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The days that followed settled into something Ayla hadn't let herself hope for.It was not tensed like back in her home, but more like she was waiting for someone to be cruel, or full of small unremarkable things. Meals that didn't come with commentary about how much she ate. Mornings where nobody's eyes tracked the shape of her body across a room. She kept waiting for it to curdle into something else, the way good things always had before, and each day it didn't, she felt a little more of the old bracing in her shoulders start to loosen.She found Julian in the training yard most mornings, going over reports with his captains before the rest of the territory woke. He always paused when he saw her at the fence, waved off whoever he was speaking with, and came to stand beside her even if only for a few minutes.

Elder Whitmore was shown into the receiving hall a little while later, his robes dusty from travel, his expression arranged into something careful and contrite. Ayla had seen that expression before, usually right before he asked one of his fellow elders for a favor he had no intention of repaying."Ayla." He said her name like it cost him something. "Look at you. A Luna of Ashgrove.""Father." She stood at the center of the hall, Julian at her shoulder and Gideon near the door, having appeared without being summoned the moment word spread. "Why are you here?""Can't a father come to see his precious daughter?" He spread his hands, wounded. "I've traveled through the night to get here. I hope that counts for something.""It counts

Ayla stood at the window of the room Julian had given her, watching pack members move through the courtyard below, none of them stopping to whisper behind their hands or glance twice in her direction.Nobody here knew her yet. She wasn't sure what to do with that.A knock sounded at her door, soft enough that she almost missed it. When she opened it, a young woman stood on the other side holding a tray, her eyes darting up to Ayla's face and away again, nervous in a way that had nothing to do with cruelty."Breakfast, my lady." She set the tray down on the small table near the window without being asked, then hesitated. "Alpha Julian said you should eat something before he comes by. He said you probably wouldn't remember to on your own."

The wagons rolled out before the moon had climbed another hour across the sky. Ayla sat wedged between crates of supplies under a blanket someone had draped over her shoulders without asking, watching the gap in the canvas where the Hood Pack's border shrank slowly behind them.She kept waiting to feel like she'd made a mistake. It didn't come.Julian rode alongside the wagon for the first stretch of road, close enough that she could hear the creak of his saddle every time his horse shifted gait. He didn't say much at first, seemed content just to be within reach of her, but after a while he angled his horse closer and matched pace with the wheels."You're allowed to be angry," he said."I'm not angry." She pulled the blanket tigh

Liam didn't move. He stayed on the ground where Gideon had put him, staring at Ayla like she'd grown a second head in front of him."You don’t mean it. The moon goddess chose him as your mate aswell," he said, the words coming out slow, like they didn't fit right in his mouth. "That's not possible. Nobody bonds three times. N-Nobody's ever bonded three times, not in a hundred years.""I don't care what's possible." Ayla's hand was still pressed flat against her chest, the ache settling into something she could almost breathe around now. "It is not like I plan this or make it happen. I just, I felt it happen. You were standing right there.""I was standing right there watching some stranger put his hands on you." Liam pushed himself up onto one elbow, wincing. "You expect me to just accept that? That the universe decided you needed a third?""I don't expect you to accept anything." Her voice cracked, but she kept it steady. "I stopped needing your permission the second you said those w

Ayla ran until her lungs burned, her legs carrying her toward the only place she believed she could be safe. Behind her, she could still hear Liam crashing through the underbrush, refusing to give up the chase.She could see the border ahead. Beyond it, a cluster of wagons stood loaded and ready, men moving between them. Julian stood near the front, giving instructions to one of his guards. The moment he caught sight of her running toward him, his attention snapped in her direction.He went still, the way a wolf goes still right before it strikes. Ayla didn't slow down. Her chest heaved and her arm throbbed where Liam's fingers had dug into her skin earlier.Julian's eyes moved past her, scanning the trees. His jaw tightened. "Someone's behind you."He pulled her behind him before she could turn around, putting his body between her and whatever was coming. Ayla fisted her hand in the back of his shirt and held on.A low growl built in his chest. His shoulders squared, and the calm Alp