Lady and the Wolf [Book One, Lady and the Wolf Series] -Published-

Chapter Twenty-Four: Until We Meet Again

"I'm happy to see you recovered well," he mentioned towards her still-bandaged arm. "It was quite a show."

Aira placed a convincing smile onto her face. "You could say that..."

Lucas was close friends with the people that ran this certain reserve, who made sure the "wild" wolves that occupied the area stayed away from the humans that populated near here. They had assessed Vaughn briefly and concluded that it wasn't too late for him to adjust back into the wild. The good side of all this was that this place technically wasn't out in the natural wild. It was monitored so that every living creature was safe.

"He'll do fine here, Aira. He was born here after all," Drake tried to make this transition easier on his daughter, but the look on her face said otherwise.

"I feel like I'm abandoning him."

She looked up as Lucas moved closer and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You see that collar and leash?" he said as he mentioned towards the objects that were strapped around the young wolf. "Those are meant for dogs, my dear. He is not a dog. He is a part of us, and he belongs out there, with his brothers."

He pointed towards the neck of trees leading out to the hundreds of acres of land. Aira didn't know anything about shifters or their history — hell, their history was only in fairytales — but she did know one thing; their brethren were their heart. They held each other in the highest regards and would easily put themselves in danger for their pack or loved ones. Aira knew this from experience.

With understanding sweeping across her eyes, Aira kneeled and took off her friend's collar. He sat still, patiently watching her, before biting into the piece of material in her hands.

"No, boy, it's not playtime," she muttered, trying to keep her tears at bay. With a shaky breath, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, burying her face into his fur as she whispered, "Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for listening to me when I was sad. Thank you for finding me when I was lost."

Vaughn seemed confused as he tilted his head, watching as his master got to her feet. She was sad. He knew.

Aira suddenly put on a strong face as she snapped, "It's time to go, Vaughn. Go on." She pointed towards the neck of trees and Vaughn, still confused, moved away from her with his ears down. However, he never left.

Howling could suddenly be heard as Drake called out. Aira stared at her father in complete awe as he mimicked a wild wolf's call. Before she could ask what he was doing, a low, haunting howl could be heard in the far distance, almost as if replying to Drake.

Vaughn's ears suddenly perked up as he heard the call as well and with a moment of hesitation, bolted towards the trees. He stopped for a moment to look back at the human he was leaving behind. Aira waved a shaky hand, and that was all Vaughn needed to see before he was out of sight completely.

Aira remembered the first day they had met. She had once thought that she was the one to find him, but really, he was the one who found her. Her wolf had risked his own life to save hers when she was attacked at the school. He was there when she had cried for days after Aiden and Van had left for Russia. He was always there and now... he wouldn't be there anymore.

The thunder crashed down, and Aira whimpered as she hid under her bed sheet. Just as she was about to make a dash for Aiden's bedroom, she could feel something crawling on the top of her sheets, right before a head popped under. Aira simply watched as the little wolf cub huddled under the sheet with her and jumped up to lick her face.

Aira giggled. "Go-go back to be-bed, Vaughn," she stuttered. He didn't listen and just kept jumping onto her. Aira laughed harder as she pulled a book out from her side table and asked, "Would-would you li-like to learn words wi-with me? I-I can't tal-talk very good, though."