Chapter 36
THE AFTERMATH
“Max!”
Jasper’s voice pulls me back.
I blink as the light leaves my vision and I find myself back in human form, lying on the forest floor in Jasper’s human arms. The night sky is peeking through the tops of the trees, stars blinking, the moon casting her silver glow from some hidden place beyond the foliage.
“What’s happening?” I croak.
I’m beyond exhausted, barely able to lift my head without Jasper’s help.
His face comes into view, bruised and bloodied, but alive with concern.
My arm feels like lead as I lift it so I can place my hand on the cheek that isn’t swollen.
“You’re . . . I thought you were.”
“I’m here,” he says. “I’m here.”
His lip is busted, one eye looks to be already swelling shut, there are deep scratch marks on his neck and lower down on his chest. Blood splatters across his shoulders.
“Whatever you did, I think it brought me back.”
I shake my head ever so slightly, though even that much movement makes the world spin. It’s hard to figure out what’s happening. The little of the forest I can see isn’t giving much away. The air is still thick with the scent of torn-up dirt and wolf sweat. But the forest is quiet.
“Did we win? Is it over?”
“Yes,” Jasper says with wonder in his voice. “You did it, Max. You did it.”
With a sigh of relief, I let my head fall back, darkness closes in on all sides.
“Max?”
“So sleepy,” I mumble, barely able to move my lips.
“It’s okay,” he says, stroking my hair. “Sleep. I’ve got you.”
Time moves strangely from then on. I seem to drift in and out of waking but can never quite figure out if I’m really awake or just dreaming.
If the visions of the blood-wolf plane and light are memories or real.
I feel spread thin as if my own consciousness has been pulled in a million different directions, but at the same time I feel at peace, like I could sleep forever.
Sometimes I open my eyes, and daylight is streaming through a window, a burgundy curtain pulled back halfway. Sometimes it’s dark and the curtain is drawn.
I relive the moment during the battle where I took control of the Axis Pack wolves, only this time I see it like a bird soaring above the battlefield.
I swoop and dart from wolf to wolf, watching as they writhe in agonizing pain, unable to move their limbs, then just as they seem like they’re about to reach their breaking point, a line of billowing light whips through the crowd, knocking the Axis wolves out and leaving them unconscious in the mud.
Is this what happened? Is this what I did?
It’s almost as if I can remember it happening, like I was there and not somewhere else chatting with blood wolves from the past.
When I finally do wake up, for real this time, Jasper is sitting at the side of the bed. Yellow morning light is streaming through the open curtains.
“Hey,” he says. “How are you feeling?”
His wounds have already started healing. The swelling around his eye and jaw is gone, the cuts on his neck and lip are smaller and on the way to vanishing completely. His face looks clean, his freckles more pronounced, his eyes the greenest I think I’ve ever seen them.
“I feel . . .” I wiggle my fingers and toes, twist a little, then try to sit up. It takes a whole lot of effort and Jasper has to help put a pillow behind my head, but eventually I manage. “I feel okay,” I say. “Just tired still.”
“Do you need to sleep more?”
“No, I think I’ve slept enough. How long was I out?”
“A couple of days.”
My eyes shoot open. “That long?”
“Yeah.” He smiles and takes my hand, holding it with both of his. “Whatever you did, it really wiped you out.”
“What’s going on, you know”—I nod to the door—“out there? Is everyone okay?”
“Yes,” he says, his eyes glassing over. “Everyone is—well, for the most part—everyone is fine.”
“Your dad?”
“Still in his coma but you saved him. Walter is in prison, the Axis Wolves, well, we rounded some of them up, but once they came to they fled pretty quickly. The rogues who came to help stuck around for about a day but they’ve pretty much vanished as well.”
“Katie and Aisha? Mason and Omar? Are they—?”
“All safe. Olivia and Mia too.”
“Thank the moon gods.”
Jasper leans forward, his eyes narrowing. “No, Max. Thank you. You did something out there, I don’t know what, but it sure ended things.” His grip on my hand gets a little tighter. “And it saved me. I thought I was done for after those rogues tore me up. What—I mean—do you know . . . what you did?”
“I . . .”
Images from that night and my dreams since pop up in my brain. “I know I tapped into something big, something I never even thought was possible. I spoke to the other blood wolves.”
“The other . . . You mean, all of them?”
“Yeah, they were all there, and they made me remember something important and then I . . . I’m not sure.”
My chin falls to my chest. I wish I could explain it better, I wish I knew what I actually did.
“Well, whatever it was, you saved us all, Maximilian Remus.”
He places a tender kiss on my forehead before he stands.
“You should sleep some more. There is a lot that still needs to be addressed with the pack. Are you okay if I head out for a bit?”
“Of course, Alpha Jasper.”
He shakes his head and turns to leave but stops at the door. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
I shrug. “I try.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too. And Jasper—” I blurt out before he can go. “Maybe try not dying for a while.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
With a smile he leaves. I lie back into the pillows, finally feeling like I can rest knowing everyone I love is safe.
Not long after, however, there’s a knock on the door and Katie peeks her head in.
“Max! Jasper told me you were awake!”
She bounds into the room, diving straight onto the bed by my side. I wince but I’m so freaking glad to see her.
“Oh sorry, should I not—”
“No,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her close. “Stay here.”
She nuzzles into me, and we lie quietly for a moment.
“So that was crazy, huh?” she says.
“Pretty wild.”
“I’m glad you’re safe. I mean I know we’re all heading off to college or whatever, but it would have really sucked if you’d have, like, died.”
“Ditto,” I say. “But for you.”
“And you’re like a full-on superhero now, hey?”
“I don’t know about that. I’m not even sure what I did.”
She leans forward so she can look me in the eye.
“You’ll figure it out. And even if you don’t, I’m still going to tell everyone that my bestie is, like, stronger than Superman.”
“Wow,” I say exaggeratedly. “That’s pretty strong.”
“Just the truth.”
She lies back down, resting her head on my shoulder.
“I’m really glad you’re safe, bestie,” I say.
“I love you, Max. “
“You too, bish.”
“You know you’re stuck with me forever, right?”
Again, she sits up, smiling and meeting my eye.
“Of course. I’m counting on it.”
She hugs me tightly, the best best-friend hug, and I reciprocate with all the strength in my weak little arms.
Another knock at the door interrupts our moment.
“Mind a few more visitors, Cuz?” Omar is poking his head through the open doorway.
Katie sits back and I try to sit up a little higher. “Sure.”
Omar pulls Mason through the door, and I clock how their hands are linked. Too cute, those two. They’re followed by Mia and Olivia.
“What time do you call this, sleepyhead?” Mason says, a big grin on his face. “The rest of us have been up cleaning this dump for hours.”
Mia slaps his chest. “Maybe go easy on him, he did save the world. Besides, those soldiers left a lot of filthy sheets and towels lying around, there’s plenty of work to be done when he’s feeling up for it. Right, Max?”
“You got it.”
Omar stands behind Mason, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his waist, and I love how insanely happy they look.
“This is nice,” I say, nodding at how Mason is toying with Omar’s pinkie.
“At least something good came out of all this,” Omar says, planting a stupidly sweet kiss on Mason’s cheek. And I just know Mason is trying not to let his embarrassment—but also how freaking happy he is—show.
Mia grabs the chair from the other side of the bed where Jasper was sitting not long ago and plants herself by my side, Olivia perches on the armrest.
“Guess you finally captured the flag,” Olivia says.
“You could say that.”
“Seriously though,” she continues. “You came through for all of us.”
“You really did,” Mason says.
Omar nods at me. “That was some serious lunar energy you harnessed. Yoki would be proud.”
Breath catches in my throat. “Yoki, are they okay? Walter had them this whole time and was using their lunar connection.”
“They’re fine,” Omar confirms, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “A little shaken, but they’re heading back to the Sanc, what’s left of it. They said they’re going to spend some time recuperating in the desert.”
“Okay, good.”
I look around at all their faces. They look so fresh and vibrant. Not like they’ve just survived a literal war. They’re just brimming with vibrant new energy.
“So what’s next?” I ask. “Now the threat is over, what are you all planning?”
Mason jumps in. “That’s sort of why we’re here. My dad and Morven are heading off later tonight with the last of our troops. I wanted to hang around until you woke up but now that we know you’re going to be okay, we’ll probably head back with them.”
“We?” I glance at Mia then back to Omar, who is looking uncharacteristically sheepish.
“Agatha said she wouldn’t mind if I crashed with her again for a while. There might be a whole mountain between us still but at least we’ll be close,” he says, squeezing Mason’s shoulder.
“That’s so great. And you?” I ask Mia.
She squeezes Olivia’s knee, and Olivia rests an arm around her shoulders.
“We’re going to see how splitting our time between the two packs works out.
Of course our dads are trying to plan how our mating is going to create stronger bonds between our peoples, but I think we’re just happy not to have to run anymore.
We’re going to figure out what works best for us and then see if it fits into their plans. ”
“So cool.”
“Yeah,” Olivia chimes in. “We’re going to do our thing and see what happens. But always keeping the Pixie spirit alive too.”
“Perfect.”
“And you?” Olivia asks. “What’s your plan now?”
I wish I knew the answer and could say it with as much certainty as my friends but instead all I can do is shrug and shake my head.
“Maybe when I get out of bed, I’ll figure it out,” I say.