They lay there, breath fogging together in the cold air, listening to the faint sounds of the town below.
“Arthur,” she said eventually.
“Mm?”
“You don’t get to panic tomorrow and pretend this didn’t happen,” she said. “No vanishing into meetings and coming back acting like this was all some mistake.”
He shifted to look down at her. His eyes were very pale in the starlight.
“I’m not running,” he said. “Not from you. Not from her. Not from this.” His thumb brushed the mark on her neck. “I did that once. I’m done.”
Her throat tightened. “Good,” she said. “Because I’m not running, either. Not this time.”
“Even if my father’s ghost starts yelling?” he asked, half-wry.
“Tell him to take it up with me,” she said. “I’m hard to scare these days.”
He laughed, properly this time. The sound settled something in her.
“We’re a mess,” she said.
“Aye,” he agreed. “But we’re our mess.”
Below them, the summit and its problems waited: hybrids, vampires, old grudges. Up here, there was just his weight, his warmth, the echo of his apology, and the fragile possibility that they’d finally stopped moving in opposite directions.
Dani closed her eyes, listening to his heart.
“Don’t fall asleep,” he murmured. “You’ll freeze.”
“Wake me if I do,” she said.
“I will,” he promised.
For the first time in a very long time, she believed him.
Chapter 12 - Arthur
Arthur woke to the scent of frost and female.
For a second, he didn’t know where he was. Rock under his back, cold air in his lungs, something warm and solid curled up on his chest.
Dani.
Memory slotted in. Stars. Her mouth. The way she’d shaken in his arms afterward, from cold and from everything else.
She was still there, half sprawled over him, hair a dark tangle against his coat. At some point in the night, she’d stolen more than her share of the blanket; only his wolf kept his toes from freezing off.
He could have stayed like that all day.
Dawn was leaking gray around the edges of the hollow. His back hurt. His shoulder had gone pins-and-needles where she rested her head. The ridge would be slicker going down. Patrols would wonder where the hell their Alpha was.
And Aurelia—
“We should move,” he rumbled, voice rough.
Dani made a protesting noise and burrowed in closer. “You move,” she muttered. “I’m dead.”
He huffed out a laugh despite himself. “Can’t. Your daughter will kill me if I bring you back as an ice sculpture.”
