Snow POV
Two years later...
The training ground was alive with the sounds of young wolves sparring. Twelve-year-olds, all eager to prove themselves. Some shifted between human and wolf form and testing their strength, while others clutched wooden weapons, swinging them with more enthusiasm than skill.
I paced along the edge of the field, watching them carefully. "Tobin, your stance is too wide. If you try to lunge like that, you'll be on your ass before you land a hit."
The boy adjusted his footing. "Like this?"
"Better," I nodded. "Now try again."
A few feet away, a girl named Elara was sparring with a boy twice her size. She fought hard, but she was losing ground fast. Her movements were too reactive, she let her opponent dictate the pace.
"Elara!" I called. She didn't look at me, she was too focused on dodging. "Stop running. Control the fight."
She gritted her teeth and shifted her weight, standing her ground. This time when the boy charged, she ducked low and swept his legs out from under him. He hit the dirt with a grunt, and the other trainees burst into laughter.
I smiled. "That's more like it."
Elara beamed, wiping sweat from her brow.
The students carried on with their fighting. I folded my arms and watched them. Running this training program had become my life's work. Two years ago, I never imagined I'd find purpose in a place like this, let alone happiness. But here I was.
A familiar warm feeling spread through my chest before I even turned around. I knew that presence anywhere.
The young wolves stopped their training and stood at attention. "Alpha Zaydin!"
I turned to find Zaydin walking toward us. He had grown his blonde hair long, and it was falling loose over his shoulders. His arms were full, but not with weapons or paperwork. He carried Crystal my daughter, and she was giggling, her tiny fingers tangled in the fabric of his shirt.
Crystal's big green eyes found mine, and she squealed. "Mama!"
I laughed, reaching for her as she stretched her chubby arms out to me. "There's my little troublemaker."
She nestled her face into my neck. Unlike other wolf pups, Crystal was fragile, her body smaller than it should have been. The circumstances of her birth had taken their toll, but she was a fighter.
Zaydin watched us with a smile on his face.
"You're spoiling her," I teased, adjusting Crystal against my hip. "Every time you have her, she comes back thinking she owns the place."
"She does own the place," Zaydin replied. "She's our daughter."
I rolled my eyes. "You're making my job harder. She doesn't even listen to me anymore.'"
He smirked. "Smart kid."
I narrowed my eyes. "She's a menace."
"She's perfect."
I looked down at Crystal, who was playing with the collar of my shirt, completely unaware of our conversation. He wasn't wrong.
I turned to the wolves in training. "That's enough for today. Classes continue next week."
They bowed their heads in respect before scattering. I turned back to Zaydin, only to find worry in his eyes.
"What is it?" I asked.
He shifted on his feet. "It's news from Jade Pack."
My stomach dropped to my feet. I hadn't heard that name in a long time.
I sighed. "I'm guessing it's not good."
"We need to talk inside." He hooked a thumb towards the pack house.
I nodded. Whatever it was, it wasn't something we could discuss out in the open. As we walked toward the pack house, I glanced up at him. "Is it about Jasper?"
"Possibly."
"I don't care what it is," I grunted. "That part of my life is over."
Zaydin said nothing to that as he led the way down the hall. He stopped at a door and pushed it open.
As soon as we stepped inside, I spotted Sharon taking a whack at a training dummy in one corner. Her sword hit the wooden figure hard enough to make me wince at the sound.
Across the room, Alex, Zaydin's beta was hunched over a massive map spread across a table. Sharon landed another solid hit on the dummy before she turned and spotted us. Her expression brightened immediately. "There's my grandbaby!"
Crystal who had been resting her head against my shoulder, lifted her face at the familiar voice. A squeal of pure excitement ripped from her little mouth. Before I could react, she was already trying to launch herself from my arms.
Sharon dropped the sword, walked over and scooped her up, tossing her into the air like she was a doll that weighed nothing. Crystal shrieked in delight, her tiny fists waving as Sharon caught her effortlessly and cradled her close. "You get cuter every damn day, you know that?"
Crystal responded by grabbing two handfuls of Sharon's silver-streaked hair and giggling.
I smiled as watched them. In the two years I'd been here, Sharon had become more than just my mate's mother. She was an incredibly protective woman who had taken me in when I had no one. And she had become my friend too.
Zaydin cleared his throat. "Mom, put the kid down for a second. There's important stuff to discuss here."
Sharon rolled her eyes but kissed Crystal's cheek before handing her back to me. She crossed her arms, giving her son a pointed look. "This better be good, Z."
Alex muttered something under his breath, shaking his head. "Yeah, because dragging us all up here wasn't dramatic at all."
Zaydin ignored the sarcasm. He stepped forward and placed both hands on the table, his fingers pressing into the map. "Gather around," he said.
Sharon sighed and walked over. I followed her, holding Crystal close. Then Zaydin lifted his gaze and said the last thing I ever expected to hear.
"Jasper Burton of Jade Pack is announcing a ceasefire."
The room was silent. I stared at Zaydin, waiting for him to tell me I had misheard, but his face said otherwise.
This was real. This was actually happening!
"Jasper wants an alliance?" I asked. "After ten years of that damn bloodshed?"
Zaydin nodded once. "That's what the letter said at least."
I looked at the map spread across the table. Jade Pack and Golden Pack had been at war for as long as I had been here. Jasper had fueled it with his pride, sending men to die just to prove a stupid point. And now, suddenly, he wanted to talk? No, there had to be some ulterior motive. He had to have something up his sleeve.
"Snow thinks this is an ambush." Sharon told Zaydin, but she was looking at me. "I can hear her thoughts. She thinks Jasper's real plan is to harm us in some way, which is why he's calling us over to his pack."
I sighed and rocked Crystal in my arms. "Are you actually considering this?"
Zaydin shrugged, leaning over the table as his head fell forward. In just a few minutes of this, he already looked tired.
"I'm tired of burying my warriors, Snow. If there's a way to end this without losing more people, I'll take it." He looked up at me. "But I know what Jasper did to you. If you want revenge, I won't stop you."
I gave it some thought. The idea of getting back at Jasper for everything he had done was tempting, but I wasn't that person anymore.
"This isn't about me. It's about what is best for Golden pack." I replied.
Alex who had been silent until now, leaned over the table and tapped a section of the map. "And to think this war started over land," he said. "Jasper wanted farmland beyond his borders, and when Zaydin told him no, he ignored it."
Zaydin stood straight crossed his arms. "I gave him warnings but he didn't listen. So I stationed warriors to keep his people out. That's when he lost it."
Jasper had started a war over farming land? He had let hundreds die for something that could have been solved in a single conversation?
"You always knew Jasper was unhinged, Snow." Sharon reminded me.
"So why a ceasefire now?" I asked.
Zaydin huffed out a breath. "That's the question, isn't it?"
Everyone was silent as I stared at the map. Jade Pack had been my home once. It was where I had grown up, where I had suffered, where I had lost everything. I didn't want to go back. I didn't want to see Gabby, or Jasper, or my parents who had cast me aside.
Zaydin watched me closely. "This is your call, Snow. If you don't want us to go, your wish is as good as done. We'll find some other way to deal with Jasper."
"No." I replied quickly. "No, I don't want us to ignore this. If Jasper wants to talk, we'll give him that. We'll go to Jade Pack."
**
Ten minutes later, I stood in my room, staring at the half-packed bag on the bed. My arms felt like they were frozen at my sides. After two years, I was finally going back to Jade Pack. The place where I had spent my entire life feeling unwanted. The place where I had been abandoned, then forced into a marriage that was never meant for me.
I wasn't that woman anymore. I had a daughter, a home, a kind mate and a place where I was valued. I didn't want the life I had with Jasper anymore. That was a part of my past that I didn't want to re-visit.
I forced a breath and grabbed another dress from the closet. I folded it neatly and placed it inside the bag. Then the door opened behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"You pack like you're planning to run away," Zaydin commented.
"I'm considering it." I muttered as I zipped the bag shut. "Maybe I'll leave Crystal here, disappear into the forest and live like a rogue wolf."
He chuckled at my joke and stepped closer. I felt his warmth behind me before he even touched me. His arms came around me, hugging me from behind.
"You don't have to do this, Snow." He murmured into my neck.
I turned to him. "Yes, I do."
His bright blue eyes studied my face. "You're different from the woman I met two years ago."
"Oh? And what kind of woman was I?"
He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "A woman running from her past. A woman who didn't realize how strong she was at the time." His fingers trailed down my cheek. "You don't run anymore, my love."
Zaydin sighed and glanced down at my hands, where I was gripping his shirt like a lifeline. He gently pried my fingers open, threading his own through them.
"I can't lose you, Snow," he murmured. "I won't lose you to this thing with Jasper."
"You won't lose me," I whispered back. "Jasper is my past and I am very ready to make it stay that way."
His thumb brushed my knuckles. "I'm glad Jasper lost you." He smiled. "Because I got to win you."
I let out a breathless laugh. "You're turning soft."
"Only for you."
His words made my heart flutter with love. He wasn't the kind of man who said things just for the sake of it. Every word meant something.
Before I could say anything else, he pulled his hands away and reached into his pocket. Then, in one smooth motion, he dropped to one knee.
Zaydin held up a simple ring with a garnet stone on it. He looked up at me with those eyes that were as blue as the ocean. "Will you marry me, Snow?"
I clamped a hand over my mouth in shock. "What?" I gasped.
"I've never been good with words." He said. "But It's been two years since you came into my life, and I know that I want you by my side. I want to wake up next to you every day. I want Crystal to grow up knowing she's loved."
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "And I want you to know that no matter what happens tomorrow, you will always belong here with me."
Tears stung my eyes. I sank to my knees and flung my arms around him. "Yes," I whispered against his shoulder. "Yes, Zaydin. A hundred times, yes."
His arms crushed me against him as he hugged me like he never wanted to let go. Then he pulled back, slipping the ring onto my finger and kissed me on my lips.
He rested his forehead against mine. "Once we get back, we have to start preparing for the wedding."
I grinned. "I like the sound of that."
He squeezed my hand. "Ready?"
I nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
I was finally ready to face my past.