I’m almost ready to give up when one of the men in the watchtower says, “Miss Bloodgood! We got a lone wolf out there! Coming up Winter Road.”
“I’ll handle it,” I tell them, my pulse racing. I borrow a sword just in case this is some sort of trick, though I don’t believe it is.
I feel my wolf.
Still, I say, “Watch my back, but stay here.”
The relief that pours through my veins at the thought of it being Neri is overwhelming as I break a portion of the veil, seal it back up, and head out in the snow toward Winter Road.
I haven’t sifted in front of anyone yet. In fact, I haven’t mentioned anything that happened with Neri outside of him being alive. Everyone will find out that the wolf and the witch are a team eventually. But right now I just want to make sure he’s okay. That Thamaos didn’t touch him. Because if he did…
Before I can swear to kill a god for a second time, I round a curve in the road and come to a halt, breathing clouds of frosted air, only to see my wolf stalking toward me in the falling snow. He’s donned in the same black leather and boots I left him in, his galatine sword and bag strapped across his back. A pack of white wolves all tied to a sled stand at a distance behind him as he approaches.
At the sight of me, he smiles, a smile that stretches across his handsome face, and it takes everything in me not to run or sift as I walk toward him, hands fidgeting with the pockets of my coat.
But I remind myself that I have a kingdom to lead for now, and there are men in the watchtowers, eyes peeled on me and the stranger coming up our road. It’s one thing to reveal that we’re a team, but I’m not sure how they’d feel to learn I’m a little in love with the God of the White Wolf. I’m just realizing it myself. I need time for this to just be ours.Mine.
When I reach him, when we stand boot to boot in the snow, he grabs my waist with one hand, and I don’t stop him.
“Missed me?” he asks, and I smile like a fool.
“I would’ve mauled you like the she-wolf I am if my men weren’t watching. They might think me in danger.”
His gold eyes glimmer even in the gray light of this snowy day. “Or thatI’min danger,” he says. “PerhapsI’dbe the one needing the rescue.”
I crook my brow. “You might once we’re alone.” As his smile widens, I glance over his shoulder at his wolves. “You have very dedicated and loyal friends.”
He nods. “They saw me through. It was a long journey, and I won’t say it was easy. But it was good to be back on my land. To reunite with a pack. To just be one with the Northlands again.”
I clasp his hand. “Come to the castle with me?”
I don’t expect the look of uncertainty on his face. “I think I need to go to my cottage first. But when it’s ready, I can come for you?”
I don’t want to feel rejected, but I’m not sure how else to feel.
He must see it in my mind because he tilts my chin, thumb caressing my lips as he forces my gaze to collide with his. “I’m still your wolf, little bird. But that means something very significant. I spent nearly three centuries watching life happen inside that castle from within my prison. And more recently, I watchedyou,inside those walls for eight years, yearning for a man I despised. I would see you through Un Drallag’s eyes some nights. Watch you follow Moeshka into his bedchamber while Thibault quickly looked away. I can’t simply walk into that castle as though it means nothing to me. Because it does.” He leans close, his lips a breath away. “I will wantourscent everywhere, Nephele. I will want to erase every molecule of another man’s odor where it mingles with and sullies your fragrance. That castle will require a cleansing for my territorial nature to ever survive stepping across its threshold.” He kisses me softly, watchful eyes be damned, tracing his tongue across my lips. “I would need to fuck you in every room, in every dark corner, against every wall. Until we can do that, I won’t be visiting you there.”
Breathless, I grip the leather of his jacket, my knees already weak. He’s been here less than five fucking minutes. I have to understand, though. There’s no way I can’t.
“But youwillcome for me when the cottage is ready?” I ask.
He smiles. “Yes. Just a couple more days.” He brushes his mouth across my neck, making me melt against him as his fangs scrape lightly over my skin. “And I will make the wait you’ve endured so worth it.”
There’s certainly an animal inside me. Even if only a ghost of one. Because I could fuck him right now, right here in this wood against a tree, snow and cold and bitter weather—I don’t care.
But we go our separate ways instead.
When I enter the veil and pass the watchtowers, I can feel my men staring down at me with a thousand questions. One is actually brave enough to speak up.
“Who was that man, milady?” he asks.
“He’s no man,” I call as I stalk toward the castle, keeping my eyes straight ahead. “That’s Neri. White Wolf of the Northland Break.”
29
NEPHELE
Two mornings later, Rowena comes to the library door and knocks on the wood frame. “Miss Nephele. Mr. Neri is here to see you.”
