_Author’s POV_

Pierre found his mother in the east sitting room after Kasper left.

Aria was at the window with her evening tea, which she took at the same time every day in the same chair facing the same view of the Greywood Pack’s front garden, a ritual so established it had become part of the house’s flow. She didn’t turn when he came in, which meant she had heard his footsteps in the hall and had decided on her posture in advance.

Pierre closed the door.

He did not sit down immediately. He stood in the center of the room for a moment, looking at his mother’s back, and took stock of what he was about to do.

He had been managing Aria’s feelings about Rowena for the last three years. Managing was the right word, not arguing, or confronting, just absorbing and redirecting and keeping the two things in separate compartments so that neither one became the other’s problem. He had told himself it was practical. That Aria’s feelings were her own and Rowena’s life was her own and the distance between them meant the friction never had to become direct.

Tonight, Kasper had said the things Pierre had been careful not to say aloud, and something in the management had stopped feeling sustainable.

“Kasper Ashthorne came today,” Pierre said.

“I know,” Aria said, to the window.

“You spoke to him before I found him.”

“I spoke with him briefly. He was waiting for Dill.”

“You called Rowena unlucky,” Pierre said. “You implied her family’s deaths were a quality she carried with her. You used the phrase abandoned woman.”

Aria turned her cup slightly in its saucer. “I said what I observed.”

“You said what you’ve decided to believe,” Pierre said. “Those are different things.”

Aria turned from the window.

She was a composed woman, had been a composed Luna for three decades, had raised Pierre in the understanding that composure was not coldness but discipline, and that discipline was what separated good leadership from reactive leadership.

“I have always told you what I thought about that family,” she said. “Honestly. You knew my position before today.”

“I knew your position,” Pierre said. “I’ve known it for three years. And for three years I’ve respected it by saying nothing and staying at a distance and not asking you to change it.” He moved to the chair across from her and sat. “I’m not staying at a distance anymore.”

Aria was still.

“I want to go to the Ashthorne estate tomorrow,” Pierre said. “Kasper has invited me on the spring outing. I intend to go.”

“Pierre.....”

“I’m asking for your permission,” he said. “Not because I require it. I’m the Alpha of this pack, I’m thirty years old and I don’t need permission to make a social visit.” His voice was even and clear. “I’m asking because you’re my mother, I respect you and I would rather have your blessing than go without it. But I want you to understand that I’m going either way.”

Aria set her cup down. “That woman,” she said, “has been divorced. She comes from a family that has lost every male member in one generation. She has no bond, no wolf strength to speak of, and she has just come out of a marriage that ended publicly and badly.” She kept her voice measured. “Whatever you think.....”

“I love her.”

The room went quiet.

It was the first time Pierre had said it. Not to Kasper, not to himself.

Aria looked at him in shock.

“I’ve loved her since I was twenty-four and we were introduced at the eastern summit,” he said. “I didn’t act on it then because the timing was wrong and she was grieving and it wasn’t the right thing to do. And then she was married and I respected that completely. And then she was unmarried and home and I.....” He stopped and continued. “I know what this is. I’m not confused about it or romanticizing it. I know the difference between feeling something strongly and loving someone, and I know which one this is.”

Aria was very still.

“I also know,” he continued, his voice quieter now, “that she may not feel the same way. I know she’s been through something much to handle and she needs time and I’m not going tomorrow to declare anything or put anything on her. I’m going as a friend, because she needs people around her who aren’t connected to the investigation or the family history or the complications she’s dealing with. I’m going because I care what happens to her and I want her to know that someone does.” He looked at his mother directly. “That’s the full truth of it.”

Aria looked at him for a long moment.

Pierre did not look away either.

This was the first time Pierre actually showed interest in someone and something in her chest moved.

She didn’t let it show though. “She has a fading wolf,” she muttered instead.

“Her wolf is recovering,” Pierre said. “From what I understand, she’s been suppressed for years. That’s not a permanent condition.”

“The family deaths.....”

“Are not her fault,” Pierre said firmly. “Mother. Please hear me say that clearly. Whatever happened to the Ashthorne men was not caused by Rowena’s presence. She was a child when her father and brothers died. Grief is not misfortune and misfortune is not a character defect.”

Aria was quiet.

“You’ve been using that narrative to protect yourself,” Pierre said, more gently now. The firmness gone. “I understand that. If she’s unlucky then there’s a reason to keep her at a distance and the distance makes sense. But it isn’t true, and I think somewhere underneath it you know it isn’t true.”

Aria looked at the window.

When Aria finally spoke, her voice had lost some of its hardness. “You really dolove her,” she said.

“I do,” Pierre said simply.

“And you accept that it may come to nothing.”

“I accept that it may come to nothing,” he said. “And I’m going anyway.”

Aria picked up her tea and something shifted in her face, a softening she would not have allowed if she had caught it before it happened, and now that it had happened she was choosing not to walk it back.

“Go tomorrow,” she said. “To the outing.”

Pierre was still.

“Go,” she said again. “Take something for the family. Don’t arrive empty-handed, it’s discourteous.” She looked at him. “And Pierre, be careful. Not with your feelings. With hers. She’s been through enough.”

“I know,” he said.

“If she doesn’t feel the same.....”

“Then I’ll accept it and remain her friend,” he said. “Without making it difficult for either of us. I promise you that.”

Aria nodded once with a small smile.