Page 27 of Wolf's Reckoning
I kept my back to them, yanking the shirt off in frustration.Why was I dressing differently? For Wolfe? For mysuitors? I would not change who I was for a man. I picked up a white tank top, pulled it on, and then put on a loose-fitting, wide-necked gray T-shirt.
“I didn’t realize I needed to announce my exits,” I answered the druid, noting that Adair had lain back on the couch and looked as if she had gone to sleep. Lucky.
The druid ignored her. “It would be beneficial if you demonstrated your manners in front of your suitors, and possibly potential husband.”
My jaw clenched as I shoved my feet into my boots. I’d changed my pants into plain black pants. “Mysuitors? You sure they’re not yours?”
“How long will you rage against this, Rowen?” they asked with what sounded an awful lot like disappointment.
I turned to face them, fists clenched at my sides. “You said the Goddess chooses. You believe that, don’t you?”
They didn’t blink. “I do.”
“Then what does it matter if I leave the room they’re in? Abruptly or not.”
They didn’t blink. “Because the Goddess also gave us laws. Laws that keep packs from fracturing. From falling. From becoming prey.”
I stepped forward. “So we survive by sacrificing choice? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Wesurvive,” they said calmly, “by doing what must be done. And right now, you are what must be done.” They looked around my rooms. “Or do you want change? Your lineage has been in this territory since the very beginning. Do you not think you need to fight for that legacy?”
They knew better than to ask me that. “You know that’s not what this is.”
“I knowexactlywhat this is,” they said quietly. “A daughter who wants to lead in a world that only recognizes sons.”
I swallowed hard.
“You forget, Rowen,” they added, almost gently, “I know you. I know you better than yourself, so does the Goddess, and so does this land. And you know what I see when I look upon the child born at the heart of the Hollow?”
I shook my head, almost afraid of their answer.
“I think you were born to lead anyway.”
I couldn’t speak. Their praise was unexpected.
They let that hang between us a moment longer, then turned to leave. At the door, they paused. “You need to meet with the suitors. You need to treat them with the respect that they are due…and in turn, you will earn their respect and be seen as apartner, not a woman who hides in the woods when life serves her lemons.”
“Lemons,” I said with a soft chuckle. “I always did make the best lemonade.”
The druid dipped their head as they stepped out and closed the door behind them with barely a sound.
Adair sat up and stretched. “They are not always the enemy,” she said quietly. “It is easy to forget that sometimes.”
I nodded, admonished by both, and rightly so. “You want stew?”
She grinned as she jumped to her feet. “Yes!AndI heard that there was an extra loaf of pumpkin breadjustfor you, compliments of young Henry.” She gave me a sly smile. “He’s young, sure, but I think he may already be over his recent heartbreak.”
“Eew!” I gaped at her. “I’m something like ten years older than him!”
“So? Think howeagerhe’ll be to learn.” She winked at me and then cackled as she dodged the shoe I threw at her.
“Out. No more talking about that.” I pushed her out of the door, and between her and the druid, I felt better. Lighter.
That didn’t mean that, as I walked into the dining hall, I wasn’t holding my breath, apprehensive about meeting Wolfe again or, worse, having to talk to him. But I knew before I’d even looked around, he wasn’t here. I shouldn’t have relaxed at the realization, but the truth was, I wasn’t ready. Not yet.
The hall was busier than normal. It smelled of roasted meat, damp fur, woodsmoke, and the overwhelming scent of home. Of family.
The pack was already eating and talking as I joined them. Adair and I got bowls of stew, and she went to sit with some friends as I slipped into a vacant spot at another of the benches, bumping elbows with the two shifters on either side of me. They both moved eagerly to let me in, pausing in their conversations to make sure I had enough room.
