“The leaf says otherwise.”
Junie batted the offending foliage away and took a fortifying sip of champagne. Her shoulder throbbed beneath the dress—the mark still fresh, still sensitive. She wasn’t ready to share that detail with the world yet. Some things were for them alone.
But she could feel Leo across the garden now, even with her back turned. He’d drifted toward his pride members, and she tracked his location without looking—a steady beacon that saidthere, he’s right there. She’d never have to wonder where he was again. Never have to fear waking up and finding him gone.
The thought made her throat tight.
Cassia appeared at her other elbow, a hurricane of dark curls and barely contained excitement. “So? How was it?”
“Private.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“That’s the only answer you’re getting.”
“Narla says the bond smells ‘crystallized.’” Cassia made air quotes. “Whatever that means. She’s being annoyingly cryptic about it.”
Junie found Narla in the crowd, the candle witch watching her with that knowing smile. They locked eyes, and Narla raised her glass in a silent toast.
She knew. Of course, she knew. Narla had known about Leo’s mate recognition before any of them, had watched the whole thing unfold with the patience of someone who’d seen this story before.
“He’s different.” Avine appeared at Junie’s side.
“Leo?”
“He’s talking to his pride like they’re people instead of employees.” Avine’s voice was soft with approval. “He’s smiling.Actually smiling, not that scary professional thing he used to do.”
Junie turned to look. Leo stood in a cluster of his pride members, gesturing as he spoke—actually gesturing, like a normal person who hadn’t been raised by wolves of the corporate variety. One of his lions said words she couldn’t hear, and Leo’s answering grin was genuine, unguarded. He looked relaxed in a way she’d never seen before they came to Haven Shores.
He looked happy.
“You did that,” Avine said quietly.
“We did it for each other.”
Because that was the truth of it. Leo had changed her as much as she’d changed him. Before him, she’d been content with her jokes and her potions and her careful distance from anything that might hurt. She’d called it happiness. She’d called it enough.
It hadn’t been either.
The wardstones along the garden’s edge began to glow, responding to the emotional magic saturating the air. Flowers bloomed in their planters—roses unfurling, jasmine releasing its sweet perfume, moonflowers opening despite the hour. The entire garden seemed to sigh with contentment, the ancient magic of Haven Shores recognizing the new bond in its midst.
Elder Sue appeared at Junie’s shoulder, looking unbearably smug. “I knew it would work out.”
“You knew nothing. You were as surprised as everyone else when he turned out to be my mate.”
“I was strategically reserving judgment.” Sue’s eyes twinkled. “But I had a feeling. These surges don’t happen randomly, you know. There’s always a pattern.”
“What pattern?”
But Sue smiled her cryptic elder smile and drifted away, leaving Junie with more questions than answers. Typical. Thewoman had been insufferably mysterious since Junie was a child, and claiming a mate apparently wasn’t going to change that.
A familiar presence approached from behind. Junie didn’t need to turn—she felt Leo coming, that new awareness guiding him to her like a compass.
His hand found the small of her back. “Ready to go home?”
“This is home.”
“I meant?—”
