but his words influenced the other wolves around us. Any that had been hanging back hesitantly now came forward with cheers.
The entire pack was united with their joy and flying high on the adrenaline that came after a victorious battle. I could feel the relief of each of them through the pack bond. They had lived while the attackers had perished.
I yawned as Austin took the spotlight and made a speech that was sure to inspire the whole crowd to clean up the giant mess of dead bodies and damaged property.
I waited until he was finished, then walked toward the ruins that used to be our home. The staff that Austin had worried over was still in there. I wanted to get it for my mate to ease his worry and give him hope.
I called to the magic of the staff and felt an answering pulse of power. Closing my eyes, I pulled it toward me. The crowd gasped as it suddenly appeared in my hand, its crowning stone emitting a purple glow from the activated magic.
Austin pointed toward me as everyone gaped.
“Our battle isn’t finished,” he announced to the crowd. “And we have everything we need to defeat any and all enemies that dare to come against us!”
There was a heartbeat of silence before more cheers rang out. A wave of goodwill and determination flowed through the pack, and I decided I’d had enough of the crowd. I cooed to my pups, encouraging them to follow as I walked toward the ocean. It was still unsettled from the violence I’d flung at it earlier, and it would be soothing to watch it slowly fade to calm again.
The ocean was so vast that the disturbance I’d caused would be quickly swallowed up and healed. Just like the small amounts of emotion I’d felt tonight would be lost in the great expanse of sensation that the world gave me if I let myself be lost in it again. It would be so easy to sink back into blissful nothingness, but is that what I wanted?
Chapter 23
Caleb
“We’re worried about Anna,” Mason told me as he scooped up one of the pups. “Hey, Loki,” he murmured to the little dog. “Ready for a bath and a haircut? You guys still smell like smoke from the fire.”
Loki didn’t seem too excited about the news of his impending bath, and Thor tried to take off running when he heard the word ‘bath.’ He wasn’t quick enough because I managed to scoop him up before he got passed me.
“Yeah,” Jason agreed with his brother. “Anna’s walking and talking, but it’s like she’s not really here, you know?”
“I’ve noticed,” I said sadly as I handed Thor to Jason. “I’ve tried talking to her about it, but she’s been distant.”
Mason stroked Loki’s little head as he frowned. “She tried to explain the goddess stuff to us.”
“How she can feel all the people and stuff,” Jason continued his brother’s sentence.
“But we were hoping you’d be able to talk to her,” Mason finished. “Since you’re smart like her.”
“I think it’s overwhelming to her,” I said with a sigh. “She’s being bombarded by everything she can pick up with her new senses. Almost like if we threw you into a rave on a C-17 flying over an active combat zone.”
Mason nodded in sudden understanding. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to hear shit, even if you were standing right next to me.”
“Huh,” Jason said as he cocked his head to one side. “I hadn’t thought about it like that. How do we shut down the rave and land in a safe zone?”
“We don’t,” I said with a frown. “We need to get her off the plane.”
Mason shifted Loki to one arm so he could clasp my shoulder.
“That’s why you’re the smart one,” he said with a grin. He released me with a laugh and nodded at his brother.
Before I could object, the twins were already moving away from me, pups in hand.
“Good talk!” Jason called over his shoulder. “Go fix our girl!”
I looked up in frustration. If it were that easy, I would have already done it. There was a lot more going on here than we knew or could understand. Anna had gone through fundamental changes that affected every molecule of her being. It was reasonable to expect that would have an emotional impact on her and be the cause of her shutting down.
I felt for the mate-bond I shared with Anna and sensed her close by, in the little house