Chapter 24 - Skylar
Blood has soaked through my third pair of gloves, and I’ve lost count of how many wounds I’ve stitched since dawn.
The medical center is overflowing with injured wolves.
Every bed is full. Every corner holds someone bleeding or groaning or waiting for treatment.
Fern works beside me without complaint despite her pregnant belly making it harder to move between patients.
Sera handles triage near the entrance, directing the wounded to wherever we have space.
Bryan hasn’t left my side since the battle ended.
He’s standing near the supply cabinet now, handing me fresh gauze before I even ask for it. His chest is wrapped in bandages from the gash Rafe gave him, but he refused to let me treat him until everyone else was stable. Stubborn man. I’ll deal with him properly once this rush is over.
“How’s the leg?” I ask my current patient, a young patrol wolf named Jeremy, who took a nasty bite to his thigh during the fighting.
“Hurts like hell.” He manages a weak grin. “But I’ll live, right?”
“You’ll live.” I tie off the last stitch and reach for the bandages Bryan is already holding out to me. “Stay off it for at least three days. No shifting until the muscle has a chance to heal.”
“Three days? But what if—”
“Three days, Jeremy. Doctor’s orders.”
He grumbles but doesn’t argue further. Bryan helps him off the table and onto a cot in the corner where he can rest. I strip off my bloody gloves and toss them in the biohazard bin. My hands are shaking from exhaustion, but there are still patients waiting.
“You need a break.” Bryan is back at my side.
“I’ll take one when everyone’s been treated.” I pull on fresh gloves and turn toward the next patient. “Just a few more hours.”
The day bleeds into evening, and evening bleeds into night. I lose track of time completely. There’s only the work. Clean, assess, treat, repeat. The rhythm becomes automatic, and my body moves through the motions even when my mind wants to shut down.
Somewhere around midnight, Nic’s voice cuts through the mayhem of the medical center.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?”
The room goes quiet. Wolves stop mid-conversation. Even the patients who are awake turn their heads toward the Alpha standing in the doorway. Luna is beside him, looking exhausted but whole. Thomas and James flank them both.
“The Cheslem threat has been eliminated.” Nic’s voice carries to every corner of the room. “Rafe is dead. His remaining wolves have either surrendered or fled. Our patrols have confirmed that no hostile forces remain within our borders.”
Chatter ripples through the crowd. Relief, mostly. Some disbelief.
“Additionally,” Luna speaks up, “all six explosives have been located and neutralized. The school, the medical center, and the pack house are all safe. Silvercreek is secure.”
The conversation becomes a cheer. Wolves embrace each other. Some of them cry. I feel my own eyes burning, but I blink the moisture away. There’s still work to do.
Bryan’s hand finds mine, and he squeezes gently. I let myself lean into him for just a moment. Just long enough to feel his warmth, to remind myself that we both survived.
“Thank you,” Nic continues once the noise dies down. “Every single one of you contributed to this victory. We protected our home. We protected each other. That’s what pack means.”
More cheers. More embraces. Nic says something else, but I’m not really listening anymore. My attention has drifted to a cot in the far corner where Dina sits alone.
She looks better than she did when we first brought her out of that compound.
Someone found her clean clothes, and the blisters around her neck from the silver collar have started to heal.
But there’s a faraway look in her eyes that I recognize.
The look of someone who’s lost everything and doesn’t know how to move forward.
“I need to check on her,” I tell Bryan.
He nods and releases my hand. “I’ll be right here.”
I cross the room and crouch beside Dina’s cot. She looks up at my approach and shrinks into herself.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
“Physically? Better.” She touches her neck where the collar used to sit. “The burns are healing. Your pack’s healers have been kind.”
“And everything else?”
Dina is quiet for a long moment. When she speaks again, her voice is barely above a whisper. “I don’t have anywhere to go. My pack is gone. My family is dead. I don’t even know if there are other survivors from Ridgewood.”
My heart aches for her. Not so long ago, she had a home, a family, and a future. Now she has nothing but the clothes on her back and the trauma of everything she endured.
“You could stay here,” I offer. “Silvercreek takes care of its own.”
“I’m not one of yours.”
“You could be.” I reach out and take her hand. “Nic is a good Alpha. He won’t turn away someone in need. I’ll help you settle in. Find you a place to stay, introduce you to people, whatever you need.”
Tears gather in the corners of her eyes, but she blinks them back. “Why? You barely know me.”
“Because you survived something terrible, and you deserve a chance to heal. We were prisoners together, and that means something to me. Besides, it’s the right thing to do.”
Before she can respond, a shadow falls over us. I look up to find Nic standing nearby. Luna is with him, and there’s a gentle smile on her face.
“I couldn’t help overhearing,” Nic says. “Skylar’s right, Dina. If you want to stay in Silvercreek, you’re welcome here. We have room for wolves who need a fresh start.”
A single tear escapes and rolls down her cheek. She wipes it away quickly, like she’s embarrassed to be seen crying.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes,” Luna suggests. “We could use another strong wolf in the pack. And from what Caleb tells me, you held up remarkably well during your captivity. That kind of strength is valuable.”
Dina looks between the three of us. Her throat works as she swallows hard. “Yes,” she finally manages. “Yes, I’ll stay. Thank you. All of you.”
Nic nods. “We’ll sort out the details. For now, rest. You’ve earned it.”
He and Luna move on to check on other patients, but I stay with Dina for a few more minutes. We don’t talk much. I just sit beside her, holding her hand, letting her know she’s not alone anymore. Eventually, her eyes grow heavy, and I help her lie back against the pillows.
“Get some sleep,” I tell her. “I’ll come find you tomorrow. We’ll figure everything out together.”
She nods, and her eyes drift closed almost immediately. Exhaustion claims her within seconds.
I watch her sleep for a moment before pushing myself to my feet. My body protests the movement. Every muscle aches. My eyes burn from lack of rest. But when I turn around, Bryan is right where he said he’d be. Waiting for me.
“Ready to go home?” he asks.
Home. The cabin we’ve been sharing. The bed we’ve been avoiding. The life we’ve been circling around without ever fully committing to.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I’m ready.”
The walk back to the cabin takes longer than usual. We’re both exhausted, both moving slower than we should be. Bryan’s hand finds mine somewhere along the way, and I let him lace our fingers together without comment. The simple contact feels grounding after everything we’ve been through.
The cabin is dark when we arrive. Bryan fumbles with the lock while I lean against the porch railing and look up at the sky.
“Got it.” Bryan pushes the door open and holds it for me.
I step inside and breathe deeply. The familiar scent of the cabin wraps around me. It smells like safety. It smells like belonging.
Bryan inches past me to start a fire in the hearth. I sink onto the couch and let my head fall back against the cushions. My body wants nothing more than to sleep for a week, but my mind is still on high alert.
“Can I ask you something?” I don’t open my eyes as I speak.
“Anything.”
“Are you staying?”
The sounds of him building the fire stop. I feel him move closer, and then the couch dips as he sits beside me. I open my eyes and turn my head to look at him.
He’s watching me with those gray eyes that used to make me melt when I was twenty years old. They still do, if I’m being honest. Ten years and countless miles between us, and he still makes my heart race just by looking at me.
“I’m staying,” he states. “My running days ended the moment the magic paired us. Maybe even before that.” He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I spent a decade trying to outrun my past. Trying to convince myself that staying away from you was the right thing to do. But I was wrong, Skylar. About all of it. Now I want to build something. Here, with you, in this pack. I want to wake up beside you every morning. I want to watch you heal the people who need you and know that I get to come home to you at the end of every day. I want a future. Our future. If you’ll have me. ”
The tears I’ve been holding back all day finally spill over. I don’t try to stop them. I just let them fall while Bryan pulls me into his arms and holds me against his chest.
“I’ll have you,” I whisper against his throat. “I think I’ve always been yours, Bryan. Even when I was angry. Even when I hated you. Some part of me was just waiting for you to come back.”
“Then I’m home. Finally, after all these years, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Tomorrow there will be work to do. Wounds to treat. A pack to help rebuild. A new wolf named Dina, who needs guidance and support.
But tonight, there’s just this. Just us. Just the promise of a future we almost lost and somehow managed to find.
I close my eyes and let myself drift, safe in the arms of the man I love.