Claws (Rewritten)

Epilogue

Caleb

A few months had passed since the whole ordeal with the rogue wolf and the hunters. I was certain that it was the largest group of enemies the pack had ever had to face, before, and words couldn't express how grateful I was that they were all still here today, when so much could've easily gone wrong that day.

We were all badly injured after the fight, and we spent the rest of the day (and the following night) removing the countless bullets, throwing stars, arrows and stakes from our bodies. It took longer than usual, but we all healed. Physically. I could tell that Damien's death had shaken Georgia, who would often stare into space, her mind elsewhere. Markus and his brothers were less affected by their father's death, but occasionally, their eyes would darken and they would fall silent as they thought about him, and what he could've done to the pack.

Amelie helped with the clean-up, both in the forest and the warehouse. She stayed in the city for a while, taking a much-needed break, but she left a few weeks ago upon hearing from one of her sources about a growing group of hunters in the east. My brother and father offered to go with her and help out wherever they could, and I was willing to join them once the summer arrived, but she refused. It was her personal fight, to rid the world of toxic hunters like her family, and she was perfectly capable and willing to do it herself.

Adelyn had spent the past few months practicing her magic. At first, she could barely light a candle, and she almost had a breakdown at the idea of her magic never returning. It took a lot to calm her down, that day. She went to her coven for a week after our autumn semester exams, and they helped her out. They knew better than the rest of us how to fix the mess that the bracelet had caused, and she was a lot happier when she returned (of her own free will, no rescue mission needed, surprisingly). Her magic was slowly coming back to her, and every day she grew more and more excited about her recovery, and the spells she was able to do. She still had bad days, but I was proud of her progress.

In the warehouse, while clearing up the bodies to avoid a panicked city, my father, Daniel and I found a few more journals. As it turned out, the hunters were direct descendants of Amelie's bloodline, and they'd taken out a warlock nest a few months prior to arriving in our city. They'd taken the bracelet as a precaution in case they ever came into contact with a witch, and they seized the chance to use it once Damien told them about Adelyn. They'd also called in countless other hunter groups to help them, which was why there were so many more than we had been expecting. Assholes. I was glad they were gone, no longer a threat to anyone I cared about.

Chloe had recovered remarkably well after the close call in the warehouse, and she dived head first into her placements. I admired her beyond belief. And Lyn. For not letting the hunters bring them down.

We were nearing the end of our second year at university, with only a few weeks left before the summer break. I was looking forward to it immensely, even though we all had different plans. Chloe was going home for half of the break and returning later on in the year, all in a commendable effort to finish up her placement requirement before our third year began, so she could focus more on licenses and exams, and Adelyn was trying to convince me to visit different witch capitals of the world with her. Markus was going to Alaska with Noah for a fortnight to meet his mate's pack.

Before our break began, though, we had the end-of-year exams to worry about. But today we were taking a much-needed break from the responsibilities of university before the home stretch began.

Instinctively, my gaze shifted to where the girls were sat, together in the grass by the lake. They were busy laughing and making a scrapbook out of all of our polaroids from the squad-cation, plus a few extra we'd taken since then, including a rather hilarious shot of Noah chasing Markus around the house with a wooden spoon when he stole some brownies.