Chapter Two: Too Late

Ezra looked away first.

Too late.

Vivian saw.

Bianca saw.

And I stood frozen in the entrance hall with my fingers wrapped around my suitcase handle, trying to understand why my sister’s Alpha suddenly smelled like storm rain and cedar smoke.

No one spoke.

Not at first.

Then Vivian laughed.

It was light. Pretty. Perfectly placed.

The kind of laugh that told everyone else there was nothing to notice.

“There you are,” she said, crossing the hall toward Ezra. “Father said the council had kept you.”

Ezra’s jaw tightened before Vivian reached him.

Only for a second.

Then his face became unreadable again.

“They did,” he said.

His voice was deeper than I remembered. Rougher. It moved through the hall and settled somewhere under my skin.

My wolf stirred again.

I pressed one hand to my stomach.

Stop it.

Vivian slipped her arm through Ezra’s like it belonged there.

Because it did.

She had been standing beside him since we were children. In training fields. At pack ceremonies. In every whisper about the future of Black Moon Ridge.

Vivian and Ezra.

Future Luna and future Alpha.

A perfect match.

A pack-approved match.

So why did Ezra’s scent make it hard to breathe?

Victor’s eyes moved between us.

Something cold passed over his face.

“Aurora,” he said.

I flinched before I could stop myself.

Ezra noticed.

His eyes snapped back to me.

Victor noticed that too.

Of course he did.

“Your room is prepared,” Father continued. “You will have thirty minutes to dress for dinner.”

Thirty minutes after seven years away.

How generous.

“Yes, Father.”

Vivian’s smile sharpened. “I left something suitable on your bed.”

Suitable.

Bianca’s mouth curved.

My cheeks burned, but I lowered my eyes before either of them could see it clearly.

“Thank you,” I said.

The words tasted bitter.

I reached for my suitcase again, but someone stepped forward before I could lift it.

Luca Reed.

I had not even noticed him standing near the great hall doors.

That was impossible. Luca had always been hard to miss, even as a boy. Warm brown eyes, a crooked smile, and the kind of ease that made everyone else seem too tightly wound.

He picked up my suitcase like it weighed nothing.

“I’ll show her up,” he said.

Victor looked displeased. “That is not necessary.”

Luca grinned. “Probably not. But I’m feeling useful.”

Ezra’s gaze shifted to Luca.

Something passed between them, silent and quick.

A warning?

A question?

I could not tell.

But Luca only smiled wider.

“Come on, Aurora,” he said. “Before dinner starts and we all have to pretend silverware choices are fascinating.”

A laugh almost escaped me.

Almost.

I followed him up the staircase, feeling every stare against my back.

Halfway up, I made the mistake of glancing down.

Ezra was still watching.

Vivian was watching him.

And Bianca was watching me.

By the time we reached the second floor, my chest felt too tight.

Luca glanced at me. “Still breathing?”

“Barely.”

“That counts.”

“Does it?”

“In this house? Absolutely.”

Despite everything, a tiny smile pulled at my mouth.

Luca saw it and looked far too pleased with himself.

“I remember you,” he said as we turned down the east hall. “You used to hide in the library curtains.”

“I did not hide.”

“You absolutely hid.”

“I read.”

“Behind curtains.”

“They were peaceful curtains.”

He laughed, and the sound loosened something in my chest.

It had been a long time since anyone in Black Moon Ridge had laughed with me instead of at me.

We stopped outside a familiar door at the end of the hall.

My old room.

For a moment, I just stared at it.

Seven years folded in on themselves.

I was thirteen again, standing in this same hallway while Victor told me boarding school would make me stronger.

He had not hugged me goodbye.

Neither had Vivian.

Luca lowered my suitcase beside the door. His smile softened.

“You okay?”

I nodded too fast. “Yes.”

He did not believe me. He was kind enough not to say so.

“Dinner is in thirty,” he said. “But if you need to run away, the back stairs still creak on the third step. Avoid that one.”

I blinked. “You remember that?”

“I remember all useful escape routes.”

“Why?”

His grin returned. “Because Ezra and I were terrible children.”

The sound of Ezra’s name made my wolf press against my ribs again.

Luca’s expression shifted.

Just slightly.

He noticed too much.

“Did something happen downstairs?” he asked.

“No.”

“That was very quick.”

“I’m tired.”

“That is the second lie you’ve told me in five minutes.”

I looked away.

Luca was quiet for a moment.

Then he said gently, “Black Moon Ridge has a way of making people feel smaller than they are. Don’t let it.”