“What a team.” James’s eyes met Doreen’s over Jake’s head, and something passed between them… No, notsomething. She knew what it was now. The connection that hummed between them. It had a name. The mate bond. “You both did everything right. And now we’re going to get you home.”
The way he saidhomemeant everything. Because she understood now that this man was her home. Her future.
“Your hands are still cold,” James noted, concern creasing his brow as he rubbed her fingers between his.
“I’m okay,” Doreen assured him, though she didn’t pull away from his touch. “Really.”
She didn’t want him to stop. Not now. Not ever.
James looked skeptical but nodded, turning to survey their shelter. “We should get moving soon. The storm’s intensity is shifting. There’s a window coming where we can make it back safely.”
“How do you know?” Jake asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
James smiled, ruffling Jake’s hair. “I can feel it. The wind’s changing direction.”
Doreen felt a ripple of awe—James didn’t just survive in this wilderness. He belonged to it. And somehow… so did she, with him.
He began gathering their things, efficiently preparing them to leave. The silver emergency blanket went back into its tiny package, the LED light was switched off, and tucked away. James helped Jake into his coat, zipping it all the way up to his chin.
When they were ready, James doused the fire carefully, making sure no embers remained. As he worked, Doreen reached for his arm, stopping him before he stood. Their eyes locked in a moment full of emotion neither needed to say aloud.
“Thank you,” she whispered, the words wholly inadequate for what she felt.
James’s hand covered hers, warm and steady. “You don’t have to,” he answered simply.
“I know.” She cupped his face, feeling his breath warm against her palm.
His eyes held hers, the connection between them hummed so deep it stole the air from her lungs.
She would never doubt it again.
Chapter Twenty – James
“I can walk,” Doreen insisted, pushing against James’s chest as he bent to lift her from the cave floor.
“Let me just…” Her words cut off as her legs gave way beneath her. James caught her instantly, one arm around her waist, the other steadying her elbow.
“You were saying?” he murmured, meeting her eyes, the worry in his own impossible to hide.
Doreen huffed, and he was relieved to see a flush of color in her cheeks as she attempted a smile. “Okay, so maybe I’m not as steady as I thought.”
Something shifted inside him, a primal protectiveness tightening into something deeper, rawer. A fleeting tremor passed through him, not from the cold but from the terror of how close he’d come to losing her. The echo of that fear sat low in his gut, refusing to fade even now that she was in his arms.
His bear pressed hard against his ribs, shaken, frantic, desperate to keep her close.
Whatever resistance she had left seemed to ease when she saw his expression. “Fine,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “You can carry me.”
The corner of James’s mouth twitched upward as he gathered her into his arms. She rested against his chest, and he leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Was that so hard to admit?”
“Excruciating,” she murmured, her head nestling instinctively against his shoulder.
Jake watched with wide eyes, one hand gripping Bash’s collar. “Are we going home now?”
“We are,” James confirmed, his voice steady and reassuring as he maneuvered toward the cave entrance. “Stay close behind me, Jake. Hold on to Bash. We don’t want to lose him out there.”
“Come on, Bash.” Jake held Bash’s leash in both hands. “Ready.”
“Let’s go, stay close,” James said as he ducked down and stepped out of the cave.
