Chapter 429 In the tent

Chapter 429: Chapter 429 In the tent

Talia’s POV

I woke to the warmth of the sun on my face.

I opened my eyes, and for a moment, I did not know where I was.

The sky above me was not open, because it was canvas, and I was in a tent, and I was lying on a cot with blankets wrapped around me. The tent smelled of herbs and clean cloth, and the sounds of the camp were muffled and distant.

I turned my head, and Kaelen was beside me.

He was sitting on a stool, leaning against the cot, and his hand was wrapped around mine. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and steady, and he was asleep.

I watched him for a long moment, and I did not wake him. I just looked at his face. The blisters were gone, and the silver was gone, and his skin was pale but clean.

He was alive.

I did not know how I had gotten there. The last thing I remembered was lying on the battlefield, with the sunlight on my face and the grass growing around me. Then everything went dark.

I must have fainted.

The last thing I remembered was the sunlight on my face and the grass growing around me. Then there was nothing. Just darkness, and silence, and the feeling of being carried.

I did not know how long I had been unconscious, and I did not know how I had gotten here. But I was here now, and he was beside me, and that was all that mattered.

I tried to sit up, and the movement woke him. His eyes flew open, and he looked at me, and for a moment, he just stared.

Then he spoke.

"You fainted," he said, and his voice was rough, but it was steady. "I carried you here."

I stared at him. "You carried me?"

He nodded. "I did not want to leave you on the battlefield. Not after everything."

His voice was soft, and his eyes were steady, and I knew he meant every word. He had almost died. He had been burned by silver. He had been on the edge of death. And still, he had carried me.

"You should not have done that," I said. "You are still healing."

He shook his head. "I was not going to leave you there."

I did not know what to say, so I just squeezed his hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I am alive," I said. "That is all that matters."

I sat up slowly, and my body screamed when I moved. Every muscle ached, and every bone was tired, and my head pounded like a drum. My throat was dry, and my hands were trembling from exhaustion.

But I did not care.

I was alive, and he was alive. That was all that mattered.

Kaelen stood, and he offered me his hand.

I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

We walked out of the tent together, and the sunlight washed over us.

I had to squint against the brightness. The world was so bright, and so green, and so alive. It was hard to believe that only hours ago, this place had been gray and dead.

It was warm on my face, and it was golden in his hair, and it made the grass glow like emeralds.

We looked at the wolves. They were scattered across the battlefield, some tending to the wounded, some mourning the dead, some just sitting and staring at the grass like they had never seen anything so beautiful.

We looked at each other.

Kaelen’s gray eyes were soft, and his hand was warm in mine, and when he squeezed it, I felt something loosen in my chest. We had made it. We had survived.

We walked through the battlefield together.

Wolves were lifting the dead from the earth, gently, like they were afraid to hurt them. They covered the bodies with blankets, and they whispered words I could not hear.

Healers knelt beside the wounded, cleaning cuts and wrapping bandages and speaking in soft, soothing voices.

The freed wolves sat in small groups, huddled together like they were cold. Some of them wept silently, tears streaming down their faces. Some of them just stared at the grass, touching it with trembling fingers.

I saw a young wolf on his knees, with his hands in the grass. He was crying, and he was holding a blade of grass between his fingers like it was the most precious thing in the world.

He was not the only one. I saw others doing the same. They were touching the grass, and the trees, and the earth. They were feeling the sun on their skin for the first time in years.

And I understood, because I had done the same thing.

The Alphas approached us. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned. Alpha Stone was limping, and Alpha Thornwood was holding his side, and Alpha Frost and Alpha Ridge were both wounded but standing.

"We are preparing to move out," Alpha Stone said. "The army will be ready to leave soon."

I nodded. "Good."

Alpha Stone hesitated. He looked at the freed wolves. He looked at me.

I could see the conflict in his eyes. He wanted to do the right thing, but he did not know what the right thing was. He had spent his whole life fighting. He had never had to decide what to do with mercy.

He was a warrior, and warriors did not always know what to do with mercy. But he was also a leader, and leaders had to learn.

"What should we do with them?" he asked. "The ones who were corrupted. They are free now, but they have no packs. They have no homes. They have nowhere to go."

I looked at Kaelen. He looked at me.

I thought about it. I thought about what it would mean to leave them behind. I thought about what it would mean to take them with us.

"They will be given a choice," I said. "They can return to their packs if they have any. They can join the allied packs. Or they can go their own way."

Alpha Stone nodded slowly. "And if they choose to join us?"

"Then they will be welcomed," I said. "They are not prisoners. They are survivors. They deserve a chance to live."

I looked at the freed wolves, and I saw myself in them. I saw the girl in the storage room. I saw the girl who had been told she was nothing, and who had been given a second chance by a pack that did not have to take her in.

I meant every word. I had been a prisoner once. I had been a survivor once. I knew what it felt like to be given a second chance.

The Alphas exchanged glances. Then Alpha Stone nodded.

"We will spread the word," he said.

They nodded and walked away, their voices low as they spoke to their pack leaders. I watched them go, and then I turned to Kaelen.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

He nodded. "I am ready."

We walked to the healers’ tents.

The tents were crowded with cots, and every cot held a wounded wolf. Healers moved between them, their hands stained with blood and herbs, their faces tired but determined.

I could hear the moans of the wounded, low and ragged. I could hear the healers whispering words of comfort. I could hear the prayers of those who were waiting, soft and desperate.

The war was over, but the healing had just begun.

I was looking for Piper.

I walked through the tents, and I looked at every face, and I did not see her.

Then I saw her.

She was kneeling beside a wounded wolf, her hands moving quickly and carefully as she wrapped a bandage around his arm. There was blood on her sleeves, and her hair was falling out of its braid, and she looked exhausted.

But she was alive.

I stopped. I could not move, and I could not speak.

Piper looked up, and she saw me.

The bandage fell from her hands, and she stood still.

"Talia?" she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

Her voice was small, and it cracked on my name, like she was afraid to believe what she was seeing.

I ran to her.