Wrong Girl, Right Alpha novel · Chapter 39 of 48

Chapter 39: Sanctuary

The Blackwater wolves stopped at the middle of the ford, three paces from me.

The water ran cold and fast around my knees.

The one with the rope looked at the lanterns in his friends' hands, and then at me.

"Luna," he said. "Step aside. We've no quarrel with you."

"You've got one with the girl."

"She's Blackwater's."

"She's on my bank."

Nobody answered that.

Behind me I heard gravel crunch, and I knew the weight of the steps without turning.

Ronan came down into the water and stopped at my left shoulder.

His hand shook at his side, and he let it shake.

He didn't speak.

He had learned, in the last few weeks, how to stand still on purpose.

"Thank you," I said, very low.

"It's yours," he said.

The sun came over the ridge behind us, and I heard more feet on the path.

The old widow came first, with her cane and her three friends and a basket of bread over her arm.

The kitchen girl came after her, her wrist in a splint, and the baker's son beside her.

Then came the woodshop men, six of them, and the south sentry's friends from the north fields.

Tilly was already there with her braid down and her sleeves rolled.

The girl lay in the gravel behind her with a blanket over her.

They stood on the bank in a long line, with their arms folded.

None of them said anything.

They only stood.

Across the water, the Blackwater wolves looked at the line, and one of them shifted his feet.

Someone across the water said, "Good morning, Luna."

Boyd Satterfield came down the far bank in his canvas coat.

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