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“That is not a good idea,” she says. “Being separated from you while he’s healing is the last thing he’ll want.”

My wolf huffs and takes her side. “I know that,” I say as I work my heel into my sneaker. “But if the Mer show up at the border and get turned away while the alpha’s flat on his back, that’s on Ash Clan. On me. If King Amir came to Ash Clan and learned the Mer got turned away, I know he would be disappointed.”

Claude snorts. “You mean your uncle.”

I ignore her and pull the door open.

She crosses the kitchen and stops at my elbow. “I’ve always known you to be a wild, fierce wolf. You have a very independent nature, and you’ve never been afraid to find your own way.”

“Where are you going with this?” I demand.

“A luna puts her clan first,” she tells me. “That’s the sacrifice of leadership.”

I plant my feet. “I am putting the clan first.”

She takes her time before she asks, “Are you really doing this for the clan, Aya? Or for yourself?”

I don’t like the answer I’ve got, and I’m not saying it out loud.

Claude sighs. “You’re young. You won’t see things my way yet. I stopped aging when I hit full adulthood and didn’t start again until I gave birth to Ezra.”

I stare at her. “What does aging have to do with⁠—”

“I have been on this earth for centuries.” She watches me take that in. “My brother may be an asshole, and he deserved every bit of that beating my son gave him, but he would be a good lesson in what sacrifice really means and how thankless it is.”

I scoff. “Are you defending Valek right now?”

“No.” Her mouth goes tight. “I’m not. But I understand both sides. I still love him. He sacrificed most of his life for me, for my brother, for this clan, the same way your father gave things up for his pack.”

I stop with my hand on the door and blink at the porch. Of all the people she could throw in my face, she had to pick my dad.

“Go meet the Mer if you wish,” she says. “But you’ve got a lot of growing up to do, young wolf.”

I swallow whatever that is and walk out with my wolf whining every step. I’m already running when Claude calls after me from the porch. “When Ezra wakes up, I’m not going to lie to him. Though I have a feeling he won’t even have to ask.”

Wet grass soaks through my sneakers before I reach the tree line. Once I’m in the woods, I try to stop thinking about Claude. I run hard over logs and duck under low branches without watching my feet. My wolf is still sulking, but she lends me her speed. This is what she’s made for. She’s useless at sitting in a cabin waiting for someone to wake up and tell her what she can and can’t do, and so am I.

A lot of growing up to do, my ass.

I chew on it the rest of the way to the border and clear a rotting stump. I’ve been grown a long time and was handling my own business before Ezra caught my scent. I know what sacrifice looks like from watching my father make it every day I was growing up without ever calling it that. I don’t need a centuries-old dragon to explain it to me.

I push harder when the clearing opens up ahead. All I’m doing is giving a tour. I’ll show Sirena the Academy and introduce her to Tyrion so she can see for herself that Wintermoon is worth trusting and the Mer have a real home here if they want it. Claude isn’t going anywhere. My mate will probably still be asleep when I get back. So what’s the big deal?

The bond yanks low in my stomach and tries to turn me around. I don’t slow down, but my wolf rises and pulls with it toward the cabin. There’s no reason I should feel Ezra this loud and clear when he’s supposed to be out cold and healing. I fix my eyes on the trees ahead and pretend nothing’s wrong.

I hit the border too fast and skid across the rocks. The lake stretches out under a low gray sky without a ripple on it. The bridge and the Tourist Island sit farther out in the mist, with the Royal Island behind them.

I spin to my right and tense up until I catch a scent I know. Sirena stands alone at the water’s edge. The blue undertone in her skin shows more now that she’s dry, with her hair still damp at the ends. She’s wearing a long gown that falls past her ankles. I have no clue where she gets her clothes, and I’m not about to ask. She walks over and bows to me. I sniff for the others and come up empty. “I thought you were bringing your pod.”

“I am tasked with this journey alone.” Her voice has a deep-water echo to it again. It raises goosebumps on my arms. “My pod will not shift to land after last night.”

I frown at her. “Last night?”

She circles me and stops to point at the claim mark on my neck. I keep still.

“There was a Stormscale battle last night,” she says behind me.

“That was Ash Clan politics.” I wave it off.