The store was still the next day, only punctuated with the periodic turn of a page and the gentle whirring of the old radiator that warmed the back wall. Mia sat with her legs crossed on the floorboards between the towering stacks of books that she was organizing for Mr. Henley, but her mind was elsewhere.
Somewhere between the werewolf lore section and a dusty box of romance novels, she'd made a decision.
She wouldn't run again.
Maybe she was not ready to return to Silverpine. Maybe she was not ready to forgive Lucas. But she was done with secrets.
Done letting people speak for her.
And she was not going to allow anyone to think that an omega couldn't be independent.
""Mia?"
She looked up to find Mr. Henley in the doorway holding a letter in his hand.
Mia Thompson,
You are formally invited to attend the upcoming Neutral Territories Summit as a representative of the Silverpine Pack.
Your presence has been requested by Alpha Lucas Greywind.
Should you choose to attend, your travel will be arranged, and full protection granted during your stay.
—The High Council of the Northern Clans
Mia blinked.
"What is it?" Mr. Henley asked quietly.
She crumpled the letter up in her hand. "An invitation to be in the same room with wolves who think I'm a joke."
He knit his brow in a thickening frown. "And you're going to let them keep on believing that?"
Mia didn't react. Not yet.
Lucas strode along the edge of the Westridge woods, arms crossed, eyes focused on the treeline as if it would provide him with answers. His Beta, Cade, stood leaning on a nearby oak tree, observing him.
Did she get the letter?
She hasn't answered yet.
"She will," he declared with confident calmness.
Lucas wasn't so sure.
I rejected her in front of the pack," he growled. "And now I'm asking her to be with me like nothing ever happened."
"You're not asking her to forget," said Cade. "You're giving her the chance to decide. And you're informing the others that you have faith in her. That is worth a thousand apologetic words."
Lucas rubbed his hand over his face.
The summit had been scheduled before the mate bond even being formed — a gathering of multiple packs to discuss altering territory lines, rogue threats, and new alliances. But with Blackridge working in the shadows and rumors abuzz about his bond with Mia, the council had made a demand: Bring the girl. Show your judgment.
It was politics disguised as diplomacy. A trap, in all likelihood.
But Lucas was not leaving her vulnerable.
He wanted Mia to walk alongside him—no longer a rejected omega, not even his mate. But his equal.
If she would still have him
Mia sat on her balcony that night, wearing a chunky thrift store sweater Ember had purchased that day. Holding the invitation in her hand, she stared at the elegant print as if it held a blueprint for her life ahead.
Burn it. Treat it as if it never came. Stay here and build something humble and human.
Or
She could go into that summit and confront them eye to eye.
Ember came alongside her with two mugs of cocoa in his hand. He didn't say anything at first but handed Mia one and sat on the railing instead.
"So," she finally said, "do we have to start to pack?"
Mia looked at her and then up at the starry night sky.
I think so
A respite, "But not him," Mia said. "This time, however, it's for me."