By morning the wounded had been settled into medical beds or were moving about, stiff but still eager to contribute to the continued effort in any way that they could and, the dead had been laid out with their names recorded for the monument of memorial that would erected after all of this was over.
By evening, cooks had begun hauling barrels into the hall onto tables that were put up quickly in order to accommodate the event that Ann had planned. Additional tables were lined up in rows and the accompanying benches or people to sit on were set shoulder to shoulder.
Ann watched from the balcony above as below her the first wolves filed in, cleaned of blood but many of them still limping and moving with obvious difficulty. Lycans followed, their larger forms nonetheless battered and bruised and last came the magick users, their movements more easy but their faces looked weary, as though they had expanded what little energy they had left just to attend, but they did so gladly.
"Do you think they'll sit together without trouble?" Adam murmured as he joined her at the rail and his arm brushed hers.
"Yes, I think so." Ann replied softly, keeping her eyes on the hall and the people within it. "They fought side by side out there, they bled for one another and tonight they celebrate their victory and drink in honour of their dead."
His mouth pressed into a thin line, clearly uncertain whether or not she was right but he didn't argue. Instead he leaned in, planted a kiss on her cheek and made his way down to join the rest of the troops on the ground floor.
The noise in the hall moved from the ripples of murmurs and quiet chatter to a much more relaxed cadence as soon as the first barrels cracked open and the omega's began serving the drinks. A wolf raised a cup, a Lycan clapped him on the back, and the hall moved past the subdued hush easily.
Ann came down from the balcony last, after everyone that could join had made their way here. The benches were full, voices carried across the hall and everyone was getting along with no sign of the tension that had persisted over the past few weeks. For a moment she stood quietly amongst it all, smiling softly as she listened to the noise of her people…the noise of the living.
"Alpha Queen." A Lycan greeted her as he stood and dipped his head. His full arm was bandaged with blood beginning to seep through the material but he smiled widely, "It's an honor to have you amongst us tonight."
Ann returned his smile warmly.
"Nonsense, there's no reason I shouldn't be here among you. We fight for the kingdom in the ways that we can," she said as she placed her hands gently across her belly, "We are all the same, just moving in different ways for the benefit of our fellow people."
He raised his mug and so did his friends as cheers rang loudly from his table and Ann continued onwards to take a seat at the Queen's table.
Once she was settled she looked out across the hall, really assessing the people that had fought so bravely for their survival.
The hall had been filled to its edges and despite the press of people, the food passed hands easily, conversations lifted and were punctuated with laughter and toasts were made to those who fell in the recent assault.
She watched with half a smile as a scarred wolf leaned across the bench with a dubious look on his face as he called out to a magick user sat across from him.
"Didn't think you could torch a wagon like that."
The magick user raised a brow.
"You didn't think we could, or you didn't want to believe that it was possible to remove something from existence so easily?" A spark flicked off his fingertips before he closed his hand again.
The wolf snorted, almost laughing.
"Both I suppose." He admitted as he shoved a plate of bread across to him. "Eat before I shove the rest in my mouth and change my mind about sharing."
Ann's lips curved gently in a soft smile of satisfaction as her eyes drifted and found another table.
A lycan was guffawing loudly at something a wolf had said and had inadvertently sent a mug of wine straight onto the magick user's lap.
"Sorry 'bout that," He grinned down at the magical user and passed her his own oversized cup, "Guess you're going to have to drink like one of us now,"
The magick user wiped at her sleeve and snorted as she picked the mug up and downed the rest of the contents.
"Well, I guess you owe me a refill." She smirked and the Lycan barked a laugh and shoved the pitcher at her, pulling her into the conversation he was having with his friends at his side.
Ann caught Adam's glance from the far end of the hall. He was watching the same exchanges she was, his eyes unreadable.
For tonight, he wasn't correcting posture or calling orders, he was letting them breathe, but he struggled to shake the anxiety that something might go wrong between them all. They had fought so well together he didn't want anything to fracture the teamwork they had built.
The contents of the feast were emptied just as quickly as they were refilled. Meat was carved, bread torn, and the sound of cups slamming together lifted Ann's heart.
Adam leaned in with a small smile.
"This was your plan, wasn't it?"
Ann kept her eyes on the tables but he could see the twinkle in her eyes as she looked out over them all.
"All I did was set the tables and invite them to eat."
His mouth twitched into something that almost resembled a smile and Ann caught it before he straightened his face again.
Ann pushed back from her bench and stood. The hall dropped into silence without her having to say a word.
"You fought well today as one unified unit despite your differences. You bled as one and some of you nearly died. But you stood together against those that threatened your families, your home, and your people. And now you sit together at one table, unified in determination to destroy the Lycan King and Ely. Our peoples are no longer divided and we fight as one."
The silence broke with the sound of a fist hammering on wood. Then another, and another joined and soon, the tables shook under the noise, the sound rolling through the hall.
Ann sat back down and Adam's hand found hers under the table, giving it a quick squeeze that communicated more than words ever would before he let go.
After the pounding on the tables subsided, the sound of benches scraping back followed as wolves moved first, stepping into the open stretch of floor and a Lycan joined them, his heavy steps drawing cheers when a wolf matched his rhythm.
The magick users followed, slower, then braver as music filled the air, and one sent a ring of light spinning overhead, the hall answered with a roar of approval at the spectacle.
The rhythm shifted as hands clapped in time to the music and voices carrying the same song of the music rose louder, faster.
Ann stayed seated, watching the feast develop into a celebration beyond what she had expected.
"All it took was bloodshed and booze, who could have guessed that forced unity in the face of an existential threat was that cheap?" Maeve snorted.
Adam leaned close enough for her to hear him through the noise.
"They'll be sore in the morning. I don't think that they remember they'll be back on the lines tomorrow."
"They've earned the break though," Ann said, admonishing him slightly and he shook his head, almost smiling.
After a while, Ann sighed, stretching stiffly.
"Are you ok?" Adam asked, voice full of concern.
"Yeah I think I need to stretch my legs and then lay down. Your pups are making things a little uncomfortable." She chuckled.
When Ann stood, Adam was already there. His hand caught hers, thumb brushing her cheek before he pulled her in. She pressed her face to his shoulder, inhaling his scent and feeling a comfort that soothed her soul.
After saying their goodbyes, they walked out together, the hall still roaring behind them.
The night air was cooler outside the hall and Ann smiled as the the noise faded behind her, with Adam's hand steady at her back.
The didn't need words, they walked quietly, just soaking in the moment as they made their way across the courtyard towards their bedroom.
But without warning, a dark figure flew towards them, emerging from the shadows with no sound at all, just the wicked glint of the blade in the air.
Ann caught the movement too late and she felt the steel bite into her side as the man drove forward.
Adam's wolf surged. His shift tore through skin and cloth in a breath as a roar of unbridled terror and fury and grief all rolled into one ripped from him.
His claws raked wildly, digging into flesh and holding the figure steady as his jaw locked and teeth began sinking into the haggard flesh.
Blood began to trickle down and hit the stones and as the assassin gurgled, grinning even as his life ran out his words sent terror through Adam's heart.
"They're here, and there's nothing you can do to stop them."
Without waiting another second, he ripped the throat out of the man who had dared touch his mate and his body fell slack to the floor.
Adam's head snapped up and saw beyond the treeline, eyes glowing back at him. Dozens. Then hundreds.
The alarm bell split the night.
Ann staggered as pain tore through her side and her legs gave way beneath her. Adam caught her before she hit the ground, hands already slick with her blood.
"Healer!" His roar carried across the yard. "Now!"
Maeve's voice screamed sharply inside of Ann's head as she felt her slipping away.
"Don't you fucking dare Ann! Stay awake! For the pups, stay the fuck awake!"
The yard erupted into shouts as the palace came alive, steel scraping free, wolves shifting, the war already at their gates.