Asher’s POV
I wasn’t looking for a reason to think about Fiona. But my pack wouldn’t let me forget.
“She’s great with the pups,” someone remarked near the training grounds. “They trail after her like ducklings.”
A scoff. “Not just the pups. Even Roan listens to her.”
That made me pause. Roan didn’t trust anyone—not even me, and I was his Alpha.
I kept walking, but their words sank into my thoughts, slipping past the barriers I had built.
“She helped Marella at the market the other day,” another voice chimed in. “Let her rant about her old mate while sorting through the harvest.”
“She’s different,” someone murmured. “Not what I expected.”
I knew what they meant. Fiona wasn’t pack-born. She hadn’t grown up learning hierarchy, hadn’t been shaped by instinct and duty. She had come here
