Chapter 2

Leah came back at dusk.

She brought no pictures and never set foot in the cabin. She brought back three sentences.

Mia lived there permanently.

Newborn pup clothes were hung out to dry outside the cabin.

Lucas's black horse was tied up in the back yard.

My first reaction, when she finished, wasn't anger.

It was quiet.

Like a weight that had been hanging over my heart had finally dropped away.

It hurt.

But at least I didn't have to guess anymore.

"Is he still there?"

"No," Leah said. "The horse is, so he probably left it yesterday."

I nodded.

"Tomorrow I'm inspecting the water source along the riverbank."

Leah understood, and she didn't try to talk me out of it.

The next morning I rode out to Riverbend with a small party. The river ran bitterly cold in winter, and a thin skin of ice had formed along the bank. Cabin Twelve sat behind a stand of birch, close enough to the main road, but hidden just well enough.

I didn't go near it.

I stood downwind.

When the wind came, I could smell Lucas.

Not the trace someone leaves passing through.

He had slept there, eaten there, changed his clothes there. Leather, soap, and the pine balm he always used. All of it had mingled and sunk into the dirt and the seams of the wood around that cabin.

He had been living there a long time.

Someone was talking inside. An older woman's voice. "The due date is still a long way off. Stop thinking about moving from one place to another."

Mia said, "Lucas promised. He'll make it official before the male pup is born."

The older woman muttered something I couldn't catch.

Mia laughed.

"He wouldn't lie to me."

I turned and left.

From Riverbend to the supply post at the foot of the mountain was only half an hour on foot.

When I arrived, Mia was checking stores.

She was showing now. The loose fall of her skirt couldn't hide the small curve of her belly. She saw me, went still for a moment, then quickly rose.

"Miss Elena."

She said it very politely.

But the moonstone pendant at her throat was a good deal more honest than her tone.

I knew that stone.

I had seen one just like it at the market last month. Lucas was standing beside me then, and he said, "That's too expensive. There's no need." I told him I was only looking. He even teased me about it. "You already have so much jewelry."

The one around Mia's neck now was a better piece than the one I had looked at.

I moved my eyes from the pendant to her face.

"How have you been feeling?"

Her hand went to her belly without thinking.

"Fine."

"I hear you're pregnant."

"Yes." Her fingers brushed lightly over the pendant. "The father takes good care of me."

I nodded.

"Good."

She seemed not to have expected that to be all I said.

I didn't ask anything else.

When I got back to the main house at midday, Lucas was already waiting for me.

"How was the riverbank?"

"No problems."

I sat down to eat, then looked up as if something had just occurred to me.

"By the way, that empty room on the east side. Shouldn't we clear it out?"

He raised his eyes. "For what?"

"A nursery, eventually."

Lucas's fork paused in his hand.

"Now?"

"We'll need it sooner or later."

"Elena, didn't we agree there was no rush?"

"I'm only getting ready early."

He frowned, and a note of exasperation crept into his voice.

"Border trade has only just steadied, and the pack still has to rebuild the southern fence this year. Giving up a whole room for a pup that doesn't exist is a waste."

I looked down and cut into my meat, the tip of the knife scraping the plate.

"You think it's a waste?"

"Of course."

"And Cabin Twelve at Riverbend?"

The knife made a small sound against the porcelain.

Lucas looked up.

"What?"

"Someone's put a lot of work into that cabin lately."

He stared at me.

I looked back at him.

A few seconds later he gave a short laugh. "You went to Riverbend today?"

"Water inspection. I passed by."

"That's special housing the supply post arranged for a pregnant woman."

"An ordinary supply post worker, in a patrol rest cabin, with a new roof, double the firewood, and a full set of pup blankets."

"Her situation is unusual."

"Unusual how?"

Lucas's tone turned openly irritated.

"Elena, since when do you go through petty accounts like this yourself?"

I set down my knife and fork.

"Starting today."

He was quiet for a moment, then softened his voice. "You've been working too hard. Let someone below you handle the annual audit."

"I've already decided."

"Decided what?"

"Every future repair and every extra supply for the Riverbend cabin will require a fresh sign-off."

Lucas's face finally changed.

"Why?"

"Annual audit."

I handed him back the same excuse he had just used to brush me off.

He looked at me for a long moment and in the end said nothing more.

That evening the steward knocked at my door.

"Miss, a box of honey cakes came up from the mountain."

"From whom?"

"Mia Grant."

I had it opened.

A card lay on top of the box, written in a delicate hand.

I hear you've never liked the noise of pups. On behalf of every woman who is finally expecting the child she longed for, thank you for your understanding.

I stared at that line.

This time I was certain.

Mia didn't merely know I existed.

She was testing me.