Book 3: Nothing to Celebrate

Hollis

“So I said, ‘Who are you kidding? Your wolf doesn’t even have two ears.’” Lord Gunnar, one of the Snowcrest nobles Father begrudgingly agreed to bring on the trip, bursts into laughter at his own joke.

Father nods once, crisply, and takes another drink from his cup. Zain, my Beta whenever I take the throne, just sips his drink. Eva laughs politely. I put on my fakest laugh—Gunnar likes the sound of his own voice too much to ever notice me.

Around us, the celebration is in full swing. The early spring air here is warm enough that I didn’t have to wear my cloak over my tunic and pants, but Eva is wrapped in fur over a fine, sky-blue dress that cups every inch of her body and still didn’t make me look twice at her. Couples spin around the oak tree, which someone strung lanterns in the branches of, and music plays from a dozen different performers scattered around the space. For being put together in the afternoon, it’s decent, but I miss the ce