Loretta did not knock before entering Selena's chamber. The door opened smoothly, almost confidently, as though she already knew she would not be refused.
"Breakfast is ready," Loretta said brightly as she stepped inside.
Her voice carried too much energy for such an early hour. It was not warmth that sharpened it, but excitement, the kind that trembled beneath the surface of someone who could not wait to deliver news.
Selena looked up from where she sat braiding the final section of her hair. For a brief second, nothing seemed unusual. Then her wolf stirred, not violently and not urgently, but with a quiet awareness that made her spine straighten without her willing it.
Loretta's scent was different.
It was layered.
Selena inhaled gently, careful not to make the movement obvious. Beneath Loretta's natural fragrance lingered something else, something faint but unmistakable.
Kael.
The scent was recent enough to cling.
