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I rest my chin on top of her head. “We’ll use the time to pack up the cabin in the community lands. We’re moving to Ash Clan, permanently. We can stay with my parents until our cabin is ready.”

Aya snuggles against me. “I’m okay with it, so long as I get to be with you.”

I kiss her forehead. We stand wrapped up together while the waves roll in.

My dragon rumbles low, already on my side for this one. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Charity,” I warn her.

She pulls back and narrows her eyes at me.

I shrug. “Aaand?”

Aya sighs. “Please stop worrying about that.”

I hold her tighter. “I love you, Aya. So please forgive me for what’s about to come out of my mouth.”

She waits, her eyes still narrowed.

Smoke curls out of my nostrils and ears. “I’m not hearing that shit. I have told her and her little minions again and again not to play with me.”

Aya shakes her head at me and slaps my chest. “We are not doing that, Ezra.”

I turn my face to the water and don’t argue with her. But I’m paying Charity a visit. Aya will just have to kill me later.

38

AYA

Iwake up alone, and Ezra’s side of the sheets is already cold under my hand. My wolf grumbles about it while I make the bed. She’s still at it by the time I’m washed up. Beside the closet sits a stack of taped-up boxes that weren’t there when I fell asleep. Every label is in his handwriting. His scent is fresh on the cardboard. Okay, so he’s been packing without me.

I find more of them lined up along the wall at the bottom of the stairs and stop on the last step with my hand on the railing. Why do I feel like I’m going to miss this place? I hate the community lands. I’ve said it out loud more times than I can count. Out here it’s nothing but starter cabins for shifters who don’t have a pack or a clan to call home. I never thought I’d feel any different about it. But my heat hit me under this roof, and my wolf made it her den. I can’t take that with me. She whines low and paces. I am not going to cry over a starter cabin.

Ezra’s in his office with the door open and the planetarium plans spread across his desk. He smiles when he sees me in the doorway. My wolf rolls over for him on the spot. Traitor.

“What’s on the agenda today?” he asks.

I step inside without answering and slip behind his chair. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head against his. He twists to kiss me, but I squeeze tighter and keep him facing the desk. I press my nose into his shirt instead and breathe him in until I calm down.

“Baby.” He reaches up and covers my hands. “I’ll cook you breakfast.”

“No, no.” I lace my fingers together against his chest. “Keep still. Finish what you were doing.”

He gives up with a huff and goes back to his plans. I stay wrapped around him while he works.

I glance at the boxes stacked by the office door. “How long have you been up?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he answers without taking his eyes off the paperwork. He flips a page and scribbles a note in the margin.

I lean over his shoulder. Lines and numbers crowd every sheet. None of it means a damn thing to me. “What are you looking at?”

“I’m just finalizing things before I send these off to Amari.” He doesn’t stop writing. “The planetarium is almost finished.”

His scent sweetens with pride. I unlatch from him and walk around his chair to stand beside the desk. He sets the paperwork down and looks up at me. I don’t like how closely he studies my face.

“You’re sad about something,” he says. “What is it?”

I pick at a nick in the edge of his desk with my thumbnail. “You’re not going to believe this, but I think I’m going to miss this place.”

He chuckles at that. I wish it were the only thing bothering me. Ever since Hazel and I talked down by the water, the rest of it has been sitting heavy in my stomach. My wolf is sick of me carrying it around. Every time I shove it down, she pushes it back up.