Alpha Ryder came to dinner.
Sera hadn't expected that. She hadn't expected any of this — the three of them sitting around a table in her cottage, Lumi chattering about her lessons, the smell of roasted meat filling the small room.
"To Lady Vale." Ryder raised his glass. "And to the blood that remembers."
Sera raised hers. Took a sip. Let the warmth spread.
"Lumi tells me you're teaching her to shift," Ryder said to Dax.
"She picks things up fast."
"She would. She's her mother's daughter." Ryder set his glass down. His tone shifted. Harder. "The envoy's message was a bluff. Shadow Fang can't invoke ancient law to forcibly remove Royal Blood from another pack. Not unless the blood-holder consents or is proven unfit."
"Will they try to prove me unfit?"
"They'll try to create circumsta
