Chapter 31

Violet

Theodore left me to get dressed then. We didn’t talk over breakfast, and he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as we ate. Good. I was having a hard time just trying to figure out a way forward for myself because he was right. No one would believe that Theodore’s fated mate wouldn’t be physically affectionate with him in public. Not with his reputation and all the research about how mates reflected one another.

After breakfast, Theodore and I headed to the Tower on foot as we had before. The air was brisk, carrying the faint scent of the pine forest that surrounded the area, and despite everything—the drama, the uncertainties—I found myself enjoying the quietness of the morning walk beside him.

I caught sight of the tire tread that had gouged the dirt road and the blockades around the area and winced.

“I hope you’re charing Twining River for the damage.”

“Two-fold,” he said, his voice bright. “I think the claim has already been accepted by the courts. Dahlia is working on getting the repairs started. Honestly, it’s mostly cosmetic damage, but the main road will need to be redone sooner than first anticipated because of it."

I nodded. "Are you going to pave it?"

Theodore shook his head. “That was never in the plans. At least not in the way that you’re thinking, I’m sure.”

He turned a corner and pointed to a short stretch of road that seemed level and paved with gravel.

“That’s how the sturdiest roads are constructed in Midnight, but they all need to be redone and reinforced. I was looking into metal reinforcement as it’s more easily obtained, but I’d prefer stone like in Darkmoon.”

I blinked. “You want stone laid?”

He nodded. “The capital’s steel and cement is nice, sure, but Midnight has always had a… rustic, old-world charm to it. I was impressed the first time I went to Darkmoon and saw cars driving on stone roads.”

I smiled, lifting my head proudly. It had been my idea to update Darkmoon the way it was now to allow for more commerce and stability. I looked around, taking in the rustic, almost untouched feel of Midnight. Darkmoon had become a mix of tradition and modernity, balanced to a near science, with clean streets, new buildings, and tech embedded into the infrastructure that wouldn’t disturb the natural aesthetics of the territory but gave us all the comforts of the capital and more. Midnight, by contrast, was all rugged stone and towering evergreens, with a quiet, timeless feel that somehow matched the people who lived here.

The buildings were all wood and stone as well, and it got me thinking.

“It’s nice…. It reminds me of the historical district.”

Theodore’s face softened, his smirk replaced by a more thoughtful expression. “It’s a deliberate choice. The people here value tradition. There are places you won’t find on any map, spots that have remained untouched for generations. The capital can modernize all it wants, but Midnight… it doesn’t need all that noise.”

“I imagine it helps the soldiers remain calm, too. No doubt rogues like Ben would benefit from the same.”

He stopped and blinked. I smirked. “What? Surprised you again?”

His lips twitched and a soft awed look filled his face. “... in the best of ways.”

I found myself smiling despite everything, appreciating his perspective. As we reached the door of the Tower, he held it open for me. We parted in the main room. I nodded at Sophia to join me in my office soon before taking a seat at the desk and reviewing the notes I’d made the last time I was there. To my surprise, Sophia had left more documentation detailing aspects of the pack’s current systems: resource management, patrol routes, trade agreements, and more.

It seemed like she was warming up to me. I took notes on the roads and the general infrastructure. Most of the buildings ran on magical energy and the electricity that ran through a handful of buildings was generate through an old and inefficient power plant tha relied on manual labor to operate.

As I reviewed the reports, I sketched out plans to streamline the pack’s communication network, namely installing a similar magical-electric system as the one in Midnight. Since Midnight had more stone to work with, it would be a bit easier for them.

One of my main focuses was laying the groundwork for Shelter. Those people would need jobs, a way to maintain and support themselves and a means to regain their dignity, even if Owen reneged on his end of the deal.

I took a deep breath, then began drafting an initial proposal for Theodore to review before we went to the palace.

A soft knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. Sophia came in with a folder under her arm and a wary smile.

“Is now a good time?”

“It’s perfect. Come on in, and thank you for your notes. They were quite helpful.”

She nodded stiffly and shuffled inside, closing the door behind her.

“Tell me about growing up in Midnight as a woman.”

Her eye widened. I could tell she wasn't necessarily prepared for that question but I waited for our answer. She sighed.

“In a word, hard.” She sighed. “It’s not that we don’t want to contribute more. It’s just that opportunities for women here are really limited. Most of the older pack traditions still see women as caretakers primarily, and there’s no need to really educate us much.”

“How did Dahlia become beta?”

She frowned. “I think Dahlia is from a fallen pack, actually. She’s not a native.”

I nodded and slid a page of my plan for the telecommunication and internet systems toward her.

“What do you think of this?” I sat back. “It would require some road work and minor infrastructure updates, but Theodore said that some of it was already underway.”

“Could you really do this to Midnight?” Sofia’s eyes sparkled as she read. “We only have cell service because of the military base in the territory, and only internet there… making it more accessible would be…”

She paused, and I smiled. “Great? More convenient for a lot of reasons?”

I gestured to all the paper. “Imagine being able to access all this from a computer.”

She let out a deep sigh. “I would have a lot less paper cuts…”

I laughed and so did she. She made a few notes on the map, cluing me in to some of the terrain oddities of Midnight, but I could see the hope kindling in her as we ended the meeting.

“Thank you, Luna,” Sofia said softly and scurried out.

I was touched and smiled. My mom did used to say that you cut more flies with honey than you did with vinegar…. Or honeyed vinegar, in this case. After Sofia left, I gathered the notes and went to find Theodore. I found him in his office, reviewing reports from the patrols with Dahlia and a few others I hadn’t been introduced to. He looked up when I entered, and a small smile curved his lips.

“Busy day?” he asked.

“Busier than I expected,” I replied, setting the plans on his desk. “I need to talk to you about a few things.”

He raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “Go on.”

I gave him a general overview of what the documents entailed, including the changes I wanted to make to Midnight’s laws. Some of the men looked damn uncomfortable.

“You just got here, and you want to change the laws?” Theodore asked, his tone amused.

“Update them,” I said. “In anticipation of other changes. Younger pack members, especially female pack members, should have more self-governance and the ability to pursue their own paths. We aren’t in an age where it makes sense not to. To be honest, we were never in an age where it made sense not to.”

“What are you trying to say?” One of the men asked. “That we can’t take care of our daughters?”

I looked at the man. “Are your daughters married?”

“Not yet.”

“And if you dropped dead before they were married, how would they survive?”

He bared his teeth. “I have brothers.”

“And do they have daughters? Do they have the means to take care of their daughters, their wives, your wife and children, too?”

He flushed and just glared at me. Theodore barely glanced at the pages before sliding them back across the table to me.

“I don’t think those sorts of changes are ones we need to worry about right now.”

I cocked an eyebrow and picked up the pages. “And what should I be focusing on, hm?”

“Organizing a mating ball would be helpful,” he said. “We haven’t had one in the territory since it was formed.”

I tilted my head, thinking about the pack registration information.

“For the thousands of men and… handful of women who are actually of age?”

He flushed. I scoffed, and took the pages and turned to leave as my phone. “Sure, but I’m shortening the invitation list. I’m not setting those women up to be mauled.”

I turned and left as my phone started to ring. I answered it.

“Mrs. Donovan, this is Mr. Alexander from Alpha Lucas’ legal team.”