Chapter 44 Rowen
ROWEN
The woods are still scarred from the fight. I can see it in the broken branches and churned-up soil, the faint ash-scent that clings even after the rain. But in the light of late afternoon, with gold spilling between the trees like honey, it almost looks peaceful. Healing.
Tobias walks beside me in silence. We haven’t said much in the last couple of days.
Not because we don’t want to, but because time doesn’t feel so borrowed.
He still moves like a man half-ready for battle, his shoulders coiled, eyes sharp, like the animal inside him is always scratching under the surface.
Maybe soon he’ll be ready to shift again, I don’t know.
But there’s something new in him too—something softer. Warmer. A peace now that makes his gray-blue eyes a little lighter. It’s a good look on him.
Every few yards, he reaches out to brush our fingers together, giving me a shy but unguarded smile. It makes joy bubble in my chest. What did I do that fate would decide to make this man mine?
The air smells of pine and damp earth, the soil softening and preparing for spring. Birds flicker through the canopy and I’ve seen a few pregnant deer running through the trees. It’s refreshing and calm, though still a bit chilly.
William and his pack run past us through the trees.
They’ve been sleeping in the forest as wolves and only coming inside to shower or eat.
They’re clearly heartbroken, and my heart aches for them, yet their willingness to stay and fight has not gone unnoticed.
Even Bronson has voiced his appreciation, inviting them to stay on their land if they want.
The sound of the shutter pulls me back to Tobias, and I chuckle when I see he’s looking at me.
“Why are you taking a picture of me?”
He grins. “You’re my favorite subject.”
I pull him close. He leans in to kiss me, but his smile fades.
“I was thinking about the gallery again this morning. How soon do you think we can rebuild it for Jasmine?”
His guilt has been haunting him, and I can only hope he’ll let it go soon. But maybe that’s why he’s so eager to repair the studio. It’s a tangible way to undo his mistakes.
“How about on the next trip into the city, we pick up some supplies?”
“How soon is that?”
“We go every few weeks. Sometimes less.”
He exhales softly. “Thank you. I want to find the negatives of the photos I ruined too, so I can reprint them. Will you help me?”
“Of course. You should add some photos of yourself to the wall, though. Jericho, Evan, and Evelyn too. Oh and Aster. My dad never got to meet him.”
His smile is instantaneous. “That’s a great idea.”
We walk a little further before he asks, “Do you think they’ll stay after this is all over?”
“Jericho and Evan? I hope so.”
He slides an arm around my waist. “I do too.”
I smile at him. He’s come a long way with Jericho. From hiding in a closet the first time he saw him to considering him a friend.
When we reach the side of the house, our steps slow.
Tobias takes a few more photos as I turn to survey the land.
The bitter bruises of the fight will probably last through the summer.
Some of Mom’s prized flower beds need repairing too.
But the house, surprisingly, had taken only minor damage.
Two of the patio stairs need replacing, and a window on the second floor has a crack, but otherwise, everything is good.
Tobias stops ahead of me, staring at the ground like something’s caught his eye. “Rowen, look.”
When I step closer, I see it too—half-buried in the dirt, dulled by soot and rain. I recognize it immediately. The glass beads glint faintly in the light.
The bracelet.
It must have fallen off him when he first shifted.
I crouch down and brush it clean with my thumb. The leather is cool now—no warmth, no magic. Just a scrap of what it once was.
Tobias watches me, his expression unreadable. His throat bobs, but he says nothing.
I hold it up between us. “Do you want it?”
He studies the bracelet for a long moment, eyes flickering with something like guilt or maybe mourning. Then he shakes his head once.
He scrubs his face, sucking in a long breath, and when he exhales, I can sense a release of pain and heartache.
I spin it between my fingers.
“You can keep it, though,” he murmurs.
“No.” The answer is so swift it surprises us both. I glance toward the horizon, where the sun hangs low and orange. “I know exactly where it should go.”
Standing, I reach for his hand before walking to the fire pit at the back of the yard. I hold it out for him, and Tobias tosses it in. It’ll be a few months before we light anything in there, but the gesture is the same.
“Good riddance,” he says.
I pull him close.
We start walking again. The silence between us isn’t heavy this time. It’s full of little things—the wind through the leaves, the whisper of our boots on the path, the faint hum of life returning to this place.
At one point, Tobias slips our joined hands into my hoodie pocket.
I chuckle. “You cold?”
“A little. You okay?”
His question surprises me. “Yeah. I am. Are you?”
He hesitates. “I’m getting there.” He glances toward the trees, and the light catches on the edges of his hair.
“It’s strange. For so long, I thought my life was just a series of unfortunate events, you know?
Mentally unstable mother, moving from place to place.
No real friends. I mean, yeah, I always had a few, but none who would’ve helped me escape the club like you guys did. ”
His voice cracks a little. “I felt like I was drifting. Trying to make something beautiful out of the fray. But now…” He smiles at me.
“Now, it’s quiet in my head. All that uncertainty, I mean.
It’s just gone, and everything is still.
I didn’t know I could have that.” Guilt flashes across his features before he adds, “I know we need to get Grant, and things are probably going to get worse again before they get better. But I don’t know, Ro.
For the first time literally ever, I have peace. ”
My heart swells. “You deserve that.”
“I didn’t believe I did,” he admits softly. “But I’m starting to.”
He looks at me then—really looks—and I see the man beneath the fear and fury, the one who’s been buried under darkness for too long. The one who’s finally surfacing.
I fall a little more in love with him.
I turn him to me, cupping his neck and brushing my thumb over his cheek. “You fought your way out of hell, Tobias. You did that. We didn’t. You faced him and saved my life in the process. You saved all of us.”
His gaze flicks down, but I catch his chin, lifting it until his eyes meet mine. “Don’t reject that,” I whisper. “This victory is yours. You’re allowed to be free, even if Grant’s not yet.”
Something in him breaks at that—not in a bad way, but in the way a storm breaks when it finally releases its rain. He leans forward until his forehead rests against mine.
“So are you, baby,” he whispers. “I’ve seen the way you’re slowly coming out of yourself. Like your heart is coming alive or something. You’re not hiding from it anymore.”
The way he says it, with so much certainty, only solidifies what I’ve been feeling in my heart.
I am coming alive. When the day comes, I’ll step up to be alpha, and I’ll be ready for it.
But that’s hopefully a long time away. I still want to enjoy my time with my family.
And I want to eventually get involved in the theater group too.
Someday, when it’s safe.
He kisses me. “You make me proud, Rowen. Really proud.”
I blink back tears. “Sheesh, why are we being all mushy!”
He laughs, bumping me playfully before leaning in. I fold my arms around him. We stay like that for a long while, breathing each other in.
When he finally pulls back, his expression is softer than I’ve ever seen it.
“Hey, lovebirds! Jasmine wants you inside,” Neal calls.
I chuckle.
We head back toward home as the light fades, the trees throwing long shadows across the path. For the first time since this whole damn thing started, I believe we might actually be okay.
We’ll get Grant back. I know we will. I can feel it.
Hang in there, brother. Whatever they’re doing to you, just hang in there.
When we reach the trail leading up to the front door, Tobias closes his eyes and sniffs. “Smells like spaghetti.”
“And garlic bread.”
He moans. “Heaven.”
We walk the last stretch in silence, and I realize his steps have matched mine. Easy, and calm. No shadows chasing us. No ghosts whispering in anyone’s mind.
Just us, walking toward home.
Where we belong.
Together.
THE END