LOGINElara's POV“Are you going to eat that toast, or are you hoping it'll answer the interview questions for you?”I looked up from my plate. Kai sat opposite me, looking entirely too pleased with himself for a man who had watched me practise answers until midnight.“I'm thinking,” I said. “Some of us have important things to do today.”“And some of us have checked the clock five times since breakfast arrived.” He slid the jam toward me. “Eat something, Elara. Caroline won't judge you for being nervous.”“She might judge me for forgetting everything I know.”“Then tell her you were distracted by your extraordinarily handsome husband.”I laughed despite myself. “That would certainly end the interview quickly.”Kai reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You know your proposal better than anyone. Answer what they ask, and don't pretend to know something you don't.”Later, I sat before my laptop in the study. Kai kissed my cheek and left me to take the call alone.Caroline introduced
Elara's POVI looked at Kai, unsure how to answer. He had asked the question so calmly, but the way he held my hand told me he cared about the answer. Until tonight, I had assumed we both understood that our marriage would end eventually.“Do you want me to leave?” I asked.“No.” His answer came without hesitation. “But I want to know what you want, Elara. You've spent months worrying about everyone else's expectations. I'm asking about yours.”I glanced at the employment conditions on the desk. A few hours ago, I'd been excited about the possibility of working in Westhaven. Now I was wondering whether taking the job meant risking the happiest part of my life.“I wanted to leave when we first married,” I admitted. “Not because you treated me badly. I just couldn't imagine staying somewhere I wasn't supposed to belong.”“And now?”“Now I look forward to having breakfast with you. I wait for you to come home, and I get annoyed when your meetings run late.” I gave him an embarrassed smil
Elara's POV“Someone wants to interview me?” I asked, looking up from my breakfast.Kai nodded. “Gideon received a call from the Westhaven Community Development Foundation this morning. Their director saw the family assistance proposal you prepared for Blackmoon and wants to speak with you.”“Who sent it to them?” I asked, setting down my fork. I had never approached an organisation outside Blackmoon about employment.“Mrs. Bennett. She said you'd given her permission to share it with other community organisations.”I remembered agreeing when Mrs. Bennett asked whether she could circulate my proposal. I'd expected suggestions or feedback, not an invitation to apply for a job.“They're interested because of my work?” I asked, hardly believing it.“That's what their director said. Gideon gave them your number, but he made it clear that you would decide whether to pursue it.”My phone rang before I could respond. The caller introduced herself as Caroline Reed, director of the Westhaven C
Kai's POVElara placed her phone facedown after reading Margot's message. “I'm not meeting her,” she said. “If she has my records, she can send them to Dr. Vale.”“You don't owe her another visit,” I replied, sitting beside her without disturbing her injured elbow.She rested against me for a while before taking my hand. “Kai, I want to stay with you tonight. Not because of our agreement. Because I want to.”I brushed my thumb across her fingers. “Are you sure?”She nodded and led me upstairs.She got the door shut behind us and turned on me, nothing shy left in her. Her good hand went flat to my chest and shoved until my back hit the wall; she kissed me with her teeth in it, and I let her have the lead, because watching her take it beat anything I could have planned. The lamp was low and I left it that way.Her bad arm kept bent and clear of me, close against her ribs, while I worked her shirt up over her shoulders and eased the cotton past the elbow slowly so it wouldn't catch.“Car
Kai’s POV“I'm not meeting her alone,” Elara told the clerk, keeping the envelope in her hand rather than passing it to me.“You don't have to meet her at all,” I said. “If she has documents, she can send copies to your adviser and explain where they came from.”Elara nodded, but she didn't open the envelope until we reached the car. Gideon was waiting beside the rear door, and she asked him to witness the contents in case Margot later denied what she'd written.The letter was short. Margot claimed she could identify the person who arranged Elara's appointments at Briarwood. She wanted a private conversation before releasing any information and insisted that Kai's lawyers stay away.“She hasn't offered a single record,” Elara said. “She's offering another conversation where she gets to decide what I hear.”“You don’t have to decide anything in this car,” I replied. “The clinic is still searching its archive.”Gideon photographed the envelope and letter at Elara's request. He noted the
Elara’s POVGideon kept his pen poised over the note from the council. I watched him write down my objection before he looked up again.Kai stayed beside the desk. “The chair hasn’t invited Margot. Your objection will reach him before he decides.”“Mother signed those forms because I was a child,” I told Gideon. “I won’t have her answering questions about my body now.”Gideon wrote down my objection and asked whether I wanted the complaint reviewed without any childhood records being discussed in open session. I said yes, although I understood that the council might still ask questions about my claim that I hadn't known I had a wolf.“I can tell them I’ve never transformed,” I said. “I don’t need to read out every appointment to say that.”“Have counsel check the privacy rules,” Kai told Gideon. “Send the draft to Elara.”After Gideon left, I tried to finish my written response. I managed three paragraphs before the words began to run together. My elbow hurt, and the thought of hearin







