Back at the pack house. Steven was restless. He wanted the alliance formed that very day. He refused any delays or endless meetings. He was adamant on not letting any elders decide on his and Celine's bond. Predictably, the elders objected. Peace with White Lotus was one thing. Rushing into it because of a mate bond was another. Voices rose around the council chamber.
"We cannot make decisions based on emotions."
"What guarantee do we have they won't betray us?"
Steven met every objection head-on.
"The same guarantee they have about us."
One elder frowned.
"They are the enemy."
"They were." Steven corrected. "If Celine hadn't stepped in…I wouldn't be standing here."
Silence settled over the room. Every wolf present had seen the battlefield. They had all watched Celine Rickson throw herself between Steven and the White Demon without a second thought.
Steven drew a slow breath.
"We have been fighting this war for generations. Tell me honestly…" He looked around the room meeting each elder's gaze in turn. "How many of your fathers even remember why it started?"
No one answered. No one could. The reason has been buried with wolves long dead. Only the hatred remained.
Kevin stood quietly near the back of the room, listening. He hadn't intended to interfere. There was no need. Steven was winning, through sheer stubbornness.
Eventually the elders sighed.
The oldest, Gustov admitted reluctantly, "Perhaps, the moon has spoken."
Steven's shoulders relaxed.
Kevin smiled. It was over. He crossed the room and pulled Steven into a tight embrace.
"I am so happy for you." He murmured.
"So am I." Steven laughed softly against his shoulders. " You got your peace."
Kevin tightened the hug before letting him go.
Yesterday, he had almost buried his brother. Today he was standing here arguing over peace. The difference between those two futures had been a bond. A brown wolf who had chosen her mate over everything else.
Whatever anyone else thought, Kevin had already made up his mind. The war ended here. He would not lose another pack member or his brother to an inherited grudge neither he nor Devon had known.
The next morning, an envoy arrived carrying formal terms for peace talks signed by Devon Rickson himself. Folded separately inside the same packet was a letter addressed to Steven.
Even before Steven reached the second page, half the room was pretending not to watch him while trying not to laugh.
Kevin caught snippets as Steven quietly read it.
I hope you are resting. Don't overwork yourself. Are you eating well?
It was corny. Steven read it smiling a little wider with every pass. Kevin shook his head, unable to stop the fond smile tugging at his own lips.
His brother had known Celine Rickson for less than a day, yet looked ready to cross the continent if she asked him to.
The alliance would happen. The moon goddess herself had tied their packs together. No council could argue against that.
And Steven was happy. It didn't matter how the courtship began. But watching Steven glow over a few pages of ink, Kevin found his thoughts drifting to his own mate.
His hand settled unconsciously against his ribs. The familiar constant ache was still there. He had spent years measuring it.
Steady meant they were alive.
He knew nothing else. Just a bit of pain and a heartbeat that echoed through the bond.
Then his thoughts turned to the White Demon. Rumours had long spread through the wolf clans. They said he wasn't born. That he had been made. They said an ancient evil had taken the body of a wolf. White as fresh now. Eyes red as blood. Small compared to most wolves. Deadlier than all of them. Yet capable of killing a full grown wolf without changing his expression.
Even packs that had never seen him gave White Lotus territory a wide berth.
Kevin understood why. The first time he had seen the white wolf on a battlefield, he'd struggled to look him in the eye.
Yesterday that fear turned into hatred.
Kevin remembered, his brother had been broken on the ground. The White Demon had been standing over him. Nothing else mattered.
His elder brother–second son of the Flint family, son of the former Alpha–had nearly died under a creature's claw.
Kevin's blood still ran hot whenever he thought about it.
And he was expected to sit across a table, shake hands, and call whatever followed peace. Or perhaps Devon would understand. Kevin could ask him to remove him from the pack altogether.
If not…then locked away. Brought out only during battles and caged again the moment it ended. It was dangerous to leave a weapon like that roaming free. As far as Kevin was concerned, that wasn't cruelty. It was mercy.
Kevin didn't think anymore. During his first meeting with Devon he brought it up.
"Were the rumours true." He asked. "Did he sell his soul to the Devil?"
"He isn't a Demon." The answer came too quickly. A bit personally.
"People see what they want to." Devon continued, his voice rising despite himself. "No one cares to look at what he is underneath."
Kevin frowned. The reaction surprised him. He'd expected Devon to defend one of his strongest warriors. Every Alpha would. But this felt.. different.
He tucked the thought away.
"Half of my pack is terrified of him." Kevin said. "Even wolves who want this war to end flinch whenever his name comes up. Peace with White Lotus is one thing, Devon. Peace with him is questionable."
Devon opened his mouth to argue again.
Kevin let him. Perhaps asking Devon to get rid of the White Demon was the wrong approach. Perhaps Nightshade should have him instead. A weapon capable of turning entire battles. If rogues ever threatened them, they would have a counter measure ready.
...
"Have you gone mad?"
Kevin looked up. Stephan stood in the doorway with his arms folded. Staring at him as though he had lost his senses.
"You want to cage him?" Stephan asked.
"If Devon refuses to get rid of him, then yes."
Stephan laughed once. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"And what makes you think that friend of yours would just hand him over?"
"It's like a guarantee."
"You weren't there Kevin." Stephan said. "You didn't see the whole fight."
"I saw enough."
"No." Stephan shook his head. "You saw the ending. I saw everything."
His expression hardened. "I was only a few feet away when Steven fought him. I watched Steve throw every cruel insult he could muster at the wolf."
Kevin frowned. "Battle taunts? Come on, everyone does that."
"No." Stephan's answer came immediately. "It was personal. He went after his mother. His appearance. His nature.Things no warrior should say."
Kevin stared. "Steven wouldn't."
"He did. He fought dishonourably." Stephan said quietly. "That wolf could have killed our Steve. And I wouldn't have blamed him."
Stephan's voice grew softer.
"But he didn't. He stopped. He showed mercy."
Kevin couldn't listen anymore.
"What are you saying? That's our brother!"
"Who is too busy writing letters to remember this!"
Despite himself, Kevin almost smiled. He couldn't care less about the Demon Wolf.
"He had written the entire incident into some fairytale. About his mate saving him from a monster." Stephan looked him straight in the eye. "That wolf is not a monster. Just a frighteningly strong kid."
The word kid echoed through his thoughts. They didn't fit. Nothing Stephan said matched the creature Kevin had seen standing over Steven.
He wanted to believe Stephan. But his instincts told him otherwise. That creature was dangerous.
Perhaps Stephan could forgive him. But Kevin couldn't.
So the next time Kevin arrived at the White Lotus headquarters for the alliance talks, the decision had already been made.
The elders had agreed. The White Demon would be one of Nightshade's conditions for peace.
Devon greeted him with an easy smile. Maps covered the table between them. Trade routes. Border patrols. Shared hunting grounds.
Then Devon said something that made Kevin smile.
"Soon. There won't be two packs anymore."
Kevin looked at his oldest friend. He actually believed it. One united pack. Children growing up without the pressure of war. It sounded beautiful.
"But I have one condition."
Devon's smile flattered.
"What condition?"
"The White wolf…can you give him to me?"
"What?"
Kevin didn't hesitate.
"I won't accept peace unless you do."
Devon's eyes widened.
"Oh Kevin."