The girl was certainly a playful one, but seeming calculating. Khasinau watched Bia, eyes narrowing. “I . . . don’t really do fun. My brother is dead, I don’t have any friends in Hawthorne, and my father is busy with his new family. All I do is patrol the borders and attend the pack meetings, really.” Could this Bia possibly be one of the children of Aurora, the woman one of Aeolus’ brothers had stolen? It was no doubt one of the biggest scandals of Starfall. Khasinau doubted such a big one would ever come again. The soulmate of a Tarben prince, snatched by another pack’s prince of her own free will. She had birthed pups from both princes, if Khasinau remembered correctly. Wonderful. He was probably betrothed to a daughter of one of the most treacherous women in Starfall. If she didn’t follow in her mother’s footsteps he would be oh so lucky. Khasinau did not intend to be cuckolded, even by a wife he hadn’t ever wanted to marry. He took in Bia’s slightly dimmed pelt, which had brightened up as she tried to . . . make him laugh? He didn’t even know.

“Marital advice from you, wonderful. Like what, don’t betray your spouse?”