“I need you not to run,” he said. “When it gets ugly. I need you to get Lavinia to keep her witches from blowing anyone up. I need you alive. I need Aurelia safe while I deal with everything coming over the mountain.”
“No pressure,” she muttered.
“You asked.” His mouth eased. “And…I’d like you to meet some of the old pack today. Wolves who remember you from before. Who aren’t just seeing the Salem witch.”
Her heart tripped.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because this is your home now,” he said simply. “Whether you like it or not. And because if you’re going to be Luna, the pack needs to decide if they trust you. And you need to decide if you care.”
She hesitated. Part of her wanted to hide at Thistlehouse with her sisters. Part of her wanted to walk into those old wolves’ dens and make them see her properly this time.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll go. Aurelia should meet them. She deserves to know where half her blood comes from.”
He nodded, gaze flicking up the stairs. “She asked me last night if she was a princess.”
Dani snorted. “What did you say?”
“Absolutely not. Princesses are boring.”
Her laugh startled both of them.
He nodded toward the hall. “Dom wants a quick meeting with the alphas before lunch. Julian’s got new hybrid intel, apparently. After that, we’ll go to some of the higher-ranking Nordan. You’ve got the morning to settle in. Ward your room. Show Aurelia the house. There’s a library upstairs. You’ll like it.”
There it was again, that easy attempt at playing happy families. It felt like some sort of joke.
“And my place in this house?” she asked softly.
“Your room’s yours,” he said. “Aurelia’s room’s hers. You eat at this table. You come and go as you like, as long as you tell me if you’re leaving town.” His jaw clenched. “You’re not a guest. You’re not a prisoner.”
“What am I, then?” she pushed.
He swallowed. “Family,” he said roughly. “If you’ll have it.”
The word lodged in her chest.
Upstairs, Aurelia whooped about something—a huge window, by the sound of it.
There was still steel in Arthur’s eyes when he said ‘witches.’ Still, that instinctive flinch at magic. He was still all duty, wrapped so tight she wondered if anything could uncoil him.
Disappointment pricked, sharp and unfair. He’d told her who he was a decade ago. She was the one who’d hoped.
She hid her mouth behind the mug. “We’ll see,” she said.
His shoulders dipped a fraction. “We’ll see,” he echoed.
“Mom!” Aurelia yelled. “You have to come see this window! It’s, like,huge!”
Dani set the mug down.
“Duty calls,” she said. “Vital window appreciation.”
“Sounds serious,” he said. “Better not keep her waiting.”
She took a step, then paused. “Arthur?”
“Aye?”
