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Gently, I nuzzle her head and she opens them again and gives me a smile that melts my heart.
The golden light of dawn is a thin line across the horizon as I set her back on her feet. Quietly, she opens the door to her room.
“It’s the last day of the festival,” I remind her. “We can get some of those apple tarts you love so well.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t touch her eyes.
“What is wrong?” I ask.
Luna gives me a hesitant look and then lowers her gaze. “Do you already have someone in mind that you would like to chase?”
“Yes,” I reply without hesitation, and her eyes snap up to mine. A smile crests my lips as I study her lovely face. “I have wanted her for a long time now.”
Her expression falls, and she looks away. “Oh.” She swallows hard. “Does she know how you feel?”
My brow furrows deeply. Does she truly believe I am referring to someone else? How can she not know it is her that I speak of?
I open my mouth to declare my intent, but she pushes away before I can answer, and turns her back to me. “Never mind,” she murmurs. “I—I don’t want to know.”
Hope sparks in my chest. This is how she behaves when she is jealous. I saw it once before when she thought Drulisa was flirting with me. And if Luna is jealous… that means she dislikes the idea of me with another.
With her back still to me, I take a step closer so that there is barely any space between us. I lean in, and she shivers slightly as my lips brush the shell of her ear. The delicate scent of her arousal floods my nostrils as I whisper. “How is it that you know everything about me, and yet… you do not know my heart’s desire?”
She turns to face me, tears brightening her eyes as they search mine. “Mal, I—”
“Your mother is coming,” I hiss under my breath, recognizing the cadence of her steps on the floorboards as she approaches.
“She is rarely ever up this early.” Luna frowns. “Are you sure?”
I gesture to my pointed ears and tip up my chin. “My superior wolf senses never lie.”
“Luna, dear?” her mother’s voice calls softly from out in the hallway. “Are you still asleep?”
Luna rolls her eyes. “Not anymore, Mother,” she says teasingly. “I’ll be right there.”
I notice the bolt is engaged on her door, so her mother cannot simply barge in, thank goodness.
“You and your pointed ears,” Luna teases, and I give her a sly smirk as I make my way to the balcony.
Carefully, I slip through the door, pausing a moment to meet her gaze. “I’ll return in a few hours,” I whisper. “We can go to the festival together.”
She nods and I close the door behind me. Grabbing the edge of the railing, I swing my legs over the side and drop down to the garden. The moment I hit the ground, my senses go on high alert.
Quickly, I crouch behind a nearby shrub. My ears prick up as I recognize the scent and the sound of Luna’s father’s voice. Ambassador Falen is often loud when he speaks, but right now he sounds nothing short of agitated, and I wonder why.
Peering through the foliage, I observe as he paces back and forth, waving his hands animatedly toward a man I do not recognize. Ambassador Falen’s hair is disheveled, and his face is nearly as red as his hair as they argue back and forth. He gestures angrily toward the house. “You have no business coming to my home,” he shouts. “My wife and daughter are here.”
“I am an Emissary of the King of Avalor,” the other man says. “He is the one who sent me because you are not doing your job as instructed.”
“I am working toward peace,” Luna’s father counters. “And I have been for the past nine years.” He shakes his head. “You will undo all of it if you dare to provoke King Darak,” he says, referring to my father. “Mark my words.”
My curiosity is piqued, and I quietly move closer as I continue to observe.
“Wolf-Shifters are aggressive and territorial,” Ambassador Falen presses. “Darak is more likely to kill you than to listen to anything you have to say.”
“You always say that.” The man waives a dismissive hand at him. “And yet you are still standing here, alive and breathing, are you not?”
“Because I understand King Darak’s limits and how much I am able to press our agenda while still maintaining the peace between our two kingdoms,” Luna’s father states firmly. “You are making a mistake.”
