I turn to Diana, who is flashing me that dazzling Lupine smile of hers.

“Oh, Diana...” I manage, her form wavy through my tears. We pull each other into an embrace as Rafe, then Jarod and the others, embrace Yvan in turn, exclaiming their relief over finding him alive.

“My sister,” Diana says as we draw back from each other and I take in her exultant grin.

I glance toward Rafe. “So, you’re Lupine mates now?”

Rafe shoots Diana a rakish look. “One could say that.”

“Well mated,” Diana agrees, growing serious as she raises her chin, her wild eyes filling with formal import. “He is a strong and virile man. My family would have been proud of our union.”

As culturally odd as it is for me to hear her speak of my brother in this way, I nod, fresh tears pooling in my eyes, my smile fading under the weight of horrific tragedy—the last time Diana and I saw each other just a day after the vicious slaughter of her entire family, her Lupine friends...almost everyone she loved. “I’m sorry,” I tell her, choking up. “Your family, Diana... I’m so sorry.”

She nods tightly as Rafe’s arm encircles her. She leans toward him, her gaze taking on a hard, predatory glint. “We have established a pack in the Eastern Realm. A new Gerwulf pack. Over a hundred of us and growing.”

I stare at them both in wonder. “So many?”

“A new branch of the Vu Trin forces,” Rafe says, serious, as well. “We’re building an army, Ren.”

Diana’s expression turns vicious. “The army Vogel feared we would build.”

“Good,” I say. “Because he’s coming.”

Diana’s lip twitches. “Let him come.” She flashes her teeth, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickle with an involuntary rush of intimidation. “I need to have a talk with him,” she growls. “With my teeth.”

A shiver ripples down my spine and I can sense, in the ferocity of her expression, how altered she’s been by the unspeakable tragedy. There’s new gravity to her, but I can also tell that she’s grown fiercer for it, and I’m glad of it.

Aislinn, Andras, and Jarod step nearer, tears misting Aislinn’s newly amber eyes. Aislinn and I pull each other into a close embrace and I’m overjoyed to find her slight, frail appearance so altered, her skin enhanced by a healthy glow, her form infused with a wiry muscularity.

“Your fastlines,” I breathe, my eyes catching on her blank hands as Yvan embraces Diana, Rafe, and the others in turn, falling into earnest conversation with them. “They’re gone.”