“Good,” Knox said firmly. “They know better than to challenge us over trash like Mary.”
With the potential crisis averted, Knox turned to me with that look that meant trouble. “I have a surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?” I asked suspiciously. Knox’s surprises had a tendency to be overwhelming.
“Close your eyes.”
“Knox-”
“Trust me.”
I sighed but humored him, closing my eyes and letting him lead me through the town. The fresh air helped clear my head from the emotional weight of the trial. We walked for a few minutes, his hand warm in mine, before he stopped.
“Okay. Open them.”
I opened my eyes and gasped.
There, in Ravenshollow’s main square, sat a perfect replica of my coffee shop. Every detail was exact, from the mismatched chairs I’d collected from garage sales to the book-lined walls that made it feel more library than cafe. Even the sign was the same hand-painted one my mom had made.
“How-”
“SURPRISE!”
The door burst open and Mika and Vivi tumbled out, nearly tackling me with the force of their hugs. My best friends. My human best friends who absolutely should not be in a werewolf town.
“Boss!” Mika’s words came rapid-fire as usual. “Oh my god, you won’t believe this. When you were talking with Sarah last week in Pine Valley, this one,” she pointed at Knox, “approached us. Said he was building you a shop here and did we want to help run it for a while.”
“Girl, when he said werewolves were real, I thought he was crazy,” Vivi added, bouncing on her toes with excitement. “But also like, kinky? And then Cole showed up and literally turned into a wolf in the back room and I maybe screamed a little but also it was SO COOL and here we are!”
“You told them?” I stared at Knox in shock.
“You needed your people,” he said simply. “Your whole life, not just parts of it.”
“For a few months at least,” Mika continued, still talking a mile a minute. “Until you’re settled and can find local help. Someone needs to make sure you don’t serve terrible coffee to these wolves! They have enhanced taste buds, Lina. Enhanced! We need to up our game!”
“You gave me back my shop,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face before I could stop them.
“Both shops,” Knox corrected gently. “Pine Valley’s is updated too. New equipment, better security. You can run both. You’ll never have to choose between worlds.”
I didn’t have words for what that meant to me. He’d understood that asking me to give up my human life completely would have broken part of me. So instead, he’d found a way to blend both worlds, to give me everything.
I kissed him soundly, not caring that we had an audience. “You brought my whole life here.”
“Ew, boss, get a room,” Vivi teased, but she was smiling. “Come on, you have to see inside. He let us design the kids’ corner and it’s ADORABLE.”
They dragged me into the shop, chattering nonstop about everything they’d seen and done. Inside, it was exactly as I’d left it, but better. The equipment was all updated, top of the line stuff I’d only dreamed of affording. The space was expanded, with a proper kitchen in the back and a children’s corner filled with toys and books for pack cubs.
“The wolves here are actually super nice,” Mika was saying, pulling shots on the fancy new espresso machine. “Like, yeah, they sometimes sniff you weird and the growling took some getting used to, but they tip really well.”
“One of them brought me flowers,” Vivi added with a sly smile. “Said I smelled like sunshine. I mean, who says that? But also...” She fanned herself dramatically.
“Sarah knows, by the way,” Vivi said, her sly tone making me look up from examining my mother’s books, now safely shelvedin their new home. “Kept calling them ‘very large dogs’ when they were moving stuff. Said she’s known you were meant for something special since you were little.”
“She’ll visit soon,” Knox confirmed from where he was leaning against the counter, watching me explore with satisfaction written all over his face.
“For the shop opening?” I asked, running my fingers over the familiar spines. Every book from Pine Valley had made the journey, even the ones with coffee stains and torn pages.
“For the wedding,” Knox said casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb.
