In the interest of keeping the fragile peace between them, Viola said, "Nothing important. We don’t need to worry about it, it doesn’t stay. It comes and goes and will return to the sea when I don’t need it to keep an eye for the sea witch portal, it told me so." She said, hoping that was convincing enough.

When they reached her penthouse, Sebastian paused at the door.

"Aren’t you coming in?" she asked.

"I’d love to, but I need to get back to work," he told her.

"Oh... You’ll come tonight, won’t you?" she asked again.

"I will. And before it slips my mind, we have been invited to the Grim pack for their Alpha heir’s mating ceremony. I would normally turn down invitations like this without a second thought, but Silver has a great deal of mending to do after Ember’s death and the attempts of certain packs to isolate us. Alpha Daniel has invited almost all of the larger packs and I think having you appear publicly as Silver’s Luna will show the other packs that Silver stands united, and it will give us an opportunity to rebuild alliances instead of remaining isolated.

"What do you think, do you want to attend?"

Viola was no longer someone who sought out public appearances, but then since their wedding she hadn’t attended a single event as Luna, not once. And as much as large gatherings drained her, she couldn’t argue with his reasoning. Isolation was not something the most powerful pack in the world could afford.

"When is it, and which packs will be there? I want to prepare myself properly."

"You have enough time to prepare yourself for it. It’s ten days from now. I will send you the guest list once I get back to my office." He said, and then pulled her forward and kissed her, firm and passionately, his tongue finding the chocolate taste still lingering on hers and clearly deciding to lick it off into his mouth. He kissed her until every trace of it was gone, and Viola smiled into his mouth, thinking that no matter how many times he kissed her, she was fairly certain she would never grow tired of it.

___

Viola had thought the invitation to the Grim pack was going to be something small and manageable, but she quickly realized they were expected to arrive at the pack two days before the event itself, alongside a long list of important guests.

She had gone through the guest list that evening after Sebastian sent it to her, along with a silly animated meme that was apparently going viral in Silver. It had made her laugh so hard she had nearly peed herself in surprise and had to make a hasty trip to the bathroom.

[You are crazy. Why would you send me something like that?] she texted him from her spot on the piano bench in front of the glass wall, where she had been sitting practicing while Wave watched as her audience from a small rectangular glass tank filled with water beside the piano when the message arrived.

She hadn’t wanted to think about Ivy or the sea witch being after her as the thought on itself was scary. Sea witches were scary creatures, who even werewolves couldn’t dare cross.

His reply came quickly. [To cheer you up. I had a feeling you might be overwhelmed by the guest list. It is going to be a large event, and the Grim pack will be using it to show the world that if Silver doesn’t hold its position, they are ready to step into the supreme seat, they have abilities too and are the second largest pack after ours.

[I don’t want to overwhelm you, but we have to show up and deal with people we would rather not.]

Viola couldn’t help smiling at the fact that he had already thought about how she would feel seeing a guest list that long, with Silver at the very top, which meant they would be receiving more attention than anyone else in attendance. It would be her first public event as Luna, and she would be expected to leave a first impression strong enough that people wouldn’t think to walk all over her, while also not disgracing the pack members who hadn’t fully accepted her yet.

There was a great deal to prepare for, and she was glad he had told her with enough time to do it. But focusing on this ceremony would mean pausing her ability practice for a few days before they left Silver, and as though he had read her thoughts exactly, his next text arrived before she could reply to the first.

[We will practice some more before we leave, if you are up for it, so you still have plenty of time to prepare for the travel.]

She replied, [I am up for it. The last thing I need is to accidentally drain someone at that ceremony.] She sent that one and immediately typed another. [Is it true that the Grim pack Alpha family members have the ability to compel?]

*[Not all of them. It only works when the target is relaxed, so stay alert if any member of their family tries to put you unusually at ease or acts overly warm toward you. They are not naturally pleasant people, so any excessive niceness should be a warning sign. That said, being careful does not mean letting any of them walk over you because they think you don’t have a wolf. You are allowed to act like the Supreme Luna and put anyone who tries to bully you firmly in their place. I will clean up whatever mess you make afterward.]

Viola’s face flushed warmly as she read it, a smile spreading across her face before she could stop it. Most would be quietly warning their wolfless Luna to keep her head down and not cause a scene or embarrass the pack, she had seen how it worked in this world, how someone like her was expected to shrink and be suppressed for what she was.

But not her Supreme Alpha. He wanted her to stand tall and not worry, because he would be there to handle whatever followed. His reassurance quietly dismantled more of her anxiety than she expected, and she told him so.

[I was here getting nervous, but chatting with you just now made me realize I have nothing to worry about. Thanks.] She sent it with a kissing emoji.

[Anytime, sunshine. And save that kiss for when I get home. I expect to receive it at the doorstep.]

Viola chuckled, curling her legs underneath her on the bench.

[Sure, I promise you more than a kiss tonight.]

Then she added: [Wave says hi.]

Sebastian, who was sitting across from Matt while the Beta worked through a report on their warriors’ training, felt himself smile, before his expression shifted into a frown as he read the follow-up text.

Matt had noticed the change immediately and had been watching him for the past thirty minutes, waiting for any sign that the Alpha was actually listening to anything being reported to him. Matt had been talking nonstop, making reports, and the only replies he got were hums and nods, but he doubted the Alpha was even listening.

The fast, back-and-forth replies on that phone told him everything he needed to know about where Sebastian’s attention was. There was no need to wonder who he was texting because he had never texted anyone before until recently, when he was always on his phone with her.

Matt set his tablet down on the desk and rested his chin in his palm with the particular exhaustion of a man who had been carrying double the workload for days and whose mother had recently informed him over a video call that he was starting to resemble a walking ghost with permanent dark circles. He cleared his throat loudly enough to demand the Supreme Alpha’s attention.

"Are you even listening to me?" Matt said flatly.

"Hmm." Sebastian hummed, not looking up. "You were telling me the new recruits are performing well and that the older children from the orphanage have been assigned positions in Silver and given individual rooms. Julia has been sent to work in the factory like I ordered."

"You missed the part," Matt said, his exhaustion sharpening into dry frustration, "where I said the elders are applying increasingly pointed pressure about your heir, and if something doesn’t happen soon I am going to be the one set on fire for it. You also missed the part where I said we caught spies at our borders, sent by the Grim pack, by the look of it." He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face.

The better Sebastian’s personal life became, the more Matt’s own social life quietly ceased to exist. He hadn’t seen his family in person for weeks. He missed his mother’s cooking with a longing that was beginning to feel dramatic even to him, but he was here, because Sebastian needed him, and because being Beta to the Supreme Alpha was what his father had done before him, and it was what he would keep doing, too.

Sebastian finally set his phone down after Viola told him she needed to get back to what she had been doing. He looked at Matt properly for the first time since he had walked in, and what he saw made him pause.

"Hell, man. You look terrible." He said, the concern on his face entirely genuine.

"Whose fault is that?" Matt returned, rolling his eyes. "I genuinely cannot believe you have not looked at me once since I sat down." He exhaled. "What are you planning to do about the Grim pack and their quiet campaign to take our position?"