Mary Ann
The approved proposal came back to me the next morning with no note, no explanation, nothing but Modric’s bold signature at the bottom. I stared at it for a long moment in the quiet of the Luna Wing study, tracing the strong lines of his name with my fingertip. Surprise washed over me. He had actually agreed. After the tense argument in his study and days of deliberate avoidance, he had given permission without a single word of praise or acknowledgment. It stung more than I wanted to admit, but I pushed the hurt aside. This was not about him. It was about the pack.
I threw myself into organizing the Unity Festival with quiet determination. Meetings with elders from both Ironclaw and Mooncrest filled my days. We chose a neutral meadow between territories for the gathering, planne
