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“Did you fight today?” she asked.
Gregory nodded shyly.
“Good boy,” she said, taking him by the hand and leading him inside. “I always said you were getting spoiled rotten.”
One by one, they returned the children back to their homes, never receiving a word of condemnation for the scratches and bruises on their children. As young shifters, they needed to learn to face the outside world. Parents understood that.
“Well, that’s that,” she said. “Last child taken back to her parents. Now, you can take me to the cabin.”
But that hadn’t been Adrian’s plan.
Thinking quickly, Adrian countered. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just have a few more stops, if that’s okay.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll go with some of the other enforcers.”
Herald opened his mouth as if to interject, but Adrian stopped him.
“Don’t worry,” Adrian said. “We’ll all be taking you home soon enough. But for safety’s sake, if there’s a guest in the village, everybody should know about it.”
“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Luna replied. “Why do I have to be there for you to tell them I’m visiting?”
A silence filled the air, the torches burning brightly around them. Adrian couldn’t think of how to reply.
“Just let us extend this hospitality to you, please,” Herald said. “You’re visiting us, so we feel we owe it to you.”
Adrian nodded.
He never slipped like that. He was beginning to wonder if perhaps he was losing his edge.
He always thought that if he met his fated mate, she would happily tag along with him everywhere. Though he supposed that mating bonds were so rare, each one must be equally exceptional.
“Just a little longer,” Adrian insisted, smiling back at her.
Sighing, she obliged him.
He introduced her to Bruce, the local butcher, who owned a farm far outside the boundaries of the village. He provided the pack with their feasts.
They met Devdan, the local librarian, who also owned a small bookstore, and Lily, the local bowyer and bladesmith.
“Okay,” Luna said. “I think I’ve met everybody now. Can I go to where I’m staying?”
“There’s still one more person I want to introduce you to if that’s okay.”
Adrian’s enforcers stood closely behind him, probably thinking they were defending him in case things went south. But Adrian knew he was safe. He saw how her first impression was all an act, and the tough exterior she claimed was slowly eroding before his eyes.
“My beta, Herald, is away on business at the moment,” Adrian said. “But he should be back in a day or two.”
“That’s highly unconventional,” Luna replied. “What kind of business, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. But you’ll meet him soon enough. He’s a good guy.”
They approached a cabin exterior with decorated pink lanterns next to the door, the facade immaculate and kept clean from cobwebs.
“Then, if not your beta, who are you taking me to meet?”
He rapped twice on the door while his enforcers stood with proper posture, waiting.
