“You understand what you’re getting into?” I ask quietly. “My life isn’t… easy.”
“Neither is mine,” she counters. “But we’re both still here. That sounds like a good starting point.”
“I have enemies,” I remind her.
“So do I,” she says. “They’re called anti-anything-different, shitty infrastructure, and people who talk to me like I’m a toddler.”
That pulls a surprised laugh out of me.
She takes a breath. “I don’t want to be your weakness, Jason. I want to be your partner.”
“You’re not my weakness,” I say, serious now. “You’re the reason I stopped letting fear drive me.”
Her throat works. “Good. Then we can be scared together sometimes. And brave together all the other times. And talk about things instead of making decisions alone.” Her mouth softens. “No more martyrdom without a group vote.”
“That’s a very specific rule,” I say.
“It’s a very specific relationship,” she says back.
I huff out something between a laugh and a sigh. “Okay. No more solo self-sacrifice. Pack decisions only.”
“Good,” she says. “Because I can’t stop you from running into danger, but I can insist on holding your hand while you do it.”
My chest is suddenly too full. “I love you, Violet.” The words slide out before I can catch them.
Her breath catches.
I don’t take them back.
“I love you,” I repeat. “In ways that scare me. In every form I have. Human, wolf… whatever else I figure out how to be.”
A slow, luminous smile spreads over her face.
“I love you too,” she says.
The world stops.
The howls, the crackle of the fire, the clink of jars, the rough laughter of wolves, all of it blurs into a hum under those four words.
She loves me.
Me.
Not the dog.
Not the mask.
Not the pretend version.
Just… me.
We kiss again, slower this time. Not desperate. Not stolen. Just steady and sure, like a promise we’re both making with our whole bodies.
When we pull apart, Buff barrels in again, this time in wolf form, and flops down at our feet, tail thumping like a drum against the ground.
Thorne’s daughter, Fiona, also in wolf form now, sidles up next to him, bumping her shoulder against his. He leans into her without even pretending he’s not gone on her.
“Do they look as cute as they sound?” Violet asks.
