Ulf watches the children playing for a moment, and then says, “We won’t hunt on your territory, but we’d like to come up and visit with you, if that’s all right. You’re always welcome down in the valley.”
I make a non-committal sound and watch Carys and Sonya head down toward the boys, Hilda following them. I notice that Sonya has a limp. Quite a bad limp. I doubt she can hunt, so it’s surprising she’s survived.
“The pack wanted to leave her behind,” Ulf says grimly, “so we left together, and now we’re making our own pack.” Defiance flashes in his eyes, and I know nothing on this earth could make him give up the woman he loves.
“How far did you come?”
“The other side of Black Mountain.”
That’s hundreds of miles away. A terrible journey for Sonya, and it must have seemed heaven-sent to find the valley empty of wolfskins and perfect for making their home.
“We don’t want any trouble. We just want to live in peace,” Ulf says.
I feel myself relax finally as I hear the sincerity in his words. He’ll have his work cut out protecting his mate and family. He’s not looking to start a territorial war with a bearskin.
I turn and look at him properly, and even manage a smile. “You found the right place, then.”
A few hours later, after Ulf and I caught some fish and we’d all eaten, the wolfskins head back down the mountain, one of them limping slightly but all of them close together, nuzzling one another affectionately.
Carys looks up at me with tears in her eyes, a huge smile on her face as she holds Sienna in her arms. “Can you believe our luck? A wolfskin family for Finley to play with. They can teach him everything we can’t about being a wolf. I’ve been so worried about what we’ll do when he starts to change.”
I can teach Finley most things, but it’s good to know that he’ll have a friend his own age to learn with. Carys and Sonya seemed to become friendly right away as well.
“Do you miss the village you grew up in?” I ask, stroking the blonde hair back from her face as we stand on the front step in the sunset.
“Not one bit, though I have missed company. I’m so happy the valley will have good people living in it. That’s all I want. Good people.”
Bears are solitary creatures, but I have to agree with her. Good people make this place better.
“What about you, my big bear? Is there anything you miss since we came along? Peace and quiet, for instance?” she teases.
I smile down at her, my beautiful mate who dragged herself through the snow up my mountain to be with me, the lonely bear with the empty heart. She’s filled it with her life and happiness, and given me more than I imagined I ever deserved. I have her, and now I have Finley and Sienna, too.
I take Sienna in my arms and gaze down at her. She could be a skinbearer, like her mother, but I sense something else within her. Something more like me. Time will tell, and now, I have all the time in the world, and happiness with which to fill it.
I kiss Carys” smiling mouth, tasting honey. “I have everything I need right here. My home. My cubs. My kochanie.”
Acknowledgments
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My awed gaze wanders along the names carved into the stones in the dying winter light. Some might find it morbid. I’ve always loved cemeteries. The tranquil quiet, the beauty in death. The overcrowded tombs of Pere Lachaise cemetery stand erect among the mausoleums, some weathered with time. Others are smooth marble with black writing. Floral tributes laid out as offers to those departed. One day, we will all be in places like this. Our bodies in boxes or our ashes. An end to everything.
Owen never understood my fascination for such things. Controlling my life for over a year, my boyfriend had to come first in everything. It’s the reason I finally dumped his ass. With the trip here already booked and paid for, by me, I wasn’t going to give up spending Christmas in Paris. My friends and family had thought I