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...