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Ezra lifts his head. I rest my hand against his cheek. “They raised us to be better than them, to learn from their mistakes. So we do it, or at least we try.”

He wraps an arm around my waist and tugs me into his heat. When he kisses me, the only thing I can smell is him.

He rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, Aya.”

“I love you too.” I hold his eyes. “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing either, but we have to try.”

He kisses me again. When the door to Valek’s cabin swings open, the village around us goes quiet. Valek steps out onto his porch and grips the rail. He’s still weak, but he’s nearly recovered from what my mate did to him.

I pull Ezra down for another kiss. “You got this, baby.”

I slide my hand out of his. He frowns at the loss of contact.

“This is alpha business.” I wink at him and step back.

He reaches for me. “Get back here.”

I wiggle my fingers goodbye. He groans and turns for Valek’s porch.

Oh, I’m going to hear about that later.

I spin around at the scent of Luna Lauren’s jasmine. She’s beautiful, as always. Today her thick dark curls are down over her shoulders.

“Already behaving like a true luna,” she teases.

I bow my head to her. “I know how it works with the alphas.”

She tips her chin toward the village. “Come for a walk with me.”

I sneak a peek at Ezra. He’s almost to the porch steps. My wolf pulls after him.

“Ezra and Valek have had this silent battle since Ezra was old enough to understand the politics of Ash Clan.” Lauren watches him too. “It was a long time coming.”

She chuckles when I turn back to her. “Deep down, I’ve always known the transfer of power wasn’t going to go as smoothly as we all hoped. It’s the same laws as the wolves. Either you bow and willfully submit, or let the dragons handle it.” She bumps my shoulder with hers. “Looks like the dragons won this time.”

I sigh and nod. We start down the path together, and I can’t help smiling. The males we pass kneel for Lauren and press a fist to their chests. The females bow their heads.

She waves at some of them and says hello to others. “I’ll never get used to this.”

“I don’t think I will either,” I admit.

Lauren stops to greet a human woman and her dragon shifter mate, who pass us with their hands linked. “It was so different in my pack,” I tell her. “More of a family dynamic than a hierarchy.”

She nods. We keep walking until we reach the end of the village, where our cabin sits partially constructed. The last time I stood here, it was a skeleton on a patch of bare earth. It has walls and a front porch now, but the doorway and the window holes are still empty. The forest grows up close behind it.

Next to it, dragons are unloading a trailer of cut lumber and brick, with bags of cement mix piled at the back. These are the same materials my dad always uses.

I look to Lauren, who gestures at the load. “Your father and uncles are returning tomorrow to finish the build.”

I stare at the porch. “It’s really hitting me that this will be my permanent home now. I’m kind of getting used to the pack life.” I press my lips together until my nose quits stinging. “This is going to be a bigger adjustment than I thought it would be.” I keep my eyes on the forest behind the cabin.

“Ezra always said you needed a space where you could let your wolf run free,” Lauren says. “This is the reason for the placement.”

My wolf is already in the trees, as far as she’s concerned. “When I’d come here for my courtship visits, even then it didn’t really dawn on me. I’d watch the stars with Ezra, Claude, and Tyrion. But I went home after.” I turn back to the building. “This time, I am home.”

“You’ll come to love your new home in time,” Lauren assures me.

“I know.” I swallow. Home has always been my mother’s kitchen and loud dinners with wolves I’ve known since before I could walk. I told Ezra we have to try, so I will. But I already miss my pack, and I haven’t even moved in yet. My wolf won’t quit pacing.