THE FESTIVITIES WOUND on well into the evening. A long table was set up in the clearing, and lanterns were hung in the trees. Children ran back and forth, trying to catch the fireflies that glowed in the fading twilight.
Dancing began after the feast, and people spun around each other, skirts swirling, shouting with laughter. Reid was at the center of it all, playing ring-a-rosie with the smallest children and letting them clamber all over him as he chuckled.
I stood to one side and watched the people—my people—without really seeing them.
Too much stirred in my head to get completely lost in the joy of the moment.
I’m the Alpha now.
The thought shocked me still.
But my dream had come true.
Reid had stayed, just as he said he would. My duties weren’t mine to carry alone.
Wherever yo
