The entire pack cried.
Even the ones pretending not to.
Especially Leo.
"I have allergies," he said aggressively while wiping his eyes.
"It's summer," Nancy informed him.
"Seasonal allergies."
"To emotion?" Kai asked.
Leo pointed threateningly.
"Watch yourself."
The wedding took place at the edge of the forest beneath hanging lanterns and silver-gold lights woven through the trees.
Simple.
Warm.
Perfect.
Nancy stood just beyond the clearing trying very hard not to panic while several wolves adjusted the final details around her.
"You fought the Watcher," one of them reminded her.
"Yes, and this is somehow scarier."
Nyra sounded amused inside her mind.
That's because this matters more to you.
Rude.
Accurate.
But rude.
Nancy looked down at herself quietly.
Her dress flowed silver-white beneath the lantern glow, threaded with faint gold embroidery resembling bond-lines across the fabric.
Not extravagant.
Just beautiful.
Like something made for belonging instead of power.
Emotion tightened unexpectedly in her chest.
"You okay?" another wolf asked gently.
Nancy laughed weakly.
"I think my emotional stability disappeared months ago."
"That sounds correct."
Across the clearing, music drifted softly through the night air while the pack gathered beneath the stars.
Children ran between lanterns until repeatedly being told to stop climbing things.
One ignored the warning immediately.
Leo caught him mid-climb with the exhausted reflexes of a man who lost every battle against children long ago.
Kai waited beneath the central lantern tree looking equally overwhelmed.
Nancy paused the moment she saw him.
Oh.
That was unfair.
He looked up at the exact same moment.
And suddenly the noise around them faded softly into the background.
The bond warmed instantly between them.
Steady.
Certain.
Home.
Kai's expression softened in a way that completely ruined Nancy emotionally.
"You're staring," he murmured when she finally reached him.
"You look offensive."
"That feels less romantic than intended."
"You're still beautiful," she admitted reluctantly.
Kai grinned.
"There it is."
The ceremony itself remained simple.
No grand speeches.
No dramatic declarations.
Just truth.
The First Alpha's old markings glowed faintly around the clearing as if the forest itself remembered.
The council elder smiled warmly at both of them.
"You stand here not because fate demanded it."
Her gaze softened.
"But because every day, despite fear and loss and survival…"
She gestured gently toward their joined hands.
"You continued choosing each other."
Nancy's throat tightened immediately.
Kai squeezed her hand softly.
The elder looked toward the gathered pack.
"Connection is not measured by power."
Then back at them.
"It is measured by presence."
Silence settled warmly through the clearing.
Lanterns flickered.
Stars shimmered overhead.
The bond spread gently through every person gathered there.
Shared joy.
Shared peace.
Family.
Kai looked at Nancy quietly.
"No cosmic interruptions this time?" he asked softly.
"Don't jinx it."
He laughed.
Then his expression gentled again.
"Nancy."
His voice lowered.
"You are the best thing that ever happened to me."
Nancy officially started crying again.
"This is embarrassing," she whispered emotionally.
"You're doing great."
She laughed through tears.
Then looked at him fully beneath the stars.
At the man who stood beside her through fear, war, healing, and every impossible moment afterward.
The man who chose connection even when it terrified him.
The man she loved enough to risk surviving for.
Nancy smiled softly.
"You saved me too."
The vows didn't need to be complicated after that.
Because the truth was already there between them.
Always had been.
When they finally kissed beneath the lantern light—
the entire forest glowed.
Silver-gold light drifted through the trees as the bond pulsed joyfully across the pack.
Children cheered.
Someone started crying loudly.
Leo absolutely sobbed.
"I HATE ALL OF YOU," he announced tearfully.
Nobody believed him.
The celebration lasted deep into the night.
Music.
Laughter.
Dancing beneath the stars.
And for the first time in a very long time—
Nancy no longer felt like someone surviving the end of the world.
She felt like someone finally beginning her life.