As soon as I hit the forest, I shifted, letting my wolf take over.
CHAPTER TEN
VICTORIA
After waking alone, bathing, and dressing, I went out into the sitting room.
Feral had had breakfast delivered again.
The tea was still warm, as were the pastries bursting with bangleberry jam. I ate, savoring how tasty everything was.
My gaze drifted to the flowers in the urn.
They’d wilted, the silverbell drooping to one side. I realized the problem right away. He’d arranged them with care but hadn’t added water.
I tried to picture my big, burly wolf shifter husband picking them but couldn’t, not without smiling. His large hands selecting each bloom, bringing them back to the suite and trying to make them look presentable.
I took the urn to the bathing chamber, filled it with water, and brought it back to the table. The flowers perked up when I adjusted them, the purple ones catching the light.
I leaned down to smell them.
The witch lingers at the blooms,Acorn said from where he perched on the back of the sofa, munching on a pastry.She breathes their scent and thinks of wolves.
I straightened fast. “I was just tidying them.”
His tail swished.Of course.
“I was.”
He finished stuffing the pastry into his cheeks, all innocence.
I left the flowers and took the tray to the laboratory, determined to eat while focusing on work instead of analyzing why my husband had picked flowers for me and forgotten the most basic requirement for keeping them alive.
The samples from the northern tributary sat arranged on my worktable exactly as I’d left them. I’d already run preliminary tests, established baselines, and documented findings. Everything pointed to contamination from broken pack-sealing magic.
Except for the duskburst.
The plant kept circling back through my thoughts, an anomaly that didn’t fit the pattern. Duskburst preferred dry soil, southern exposure, and elevation. It had no business growing near the northern creek.
I pulled out my notes, reviewing the observations I’d recorded. One specimen. Purple and white flowering herb. Common. Harmless.
But why was it there? The question kept spinning around in my mind.
I needed another sample. Multiple samples, if possible. I also needed to map the distribution pattern and determine if this was random or deliberate placement.
Which meant I should go back to the creek.
I closed my notebook and headed downstairs.
The clearing bustled with morning activity. Warriors sparred near the tree line. Pack members hauled supplies and tended to gardens. I spotted Kirk near the tree with the main hall and walked over to join him.
“Lady Victoria.” He dipped his head.
“Victoria, please. Do you know where Feral is?”
“He left for the southern territories, and he won’t be back until evening.”
“Thank you.”
