I considered him. The tension in his shoulders. The way he was bracing himself for my reaction, like he expected me to be upset.
“Daniel.”
“Yeah?”
“You told him no. You rejected him and maintained your boundaries. That's not something you need to apologize for.” Ireached across the table, covered his hand with mine. “I'm not angry at you. I'm not even particularly angry at him. People misread situations. What matters is how you handled it.”
“You're not upset?”
“I'm mildly irritated that he thought he could waltz into your life and stake a claim, but that's more territorial than anything else.” I squeezed his hand. “You're mine now. He can deal with that or he can't, but it doesn't change anything.”
Something in Daniel's expression shifted. Softened. “Yours, huh?”
“Don't look so smug about it.”
“I'm not smug. I'm...” He turned his hand over, laced his fingers through mine. “Relieved. I thought you'd be angry.”
“For someone else finding you attractive? That would be hypocritical, considering I spent the first month of knowing you trying very hard not to notice how good you look in flannel.”
Daniel's laugh was surprised, genuine. “Flannel? That's what did it for you?”
“And the forearms. Don't underestimate the forearms.”
“Noted.” He stood, still holding my hand, and pulled me to my feet. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
“Right now?”
“Best time for it. The light's right, and the forest is quiet after the storm.” His eyes met mine, and there was something serious underneath the warmth. “This is pack business, technically. But I want you to see it. Want you to understand what we're protecting.”
“Are you asking me on a date to a secret wolf location?”
“I'm asking you to let me share something important with you.” He paused, mouth quirking. “But yes. Basically a date.”
“Lead the way, Alpha.”
Daniel ledme along trails I would never have found on my own. This wasn’t the main path to the Moon Clearing or any route the pack used for patrols. This was narrower. Wilder. The kind of track that disappeared if you blinked too long. He moved through the forest like he belonged to it, like every tree was a familiar face and every turn carried a memory.
“I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said, ducking under a low branch, “and this place still surprises me. Still shows me things I didn’t know it was holding.”
“What kind of things?”
He stepped over a root that had cracked the earth like a scar. “Depends on the day. Sometimes it’s a clearing that wasn’t there yesterday. Sometimes it’s a tree that looks like it grew a hundred years overnight. The Evernight doesn’t operate on human time.”
He glanced back at me—not checking for weakness, exactly. Checking that I was still with him.
“It’s not dangerous,” he added, after a beat. “It’s just… attentive. It notices when you’re here. And it decides whether you’re welcome.”
“And which is it doing now?” I asked.
Daniel paused and tilted his head, listening to something I couldn’t hear. His expression shifted, the tension in his shoulders loosening just slightly.
“Welcoming,” he said. “I think it likes you.”
“The forest likes me,” I repeated flatly.
His mouth twitched. “Don’t sound so offended.”
“I’m not offended. I’m suspicious.”
