For three days after the ceremony, Jarek avoided looking at Aria.
It would’ve been funny if she’d been in the mood to laugh. The same wolf who’d once called her “leftovers” to her face suddenly found a hundred fascinating things to stare at whenever they were in the same room: the ceiling, the floor, the inside of his mug.
Nightfall as a whole treated her much the same as before.
Pups still demanded “one more story.”
Mara still yelled at anyone who stood too long in the doorway.
Lena still kicked Aria outside when she started thinking instead of moving.
Only Jarek acted like getting too close to her might trigger an Alpha lecture from across the hall.
He picked his moment when she was alone by the water barrel, washing cups after lunch.
“Hey,” he said, appearing at her side too qui
