Natalia’s POV
The house was far too quiet the next day.
Grace and Damon had long since left to return to Ashmoor. Without their usual banter, and without Andrei’s presence to ground me, I found myself wandering the halls like a wraith with nothing better to do except haunt the place.
I spent most of the morning, when I wasn’t checking on the twins or tending to various pack tasks, reading the book the metalsmith had given me in various places around the house.
The book was even more interesting the closer I got to the end; I learned about how the rubies were initially mined, how a wealthy pack tycoon “discovered” the veins within the mountain—although who actually “discovered” the rubies was up for debate, as the author claimed that people native to that region likely found them first—
