Troy Ernest threw his arms around me, embracing me in a rib cracking hug. I had been, of course, speechless when I saw Gemma on the night of our arrival in Winter Forest and at the news that they had not only both survived, but had a child in our absence. Seeing Ernest in the flesh was even better than the news, however. And I found myself rattling off about our adventure before remembering we had an audience. Talon, Ernest’s father, and Ethan’s prior Beta, was watching Ernest and me closely. Ethan was pacing back and forth in front of the ceiling-height windows in the library in the White Queen's Castle, a space the family rarely used. Part of the castle was a school now, and another section had been converted into apartments for the single warriors of the pack. Ethan’s office was too