“How long have you three known each other?”
“Where did you grow up?”
“When did you arrive in town?”
I noticed. We all did. And honestly? It was driving me a little insane.
Not because she was prying. I wanted her to pry. I wanted her to ask me everything, to sit her down and spill centuries of history at her feet and watch her face as she realized exactly what she meant to us.
But she wasn’t asking us directly. She was circling. Gathering evidence, building a case as if we were suspects in a crime she hadn’t quite figured out yet.
It hurt more than I expected.
The morning sun cut through the windows of Lucian’s office as Solomon closed the door behind us. The three of us hadn’t had a proper meeting since Mira moved in.
“She knows.” Solomon stood by the window, arms crossed, watching the tree line.
Lucian sat behind his desk, fingers steepled, that permanent crease between his brows deeper than usual. Hundred years I’d known this man, and I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him this unsettled.
“Do you think her memory is coming back?” I asked.
“I think it’s just fragments.” Lucian’s voice was low. “She’s definitely had flashes since the fire.”
I dropped onto the worn leather chair across from his desk and ran a hand through my hair. This was a mess. A complete, utter mess. We don’t know what we’ve been doing.
“So what do we do? Keep waiting? Hope she remembers on her own before she decides we’ve been stringing her along?”
“We made the right call.” Lucian’s voice was firm, but I heard the uncertainty beneath it. “She’d just survived a fire. Lost her home, her memories, nearly lost her life. Dropping the truth on top of that-”
“Would have been too much. I know. We all agreed.” I met his gaze and held it. “But it’s been over a week now, Luc. She’s piecing things together on her own. And every day we stay quiet is another day she thinks we’re hiding something from her.”
“We are hiding something from her.”
His eyes flashed gold at the edges. Frustration, not anger. The same frustration I felt every time I watched her look at us with those careful, searching eyes.
“The bond is affecting her,” Solomon said quietly. “Even without the memories, she feels the pull. She’s drawn to us. Trusts us on instinct even when her mind tells her not to.”
“That’s not fair to her.” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “We held back because we wanted to protect her. But don’t you think we can try again? Slowly, like before.”
The words hung between us.
Lucian exhaled through his nose and brushed a hand over his face. An exhale of a measured breath that meant he was about to do something he wasn’t entirely sure about.
“Fine. Let’s tell her,” he said. “Start with the bond, the connection. See how she handles that before we explain the rest.”
Solomon nodded once. “When?”
“Soon. Before-”
The door swung open.
Mira stood in the doorway, one hand on the frame, eyes sweeping across the three of us intensely, making my wolf sit up and take notice. She didn’t wear her contacts in the cabin anymore.
“Did I disturb you?” She tilted her head, a small smile playing at her lips. “Noticed you’ve got a meeting here. What is this... a super secret book club?”
I grinned despite the tension coiling in my chest. “You caught us. We’re discussing the literary merits of trashy romance novels. Solomon’s really passionate about second-chance romances.”
Solomon shot me a look.
