Elin’s POV

Morning wrapped the villa in winter’s thin fog. Aaron’s election day had arrived—the elders’ vote, a wolf pack’s brutal contest. I woke to find him already suited up, standing before the mirror, holding a tie—gray-blue silk, smooth edges embroidered with tiny wolf heads.

That was… the birthday gift I’d given him two years ago. Bought in secret on the cheap, half a month’s wages scraped together.

Back then, in our stolen moments, he’d smiled: “Little ...