Three days became five.
Five became eight.
Then two full weeks passed.
Every moonfall, without fail, the familiar convoy rolled through the gates of Moon Estate around the same hour. Rain never stopped it. Neither did meetings at the royal palace or the endless reports waiting for Brandon at Nightclaw Estate. Somehow, he always made the time to come.
At first, the guards would announce his arrival. Eventually, they stopped. There was no need. Everyone already knew why the Alpha King was there.
He wasn't coming to persuade Queen Luna Emma to take him back. He wasn't coming to defend the choices he had made. He came for his pups, and every moonfall, he showed up.
___
It was Saturday, and Bryan was waiting on the front steps long before the convoy reached the villa. He sat on the second step, his elbows resting on his knees, watching the gates so closely that the guard beside him finally chuckled.
