It had to be her.
Alexander somehow forced himself to run even faster, and when he was close enough to recognize his wife’s face through the blowing snow, her blue lips and pale face signaling just how cold she was, he opened his arms wide, and she stumbled into them, collapsing against his chest.
“You came for me,” she muttered into his chest.
“Of course I did,” he said, wrapping his arms around her so tightly he worried he might break her, as if she were a frozen icicle that might snap in two at the slightest breath.
“I can’t believe it,” she said through chattering teeth. “But how did you find me?”
“Your husband’s dragon found you,” a dry voice said, and Beatrice gasped and lunged out of his arms.
“Dietrich!” she cried, throwing herself at the other man, and Alexander had to fight the urge to throttle him. “Why are you here?” she asked, letting go of him.
“Walk and talk, my girl,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and turning himself around. “Let’s get you back.”
Beatrice slipped out of Dietrich’s grasp and turned to Alexander, which gave Alexander an immense amount of satisfaction. She closed the distance between them and walked by his side as they followed Rose toward home.
“I thought the girls of the Northlands were done needing me to rescue them from snowstorms,” Dietrich quipped.
“Technically, Sophia wasn’t from the Northlands,” Beatrice pointed out. “And I was on my way home.”
“Oh, so it’s home now?” Dietrich asked. Alexander could hear the question in his voice.
“It is,” Beatrice said, and Alexander couldn’t help the grin that swept across his face. Eldenwilde was her home now. Her home was with him. It was a simple declaration, and yet it meant everything. He tucked her into his side, pulling her close and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
It was purely for warmth, not at all because he wanted her closer.
“And when were you going to inform us of this fact?” Dietrich asked. “It’s not every day a man learns that his little sister is now a lady.”
“Did Thea not tell you?” Beatrice asked.
“No, she did not,” Dietrich said dryly. “She told me that you were at Eldenwilde and had been for three days. One would think you would send me a note telling me directly.”
Yes, it was surprising that she would message Thea but not her own brother.
But no, that didn’t make sense. When he’d hired her, she had told him her only family was her father.
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” he said to her.
Rose began chirping up ahead, and Beatrice chuckled through chattering teeth. “I think she’s telling me that she knows he’s not my brother,” she said. “When my mother left, Dietrich’s mother Danise became like my own, and Dietrich became a brother to me. My father didn’t know how to raise a little girl, so I spent most of my time with them.”
It made more sense when she put it that way. “Yeah, we’re not blood-related, but she’s the only one who gets away with treating me the way she does,” Dietrich teased, his voice barely loud enough to be heard through the whistling wind.
Alexander was glad to hear that she hadn’t lied to him, but he was even more glad to hear that she thought of Dietrich as a brother. Although the fact that Dietrich now knew they had a dragon could pose some problems. He’d just have to make sure the man knew to keep quiet about it.
Magic was illegal, and while dragons weren’t technically…they hadn’t been seen since magic was legal in Galamere. He had no reason to share Rose’s existence when she tended to keep herself in her kitten form, even if she was currently leading their way back home in flight.
The rest of the walk back to Eldenwilde was spent in silence, though Alexander kept looking down to check on his wife. At one point, she looked up at him, and even though she looked as if she was about to freeze solid, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he was falling for Beatrice. What was he supposed to do with that information?
The lights of home shone bright through the snow. When they reached the front steps, Rose transformed into her kitten form, fluffing out her coat.
“Thank you, Rose,” Beatrice said, leaning down to pet her and stumbling over a step.
Alexander’s grip on her shoulder tightened and he kept her from falling flat on her face. “We can thank her later,” he insisted, guiding his wife up the final stairs toward the door.
The moment they walked through the door, Jenkins was waiting with a pile of blankets and immediately sent a maid for hot tea.
