“Together?” he asked.
“Together,” I confirmed.
He pulled me close again, and I drifted in and out of sleep while the storm raged outside and the fire slowly burned down. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring. Didn't know how the town would react or what the marker would ultimately reveal. But I knew that whatever came next, I wanted to face it with Slade Kincaid by my side. And for the first time since I'd arrived in Mustang Mountain, that didn't scare me. It felt right.
We must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes again, the light had changed. The storm had quieted to the steady whisper of snow against the windows. Slade was still underneath me, his breathing deep and even.
I shifted to get more comfortable, and his arms tightened around me instinctively.
“Don't go,” he murmured, half-asleep.
“I'm not,” I whispered.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Good.”
I smiled against his chest. We'd crossed a line today, maybe even several. And yes, it complicated everything like the rodeo, the marker, and the town's expectations. But buried in his arms in the quiet aftermath, I couldn't bring myself to regret it.
Outside, the mountain had made its decision. Inside, we'd made ours. Now we had to figure out what came next.
CHAPTER 9
SLADE
Morning light filtered through the cabin's front window, thin and gray. The storm had passed sometime in the night, leaving a quiet that felt personal, like it belonged to the two of us and no one else. Morgan was still asleep next to me, her hair spilled across my chest, one arm draped over my ribs. I'd been awake for the better part of an hour, watching her breathe, trying to memorize the shape of this moment before it slipped away. Because it would slip away. That's what moments like this did.
I eased out from under her carefully, trying not to wake her. She stirred but didn't open her eyes, just burrowed deeper into the blanket with a soft sound that made my chest ache. I pulled on my jeans and shirt, moving quietly around the small space. The fire had burned down to embers. I added wood, waited for it to catch, then stepped outside to check on the horses.
The cold bit into me, sharp and painful as I took in a deep breath. Snow blanketed the trees and the lean-to. There was no trace of the trail we'd ridden in on. It was beautiful in a brutal way. The kind of beauty that didn't care whether a person survived it or not.
I turned my attention to the horses next. They were fine, huddled together for warmth, unbothered by the chaos humans insisted on creating around them. I gave each of them a pat, made sure they had water, then stood there longer than necessary, staring out at the wide stretch of white.
That was when I saw him. Hades stood at the edge of the tree line, half-shadow, half-smoke against the snow. He didn’t move. Just watched the cabin for a long moment, his eyes steady, like keeping the peace was his job whether anyone asked him to or not. He sat back on his haunches and let out a soft howl, then disappeared back into the woods.
Last night shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t regret it, but it would come with a cost. Morgan had a job to do and a reputation to build. I had land to protect, a rodeo to get off the ground, and a legacy I was still trying to figure out how to carry without letting it crush me. And now we’d tangled ourselves together in a way that made all of that harder to untangle. The cabin door opened behind me.
“Hey,” Morgan said. “Did I hear a wolf?”
I turned. She stood in the doorway wrapped in the blanket, her hair messy, her eyes still soft with sleep. She looked vulnerable in a way that made something protective and possessive coil in my gut.
“Hey,” I said. “That was Hades. Probably checking on us to make sure we survived the night.”
She stared out at the tree line. “Ruby told me about him. You should've woken me when you got up.”
“You needed sleep.”
“So did you.”
I moved back toward the door and offered a smile. “Sleep is overrated.”
“That’s what people who never get enough sleep say,” she teased.
I stopped close enough to her that our shoulders almost touched. We stood there in silence for a moment, watching our breath fog in the cold air.
“We should head back,” I said.
“Okay.”
She didn’t argue which should've made things easier. Instead, something twisted in my chest. I’d wanted her to fight me, and that truth sat heavier than the cold.
