Chapter 34

    Armand’s and Miss Fern’s Mating Ceremony was soon to start. A huge fire was burning in the center of the Village. A large number of Wolf People were already gathering, many preparing the feast soon to be enjoyed by all after the Ceremony.

    Large foot wide snowflakes were twirling down from the heavily overcast dark sky mixed with smaller flakes of various sizes. When ever one of the large flakes drifted too close to the flames reaching skyward they disappeared with a loud hiss.

    Around the Village Wolf People in their Wolf Forms were singing of love and of coming together.

    The excitement in the Village was high. Mr. Stonevalley, Cerise and many of his Pack were present. Mr. Whitewater with his Mate Miss Primrose and many of his Pack were present as well as Mr. Redwood with a very large number of his Pack being present as Miss Fern was of his Pack.

     Armand and Miss Fern were officially becoming Mates and since this was the first Mating between two different Packs it was a very special occasion. It was a very big event to all Wolf People for that reason.

    Mr. Redwood would present Miss Fern and Mr. Black would present Armand.

    Mr. Thunder stood in front of Armand in the living room of Armand’s house. Armand was preparing to make his way to the center of the Village where he would meet Miss Fern and become Mates with her. “Well, this is it.” said Mr. Thunder. “I hope it’s me and Miss Starfire next.” He knew Miss Starfire was in her room with Mr. Hunter that the Twins shared and she could easily hear him.

    Armand grinned. “Good luck on that. I did all I could on your behalf.”

    “And thanks. You’re a good friend Armand.”

    “So are you Mr. Thunder. Believe me, so are you.” Armand thought of Quetzal and sighed.

    It had been decided by Mr. Stonevalley, Mr. Black and Quetzal’s parents that Shasta had to be killed. It was obvious she was destroying Quetzal again. No one had yet informed Quetzal of this decision.

    Quetzal was doomed to go through a long period of torment once the killing of Shasta occurred.

    Armand felt a stab of anger, white hot and burning. Because of the Others Quetzal would not be at his Mating Ceremony. And it was because of the Others he was Mating with Miss Fern and not Miss Feather. He hoped he would be allowed to be part of the team who killed Shasta, or at least observe it.

    He pushed those thoughts away. He would only think of his life forward from now on, not backward. His life with Miss Fern as his Mate. Hopefully he’d have Wolf Children really soon. Perhaps he’d inherited that from his Wolf Mother. It was very rare for Wolf People females to get pregnant easily but his Wolf Mother had. She had three Wolf Children right away and two had been twins.

    Armand smiled. He liked that idea a lot. Miss Fern with Wolf Babies right away.

    “Happy thoughts.” said Mr. Thunder with a grin.

    “Happy thoughts.” said Armand.

    Miss Starfire and Mr. Hunter came from their room quickly followed by Louise and Mr. Black from their room.

        “Let’s go Son.” said Mr. Black. “One thing however, your house is ready for you and Miss Fern to move into once you’re both done celebrating with a crowd.” His grin was very wide.

    “Great!” Armand said.

    Mr. Thunder patted him on the back and smiled at Miss Starfire. “Walk with me?” He asked her.

    Miss Starfire giggled then said, “Sure, Mr. Thunder.”

    Mr. Thunder’s smile grew broader. He reached out a hand to her and she took it in hers.

    Mr. Black headed for the door with Louise beside him followed by Armand and Mr. Hunter. Miss Starfire and Mr. Thunder brought up the rear.

    Just outside the house Miss Snow with Michar, Pine, Mr. Stalker, Mr. Brown with Maple, Mr. Forest and Risinghawk were waiting. As soon as everyone left the house the group waiting outside shape shifted into their Wolf Forms.

    They started singing of Armand and Miss Fern’s joining, falling in behind as they all made their way to the center of the Village.

    When they had almost reached the center of the Village which was totally clear of snow Armand spotted Quetzal. His friend looked tired and ill but he was smiling. The smile reached his grey eyes which were sparkling, something they hadn’t done in a while.

    “Wait.” Armand called out, causing the group to stop.

    The singing Wolf People all fell silent and no one spoke. They had all spotted Quetzal as well. Armand waved him over. Quetzal approached, his head down.

    “Quetzal, I’m glad you’re here.” Armand spotted Quetzal’s parents watching them.

   “I’m sorry Armand. Sorry for doing this to you twice. I’m ashamed I did this to you on the most important day of your life.” He paused here. “I killed her.” His voice was rough.

    Armand knew who he killed without having to ask. “You are a good Wolf Person Quetzal.” He said and gave his Wolf Friend a tight hug.

    Shasta was at last dead. The Others were finally completely gone from their lives.

    Quetzal moved back and the group finished its trip to the center of the Village with the Wolf People in their Wolf Forms following behind them singing.

    Everyone found a place to either stand or sit. All the Wolf People in their Wolf Forms Shape Shifted back to their Human Forms.

    Mr. Black and Mr. Redwood came forward.

    “I’m here to present Miss Fern to join with Armand.” Mr. Redwood announced.

    “I am here to present Armand to Miss Fern.” Mr. Black announced. “Armand is my Wolf Son and Son to the Pack Leader.”

    Armand and Miss Fern stood side by side facing Mr. Black and Mr. Redwood.

    “We are here to celebrate their joining and becoming Mates.” Mr. Black said as he raised his arm.

    So did Mr. Redwood.

    “We hereby declare them as Mates!” Mr. Black and Mr. Redwood said simultaneously.

    Howling and cheers filled the air. Many Wolf People Shape Shifted into their Wolf Forms and started singing love songs or songs celebrating their loves or Mates.

    The feasting started and the celebration was soon going strong. Platters of freshly killed raw cubed meat were making the rounds as well as pitchers full of cold fresh water.

    Armand and Miss Fern sat close together surrounded by family on one side and friends on his other side. Armand smiled to see his family and two best friends present. He felt for the first time in a long long time that he really could be happy.

    Life would be okay after all.

    Louise put her arm around all three of her Wolf Children drawing them close and leaned against Mr. Black. “I love you all. How lucky I am I spotted you Mr. Black so long ago in the Human World and that you noticed me noticing you!”

Author's Note

This is the final chapter of The Time Of The Wolf. The next book in the Wolf People series is The World Of The Wolf which continues the story of Armand, Miss Starfire, Mr. Hunter, Miss Fern, Miss Feather, Louise, Mr. Black and all of their Wolf People friends.

Reviews

[Wicahpi]

Okay, I'm caught up. Yes, you must post. lol
We need to know of Miss Feather's child and find happiness
for Quetzel, because I feel sorry for him. He did a good thing
killing Shasta. Though maybe she could have led them to Miss Feather.
I enjoyed reading this book. Thank you for sharing!

[Black Cat Fever]

Great series and this book is fantastic. I wouldn't mind reading more about these Wolf People.

Nice book!!! I loved the whole series! Your writing style and attention to detail is very creative, and I must say that you are one of my favorite writers on this site, and in general!
To be honest I'll follow your work regardless if you post another book... Although it would be awesome if you did. XD
Peace out! lol.

[trish420]

Yes, please post! Great conclusion to this book but there's still so many questions! Who will Miss Starfire choose? Where is Miss Feather? Will Armand ever know about his first wof child? Good job! We are hooked :-)

[Eric Cox]

Great job with the closing chapter of "The Time Of The Wolf". All your Wolf People series are cool, I enjoy reading them, hope you post more. Very creative and cool writes. Great job on these howlingly cool books.

[Star Wolf]

Armand and Miss Fern are now Mates. I'm glad Quetzal came around. But I want to know what happens with Miss Starfire and it sounds like there's more to Miss Feather's story. I hope you post more. I'll be reading it if you do so please POST!