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[Present]

"After my mom woke up, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief," Ashleigh smiled, resting her head against Caleb\'s chest. "It was the beginning of the good after so much bad."

Caleb bent forward and kissed the top of her head.

"She was only awake about two hours before she was up and moving around, demanding answers and giving orders," Ashleigh continued.

"Sounds like Corrine," Caleb smiled.

She chuckled.

"How long did it take you to wake up?" Caleb asked.

"The next day," she replied quietly. "I was fine, just worn down from the power exertion."

Caleb noted the change in her tone. She was pulling back from him.

"I\'m not… quite ready to talk about me yet," she said softly.

Ashleigh pulled away from him, sitting up in bed and turning so they could look at each other.

"I… struggled for a while," she said. "I had a hard time accepting that you were gone, and I… took it out on everyone else."

Caleb sat up and reached out for her. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"I don\'t think anyone could have blamed you," he whispered, kissing her head again.

"They didn\'t," she said, her voice showing the guilt she felt. "Everyone understood, no one blamed me, and that… drove me crazy."

Ashleigh took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before slowly releasing it. Then, she pulled away to look at Caleb again.

He could feel that she was having a hard time. He wanted to know. He wanted to ask about what had happened to her during his absence but didn\'t want to make it any harder on her.

"How about," he began. "If you\'re not ready, we don\'t need to talk about you yet. Instead of giving me a year-by-year overview of what happened to everyone, let\'s focus on one or two people at a time. Catch me up in pieces."

"Okay," she nodded. "Who do you want to know about?"

"Well, you kind of left me hanging on Axel, and I\'m hoping for a happy ending there, so…."

Ashleigh nodded.

"Yea… Axel… was tough," Ashleigh sighed.

[Five Year Ago – Winter]

Axel\'s body had mostly healed over a couple of weeks. However, Peter did have to perform one surgery on his leg when it became clear that the infection site had become necrotic.

The surgery went well, and he was confident that Axel would, at most, have a soft limp or just an ache in his leg once he woke.

Alice stayed at his bedside every day. She would leave only for her appointments to check on the babies, and when Myka brought Sadie and Stefan, to insist that she eat with them outside the room.

Galen and Fiona had returned to Summer with their wolves. Bell chose to stay until Axel woke up. Galen could not bring himself to object. If he didn\'t need to go back home, he would have stayed with her.

Corrine, alongside Saul and Richard, took control of Winter. They focused on rebuilding the defenses and finding new homes for those displaced from other packs. With all the extra wolves still within Winter, they could also begin rebuilding houses that had been destroyed in the fighting.

But Corrine made sure to come and sit with Axel every evening and keep him updated on what was happening with his pack.

Ashleigh came to visit her brother occasionally, but mostly she spent her days either at the mountainside or searching through any history book she could find.

It took over a month, but Axel eventually opened his eyes again.

The first few days were rough. He was weak and tired still. But he pushed through. Corrine and Alice explained all that had happened, the losses, the wins. The updates from Summer and Burning Ember.

Broken Crag had been mostly silent. They were still in mourning. But Landon was relieved to hear that Axel had woken.

Though he was still confined to the hospital, Axel had no problem moving back into his role as leader of his people.

He began with an offer to any wolf that wished to stay in Winter and join the pack. The Frostbite wolves were also offered the chance to officially become a part of Winter. Specifically telling them they had earned their place by their actions during the war.

The wolves that chose to return to their packs were given supplies and an escort back to their territories.

He reached out to Galen and Fiona, and they all agreed to send their own people to each of the smaller packs, help rebuild whatever they had lost, and offer improvements where they could.

"Why are you so worried about the smaller packs?" Alice asked as she took her place, laying her head on his chest.

Axel set the phone on the table and pulled her close.

"Tomas and the Dark Queen could cause as much damage as they did because we all kept to ourselves. Each pack living in its own little world and treating the others as enemies," he said. "I thought that Winter was better than the others because we traded with the smaller packs. We trained with some. But after all that happened, I realized we still treated them like lesser people."

Alice listened with a soft smile growing on her lips.

"I want to do things differently," he continued. "I want the werewolves to grow together."

"That\'s a great goal," Alice whispered. "One that never would have had a chance while Spring and Autumn were still around."

Axel nodded.

"I don\'t think we can blame all of the problems on them, but I do think that you\'re right. This is an opportunity for us all to start over. To move beyond the past and build something stronger together."

Alice took a deep breath and squeezed her arms around him.

"Why do I feel you\'re about to be very busy?" she asked.

Axel chuckled. He moved his hand down to gently touch the small bump of her belly.

"We are both going to be very busy soon," he said.

Alice smiled, putting her hand in the same place as his.

"Yea," she said softly. "But it\'s a good kind of busy."

Axel nodded, and he kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Alice furrowed her brows and looked up at him.

"For what?" she asked.

Axel tilted his head with a gentle expression. He smiled and touched her cheek.

"For coming back," he whispered. "For remembering me, us."

Alice swallowed as she felt the warmth spreading in her chest.

"For saving me. For giving me a family, and for… just being you."

Alice moved onto her elbow and lifted herself closer to his face. She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"What\'s with all the sweet talk, Sweet Boy?" she asked playfully. "I\'m already here. I\'m yours. What\'s left for you to talk me into?"

Axel grinned.

"Well, you still haven\'t become my wife."

Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Is it strange that I forgot about that?" she laughed.

Axel pulled her to lay on top of him and hugged her.

"Not really," he said. "It\'s just a technicality. We\'re mated. We\'ve started our family. In every way that really matters, you are already my wife."

Alice smiled and nuzzled against his throat with a soft kiss.

"But I still want to make it official," he said. Turning and lifting her chin to look into her eyes. "So, will you marry me?"

Alice felt a fluttering in her heart. Though he was right, and they were already living as a married couple, hearing the words and seeing the loving gaze in his eyes sent a jolt of anticipation and excitement through her.

Of course, she wouldn\'t be her if she didn\'t have a little fun with him first.

Alice pulled away from him. She moved to sit up, bringing her legs to either side of his hips.

"Hmm…" she said, bringing her hand up to her chin as though she were thinking. "I don\'t know, that\'s a big commitment. I really should take some time to think about it."

Axel grinned.

"Is there anything I can do to convince you?" he asked, placing his hands on her thighs with a firm but gentle grip as he moved them up toward her hips.

Alice smiled.

"Maybe," she smiled back, biting her lower lip.