106 | MAKING AMENDS

Paris’ dark mood lightens as we get to the center of the territory, and I can’t blame her. I’m having a hard time not grinning from ear-to-ear at the transformed grounds around the main living space. What had seemed like a ghost town the last few times I’d come here has become a humming, buzzing-with-life colony. Wolven I recognize, and some I don’t, roam around the clearing with platters of food.

Colors of bright red, ash-blonde, midnight-black and every shade in between are the only real features I can make out beyond the first few clusters of gathered Wolven. So many Wolven, it’s like we’re at a bustling fair and not a Reinier Pack Reunion. As we pass by the first few clusters of chatting Wolven, I feel eyes flick to us before they do a double take, and slowly but surely, a hush settles over the camp grounds. Paris ignores them, keeping her head held high, the ring of glowing blue blazing near her pupil the only sign that she’s on guard as she guides us to the steps of the main house.

The closer we get to house, the more Reiniers I see. None speak as we pass, but there are a few who duck their heads in submission when Paris walks by them. All at least lower their eyes, even if they stiffen when Mom and I pass. When we reach the porch at the main house, Paris goes up a few steps and turns to face the crowd.

“Good morning, everyone.” Paris grins at the collective Wolven, the ring of glowing blue flaring a bit when I hear a murmur of voices off to the right. The fall silent almost immediately, as if scolded. “I’m so glad everyone’s arrived on time this year,” A chuckle rolls through the crowd and Paris’ tight smile warms a little. “Things have been complicated the last few years, I know, but now that I am Alpha,” She makes sure to emphasize her last words, pausing as she looks around the crowd slowly. “I’m hoping we can all get back to simply being Pack and allies. Family.” There’re a few bodies shifting to the right of the sizeable congregation, and once again, Paris looks directly at the groups - her smile becoming more teeth than anything else.

“Peaceful,” Paris stretches the word out, the blue burning even brighter - in warning. The moving and muttering stops, tension growing from the Reiniers gathered around the porch as her Alpha dominance pulses off her in waves. I fight a shiver, relieved I’m no longer part of the Pack and not a lone Alpha anymore. I can feel my Pack, though far, giving me the strength to hold completely still. “Now,” She lets the brightness in her cerulean eyes dim a few degrees as she leans back on her heels, surveying the crowd as her smile relaxes once more. “Today is a meet-and-greet. Mingle, eat, talk - it’s been a while since we’ve seen some of you,” She waves at some of the Wolven at the back of the crowd. “I’ll be walking around to welcome everyone personally,” This time, when Paris looks around, her eyes linger over the disruptive Wolven off to the right. “Remember, you are all guests in our territory, so if anyone tries to make trouble with any of our surrounding allies,” She gives the same group a pointed look. “I’ll have my Enforcers escort you back to your own lands.” A few Reiniers let out low growls in agreement, the Enforcers of the Reinier Pack, stationed all around the clearing and woven into the crowd.

“Tomorrow, we’ll begin the day with the usual triathlon, so I hope everyone will participate, but if not please cheer on your representatives as they compete.” Her smile softens a little as she looks around the crowd, the tension easing as murmurs of excitement roll through the gathering. “So, that’s all I’ve got for now. Please, eat as much as you’d like, and take it easy on Genieve’s punch,” She advises with a wry smile at one of the smirking Reiniers nearby. “She went a little crazy with the vodka.” I hear several Wolven chuckle or whoop and Paris rolls her eyes. “Enjoy everyone, I’ll see you soon.” Paris dismisses the crowd and shuffles back down the steps as the crowd starts to disperse.

“Who’s here?” Mom asks Paris quietly as the volume around us goes back to the earlier humming conversation.

“Almost everyone in the family who’s still in my good graces,” Paris shrugs, then looks meaningfully at Mom. “A few overseas allies who want back in,” She holds Mom’s eyes for a long moment as Mom nods, her face gaining a little more color as her crystalline eyes burn just a little brighter. “I might ask your opinion about them later, if that’s alright?” Paris asks hopefully, lowering her voice to match the near-whisper Mom’s had taken on. Mom nods to Paris, her smile softening.

“Of course,” Mom sighs and leans into my side with a grin. “Shall we mingle, Wisty?” She asks me with a waggle of her eyebrows.

“Sure,” I shrug, looking around and immediately spotting several lingering Reiniers nearby. Very familiar faces of Wolven that have aged in the eight years I haven’t seen them, but still the same family I recall.

“Try not to get into any trouble, Wisty,” Paris pats me on one shoulder, grinning sweetly before disappearing into the crowd. I bite back a growl as my cousin leave Mom and I to face our family alone. I know we’re not in any danger, us being guests in the territory and all, but I can’t help the churning in my stomach as my nerves grow.

“Come, dear, let me reacquaint you with the family,” Mom tells me, linking one arm with mine and steering me towards the shuffling Wolven from my nightmares. With Mom at my side, the tension in my limbs isn’t as stiffening as it could be without her here, and the closer we get to them, the more I seem to straighten.

I’m not the same girl I was when I’d been attacked by the Pack all those years ago. I’m not some cowering, defenseless pup that couldn’t shift. I’m an Alpha now. A hybrid who’s embraced her dual natures with a Pack and a mate. I’m not alone. Even without their love or approval, I’d be fine. I have my new family now. I don’t need to make the Reiniers like me. Hell, they’re all but strangers to me now. Knowing all this gives me strength, and I feel my nerves fall away as my body relaxes and my chin tilts up with confidence.

As if on cue, I hear music start up from somewhere behind us, a live band. The sounds of sweet strings from a fiddle and bold trumpeting from some sort of horn strike up a foreign-sounding jig that makes we smile at Mom. She smirks back at me and pats my arm as we finally reach the other Reiniers.

“Good morning,” Mom looks to the woman closest to her. “Tracy,” The woman looks a lot like Mom, but where Mom’s hair is strawberry-blonde, Tracy’s is a warmer auburn and but her eyes are the same crystalline shade of blue that Mom’s are. Tracy, Mom’s eldest sister, my aunt, looks at Mom with a blank expression, but I see the slight wobble of her thin lips as she tips her chin at Mom.

“Marissa,” Tracy murmurs, her voice wavering a little. “Wisteria,” She turns her slowly filling eyes to me, blinking rapidly to stave off the waterworks. She clears her throat as her voice breaks and she sniffs. Mom’s smile warms a few degrees and she moves to wrap her older sister in her arms. Tracy winces at first, almost cringing when Mom squeezes her, but then Tracy’s strong arms encircle Mom’s waist and she presses her face into Mom’s temple.

One of the men, shifts and clears his throat, drawing my eye. He’s blinking hard, face scrunching up as if he, too, is fighting tears. The woman at his side pats his arm, leaning into him an muttering something. The woman is the one I recognize first, probably because her daughter stands off to their left, her shoulder hunched and not meeting my eyes. Ivy with her parents, my aunt Faith and her mate Nathaniel.

“How’s it going, Ivy?” I ask my cousin softly, wondering if she’s uncomfortable with me and Mom here or if she’s uncomfortable with the situation as a whole. When my younger cousin looks up at me, her sapphire eyes identical to the shade mine used to be, I can see guilt. Regret and sorrow. She ducks her head and mumbles something, her dyed silvery-gold hair moving like a shield between us.

I leave Mom’s side and go to her, following Mom’s example and wrapping her into a hug. Despite everything that happened last year, I know most of what she did - the tracking and controlling power she used - wasn’t out of malice. Well, it was malicious, but not from her own emotions. She had been, like most of the Pack, brainwashed and controlled by our grandmother, the previous Alpha. It wasn’t her fault for following Pack law and what she thought was right at the time.

Ivy, unlike Tracy, doesn’t hold back when I hug her. She wraps me in her own embrace, her smaller body, that of a still-growing teen, pressing into mine as she starts shaking. I hear her sniffing, the congested sounds the only sign that she’s letting her emotions flood her rather than stay in control like most of the older Reiniers. I squeeze her tighter and wiggle a little, wringing a little, choked laugh from her and making her jerk back. She quickly wipes at her eyes and tosses her dyed hair back so the short-cut strands move out of her eyes.

“We’re totally going to beat you guys in the triathlon tomorrow.” She tells me coolly, as if she hadn’t just cried into my shoulder. I crack a smile, letting out a chuckle as I look to Mom with raised eyebrows.

“Those are fighting words, Ivy,” A voice rasping voice calls from behind us. I turn immediately at the familiar sound and beam at my most volatile cousin. Craven smirks at us, his ghoulish face relaxed and not as terrifying as I used to think. He’s still got thick scars all over his exposed skin, the mantle of Pack Executioner and one of the best, most trusted of Petra’s Enforcers clear on his body as he shuffles closer.

“You’re back!” I bounce a little on my feet, excited and relieved to see my eldest cousin is alive and well. It was one thing knowing he was alive in the West all these weeks, but I’ve been worried for him. Seeing him here now, I feel like a huge weight has been removed from my shoulders.

“Yeah, couldn’t miss the Reunion,” Craven shrugs with a smaller smile that fades as his eyes flick over to Mom. Something seems to pass between them and Craven’s relaxed demeanor is suddenly gone. He tucks his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts and his shoulders come up around his ears, his head lowers a little, making him seem smaller than he is.

“Craven,” Mom greets him, her voice calm with just the hint of steel in the word. I cringe, hoping Mom’s not holding a grudge against the most violet and ‘mad’ of our family. I’ve forgiven him, so I can’t see her remaining angry about the history between us. He, like everyone else, and even more than anyone, had been under our grandmother’s control. He had been the first to feel her madness and been warped, both in mind and body, by it.

“Auntie,” Craven nods to Mom with the ghost of a smile on his worn face.

Mom’s tense expression softens and she goes over to him and envelops him in a light embrace. Craven’s whole body goes rigid and I catch the wide-eyed look of panic flash in his eyes before he relaxes. The immediate vicinity falls utterly silent as Mom and Craven hug. Mom mutters something to him that’s too soft to be heard over the live band, but I see Craven’s reaction all the same. The incremental widening of pupils and bottomless sorrow that seems to rise in his cerulean eyes. The faint gleam of liquid pooling in in them before he blinks them away, his whole face shutting down as Mom pulls back and lightly touches his scarred-up face. And then he relaxes his expression and gives her the warmest smile I’ve ever seen.

“It’s good to see you,” Mom tells him softly, the hint of tears making her eyes a little glassy.

“You too,” Craven nods, years of pain evaporating from his eyes and relaxing his body.

“Can you guys stop? I think I’m going to gag.” Ivy groans in disgust, but when I look to her its not what I see in her red-rimmed eyes. I smirk at my little cousin and ruffle her hair. She shoots me scowl, lightly smacking my hand away as her parents laugh. And just like that, the tension fades from our group.

“Now, what’s this I hear about you taking over a bitten-Pack from a Cat?” Craven asks me once the chuckles die out. Heads swivel to stare at me and I let out a deep sigh, rolling my eyes at my older cousin as he turns the spotlight to me. I launch into a brief explanation of the Berner Wolven situation, which then leads into more questions, and soon, I find myself in an easy discussion with my extended family.

Mom and Craven go off to mingle with the other allies and Reiniers while my little group of family coax answer from me about the life I’ve been living since we last met. When I finish speaking, Ivy takes over the conversation, her Beta status reaching higher than the others in the group. The rest of the morning is filled with stories on lighter topics and I learn all about the family that chased me away so long ago. And, without meaning to, I find myself relaxing into the words from my relatives and the easy way we find ourselves speaking to one another.