Chapter 431 The joyous homecoming

Chapter 431: Chapter 431 The joyous homecoming

Talia’s POV

The journey home took three days.

The first day was quiet, and we moved slowly because the wounded could not travel fast, and because no one was in a hurry to leave the dead behind.

The wolves walked in silence, and the only sounds were the creaking of cart wheels and the soft murmurs of healers checking bandages.

I walked at the front with Kaelen, and I watched the Ashen Lands fade behind us. I did not look back.

Three days of walking, and riding, and carrying the wounded. Three days of watching the horizon and hoping we would see the mountains before the sun set. Three days of wondering if home was still there, and if the people we loved were still waiting.

We traveled at the front of the army, with Kaelen beside me and the wounded carried on carts behind us. The freed wolves walked with us, and the Alphas led their packs, and the healers moved between the cots, checking bandages and offering water.

Some of the wounded would heal, and some of them would not. I could see it in the healers’ eyes, and I could see it in the way they lingered beside certain cots, speaking in softer voices.

I did not look away, because I owed them that much.

On the second day, I heard voices behind me.

I turned, and I saw the Alphas walking together. Alpha Stone was in the middle, and Alpha Thornwood was on his right, and Alpha Frost and Alpha Ridge were on his left. They were speaking in low voices, and their heads were bent together.

I did not interrupt, I just watched.

I saw Alpha Thornwood put a hand on Alpha Stone’s shoulder. I saw Alpha Stone nod. I saw Alpha Frost say something that made them all laugh.

They had been enemies once, and they had fought each other in the camp before the battle. But now they were walking together, and they were talking together, and they were laughing together.

The war had changed them.

Later that day, I saw Alpha Thornwood stop walking. He turned to Alpha Stone, and he extended his hand.

"I am sorry," Alpha Thornwood said. "For everything. For the coldness. For the accusations. For the way I treated your pack."

Alpha Stone looked at him. Then he took his hand.

"I am sorry too," Alpha Stone said. "I let my pride get in the way. I should have been better."

They shook hands, and they did not let go for a long moment.

"We should have done this years ago," Alpha Thornwood said.

"We are doing it now," Alpha Stone said.

That evening, I sat by a fire with Kaelen and watched the Alphas gather together.

They talked about trade routes, and hunting territories, and shared borders. They talked about how they could work together instead of against each other. They talked about the future.

I heard Alpha Frost say something about a shared market at the border. I heard Alpha Ridge suggest a joint patrol to keep the rogue wolves away. I heard Alpha Stone agree to open the Stoneclaw hunting grounds to the other packs.

They were building something new. Something better.

The next morning, Alpha Stone approached me.

He was limping, and he was still wounded, but he walked to me with his head held high. He stopped in front of me, and he bowed his head.

"Luna," he said. "I owe you my life."

I shook my head. "You do not owe me anything."

"I do," he said. "You saved me, and you saved all of us. You killed Malachai, and you saved my pack, and you gave us a future."

He looked at me, and his eyes were bright.

"I will never forget what you did," he said. "And I will never be able to repay you."

I reached out and took his hand.

"Then do not repay me," I said. "Just live, just build, and just be better than we were before."

He nodded. He did not speak. He just nodded.

The Alphas continued to talk as we traveled, and they continued to plan, and they continued to build.

I saw Alpha Thornwood share his water with Alpha Stone. I saw Alpha Frost help a Stoneclaw warrior who had stumbled. I saw Alpha Ridge walk beside a Moonshadow wolf and speak to him like a brother.

The war had changed them, and it had changed us all.

On the last night before we reached Blackmoor Valley, I sat by the fire with Kaelen.

I told him what I had seen. I told him about the apologies, and the plans, and the promises.

He listened, and he smiled.

"They are learning," he said.

"Learning what?" I asked.

"How to be allies," he said. "How to be a pack."

I thought about that. I thought about the Alphas, and the freed wolves, and the wolves who had fought beside us. ℴ

"They are not just allies anymore," I said. "They are family."

Kaelen took my hand and squeezed it.

"Yes," he said. "They are."

The landscape changed as we moved, and the dead earth of the Ashen Lands slowly gave way to green grass and living trees. The sky was blue, and the sun was warm, and the air smelled of pine and rain instead of ash and rot.

I watched the world come back to life with every mile we traveled. I watched the grass grow thicker, and the trees grow taller, and the rivers run clear. I watched the birds return to the sky, and I watched the world remember what it was supposed to look like.

And I thought about the girl who had left Blackmoor Valley. I thought about the girl who had been afraid of her own shadow, and the girl who had never believed she would survive the trials, and the girl who had never believed she would find love.

The woman returning was not that girl anymore.

We stopped at night to camp, and I helped where I could, carrying water and folding blankets and sitting with the wounded while the healers rested. Kaelen stayed by my side, and he did not complain, even though I knew he was still healing.

On the third day, I saw them.

The mountains of Blackmoor Valley.

They rose from the earth like giants, their peaks sharp against the blue sky. They were the same mountains I had seen when I first arrived, but they looked different now.

They looked like home.

My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes filled with tears. I had dreamed of this moment, and I had prayed for this moment, and now it was here.

"Kaelen," I whispered.

He followed my gaze, and he saw the mountains. He took my hand and squeezed it.

"We are home," he said.

The army moved faster, and the wolves could smell home, and they could feel it, and they began to howl. The sound rolled across the valley and echoed off the mountains, and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

It was the sound of wolves who had survived, and the sound of wolves who had come home, and the sound of victory.

I felt my heart pounding in my chest, because I was coming home.

The gates of Blackmoor Valley were open, and the courtyard was full.

Wolves were gathered everywhere, and they were waiting for us. I saw faces I knew, and I saw faces I had missed, and I saw faces that were crying.

I saw Piper’s mother, standing with her hands pressed to her chest. I saw Nora, and Elena, and Stephanie. I saw elders and warriors and children.

And I saw Aldric.

He was standing at the front of the crowd, leaning on his cane. He was old, and he was frail, and his hands were trembling, but he was there.

He saw Kaelen, and he saw his grandson alive.

His face crumpled, and his legs gave out.

He fell to his knees.

I heard Kaelen’s breath catch, and I felt him stiffen beside me. Then he was off his horse and running, and I had never seen him move so fast.

He knelt beside Aldric and helped him up.

"I am here, Grandfather," he said, and his voice was rough. "I am here."

Aldric touched his face, and he touched his chest, and he touched his arms. He was checking to make sure he was real, that he was not a ghost, that he was not going to disappear.

I saw the tears on his cheeks, and I saw the way his hands trembled, and I saw the love in his eyes. He had thought he had lost his grandson, and he had thought he would never see him again.

"You are alive," Aldric whispered.

"I am alive," Kaelen said. "I am fine, Grandfather. I am fine."

Aldric pulled him into a hug, and they held each other.

I watched them and felt tears on my cheeks.