Epilogue

Four white paws padded softly along the water’s edge, and the young werewolf was being extremely careful not to actually get his feet wet. Being a wolf was new to him, but he was determined not to let that show. He bent to lap gently from the water just as the full moon crested over the waterfall. The jet black fur on his head and back gleamed brightly as the moon rose high enough that her light slipped over the falls to illuminate the pool of water and the whole werewolf family at the bottom of it. The young wolf looked up at the moon, blinking his heterochromatic eyes, first the blue one and then the brown before he howled his greeting to the goddess.

A wistful little sigh drew Lia’s attention down to her daughter’s dark brown eyes. “When will I get to be my woff, Mama?”

“Oh my little wolf,” Lia laughed, scooping her tiny daughter up in a hug and rubbing noses with her. “You will shift when the moon goddess knows you’re ready.”

“But eva-buddy but me gets ta be a woff,” the little one sulked, burying her face in her mother’s neck.

“You’ve only just turned three Lola,” Jake said as he came up beside them, wrapping one arm around Lia’s shoulders and dropping a kiss on top of his youngest daughter’s blond curls. “Davie’s fist change was just last month, and he’s fifteen! I think you’re going to have to wait quite a while yet.”

Lia smiled up at her husband and then looked around the glen at all their pups. They had matured quickly this past year, with her four oldest children all having their first shifts just a few months apart. The smallest pup, their ten-year-old daughter, had a dapple black and white coat that was so well mixed she looked grey from a distance. She was snapping at fireflies as they blinked in and out among the tall grasses and flowers. She snapped at one above her head and rolled over backward with her efforts. Jake and Lia chuckled softly, shaking their heads at the young pup’s clumsiness. The little one sat back up and looked around sheepishly before walking out of the grass in search of new entertainment. Most werewolves were in or near their teens before their first shift so having little Selene shift on the summer solstice, several months before her tenth birthday, had surprised the entire pack. She was quite proud to be such a young wolf, but it certainly seemed to mean that her wolf was clumsier than most pups. The pack was taking her self-defense training very slowly. Almost painfully slowly since she had a hard time keeping her feet under her even without anyone trying to knock her down.

Their thirteen-year-old sons, one white and one black wolf, had been the first of their children to shift. It happened just days after their thirteenth birthday, right in the middle of the wolf moon party, much to the chagrin of their older brother who had not shifted before them. The pair were now chasing each other around in the trees with exaggerated snarls and tiny, playful yips. Until recently, Jake had worried that he would have to choose one of the twins to become Alpha after him. Passing over their oldest son and pitting the two younger boys against each other had been a grim prospect for him. Leaving the other males of the pack to battle for the position hadn’t been a welcome idea either. The pack needed all its members strong these days, infighting among the strongest of them would only weaken the entire pack.

Despite being the Alpha’s oldest son, Davie had always kept mostly to himself and was very slow to make friends. He’d been self-conscious of his mismatched eyes and other children, both werewolf and human, had never missed an opportunity to tease him about them. He was very shy and quiet, preferring to go off by himself and read over joining in the sports or physical training. Calm and studious were not common traits for a young male werewolf, which had made him even more of an outcast. He was also the last of his werewolf classmates to shift, which hadn’t helped. At fifteen he had become quite nervous that he wasn’t ever going to shift, so when it finally did he had spent every possible moment as a wolf, trying to catch up in all the wolf skills he hadn’t been able to practice before. He didn’t mind his mismatched eyes anymore, and he loved the “tall white boots” that his wolf had. Lia and Jake were both relieved that he and his wolf were finding a nice balance so quickly, growing in size, strength and confidence with every passing day. Davie had even announced proudly that he thought he might actually like to become Alpha when Jake decided to retire from the post. This trip to the waterfall for tonight’s full moon had been his idea. He knew the special meaning these falls held for his family and he’d wanted to be here for this full moon, his second one as a wolf, to thank the goddess properly. He’d been so excited on the first one that he didn’t feel he’d done it properly.

Jake left his clothes on the rocks and shifted to join his eldest son on the brink of the falls. Lia sat at the water's edge to keep an eye on her youngest pup, little Lola, who was searching for frogs. A soft breeze danced over the water and caressed the family with the soft scents of wildflowers. As she watched her family playing Lia’s heart felt as weightless as the laughter of her children. The wild areas may be shrinking, but in protected places like this, life was still peaceful. The scent of drying roses drifted out from the bush. “I smell Gran,” Lola announced as she dove at a tiny frog. Lia smiled and lifted her baby out of the water. “That’s right little one. Why don’t you let the frog go back home? You can’t actually eat him until you get your wolf teeth.” Lola frowned down and the toad and then let it drop into the grass on the water’s edge.

“Hello mother,” Lia said softly, turning towards the trees. “I’m glad you decided to join us tonight.”

Selene stepped cautiously out from the trees and came to sit beside Lia and Lola. Her white coat was full and lush with little trace of the scars visible. The younger pups quickly scampered over to touch noses with their grandmother before returning to their play.

“Davie looks strong and proud, just like you always said he would be.” She said through the link.

“He had lots of love and support Gran. You were the one who taught me that is all a little wolf really needs to grow strong.”

“Love, support, and room to grow,” Selene said, nodding at Lola who was now headed towards the patch of long grass where the fireflies liked to congregate, “the independent pups need lots of room to grow.”