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“I’m Luna Stack. I’m a Gemini, and I like noodles andwarmweather. My family runs Stack Appliances.”

Sabine gasped. “Oh, you guys make such cool stuff! That vampire family over the way has a Stack jacuzzi, it’s fantastic. They make those fancy armchairs I showed you, remember, Aunt Barney?”

Aunt Barney asked, “Do we get a friends and family discount?”

Luna laughed awkwardly. “Um…”

“No discounts,” Oliver said. “She’s not pack. She’s a mistake.”

He hadn’t meant to say it so sternly. The room fell silent anyway.

“Wow,” Luna said flatly. “Way to treat your new wife.”

He stared at her.

Luna giggled. “I’m joking! Obviously. I would never marry you, even if I didn’t already have a fiancé.”

Then she beamed. Oliver could feel the sacred liquor at the back of his throat, sweet and scalding. Did she feel him? She wasn’t a wolf, but she’d still feel it. A little piece of him. A shard. A sharp, little prick irritating her insides.

“Thanks again for the clothes,” Luna said into the silence. “So cute and cozy.”

She did a little shimmy, exposing a flash of her long, flat stomach. Something deep and primal stirred in Oliver’s stomach. Oliver told it to shut the fuck up and tore his gaze away from the pale skin as it vanished under her sleep shirt.

“I’m going to bed,” Luna continued. “Toodles.”

Ben came back into the room, brows raising when he took in the strained silence. Luna grabbed the mug off him as she passed, flicking everyone a tiny finger wave as she escaped into the hall.

“So,” Ben said, flexing his newly empty hands. “Ollie married a woman who saystoodles. Unironically.”

“It was ironic,” Oliver protested. “Ithasto be ironic.”

“Maybe it started ironic, and it becamesincere,” Sabine suggested, ducking back under her husband’s arm.

“Yeah, she seemsreallysincere.” Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Oliver,” Grandmother Musgrove said, soft but stern as her hair was braided by four hands at once. “That’s your wife.”

Anger sparked through Oliver in a wave.

“That’s not my wife!” he exploded. “That’s a spoiled LA heiress who’s never had to work a day in her life. I know everybody finds it sofunny, but I don’t. Alright? I’m bound to some stranger. This isn’tfunnyto me.”

“Hear, hear,” said Uncle Roy quietly, the first words he’d spoken since Luna came back in the room. “The further she stays away, the better.”

Hear, hear,Oliver thought. But before he could say anything, the warmth in his chest went so intensely cold that it made him grunt.

“As far away as shecanstay, anyway,” Uncle Roy continued with a frown. “Is it hitting already? She’s only down in the guest hall.”

“I know,” Oliver gritted. He rubbed his chest. The ice in his chest was throbbing now, radiating out to the rest of his body. The tips of his fingers ached from the cold.

“Maybe she’s exploring the house,” Uncle Roy said, eyes going steely. “Looking for our weaknesses.”

Grandmother Musgrove cocked her head, listening. “She’s in her room. Mumbling something about the quality of our sheets.”

Oliver kept rubbing his chest. Why did he already know she was in her room? It made sense, but it was more than that. It was a knowing, deep in his chest. The bond was reporting back to him, letting him know where his bondmate was.God, that was going to be annoying. He’d be trying to focus on paperwork, and the bond would be blaring like the world’s most annoying Google pin, alerting him to where his other half was. Even though hedidn’t ask.

Ben winced in sympathy. “That’s strong, dude. I had to be on the other side of the house before it started hurting.”

“Great,” Oliver muttered.