I pulled her closer. “Stop analyzing me.”
“Never.” Her smile grew. “But for what it’s worth, they already love you.”
Acorn sat on her shoulder with his tail held high, already tracking the food tables with the focus of a hunter sizing up prey.
Victoria told me what he said:The feast awaits where love has grown. Hearts now beat where seeds were sown.
“He’s feeling poetic today,” Victoria added.
“He’s feeling hungry.”
Elizabeth waited at the garden entrance like she’d been expecting us at exactly this moment. She wore a gown made of deep purple cloth that caught the light when she moved, and she’d pulled her silver hair back in an arrangement that probably had meaning I didn’t understand. Her smile suggested she’d orchestrated every detail of this gathering down to the exact angle of sunlight hitting the flowers.
She probably had.
“Feral. Victoria.” She approached and took both our hands, studying us with the same attention Victoria gave her research. “You look good together. The bond is visible now, you know. It shows in the way you move.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Gratitude sat heavy in my chest, tangled up with the knowledge that this woman had arranged a marriage I’d been resigned to at first and now couldn’t imagine living without.
Elizabeth must’ve read the emotions on my face, because her expression softened.
“The best matches are the ones that choose themselves,” she said. “I simply provided the opportunity.” She gestured towardthe gathering. “Your cousins and their spouses are eager to see you both. And I believe you have other guests here as well.”
She stepped aside, and I caught sight of Bastian making his way toward us.
He looked deeply uncomfortable in a formal tunic and pants and kept tugging on the collar of a shirt that was either new or he hadn’t worn it in years. He carried a tiny ornate wooden box.
Arana strode at his side, wearing a deep blue gown that brought out the color of her eyes. She touched his arm as they approached, a small gesture that told me a lot about their relationship now.
Bastian thrust the box at Acorn. “High-quality hazelnuts from the northern groves. The squirrel earned them.”
Acorn’s tail went rigid, and he leaped off Victoria’s shoulder, the box in his hands. He set it down and opened it, and his chittering could only be described as reverent.
“That’s incredibly kind of you,” Victoria said.
Bastian shrugged. “He helped save the packs. It seemed like the least I could do.”
Arana’s hand stayed on his arm, and they stood close enough their shoulders touched.
“The seals are holding strong,” he said. “All packs are reporting stability.”
“All of our wolves have recovered,” I said.
“That’s good news.”
“We’re discussing the ideas you sent for pack consolidation,” Arana added. “We agree there’s value in closer cooperation.”
Bastian actually smiled when she spoke. A real one.
A small squirrel with a white patch on one ear slipped from the garden path on our right and came right over to Acorn. He gestured to the box, sharing the treat with her. The two of them chittered, their tails intertwining in a way that made Victoria press her lips together to hide a smile.
She leaned close to translate. “He’s telling her about optimal storage locations for winter. She’s commenting on his organizational skills.” She paused. “Now they’re being affectionate in ways I’m not going to repeat.”
Even the squirrel had found his mate.
The pair launched themselves into the air together, gliding to a sunny branch along the edge of the garden.
Cyrene came over and wrapped Victoria in a hug that lifted her off her feet. Flowers bloomed nearby, responding to her joy magic. “You look so happy. I mean really, genuinely happy in a way that makes me want to do research on the physiological effects of wolf king proximity.”
