Chapter 2: The Mate Who Promised Me a Choice

The matchmaker arrived quickly, already with someone in mind. She sat across from my father, David Hall, and smiled as she made the introduction. "Ronan Grey, third son of Grey Ridge's current Beta. He commands the northern patrol himself. His character and ability have both passed Council review. The Grey family has also promised that, if Miss Hall agrees, they will deliver every bonding gift and complete the mutual marking within six months."

I stood behind the carved oak room divider, my eyes stinging again. For three full years, because Keller had refused to complete our formal bond, I had been barred from gatherings for unmated wolves and forbidden to accept another suitor. Rumors had even spread through the North that my wolf was defective and that Blackwood's heir kept postponing the marking because of it.

Yet a man I had met only a handful of times was willing to offer me all that respect within six months.

I gave my mother a firm nod. After the matchmaker left with my answer, I went to a tailor in the Neutral Zone. Grey Ridge ceremonies were more formal than Blackwood's. The gown and shawl I had prepared before would not suit the occasion. If this oath went as promised, I needed to begin at once.

I was choosing a bolt of deep blue velvet when Lydia's bright laugh rang out from the back room. "Keller, this scarf is perfect with your eyes. I'll have intertwined blackwood branches embroidered on it. It'll look wonderful at the ceremony."

They stood almost touching. Lydia held the fabric against Keller's chest while he looked down at her, his expression soft. When he noticed me, guilt flickered across his face. Then he came over to explain. "She only wanted to make me a patrol scarf. She was worried the color wouldn't suit me."

He deliberately put himself between us, as if I might attack the woman he cherished in front of everyone. I answered evenly, "Old things do need replacing."

Surprise flashed in Keller's eyes. Lydia drifted closer, her gaze fixed on the fabric in my hands. "Evelyn, are you making a gown for your bonding ceremony too? This color suits Keller best. Could you let me have it? He won't have the gifts ready for a long time anyway. You don't need to rush."

Her voice was syrupy sweet, but every word struck an old wound with surgical precision. She reached for the fabric. I held on. "What's mine, I won't give away again."

Lydia's eyes filled at once, and she looked to Keller for rescue. A moment later, his hand clamped down on my shoulder and the force of a high-ranking wolf's dominance settled over me. "Evelyn, she'll be family someday. Why fight her over a piece of cloth? Give it to her."

Everyone in the shop turned. Those who knew our history watched with pity. I stood firm against his dominance, pulled the fabric back, and took a palm-sized oak carving of a moon wolf from my bag. I placed it in front of Keller. "I was going to send this to Blackwood after I finished shopping, but since you're here, I'll save myself the trip. She'll probably want this more than the fabric."

The moon wolf was the first token Keller had given me at our betrothal. He had spent three months carving it, leaving his palms crisscrossed with knife cuts. Back then, the sight of those wounds made me cry. He held me beneath a black fir and laughed. "I couldn't find a matched set of white antlers in winter, so oak had to do. If I'd waited any longer, someone else might have swept you off your feet."

The promise still rang in my ears. Everything else had changed.