Ellie POV


    The celebration was exactly what I had expected from Moonstone – loud, bright, and impossibly alive.


    ric had insisted on it after the announcement was made and the pack had thrown it together quickly. It was only a few days ago that Moonstone learned their alpha''s lost daughter had returned, and now the entire pack was filling the streets and the pack house, celebrating.


    The packhouse courtyard had been transformed into a sea ofnterns andughter. Long wooden tables overflowed with food, children darted between them with sticky fingers and wild grins, and music poured from the small stage where a group of warriors had somehow turned their patrol instruments into a band.


    It was the kind of chaos that had always made me feel at home.


    I stood near one of the tables, watching as Cassian and Rae spun in easy circles near the center of the dance floor. Rae''sughter carried above the music, light and unrestrained, and I couldn''t help smiling.


    It was strange - after everything, after years of fear and uncertainty, this ce finally felt like safety.


    Or it should have.


    But my heart wouldn''t quite let me rest.


    I caught myself scanning the crowd more than once, looking for a familiar face.


    When I finally saw him, my breath caught.


    Nn stood near the edge of the courtyard, where thenternlight bled into the dark line of the forest. He looked entirely out of ce - all broad shoulders and sharp lines in his formal ck jacket, his expression tooposed for a party like this. Even from across the space, I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hand twitched as though unsure what to do with itself.


    Lance stood beside him, trying — and failing to get him to rx. His brother looked like he belonged,ughing easily with the people around him, but Nn was stone still, his smile tight and fleeting.


    My chest ached. This was nothing like the celebrations at Silver Fang, which were always formal affairs even when they weren''t meant to be. Nn was too stiff, too concerned with appearance to allow something this wild and unrestrained.


    I''d invited them both. Partly for appearances, partly for politics -- but mostly because I wanted him there.


    I''d told myself that staying in Moonstone would make it easier to move on. That distance and duty would make forgetting him possible. But every time I saw him the small smiles he gave the boys, the quiet patience I''d never thought him capable of the wall I''d built around my heart cracked a little more.


    ric had teased me earlier that morning when I told him Nn wasing. "It''s good politics," he''d said knowingly. "But it''s also good for your soul."


    Now, standing in the golden spill of firelight, I wasn''t so sure about either.


    ire appeared beside me, cheeks flushed from dancing. "He came," she said softly, following my gaze.


    "He did," I murmured.


    "Are you going to talk to him, or just stare from here all night?”


    I gave a small, helplessugh. "I haven''t decided yet."


    ire grinned, squeezing my shoulder. "Then decide soon, before someone drags him into a dance he can''t


    Chigter 210


    +25 Bonus


    refuse."


    I rolled my eyes but smiled. "You''re terrible."


    "I''m honest," ire said. "Go on, messenger of the goddess. Go face your destiny."


    She was being sarcastic, but the wordsnded heavily. I took a steadying breath and crossed the courtyard.


    Nn noticed me before I reached him I saw the flicker of movement as he straightened, the subtle shift of his weight as if to brace himself.


    “Ellie,” he said quietly when I stopped in front of him. His voice was careful, measured, but his eyes - gods, his


    eyes betrayed him. They were soft and uncertain, as if he couldn''t quite believe I was really seeking him out.


    When had his stormy, cold eyes be so easy to read?


    "You came," I said, trying to sound casual.


    "You invited me," he said simply.


    I smiled faintly. "I wasn''t sure you''d ept."


    He hesitated, ncing at the dancers. "I almost didn''t."


    "Too loud?"


    He gave a low huff of amusement. "Too... free, maybe. I don''t think I''ve ever seen


    so many people barefoot in one ce."


    Iughed. "That''s Moonstone. No one here stands on ceremony."


    He nced at me then, the corners of his mouth softening. You fit here."


    The words were meant as apliment, but theynded like a bruise.


    “I thought so too,” I said quietly. “But it doesn''t feel as simple as it used to.”