Tristan's expression shuttered. "That's not relevant."
"You said you lost people because you weren't fast enough. That's not the whole story and if you have to know mine to protect me, it’s only fair I get to know yours as well."
He was quiet for a long moment, jaw working. When he finally spoke, his voice came out flat, carefully controlled.
"I was on a mission overseas. Classified location, classified objective. Standard rotation; six weeks deployed, two weeks home." He stared out at the snow. "I came back early. Found my house surrounded by people I'd thought were neighbors. Friends. They'd discovered what my wife was. Decided fear was enough reason to act."
Maren's chest tightened. "What was she?"
"Tiger shifter. Like me. We'd been careful, kept our nature hidden, never gave anyone reason to suspect." His hands clenched. "But someone found out. Maybe saw her shift, maybe just got suspicious. By the time I got home, they'd already killed her. Burned the house with her inside it."
Maren couldn’t even imagine, let alone know what to say. In the silence, Tristan continued to speak.
"The military wanted me to stay quiet. Said making noise would expose other shifters in the community, put more lives at risk. So I walked away. Couldn't stomach protecting people who thought fear justified murder." He turned to face her. "That's why I'm here. Why I took this job. Because Hollow Oak is supposed to be better than that. Supposed to be a place where people like us don't have to hide."
"But they're trying to do the same thing to me. Drive me out or worse because they're afraid."
"Yeah. And I won't let them." His ice-blue eyes caught hers steadily. "I failed her. I won't fail you."
The words were heavy with promise and pain. Maren understood now why he'd been so fierce at the town meeting, why he'd put himself in the midst of violence without hesitation. He wasn't just protecting her, he was refusing to let history repeat itself.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "For what happened to your wife. For what fear did to someone you loved."
"Don't be sorry. Just don't let them win." He moved away from the window, creating space. "That thing wearing your face wants you destroyed. Whoever activated the locket wants you gone. The town wants you exiled. From everything.”
“I could run, leave Hollow Oak in peace,” she said almost under her breath. She’d wanted to since the beginning…
“No,” Tristan said quickly. He cleared his throat, almost as if he had surprised himself at his own response. “That’s not anoption and I think you know that. You heard the doppelgänger. Here’s just the start. There going to places you haven’t been yet, but it knows you. And it will show up to those places as you. It’ll be like it here here, only in places with no council and you won’t even know until it’s too late.”
She felt defeated in that moment knowing he was right. Instead of defending her choice, she looked back out the window and let the silence of the unknown settle around her.
Snow continued falling outside, piling higher against the walls. The safe house felt smaller with each passing hour, intimate in a way that should've been uncomfortable, especially after their last conversation. Instead it felt almost peaceful, like they'd found shelter from more than just weather.
"Can I ask a question?" Maren said.
"Depends on the question."
"Why haven't you tried to claim another mate? It's been three years. Shifters can bond again, can't they?"
Tristan's expression went carefully blank. "Some can. Some don't."
"Which are you?"
"The kind who doesn't think about it." He moved to check the wards again, his apparent restless energy needing an outlet.
Maren wanted to ask if he'd felt anything when they'd created the joint warding circle, when their magic had wound together so perfectly it felt like breathing. But his posture screamed boundaries, and she respected that even as curiosity gnawed at her.
"We should eat something," she said instead. "If we're searching the lake today, we'll need energy."
They prepared a simple meal in silence of bread, cheese, and dried meat. The domesticity of it felt strange after days of fear and violence. Like playing house in the middle of a war.
"Tell me about the lake," Tristan said as they ate. "Where would your mother have hidden the locket?"
"Somewhere she thought I'd eventually figure out. She knew she was dying, knew I'd inherit whatever secrets she carried." Maren traced patterns in crumbs on the table. "She kept talking about water that remembers, about shadows that sleep beneath the surface. At the time I thought it was fever dreams."
"But now?"
Maren thought for a moment. "Now I think she was trying to tell me exactly where to look without saying it outright." Maren met his gaze. "There's a place on the lake's north shore where the water never freezes completely. Local legend says it's because something old sleeps there, something that predates the Veil."
