ANMELDENKieran“You realize she’s going to turn it into an animal hospital.”Rhett walked beside me down the path behind the pack house.“I gathered that. She asked about livestock space.”“She’ll want a barn.”“Yes.”“Probably goats.”I looked at him. “Why goats?”“Feels inevitable.”I sighed.Rhett grinned.For the first time in days, discussing construction felt almost normal.“Security line would need to shift west,” he said. “Not much. Enough to cover the clinic and cabins.”“I don’t want guards standing around the public entrance.”“Neither do I. Humans notice armed men.”“Mara notices them faster.”“That too.”We continued toward the western path.“The deeper entrance can stay pack-only,” Rhett said. “Human clients come from town. Wolves come through the interior road.”“That was Mara’s idea.”“Of course it was.”“She was designing the place before she realized she was designing it.”Rhett snorted. “So she’s saying yes.”“She said she’d think about it.”“That’s practically a mating cer
Mara“I’m only looking.”Kieran glanced at me from the driver’s seat. “I didn’t say anything.”“You were thinking loudly.”“That sounds medically concerning.”I narrowed my eyes.He smiled and turned onto a narrow paved road lined with enormous evergreens.I had agreed to see the property.That was it.Seeing land did not mean accepting the Luna position. Seeing land did not mean moving my clinic.Seeing land definitely did not mean I had spent half the drive wondering whether I could finally have separate dog and cat waiting areas.I was only looking.Kieran slowed near a break in the trees. The forest opened. And I forgot every argument I had prepared.“Oh.”That was apparently all my brain had.The property stretched farther than I expected, bordered by forest on two sides but opening toward the road leading back into town.Not isolated. Not buried deep inside pack territory.There was enough distance from the road to create privacy, but human clients could reach it without driving
Tessa“I’m not moving to Ravenholt.”Mara blinked. “I didn’t say you were.”“You were about to.”“I was explaining the cabin.”“The cabin you apparently get because your boyfriend has decided normal gifts are for cowards.”Mara sighed. “He has land.”“Of course he has land.”“He wants to build a clinic.”“Again, psychopathically romantic.”“And two cabins.”I froze. “Why two?”Mara suddenly became very interested in the coffee in her hand.That was suspicious.“Mara.”“One would be mine.”“And?”She took a sip.I narrowed my eyes. “And?”“The other would be yours.”I stared at her. “My what?”“Cabin.”“Why the fuck am I getting real estate?”“Well…”“No.”“I haven’t said anything.”“You made the face.”“What face?”“The face you make right before you say something that makes my life worse.”She looked offended. “You work for me.”“That has never stopped you.”Mara carefully set her coffee down. “Kieran said if I agree to the Luna trial and the clinic moves onto his territory, you can
KieranThe meeting lasted two hours before everyone started shouting.Honestly, that was longer than I expected.“He leaves,” Elder Halden snapped. “Permanent banishment. Sever his pack bond and send him beyond our borders.”Rhett slammed his palm against the table. “So he can take fifteen years of security knowledge with him?”“He would be forbidden from sharing it.”“He was forbidden from helping assassins too.”Halden stood. “And execution brings Kieran’s brother back?”“No,” Rhett growled. “It makes sure Cassian never betrays us again.”Cassian sat silently between two guards. He hadn’t defended himself once.Mira pointed toward him. “Death is easy.”Rhett stared at her. “You think execution is easy?”“For him?” Her expression hardened. “Yes.”That shut several people up.“He dies once. The families whose security he compromised live with the consequences. Kieran lives with it. Selene lives with it. Every warrior who trusted him lives with it.” She looked directly at Cassian. “Why
KieranBy noon, the council chamber was full.I had invited most of the elders. Rhett. Colter. Senior warriors. Sabine. Esther. Three members responsible for territory welfare and finances.Cyrus and Garrick attended because Ravenholt had been directly involved in the hunter investigation.Alden stood behind Cyrus, looking unusually distracted.I suspected Tessa.I decided that was not my problem today.Selene sat alone near the far end of the table.Cassian sat under guard. No Beta insignia. No weapons. No authority.Nothing that distinguished him from any other wolf except the fact that almost everyone in the room wanted something terrible done to him.I remained standing. “This is not a trial to determine guilt.”The room quieted.“Cassian has admitted what he did.”Nobody looked at him.“He knowingly supplied patrol routes, security schedules, access points, camera blind spots, guard rotations, and my personal movements to people he understood intended to kill me.”One elder’s fac
Mara“You can’t just build me a clinic.”Kieran leaned against the edge of my desk like he had not just suggested relocating my entire professional life.“I’m starting to think you underestimate what owning a large amount of land allows me to do.”“That is not the point.”“It seems at least partially related.”I stared at him.He smiled.I hated that smile.Mostly because it was attached to a man who had somehow taken my impossible choice and turned it into an architectural project.“You’re serious.”“Very.”“Kieran, veterinary clinics have permits. Licensing. Inspections.”“I assume so.”“Zoning.”“That one I actually checked.”I stopped. “You checked?”His expression shifted. “You weren’t the first person who pointed out that your current location isn’t exactly defensible.”“When did you check?”“After the first time armed men came looking for me.”I folded my arms. “So you’ve been secretly researching veterinary zoning?”“I have people.”“That is such an Alpha answer.”“It’s an eff







