Page 44 of Claimed By the Wolf
I frown. “Why not? Emeric won’t mind. Will he?”
I genuinely have no idea.
“I couldn’t, Miss Brynn,” she mumbles. “You’re going to be the Luna.”
She’s so nervous, she's shaking, and I realize I’ve put her in an awful position, having to explain it to me. Embarrassed, I flash her a quick smile again.
“Of course.” I’m quick to answer. I don’t know what I was thinking. “Thanks for the snacks, Kayla.”
I hurry outside, my heart sinking low again, and I wonder if the deep, devastating disappointments will ever stop. I can’t even find a friend in the staff here.
I make my way across the property and lean over the fence to peer at the stallions in the pen. The black one rushes toward me, snorting and huffing.
“Oh, he likes you,” one of the ranch hands calls out as I extend my free hand toward him. I realize that he wants what’s in my snack bag, and I back up.
“I think he likes food,” I chuckle.
“That he does.” He tips his cowboy hat back and looks at me, “Can I help you with something this morning, Miss Brynn?”
“Can you give me some riding lessons?” I ask as the horse grunts, nudging toward me for the bag.
He shrugs. “Sure. But not today. There’s still a bunch of work to be done before the mating ceremony this weekend.” He grins broadly at me. “But I don’t need to tell you about that.”
I can’t escape the truth, no matter where I go. It was a stupid idea to think coming out here would clear my head. I’m better off holing up in my suite. At least up there, I can watch television orread. Do something mindless to pass the days and try to ignore the horrible pull in my soul.
“Okay. Thanks.”
I turn away from the fence.
“Cheer up, Luna. You’ll have plenty of time to ride soon.”
My head whips around, and my eyes become slits. “I’m not the Luna yet,” I tell him coldly.
His amiable disposition evaporates when he catches the look on my face. “I know. I was just being… Sorry.”
I shiver slightly, but it’s too late. He’s already returning to his work, and I’m on my own again. Now he thinks I’m rude. I really shouldn’t be bothering anyone. I need to just keep to myself. There won’t be any friends for me in Willow Grove territory.
No one meets me back at the house, and I’m thankful for that, at least. I don’t have another word left inside me to speak to anyone.
But when I open the door to my suite, I find an unmarked envelope sitting on the floor. Startled, I eye it and look back down the dimly lit hallway. Again, I catch a movement through my sidelong view, but it’s gone so fast that I miss it. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I call out.
“Hello?”
Kayla appears around the opposite corner, far from where I’d seen the motion. “Is something wrong? Can I help you?”
Gulping, I look back in the other direction. “Was someone just here?” I ask.
Her brows furrow in confusion. “I don’t think so.”
“Never mind,” I mumble, scooping the letter off the floor. “Thanks.”
I close the door and hurry into the sitting room to perch at the writing desk near the bedroom entrance. There’s nothing identifiable about the plain white envelope, but it has to be for me, doesn’t it?
There’s only one way to find out.
I tear it open and read the simple note inside.
Meet me tonight. 11 p.m. Rose Garden.
