Fighting Fate (27 page)

coming for him, and they all knew it, could scent it in the air, taste it on their tongues.

A portal opened behind Caym, and Logan held back a grunt, expecting the demon to be pulled

into it, or even have more than just him standing there, but that wasn’t what happened. No, instead,

three men walked out of the portal, their eyes narrowed.

That wasn’t the right way to describe them. They weren’t men. No, they were demons. They had

to be. And way fucking more scary than Caym had ever hoped to be. Logan shuddered, praying to the

moon goddess that those three demons, and whoever else might be like them in the depths of hell,

never pulled their attention from Caym and onto the Redwoods. He didn’t think they’d survive that.

The demons didn’t walk either. No, they stalked toward their prey like the three predators they

were.

Caym.

“Tut tut, little brother,” one of the demons whispered. Though Logan only thought he whispered

it. His voice carried on the wind, surrounding them, almost brushing against him like spindly fingers.

He tugged Cailin closer.

“You shouldn’t have left the hells for the wolves,” another demon said, his voice like crushed

velvet. “You know better than to go above your station.”

The third demon trailed his fingers up and down Caym’s injuries. “It seems these wolves got the

best of you, dear brother. They killed you. Oh yes, they did. The only reason you’re still breathing is

because Father wishes it.”

Caym opened his mouth to speak, only to gurgle on blood as Jasper had split the bastard’s throat.

“Don’t bother speaking,” the first demon said. “We will take you back home with us and take

care of you.”

From the way he said that, Logan wanted
nothing
to do with that kind of care.

“Yes, and then we’ll show you what happens to little demons who break the rules.” The second

demon smiled, and Logan fought the urge to flee with Cailin in his arms.

“You’ve made a mess up here that we won’t be cleaning up,” the third demon said. “No, the

lesser wolves and humans will have to do that themselves, but Father isn’t pleased. He’ll take that

punishment out on you. And you know how much Father loves his punishments.”

“Yes, a thousand years in the flames while nailed to the wall should be a good start.”

“Then we’ll freeze you to an ice block, and every time you move, you’ll lose your skin, only to

have it grow back.”

“Oh yes, this will be fun. So. Much. Fun.”

The three demons picked Caym up and began walking toward the portal without a look back.

Caym screamed, gurgled, and kicked, but it was no use.

As the portal began to close, Logan let out a breath, only to suck it back in as the first demon

looked over his shoulder and winked.

Winked.

Oh shit. He did
not
want to know what that was about.

The portal closed with a whoosh, and Cailin fell into Logan’s arms.

“Cailin?” He pulled her closer so he could face her. What was wrong? Did the demons or the

spell do something to her and the baby?

“We did it,” she whispered.

He grinned then, full-out. Shouts and laughs sounded all around him, but all he could look at was

his mate, his love.

“We did it, princess. We did it.”

He brought his lips to hers, taking hers in a soft kiss, knowing there would be more later. Much

more. They had an entire future together, ripe in the making.

He couldn’t wait.

He’d found his mate, his fate, and his future.

What more did a wolf need?

Chapter Seventeen

Cailin sank into Logan, ignoring everyone around them as she tasted every inch of his mouth,

letting his taste settle on her tongue. She couldn’t get enough of him and had to remind herself they

weren’t alone.

But goddess…

He’d almost
died
.

They all had almost died.

Logan pulled back, running his hand over her back. “We’re safe, princess. Holy crap, we’re

safe.”

Happy tears filled her eyes, and she kissed his chin, squeezing him hard. “Oh my God. It’s

over.”

“Did you see those demons?” Adam asked from her side, and she turned to find her family, Pack,

and Talons standing in groups, looks of awe and disbelief on their faces.

Cailin sank into Logan’s arms, needing to rest but not ready to leave her family yet.

“I did,” Kade answered. “We all did. I honestly don’t think they’ll be back for us though. At

least not in our lifetimes.”

Considering how long their lifetimes actually were, that was some proclamation. Not that Cailin

disagreed with her brother in the slightest.

“So Caym isn’t really dead?” Reed asked, leaning heavily into Josh. Hannah had her hands over

her mate, Healing a wound on his side. Despite the fact that Hannah looked as if she’d Healed a little

bit of almost every Pack member, she didn’t
really
look worse for wear. The witch’s power had

grown immensely since they’d first met.

“No, I don’t think so,” Mel answered, her arms around Kade’s waist. Her brother currently had

his hand on Mel’s back, rubbing small circles as if he couldn’t get enough of her, as if he was

ensuring she was still there.

That they
all
were still there.

“I think if he hadn’t used the last of his powers to siphon into himself, we would have killed

him,” Willow added, her head on Jasper’s chest.

Jasper had his arms around his mate and a large cut on his face, but it looked to be healing. “He

sacrificed his wolves to give himself more power. We always knew he was a fucking bastard, but to

do that? Crazy.”

“We each got a few wounds in,” Maddox said, his voice low, his arms around Ellie.

“I’ve never seen anything take that many death blows and still survive,” Lexi murmured, leaning

into North.

“And yet that wasn’t enough to outlast the portal.”

Logan’s words made her want to hide under a rock, even with all they’d won that day. “Those

demons…crap, you guys. They were worse than Caym, weren’t they?” she asked, already knowing

the answer.

“I think so,” Gideon answered. “Jesus, I hope to God we don’t ever have to deal with one of

those in our Pack or in
any
of our Packs.”

They all nodded at the Talon Alpha, she knew they were weary to the bone, yet still not really

letting it sink in that it was over. It’s how she felt.

“Goddess,” Cailin breathed. “It’s
over
.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, the actions and ramifications of what had just occurred washing

over her. Logan leaned down and brushed a kiss over her head as the others murmured to each other,

the same wonderment over their faces.

“What are we going to do with the bodies?” Ellie asked, her voice raw. “I…I know these aren’t

my people, not anymore. But they used to be.”

Maddox brought her closer, whispering into her ear, and she relaxed somewhat.

“We’ll bury them,” Kade said, not surprising Cailin at all. Her brother was a good man.

“They’ll get their own graves, and we’ll mourn the wolves they would have been under different

circumstances.”

“Thank you,” Bay whispered. “We’ll mark the ones we know at least.” She opened her arms,

gesturing to the vast field of bodies, blood, and torment. “There’s too many for one day, but we can

work on it.”

“We’ll help,” Ryder put in. “We’ll put them to rest as we put the battle, the war, to rest.”

“I’ll head back to the den and get the equipment,” Adam put in.

“I need to contact the rest of the enforcers, let them know it’s safe to bring everyone back,” Kade

added. “Let them know they can bring our children back.”

Mel gave a watery smile. “Okay, we have that down. Let’s get to work.” She looked over the

field where they stood, and Cailin knew that none of them wanted to do this bloody work, but they all

had to.

It took hours, but with the help of the Talons and every Redwood available, they buried each and

every body they found. They marked the graves of the wolves that Ellie knew on sight—the pain on

the woman’s face would haunt Cailin for years to come—and put a prayer on the ones they couldn’t

mark.

Once they were done, they were even dirtier and weary than they had been before, but this time

was different. Now, instead of going home to pick up the pieces and pray for peace…now they had it.

She could go home with Logan and think of a future with the child in her womb without the

worry of a war.

Cailin honestly didn’t know if she ever thought that would happen, not with the way things had

turned over the past few years.

The absence of threats, the idea of peace and tranquility, made her life seem stark.

Barren.

What was she going to do now?

Logan cupped her cheek, bringing her out of her thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop

it.”

“I’m stressing over the lack of stress. I think I need a nap.”

Her mate leaned down and kissed her softly. “You need more than a nap, princess. And we have

to rebuild the Pack and learn to grow with this new life of ours. Nothing is completely restful,

completely over, but we’re well on our way. Just put one foot in front of the other and know that

you’re never alone.”

“I love you, Logan.”

“Love you too, princess. Now let’s get back to the den, sink into the bath, then sleep.” He

grinned. “And when I wake you up in the middle of the night by sinking my cock into that pretty cunt

of yours, you’ll remember exactly who you belong to…and who belongs to you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They made their way back to the group, their bodies ready to crash.

“If you ever need anything,
anything
, you come to us,” Kade said. “I know you’re rebuilding

your Pack, and we’re in our own tough shape, but we can’t let another century go by with our two

Packs side by side and not doing anything about it.”

Gideon shook Kade’s hand and nodded. “We’ll talk more. We’re not going to let this line of

communication fall.”

“Yeah, you can’t get rid of us,” Walker joked, and Cailin smiled.

“What about the Central land?” Ellie asked the question on everyone’s mind.

Kade met Gideon’s gaze, and the two Alphas seemed to have their own conversation in that

look. “We’ll let it become neutral land for now,” her brother answered. “We still have a lot of

rebuilding and cleaning up to do. Once we do that together, we can talk about what to do with what’s

left of the Central den. For now, between both of our wards, we can hide everything from the

humans.”

“Yes, we’ll help with that,” Gideon said. “I don’t know if there are any Centrals left considering

what Caym did with the Pack bonds at the end.”

Cailin held back a shudder at the memory.

“When, and if, we find them, we will deal with them. Together.”

At Kade’s words, a new treaty between the Redwoods and Talons was formed, solidified over

blood, pain, and loss. Cailin knew that wasn’t the last time they’d hear from their neighbors. Not by a

long shot.

Cailin rested her head on Logan’s shoulders as Kade danced Mel around the living room, their

children following them in a line of giggles and shouts. Happiness spread through her even at the

bittersweet moment of having a family dinner at the new Alpha’s home, rather than the home where

she’d grown up.

It had been four weeks since the final battle where Caym had lost it all and her family had come

out on top for once. Four weeks of cleanup, grief, and coming home.

Four weeks of peace.

Finn, Gina, and Mark each took turns jumping on Kade’s back as he dipped Mel in their dance.

The playful family fell to the floor in a heap of limbs, Kade taking the brunt. Cailin wasn’t worried

for their safety considering the group of them was laughing too hard to be truly hurt.

Jasper had Brie on his shoulders, doing a dance to the music Kade had put on for the family as

Willow tried to get their daughter to stay still enough for a photo, a total lost cause for that little girl.

Even Brie’s pigtails were askew as she wiggled on Jasper’s shoulders, pumping her fists to the beat.

Hannah stood between Josh and Reed, shaking her hips to the music, making her babies laugh.

Josh held Kaylee in his arms, the big tough man looking adorable holding a child covered in pink.

Reed had Conner in his arms and couldn’t stop laughing as his son kept reaching out to play with

Hannah’s hair. The love of messing with the witch’s tousled curls seemed to be a guy thing in their

family.

Adam had Micah in his arms, the little boy resting his head on her brother’s shoulders. Both of

Bay’s men were getting over man colds—as much of a cold as a wolf could get considering their

immune systems. Bay leaned against her mate, a drink in her hand as she smiled at the dancing

families.

Maddox sat on one of the couches, Ellie in his lap, as they had eyes only for each other, their