ログインCeleste's POV"Yes," Vaelina said, without even a moment's hesitation. "Why not?"I stared at her. "That is your answer? Just yes, why not?""What other answer is there?" She leaned back in her chair with the full ease of someone who already made peace with the decision. "The thought of having both of them is already sending heat through my body just thinking about it." She fanned herself with one hand. "This is a problem. I need to find Rowan's number before I talk myself out of it."I laughed, shaking my head. "You are genuinely unhinged.""I prefer spontaneous."Before I could respond, Amaris appeared in the doorway, efficient and purposeful the way she always was when something needed handling."Celeste." She looked at me directly. "Torren is here to see you. He says it won't take long."I glanced up. "Tell him I'll be right out. Give me two minutes."Amaris nodded and disappeared.I looked at Vaelina. "Did you know he was coming today?""I didn't know anything," she said. "But u
Celeste's POVGetting back to Mercer and Vale after a week away felt strange in the small ways it always did.The familiar corridors, the coffee smell, the low morning hum of the office floor filling up around me. Everything exactly as I left it, which should have felt grounding but instead felt slightly like stepping back into a life that moved on without me and was now politely waiting for me to catch up.I settled at my desk, opened my files, and spent ten minutes pretending to review emails I was not yet ready to deal with.By the time Vaelina arrived I was on my second cup of coffee and significantly more functional.She spotted me the moment she walked through the door. She clearly waited for this since the moment I sent that message saying I was back, because she came straight across the floor without stopping at her own desk first, pulled out the chair beside me and sat down with the energy of someone who was done waiting, thoroughly done, for three whole days."Tell me every
Jayden's POVAiden was still looking at me like I said something alarming."Take a breath," I said. "It is not what you are thinking.""Then tell me what it is.""It is not about us." I kept my voice even. "The marriage offer is for Vivian."He blinked. Then the tension in his jaw loosened, just slightly. "Vivian.""Vivian," I confirmed.He turned and looked across the garden to where Jace was still sitting on the bench, watching us with the quiet attention of someone who already decided he was not going to miss whatever this was. Aiden raised a hand in his direction. Jace lifted his chin in acknowledgment and stayed exactly where he was, which was typical."We will talk later," Aiden said to him."I will be here," Jace said, and picked up his drink.We walked toward the main building together, Aiden falling into step beside me. His expression settled quickly into something more considered. I knew his exact pace when he was processing something significant, and this was clearly that
Aiden's POVThe garden at Ashen Hollow was one of the few places I could think without half the pack finding a reason to appear.It was not a quiet place by nature. Birds, wind cutting through the trees, the distant sounds of the grounds staff moving through their morning. But it was open, and open was exactly what I needed when my head was running faster than I could settle it.A full hour passed before Jace found me.He dropped onto the bench across from me and took a moment just looking at me, with the expression he kept specifically for things he found genuinely amusing at my expense."You look terrible," he said finally."Thank you.""Worse than usual. Something happened.""Is that a question?""It is an observation." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "What happened?"I looked at him for a moment. Then I told him about the meeting at Mercer and Vale. All of it. The account, the way we walked in expecting a standard business interaction, the way the room shifted the moment
Celeste's POVPacking up the suite felt strange in the particular way the end of something good always did.I moved through it slowly, folding things, zipping bags, taking one last look at the floor-to-ceiling windows and the mountains beyond them and the steam still rising from the pools far below. Three days. Moonstone Baths, Eclipse Falls, Skyfire Terrace. I was going home with the kind of tiredness that was nothing to do with exhaustion and everything to do with being completely, thoroughly lived in.Mason appeared in the doorway. "Ready?""Almost," I said. "I keep looking at this view.""We will bring you back," Jason said from behind him. "Somewhere bigger next time. More time, better planning, the full week we originally promised."I turned around. "You don't have to do that.""We know," Mason said simply. "We want to."I crossed the room and kissed him first, slow and warm, then turned and kissed Jason the same way. Then I went back to Mason because I felt like it, and he lau
Celeste's POVI took my time getting ready for Skyfire Terrace.The dress I picked was deep burgundy, fitted, the kind that did exactly what it was supposed to do.When I stepped out of the suite room both Mason and Jason stopped what they were doing.Mason looked at me the way he did when words felt unnecessary.Jason said, "We are going to be very distracted tonight.""Good," I said. "That is the point."The resort car took us up to Skyfire Terrace, and when we stepped out onto the rooftop I understood immediately why I circled this place the moment I found it.The whole of Lunara Springs spread below us, every lit window and glowing lantern and steaming pool visible from up here, the mountains dark and wide behind it all.The restaurant itself was warm and candlelit, low music threading through the air, tables set with the kind of quiet elegance that didn't need to announce itself.We were seated at the edge, right against the glass railing with the view directly below us.The food







