EpilogueSummer had finally melted the snow blanketing the Athabascan village. Prairie flowers bloomed in wild profusion between the houses and into the unclaimed land, stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions. In such a setting of perfect, natural beauty, any further adornment would have appeared tawdry, or so Riley thought as she stood before the creek. Behind her, natives and werebears in human form gathered in a horseshoe configuration. On Riley's left, Nasnanna, who had quickly become one of her closest friends, stood arrayed in a white fringed and embroidered dress over matching leggings, her baby perched on her hip. To her right, Russell beamed at her, gorgeous in khaki pants that clung to his muscular thighs, a white shirt and a fringed doeskin jacket, also heavily e
