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Chapters (25)
  1. The First and The Last
  2. 1. One
  3. 2. Two
  4. 3. Three
  5. 4. Four
  6. 5. Five
  7. 6. Six
  8. 7. Seven
  9. AFTERWARD
  10. 9. Nine
  11. 10. Ten
  12. 11. Eleven
  13. 12. Twelve
  14. 13. Thirteen
  15. 14. Fourteen
  16. 15. Fifteen
  17. 16. Sixteen
  18. 17. Seventeen
  19. 18. Eighteen
  20. 19. Nineteen
  21. 20. Twenty
  22. 21. Twenty One
  23. AFTERWORD
  24. ABOUT THE FIRST AND THE LAST
  25. A LITTLE ABOUT ME

That night, after two more helpings of dessert and having been forced to spend the rest of the day in bed, I was finally allowed out. We gathered under the cottonwood tree in front of the pack house. It was dark. The moon wasn’t much more than a sliver, but the sky was alight with stars. My mother broke the news to the pack that she’d be leading them until I was ready to step up. They accepted it without question. Afterward, the whole pack got to their feet and started undressing. As they did it, the thin, strained voice of Mrs. O’Malley rang out across the valley. It started out as a song that was ancient and haunting. It was strangely familiar, and as comforting to me as a warm blanket on a cold night. Gradually, I became aware of heartbeats around me slowing. They slowed and slowed until all the members of the pack were beating as one. Mrs. O’Malley’s song changed then. It changed from being melodic, to guttural, and then from guttural to something altogether different. It was a call. A call from a wise, wild woman to her pack. It was a call I recognized at once. My mother answered first with a long, somber howl. The rest of the pack followed suit. Our howls echoed so loudly that as we shifted, I could hear a cacophony of domestic dogs barking all the way down in town.

My mother took her place at the front of the pack and Jules and I brought up the rear. We tempered our pace to accommodate slower pack members. Still, once we started running, it felt like we were flying. Owls screeched as they left their perches, and deer scattered deep into the forest. Trees whizzed by in blurred flashes of green and brown. Our paws pounded the ground. We shook the whole mountain. The bond between Jules and me glowed in bright streaks of red, purple, and yellow. Everything was as it should be. All was good with the world. I was finally, finally running as part of a pack. I was made for this time and this shape and this place. It was perfect. I had the earth under my paws, the wind in my face, and Jules at my side.

AFTERWORD

THANK YOU FOR READING THE FIRST AND THE LAST

I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please feel free to recommend or lend this this book to your friends.

FREE BOOK

To celebrate the release of The First and The Last, I’m giving away a free copy of my book, Unrequited, to readers who sign up for my newsletter. Visit my site www.authorjessehreign.com to sign up.

Unrequited is a contemporary MM romance. If you like friends-to-lovers and plenty of pining, you won’t want to miss it.