Anna's POV
Halfway through the bargain, the performance kept a schedule. Luca came to dinner at seven. He sat across from me and asked about my day, and he stayed in the room while I answered. He never had, before. Now he did.
On the morning of Day Fifteen the pack women gathered in the east garden — tea, pastries, the harvest festival to plan. These were the gatherings where a Luna carried the tray and poured and went unseen. I had poured at them for years.
Today I sat at the table.
The sun lay warm on my shoulders. I'd worn the pale blue dress because it asked for nothing. Lucy watched me from across the garden with the eyes she used on everyone. Two elders' wives. A noble from the eastern territory. And Felicia, across from me, both hands around her cup.
The talk went where it alwa
