Good. He presses his nose against my hair.Because I plan to chase you for the rest of our lives.
Promise?
He shifts back in a matter of seconds. He tilts my chin up so I’m looking into his eyes.
“I promise. In this life and every life after.”
EPILOGUE
Epilogue
Three weeks later
Andrik
When I wake, the forest is already humming. The sun hasn’t even peeked through the clouds yet. Lumi is curled against my chest, breathing deep and even.
She’s been tired lately. Moving a little slower, though she’d kill me if I told her that. She’s been sleeping long past the sunrise and turning her nose up at the chamomile tea she used to love, though her appetite returns with a vengeance by midday.
I noticed the second her scent changed, and every micro-shift in her heartbeat. Every time she presses her hand to her stomach with a slight, confused frown, my heart stutters.
I’ve been waiting... hoping. But I couldn’t let myself believe it was real... believing means it can be taken away.
The forest hums louder this time, insistent on getting my attention. My fingers freeze where they’re tracing over her waist.
My gaze falls to Lumi’s shoulder, where my shirt has slipped.
Frostburrow beetles.
Three of them, small and luminous, perched on her bare skin. Their bodies glow with a soft, fluttering purple light, their wings shimmering like crushed amethyst.
I don’t dare move. I’m not even sure I’m breathing anymore. I just watch them crawl slowly across her shoulder, leaving faint, bioluminescent trails in their wake.
The god’s words finally make sense:
“Keep watch, Caelen. When winter is at its softest, look for the frostburrow beetles. You’ll know then... that she carries more than just your name.”
She’s carrying my fawnling—myvareth.(My heir.)
I pull my hand free from her side and press it gently against her stomach. Beneath my palm, and the layers of silk and skin, I feel it.
The faintest hum. The smallest, fiercest spark of life.
Ours.
A sound of pure disbelief breaks from my throat, and I have to clamp my mouth shut to keep from waking her. I need a moment. Just one moment to let the reality of this miracle sink in.
I’ve spent lifetimes as a beast. Countless years wandering these woods alone, judging souls, protecting a forest that was never truly mine. I thought I would spend eternity as nothing but the god’s weapon... I never thought I’d have this.
The mating stripe on my chest pulses, growing hotter than it has since it appeared.
“Thank you,” I whisper to the forest, the frost, or whatever divine force finally decided we had paid enough. “Thank you.”
The forest hums in approval, a low vibration beneath my feet.
Lumi stirs, her hand shifting to rest over mine.
“Andrik?” Her voice is thick with sleep, her eyelids barely opening. “What’s wrong?”
