LOGINJacob*I stood in front of Krista’s room door, feeling a little silly as I held the wooden wolf in my hands.I looked down at the carving and frowned. How ridiculous was it that this was the excuse I was using to see my mate, for Goddess’ sake?The little wooden wolf was not even finished. Luke had abandoned it earlier in the day when Laurel had appeared and Krista had swept him away before either of them could remember it. I could have sent one of the servants to return it. I could have given it back to Luke the next morning. There were any number of perfectly reasonable things I could have done with the carving.Instead, I was standing outside Krista’s room late in the evening with the thing clutched in my hand like some lovesick fool.I had not seen her all day, not properly, at least. Not since the carving session Laurel had interrupted.The thought of that morning made my mouth curve despite myself. Luke’s endless questions. Krista sitting nearby, watching us with that complicat
Krista*The sound drew my attention back to her. “Oh.”Before I could say anything else, she stepped toward me and took my hand. “Thank you,” she whispered. Her fingers trembled around mine. “Luna, thank you. I did not know what to do. I thought—” Her voice broke as she looked toward her children. “I thought I was going to lose our home.”Awkwardness immediately crept over me. I was not accustomed to gratitude, at least, not like this.I squeezed her hand. “You do not need to thank me.” Her watery eyes lifted to mine. “I only did what was right.”Cassidy shook her head, tears still slipping down her cheeks. “Not everyone would have.”I did not know what to say to that.So I gently pulled my hand from hers and turned back to Iwan. “If you have any further claim to this property,” I said, “you may formally present it to the Council of Elders or to the Alpha himself. Until then, you will leave Cassidy and her children alone.”For several seconds, Iwan only stared at me, then he laughed.
Krista*I lowered my gaze to the parchment again. The wording was somewhat complicated, filled with the sort of formal language that had probably sounded important to whoever drafted it and irritating to everyone forced to read it afterward.But the meaning was clear enough. I raised my voice. “Let us see exactly what this says.”The crowd quieted. Even Cassidy seemed to stop breathing. I read the relevant passage aloud. It did not say that the land permanently belonged to Mac, nor did it simply grant him permission to occupy it until his death. Instead, the document stated that the warrior and his direct descendants shall retain the right to occupy and cultivate the land for as long as they remain members of the Red Moon pack.Iwan immediately jumped on the wording, pointing at the parchment in my hands as if he had been waiting for the opportunity.“Exactly,” he said loudly. “Occupy is not own.”The crowd murmured. I looked down at the faded document once more, running my eyes over
Krista*I slowly turned toward Cassidy, who was watching me anxiously. “Is what Iwan is saying true?” I asked.She bowed her head. “My mate, Mac, had been a warrior.” The words were simple, but there was something in the way she said them that made me understand immediately how much those years of service had meant to her. Pride and grief existed together in her voice, tangled so tightly that I could not have separated one from the other.“He died defending the eastern border,” she added quietly. Her hand rested on the shoulder of her son, who had moved closer to her side. “Before he died, he cultivated the land near our cottage, the small piece that was allocated to us alongside the land for the cottage.”“Allocated to him,” Iwan corrected.Cassidy’s jaw tightened, but she ignored him.“It is not a large piece of land,” she continued, directing her words toward me. “We do not grow enough to become wealthy from it, Luna. But it provides food for my children, and whatever we do not ne
Krista*The effect was almost immediate. Heads turned, whispers began and then the crowd parted. I didn’t have to push my way through. The wolves simply moved aside, creating a path for me as naturally as water giving way to something dropped into it.I walked forward and the sight waiting for me made the irritation that had been simmering inside my chest sharpen. At the center of the gathering stood a middle-aged woman. Her blond hair had been pulled into a tight bun. Several strands of gray threaded visibly through it. Her face was flushed with anger, but there were tears gathered in her eyes. I knew immediately that she had to be Cassidy.Behind her stood a young female wolf, perhaps in her early teens, who looked so much like Cassidy that there could be no question of their relationship. The same blond hair. The same sharp cheekbones. The same blue eyes, though the girl's were wide with worry.And in front of Cassidy stood a young boy. My gaze caught on him. He could not have bee
Krista*I hummed a song under her breath as I walked Luke to Kenan’s cottage, where Kenan will be helping him pain the wooden wolf. My thoughts were pulled in different directions but all Luke could think about was what color the wolf ought to be.“I think brown,” he declared decisively, swinging our joined hands between us.I glanced down at him. “Brown?”“Yes. Like Kenan’s wolf.”I hummed. “That sounds like a perfectly reasonable choice.”Luke nodded, looking pleased with himself. Three steps later, he changed his mind. “No. White.”I looked at him again. “White?”“Yes!” He tipped his face up toward me, his expression bright. “I want to paint it white like you.”Something inside me went soft. “My wolf is not completely white,” I reminded him. “She has gray along her back.”Luke waved this away as if I were being unnecessarily difficult. “She is mostly white.”I smiled despite myself, squeezing his hand. “Then mostly white it is.”Luke continued talking, moving on to whether Ollie w
KristaAs I entered the house, the door creaked softly behind me, though the faint murmur of activity throughout the manor drowned out any noise I made. Before I could even take another step, one of the maids rushed toward me, her face flushed with anxiety as she fumbled with a small notepad in her
Krista“And then there’s Liam,” she said, her tone dripping with drama. “I heard he’s been sneaking off to the human town again. You know what that means, don’t you?”I raised an eyebrow, leaning in just enough to show I was invested. “What does it mean?”Greta’s voice dropped even lower. “He’s see
KristaI watched from a distance as Greta chased after her three boys, her voice carrying on the wind, strained and full of exhaustion. They were darting in every direction, little whirlwinds of energy, their laughter ringing out in the warm afternoon air. It was a familiar scene, one that made me
KristaI stared at my reflection, willing the hollow look in my eyes to fade, forcing my lips to curve into a passable smile. But the result looked as tired and insincere as I felt inside. Tonight, of all nights, I couldn't afford to let my emotions slip through the cracks. Tonight was about duty,







