Chapter 4: Roland's Offer

On the fourth morning a guard knocked on the east room door and said the Alpha wanted me in his study.

I went in my work apron, with dirt still under my nails.

Roland Radcliffe sat behind a desk the size of a bed, with a tea tray set for two.

"Autumn. Sit. Honey?"

"No, thank you, Alpha."

He poured for himself and smiled at me over the cup.

"I like you," he said. "You kept my late wife's garden alive when the healers gave up on it."

"I would hate to see you hurt."

He slid an envelope across the desk.

"There is ten thousand dollars in there, and a letter to the Southfork Pack."

"They need a herb-keeper, and they'd give you a den of your own."

I looked at the envelope.

I did not touch it.

"What would I be leaving for?" I asked.

"Jasper is angry, and angry boys do cruel things." His voice stayed gentle.

"He'll tire of the game at the Harvest Moon."

"Better you are in Southfork by then, with money in your pocket, than standing at the front of the meadow when he drops you."

"And Lottie Greer?"

"Ah." He turned his cup a quarter turn on the saucer.

"My son asked a favor for her. A favor lasts a season."

"If you stay, she keeps her rank until the Harvest Moon, and then I will think again. If you go, I'll forget she was rude at all."