One Bite

Epilogue - 2

We docked the boat against an icy shoreline, where a small gathering of werewolves waited for us. After Solomon shifted back to human form and dressed, he wasted no time. With one sweeping arm movement, he picked me up and tossed me overboard. My legs flailed but I landed on my feet. The icy cold water bit into my ankles with needle prick-like sensations.

"You could've warned me!" I yelled back up at him but it was too late.

Grounding his palms on the railing, he hopped down to my side. The biggest, widest smile radiated warmth and excitement on his face. He clasped my hand in his, then tugged me to the small crowd with more excitement than I'd ever seen from him. His feet moved like his steps walked on air.

My eyes pulled wide at the sight of about fifty people on the shoreline. Every slight variation of beautiful, light pale skin, light shades of white-blonde hair, and piercing aquamarine blue eyes was so jarring that they looked unreal. A few similarities were so shocking, I swore I looked in a mirror.

I passed smiling face after smiling face, until my cheeks pinched from how much I beamed. Sniffling, I fought back tears from the swelling of my heart in my chest. It tugged and ached, one introduction at a time. Right away, I noticed that the Istas pack's greeting gesture, even for first introductions, involved connecting foreheads and nose bridges together.

From a background of limited physical contact, the facial alignment gesture caught me by surprise. Face after face converged on ours, hand clasping my cheeks, shoulders, or back of my neck and drawing us together. To the background of Sol's hearty laughter, I almost head-bumped the first greeter.

My reservations dissolved under the sheer joy that wrapped around me and my brother. I embraced each new face with a smile that ached my cheeks and threatened to crack my face. Wanting to know everyone further than the slurry of names thrown at me, I attempted my best memorizations but Solomon tugged my hand further up the icy shore.

"Catch ups later!" He laughed at the group, tugging me behind him. "We're not going anywhere any time soon."

After a few gentle hand tugs, we stood at the end of the welcoming group. Solomon dropped my hand in front of a tall, stoic male. His angular jaw and high cheekbones resembled Solomon's but a sadness slumped his posture. He looked like the weight of the world had beaten him down and my fingers twitched to hug him.

Taking two steps closer, his gait hitched with a limp. The sight wrapped an uncomfortable tightness in my chest, like a coil of tension wrapped around my heart. His light blonde hair and beard were cropped short, fluttering in the wind that ruddied his cheeks. Two light blue eyes crinkled in the corners as he gazed down at me.

"A-Alpha Boreas?" Hinging at my hips, I gave a gentle bow at his commanding presence.

Blinking, he peered down at me, eyes stretched open like he looked at a ghost. His lips parted but no sound came out. His fingers shaking, he extended both of his hands and clasped them over mine. When he spoke, a rushed whisper came out.

"It is her."

His eyes fixed on Solomon, rounder and wider, asking for confirmation. With a grin, my brother nodded. Boreas' eyes returned to mine, studying my face with the scrutiny of an artist who critiqued their own work. After a few moments where none of us blinked, he returned Solomon's nod with one of his own, pulled his lips into a small smile of awe, and shifted his gaze back at me.

His voice hovered above a raspy whisper, a shine coming over his blue-green irises, "What's your name? I'm sorry, I know your name but my ears need to hear it."

"Zara." I stared up into his eyes and the familiarity living in them. "Zara Accalia Lykaios."

"No," he replied in a quiet, firm voice. Gentle squeezes of his hands over my hands accompanied each word, "Zara Accalia Istas."