Hanna’s fingers tightened around mine. That simple twitch in our bond nearly knocked me flat. My female washappy. And I’d done that.
I turned away from everyone, swiping my free fingers across my eyes while squeezing hers. She didn’t make a scene. She knew me too well for that. She simply lifted my hand to press a kiss to it before dropping another on top of Ribbon’s head.
He croaked, soaking up the attention as Darak glared at him from across the room.
Darak was in charge of the meeting, and since we were all seated around the table, the plans for our homes spread in front of us, I watched as he hovered, his frown apparent on his face.
“Hanna. Savla. Review your requirements. We’re doing this properly the first time,” he insisted.
I squinted at him. “You slept, right?”
He scowled. “I’ll sleep when your future living room is structurally stable,” he huffed.
Enka leaned toward me. “He’s like this because he couldn’t keep his eyes off the engineer when she came out to meet us. He wasn’t in the meeting, since it was just Dristan and her, but he stared at her from outside of the office like he wanted to eat her. Don’t worry about it,” he told us.
Darak narrowed his eyes at him. “Why are you here? You’re finished with your planning,” he gruffed.
Enka grumbled from next to me while Hanna giggled, and the sound hit me straight in the chest. She patted my brother on his shoulder, attempting to console him.
The lights sheened over her hair and her scent filled my body with love, pride and joy. Something I’d never thought I could ever feel. For one quiet second, I felt the world tilt just a little—like it wanted to settle around her.
Darak tapped his fingers on the blueprint in front of us.
“This is your lot. Make decisions.Realdecisions,” he demanded.
Krusk muttered, “He’s bossier than the chief.”
Dristan nodded thoughtfully.
“He should take over,” he said. “Now that we know he can speak, that is.”
“Shutup,” Darak barked. “Savla. Hanna. Look at the plans.”
I leaned in beside her and our shoulders brushed. The bond gave a warm, full pulse. Every muscle in my body loosened as we stared down at the plans for our home.
The blueprint showed a large house—sturdy, clean lines, shaded by birch trees, facing the lake. Darak had even drawn Ribbon as a frog-shaped blob labeledfuture menace.
Hanna beamed. “Oh… this is beautiful,” she gushed.
Her awe lit something inside me I didn’t have a word for. I pointed to the lake-facing wall.
“We should put the biggest windows here,” I said to her.
“For the sunrise?” she asked softly.
“So you can see it every morning,” I explained
She looked at me like I’d handed her the whole damn world.
Then she said, “Sowecan.”
My throat tightened. And the clan?
Lost. Their. Minds.Not that they had much to lose in the first place.
Zara shrieked, “Oh my dear Goddess Mother, my little Savla’s all grown up and beingsweet,” she hugged me around my neck and I rolled my eyes at how dramatic she was.
Enka fanned himself dramatically. “Someone get me a fainting couch!”
