The Moon She Waited Under novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Cold Ridge

Kari got married nine days later, in the yard in front of the pack hall.

She wore a plaid shirt and a flower crown over her red curls.

She married the farrier.

He was a big, silent man who had been leaving pies on her kitchen step for a year without once knocking.

He stood at the end of the aisle in a borrowed jacket, and he looked at her and forgot to blink.

I stood beside her as her witness, with my hands warm and my wolf lying peacefully along my ribs.

Lucan sat in the front row.

He had the Alpha's ring back on its cord around his neck.

I had put it there myself on the morning after the ninth moon, in front of the whole pack.

"You wear it," I'd told him. "I'd rather outrank it than carry it."

He had laughed so hard he'd had to sit down.

Now he caught my eye over the flowers, and the thread between us tugged once, warm and low.

I looked away before I smiled in front of the minister.

Kari was an excellent bride.

She said her vows in a clear, carrying voice and only cried at the part about the pie.

The meal afterward went on for three hours.

I was halfway through my second plate when Osric tapped a spoon against his glass.

Kari stood up, flushed and fierce, with a cup in her hand.

"Right," she said. "Toast."

The yard went quiet.

"I'd like to thank my husband, who is shy, and who has already eaten the cake."

The farrier nodded gravely.

"I'd like to thank the Luna, who is my best friend."

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