10
+15 Bonus:
Meanwhile, on the plane heading to Silver Crescent territory, the cabin hummed with whispers.
They were saying that Ethan Blackwood had run away from his wedding
Wasn’t this the ceremony he had always dreamed of? The one he had prioritized over his own daughter’s birthday? The path to
power he’d chosen over us?
“I heard Ethan Blackwood ran because his ex–girlfriend left him!” one woman whispered to her companion across the aisle, her perfume too strong for my sensitive wolf nose.
“Wasn’t his ex Victoria?” her friend replied, leaning closer. “I always heard she was his true love. He was so heartbroken when
she left him that he ran off to Silver Crescent territory.”
“My cousin works for Shadow Moon’s council. She says the engagement ceremony was only halfway done when he just… left”
“That’s old news!” A third woman. “He had another girlfriend in Silver Crescent, and they even have a daughter together!
Apparently, she fled with the child and that’s why he’s chasing after them!”
Beside me, Lily pulled down her sleep mask, her small face troubled. Dark circles under her eyes showed how little she’d slept
since we left Shadow Moon.
She whispered, her voice barely audible, “Mommy, are they talking about Uncle Ethan?”
My heart clenched. Even now, she was trying to remember to call him “uncle” as she’d been instructed.
I gently replaced her eye mask, smoothing her hair back. “You misheard them. Go back to sleep, sweetie. Mommy’s right here.”
She hesitated, then asked even more softly, “Is uncle Ethan coming to find us?”
i swallowed hard. “No, Lily. He’s where he wants to be.”
She nodded and nestled closer to me, clutching the stuffed wolf she’d insisted on bringing the only item from Ethan she’d kept. Within minutes, her breathing evened out.
Lily slept until we landed, mercifully missing the increasingly wild speculation that spread through the cabin about Shadow
Moon’s runaway Alpha..
Back in familiar surroundings at the Silver Crescent regional airport, she was noticeably happier, the weight of Shadow Moon’s oppression lifting from her small shoulders. She took eager steps toward the exit, pointing at the pack symbols carved into the
stone archways
“Mommy, look! Those are like the ones on your special necklace!”
I quickly stopped her from running ahead. “Lily, we need to catch another flight.”
Her face fell. “Another one? But I’m tired of flying”
