We kept the mating ceremony simple, but simple didn't mean careless.
Theo spent two full days cleaning the cabin until it smelled like pine and something ancient, something pack. He and the others strung amber lights across every corner of the courtyard, coiling them over the arched bridge, pressing them into the branches of nearby trees. By the time they were done, the whole area glowed like something out of a dream, with the cabin sitting at the center of it all. A deep red runner stretched along the ground, almost the color of a blood oath.
