The Ruined Luna

Eleven

I was deep into my second cup of coffee when a knock sounded at the door. It surprised me. Over the previous week, I had found it remarkably easy to fall into a steady routine with my days. Waking up at dawn for coffee, having some sort of breakfast, refilling my water bottle, then heading out to trek across the pack lands with Tripp only to trudge back through the door as the sun set for a shower, dinner, and then bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. It wasn't much, but it was comfortable.

'No hike for me today.' I grumbled to myself before setting my coffee mug down and trudging to the door.

On the other side was the pack Alpha, a large cardboard box in his hands.

"Good morning, Jolene." His tone was pleasant, eyes calm and steady.

I looked at the box in his hands, curious, then back up to him. "Good morning."

"May I come in?" he asked after I'd given no indication of opening the door wider.

I nodded, stepping back so he could enter. He strode over to the empty end of the table and set the box down, then straightened and rolled his shoulders.

"It always amazed me how heavy paper really is." Kyrian said conversationally as he began to pull binders out of the box, stacks of loose paper, and a large paper roll which he set to the side.

It felt strange for him to be here, in my space. I smiled softly. It felt weird, because at some point I'd started to consider this small cabin mine.

Not wanting to come off as a mannerless shrew, I pulled an extra mug from a cabinet, filled it with coffee, then brought it over to the table and set it just out of the way. He paused, then looked up and smiled. "Thank you."

I nodded, then returned to my previously unoccupied seat, tucking my feet beneath the chair, and taking a fortifying sip of my coffee. You kind of had to when a man who looked like Kyrian smiled at you. It was...almost boyish, despite the beard and general lumberjack vibe he gave off. Handsome. My cheeks heated despite myself.

"Sorry to intrude on your morning." He moved the now empty box to the floor and sat down in his own chair. "But I brought you something you might find interesting. As well as a proposal."

I arched a brow as he pulled out the paper roll, slid off the rubber band that bound it, opened it up and set it flat on the table between us. I leaned forward, gaze instantly sharpening as I looked it over. It was a topographical map. A very detailed one, as a matter of fact.

"I'm sure you know what this is." He pointed to a spot on the map. "This is the packhouse location in reference to the surrounding area. The pack lands encompass an additional thirteen thousand acres. The rest of these documents are surveys we've had done, soil data, and everything else I could think of including arial photos and water results." He touched various stacks as he spoke. "As you can imagine, we want to minimize our impact and keep the area healthy. There's just one little problem."

"Problem?" I asked, already lifting a soil analysis document, studying it intently.

Kyrian nodded. "Yep. No one here has the ability to make much sense of all this. Or, even more specifically, to improve and maintain it."

'That is a bit of a problem.' I thought to myself, flipping to the next page of the resort, 'This was all pretty complicated stuff. Still, someone had to have had a basic idea if this was all the data they'd collected so far.'

"We, like most shifters, are environmentally conscious. But our pack would like to do better than that. Which brings me to my proposal. Jolene­­­­­­—"

"Jo." I interrupted, flipping to the final page, excitement stirring in my chest. This took me back to my classes in college. I itched to pour over it.

His fingers appeared over the top of the report, exerting just enough pressure so that I had to lower it back to the tabletop. I glanced up at him as he smiled that disarming smile again.