Chapter 17
Abigail's POV
A young woman stood near one of the larger stalls, several attendants gathered around her. The fur and silk she wore were clearly expensive. The look she turned on me — undisguised contempt — told me plainly that she knew exactly who I was.
She began walking toward us. Her attendants moved ahead of her with quiet efficiency, parting the crowd as cleanly as a blade drawn through water. As the distance closed, I placed her face against a memory — Cassandra Thornwood, daughter of Ironwood Pack's Alpha.
One of Olivia's allies in social settings. Or more precisely, one of that particular group who had always looked at me with the same dismissive contempt that Olivia herself favored.
"Well, well." Cassandra's voice carried clearly through the space that had gone oddly quiet around us. Nearby wolves had stopped what they were doing, sensing something worth watching. "If it isn't little Abigail. I heard you caused quite a stir at the Moon Rising gathering."
I straightened my spine and met her gaze without flinching. "Cassandra. I didn't expect to run into you here."
She gave an exaggerated smile. "I was just telling them — I could hardly believe that someone like you would actually dare to show up at Elodie's Awakening ceremony."
A ripple of whispered conversation moved through the onlookers, and a scatter of curious, gleeful stares turned our way.
"I'll be there," I said evenly, "simply because Elodie put my name in the invitation herself." I raised my chin, keeping my voice clear. "By comparison, perhaps you should be more concerned with whether you received one."
Something sharp flashed through Cassandra's eyes, and the smile cracked at its edges. "You little—" She stepped forward, and one of her attendants reached out as though to grab my arm. "You think one lucky moment makes you something special? You're nothing but a weak, pathetic—"
"That's enough."
The voice was low, authoritative, and cold. Every wolf in the immediate vicinity went still almost simultaneously, heads turning toward the source.
Nicholas stood at the edge of the crowd nearby, arms crossed loosely over his chest, his expression unreadable as carved ice. His clothes were simple, but they did nothing to diminish the commanding presence that radiated from him.
The color drained from Cassandra's face. The bravado that had been so loud a moment ago went out like a flame in cold water. "Alpha Nicholas—" She stumbled slightly over the words and dropped into a hasty bow. "I didn't — I didn't mean—"
"You're harassing a guest of Nighthowl Pack." Nicholas's tone was flat, almost indifferent, as though he were commenting on something of very little consequence. "Elodie personally named her in the invitation. Are you questioning her judgment?"
"Of course not!" Cassandra's denial came quickly, the panic clear in her voice now that she understood where the line was. "I only — I spoke out of turn. I apologize, Alpha. No disrespect was intended."
Nicholas let his gaze move slowly over her attendants. They were all staring at the ground, visibly wishing they could disappear entirely.
"Leave." The word was brief and absolute. "Now."
They didn't need to be told again. Cassandra turned and retreated with her attendants close behind her, disappearing into the crowd with a speed that was almost comical.
The murmuring around us gradually resumed, and the market eased back into its ordinary rhythm. But the lingering glances and lowered voices were still there. I drew a slow breath, trying to settle my racing heartbeat, and turned to face Nicholas directly.
He was watching me with that same focused, unreadable attention I remembered from the Moon Rising gathering — those dark eyes that seemed to take in every detail, every small reaction, as though cataloguing them for later.
"You again." His tone carried a light, unhurried note of amusement. "Last time you ended up in the water. This time you're getting cornered in the street. You do have a talent for finding trouble."
I pushed down the complicated feeling rising in my chest and answered without backing down. "They came looking for me. I wasn't the one who went looking for them."
Nicholas gave a low, brief laugh. "Sharp tongue."
His gaze rested on my face for a moment, as though confirming something, before he continued. "Though this time, you didn't solve the problem by jumping into a pond yourself. That's... a kind of progress."
I felt warmth rise in my cheeks, and I couldn't quite tell whether he was mocking me or offering some other kind of assessment entirely.
We stood facing each other while the noise of the market carried on around us, and a small, odd silence formed between us that neither of us moved to break.
It was Nicholas who spoke first.
"You're not quite what I expected, Miss Rodriguez."
"What did you expect?" I held his gaze, pressing down the feeling I couldn't afford to show.
"Someone who always needed a hand reached out to pull her back from the edge." He paused, and the faintest curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "But that's not what you are, is it."
I was about to respond when his gaze shifted, dropping to the small leather pouch at my waist — where the Moon's Tear was. He held it there for a moment, as though confirming something, then raised his eyes back to mine.
"That stone," he said, his voice even. "Not bad."
With that, he turned and walked away, his figure absorbed into the busy crowd as smoothly as though he had never been there.
I stayed where I was. My fingertips had gone slightly tense, and my heartbeat stumbled once before picking up its pace again. My gaze fell without thinking to the pouch at my waist, and his words turned over in my mind.
That stone. Not bad.
Why had he mentioned it at all? Had he recognized what it truly was — or was there something else behind it?
I reached into the pouch and drew the Moon's Tear out, holding it flat in my palm. The soft light inside it moved in its slow, quiet way, the same as before — but after what had just happened, it seemed to carry a layer of mystery I hadn't noticed until now.
"Miss?" Autumn touched my arm gently, drawing me back. "Are you all right?"
I took a slow breath, wrapped the Moon's Tear carefully, and tucked it back into the pouch. "I'm fine. Let's go back."