window. The moon was rising, not yet full, but close. In three days, it would hang low and bright over Graylock, calling to the wolves, waking the magic in the land.
"It means we go to the old tree. The heart of the territory. We complete the bond there, where the magic is strongest. And when it's done..." She turned to face him. "When it's done, I'm yours. Truly yours. For as long as I live."
Kael's breath caught. "You understand what that means? You'll be tied to this place. To me. You won't be able to leave. Not for long, anyway. Your power will be part of the land."
"I understand."
"You'll be one of us. Not human anymore. Something more. Something different."
"I understand."
He pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her, his face buried in her hair. "I don't deserve you."
"Yes, you do." She held him tight. "We deserve each other."
They stood there for a long time, watching the moon rise, holding each other, waiting for tomorrow.