Bearly Holding On by Danielle Foxton

you, sweetheart. I can tell you that. I’m sure there’s no way he would have rathered to go.”
    Awen stroked Mati’s hair, biting her lip. She looked up at her father. “But I never got to tell him that I love him,” she said mournfully.
    “I think you just did,” a deep voice said from below her.
    Awen’s gaze snapped downwards, fixing on dark brown eyes.
    “You’re alive!” she squealed. She pulled herself down to him immediately, embracing him tightly.
    “Alive but not totally uninjured,” he protested, chuckling.
    Awen released him. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I just...I didn’t think you would make it. I guess I underestimated the powers of the curse.”
    Mati shifted into a sitting position, groaning. “Not cursed anymore,” he said as he massaged the pain in his neck from where the wolf had bitten him. Awen hadn’t been able to see that under all the blood he had healed.
    “And how do you explain that?” interjected Keme. He was relieved—incredibly relieved—but he took his position as a grumpy old man very seriously.
    Mati grinned at Keme, then turned his to Awen. He took her face in his hands. “I saw Awenasa,” he said. “The other Awenasa, that is.” He stroked the hair from Awen’s face. “She told me that I had fulfilled my duty, that I was free to come along to the afterlife. That she had been waiting for me.”
    “Why are you here then?” Awen asked quizzically. She knew that Mati liked her, but she didn’t expect to win out over the ex-girlfriend.
    “I’m surprised you even have to ask that,” Mati chuckled. “Because I love you, Awen. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I loved Awenasa too, in our day, but I have lived several lifetimes since then. You’re my life now.”
    Awen positively beamed. Her heart beat in her chest like a drum, and she felt dizzy and giddy all at once. “Do you mean that?”
    He kissed her softly. “Of course I do,” he said against her lips. Then, quietly so her father wouldn’t hear him, “and I’m not cursed anymore so I can show you just how much I mean it later.”
    Awen descended into giggles and smacked him playfully.
    “How did you…?” Mati asked, glancing over at Enyeto’s body.
    Awen took a deep breath. “It was a fluke, really. A guess. He said that his curse would be broken by peace between our two tribes.” She paused, unsure of how much she wanted to tell Mati about what had happened. It wasn’t that she was ashamed, not at all. It had been so personal though, so raw. She figured the less words, the better. “I gave him peace. And one moment of peace in a lifetime of hate counts more than any treaty ever could.”
    “Whatever happened,” Mati said. “I’m proud of you. You did the right thing for your people.”
    Awen’s heart swelled. He was so wise, so wonderful. And he was all hers.
    Keme cleared his throat. “Are we going to hang out in this forest in the rain all day or are you two done confessing your eternal love?”
    Awen giggled again. She had everything she had ever wanted—her family, her culture, a love that would last a lifetime. There was still rebuilding to be done, still bridges that would need to be mended, but she felt like her life was on the right path.
    She helped Mati stand, wrapping his arm around her to support him on their way back to the house. The trio tramped through the woods silently, her father picking the way in front of them. The rain was still beating down on the branches, and it brought Awen peace to know that so much of the torment of the past few weeks would be washed away by it.
    They reached the house and Aiyana rushed out to them.
    “Keme!” She threw her arms around him. “Is it over?”
    “Them kids are going to kill me,” he complained. “First he was a were-bear, then he was dead, now he’s alive and a human.”
    Aiyana beamed at the pair. “That’s excellent news!” she chirped.
    Keme muttered something under his breath and proceeded to climb the