Rhys didn't answer right away. I had started noticing that about him. When he went quiet, it wasn't because he was dodging or buying time; he was deciding how much to say, weighing it like he could see the exact shape of every word before it left his mouth. I waited. The property sat around us with that particular kind of quiet I kept noticing every time I stood here. Not empty. More like the air itself had weight, like the ground was listening.
"Your mother came to the territory," he said at last.
"I saw you looking at her in the picture," I said, letting the sigh slip out. "Your elder just told me she came here and you were here too. So you've met her."
He nodded once, slowly. "I only saw her once and that was a long time ago. I didn't speak to her. I thought she looked familiar when I saw that picture. I was told afterward that she came about the land, spoke with my father's advisors, and left without a dispute."
"Maren said your wolf might remember her."
