We both knew that was a dream long dead. He didn’t try to persuade me anymore.
“Come see me before you go,” he said finally. “We may not see each other again for a long time.”
“I will,” I promised.
Before we hung up, he added one more thing.
“You’ve earned more than my respect these past few years. Consider this a small gesture of thanks — your award for your service will be delivered this afternoon. Don’t refuse it.”
I smiled faintly again, though he couldn’t see it.
“I won’t.”
When the knock came later that afternoon, I expected a courier, perhaps one of the pack messengers.
But when I opened the door… Trisha stood there, holding the award meant for me.
Allison’s POV
When I opened the door, moonlight spilled over the porch, illuminating the delicate crystal statue in Trisha’s hands.
It was beautiful — painfully so.
The award gleamed like a shard of the moon itself, caught in the shape of a hawthorn tree. The fragile branches seemed to sway faintly in the light, and beneath it, my name was carved with perfect precision. The magic sealed into the crystal shimmered like starlight. I knew exactly how much gold it cost the pack to commission something like this.