The moment breaks.
I pull back first—because if I don't, I'll cross a line she hasn't fully invited me across.
Her cheeks are flushed. Breath uneven. She stares at me like she's trying to reconcile reality with whatever that just was.
My heart is a jackhammer in my chest.
"You stopped," she whispers. Almost confused.
"Had to." The words scrape out. "You're cold, exhausted, injured. And you don't yet understand what I am." I gesture between us. “Whatthisis.”
Her voice is thin. Breathless. "And when I do?"
I meet her eyes—golden to brown—and let her see the truth for just a heartbeat.
"Then I won't stop."
Her breath shivers out.
I stand quickly, turning away before instinct takes control.
She's quiet for a long time. Finally she says, "Garruk?"
"Yes."
"I'm not afraid of the truth."
I close my eyes.
I am.
Tomorrow, when the storm has passed and she has strength again, I'll give her the truth.
And pray she doesn't run.
Chapter 5
Ava
Idon'tsleep.
I pretend to, lying under furs with my breathing slow and my eyes closed, doing all the normal bedtime things. But my body and my brain are having absolutely none of it. Every time I drift close to actual sleep, my mind replays the moment Garruk knelt beside me, his breath ghosting across my lips, his voice saying he wouldn't stop—couldn't stop—once I understood what he was.Good luck sleeping after that.
Firelight dances across the cabin walls in hypnotic patterns. The storm outside has settled into a steady low howl, less rage and more endurance, the kind of sound that makes you feel small and mortal. Garruk sits in the second chair with his elbows on his knees and his head bowed slightly, watching the fire or listening to the storm or maybe listening to me. I'm not sure he ever truly relaxes.
After a while, I give up pretending.
"You don't have to sit there all night," I say quietly.
He lifts his head, and those gold eyes reflect the firelight like molten metal. "I’m keeping watch. You’re injured. You may need me."
I do need you.The realization hits like a lightning bolt. I’ve always prided myself on not needinganyone… and here I am, suddenly needing this man who isn’t evenhuman.
"You don't have to keep watch,” I tell him. “I'm not going anywhere."
His gaze flicks to my ankle, then back to my face. "You can't go anywhere. You’re injured."
"Not the point."
