Chapter Two: Too Late

Ezra looked away first.

Too late.

Vivian saw it. So did Bianca.

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.

For one strained beat, no one spoke.

Then Vivian laughed, light and perfectly placed, the kind that told everyone there was nothing to notice.

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

Ezra’s attention flicked towards the open doors before she reached him. By the time Vivian stood beside him, his expression was unreadable again.

“They did.”

His voice was deeper than I remembered, rough enough that I felt it somewhere beneath my skin.

My wolf shifted uneasily beneath my ribs.

Stop it.

Vivian slipped her arm through Ezra’s with the ease of long practice. She had stood beside him since we were children, on training fields, at pack ceremonies and in every conversation about the future of Black Moon Ridge.

Vivian and Ezra.

Future Luna and future Alpha.

A match the pack had approved so often it felt like fact.

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

Victor’s gaze moved from Ezra to me.

“Aurora.”

I flinched.

Ezra’s attention returned to me immediately.

Victor saw that too.

“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 looked down to hide her smile and failed.

My cheeks burned. “Thank you.”

The words tasted bitter.

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

Luca Reed had been standing near the great hall doors. I had not noticed him there, which seemed impossible. Luca had always been difficult 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 as though it weighed nothing.

“I’ll show her up.”

Victor looked displeased. “That is not necessary.”

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

Ezra looked at Luca.

Luca met the look without losing his smile.

Whatever passed between them, I could not read it.

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

I bit back a laugh and followed him upstairs.

The entrance hall had filled while I stood there. Wolves crossed between rooms carrying flowers, wine and trays for dinner.

A few looked at me too long.

Near the staircase, two younger wolves whispered.

I caught only three words.

“Still hasn’t shifted.”

My stomach tightened.

Almost eighteen.

Still unshifted.

Seven years away had apparently changed plenty, but not how quickly Black Moon Ridge decided where someone belonged.

Luca adjusted my suitcase in his hand. “Do you still hate mushrooms?”

I blinked. “What?”

“I’m checking whether boarding school destroyed your personality.”

Despite myself, I looked at him. “I still hate mushrooms.”

“Excellent. There may be hope for you yet.”

A laugh nearly escaped me.

Near the landing, a young girl carrying folded table linen stepped aside too quickly when she saw us. One cloth slipped and fell.

She froze.

I bent and picked it up.

Her eyes widened. “Miss Vale, you don’t have to.”

“I know.”

I handed it back.

For a second, she only stared at me, then took it carefully. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I followed Luca up the next few steps, aware of the girl watching me.

Not cruelly.

More like I had done something she had not expected.

Apparently, that made two of us.

Halfway up, I made the mistake of glancing down.

Ezra was still watching me.

Vivian was watching him.

And Bianca was watching me.

I turned quickly.

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.”

A small smile escaped me.

Luca 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.

The sound eased 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 passed another wolf coming the other way.

He greeted Luca, then looked at me twice before recognition settled.

“Aurora?”

It took me a moment to place him. Older than us. A boy who had trained with Vivian when we were children.

“Yes.”

“You’re back.”

“I am.”

His gaze dipped, searching for some sign that the girl sent away had finally become normal.

Whatever he expected, he did not find it.

“Well. Welcome home.”

The words came half a second too late.

“Thank you.”

He moved on.

Welcome home.

Strange how two words could sound so much like a question.

Luca waited until he disappeared around the corner.

“People here are idiots.”

“That sounded very supportive.”

“I have layers.”

That earned him another smile.

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

My old room.

For a moment, seven years disappeared.

I was eleven again, standing in this 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 grin faded.

“You okay?”

I nodded too quickly. “Yes.”

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

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

I blinked. “You remember that?”

“I remember all useful escape routes.”

“Why?”

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

At Ezra’s name, my wolf pressed against my ribs again.

Luca’s expression changed.

“Did something happen downstairs?”

“No.”

“That was very quick.”

“I’m tired.”

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

I looked away.

He waited a moment.

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

I looked down the hallway.

At the place where wolves had stared and whispered, searching for a wolf inside me and finding nothing they recognised.

Seven years ago, I had left Black Moon Ridge believing there was something wrong with me.

Less than an hour after coming home, it seemed everyone else still believed it too.

I looked back at Luca.

Almost everyone.

Then I opened the door to my old room.