"Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to—"
"No." Her voice was muffled against my skin. "No, you didn’t. Tell me something, something about you. Something I don't know."
I thought about it, running my hand slowly up and down her spine. There were so many things I wanted to tell her, so many pieces of myself I'd kept hidden for so long that I wasn't sure how to bring them into the light. But she was my mate now. She deserved to know all of me, not just the careful, useful parts I showed the world.
“I was only a cub when I came to live at Hanging Rock. Hilar, Rivik and Ryke’s mother found me during a hunting trip. There had been…” I hesitated, not sure how to explain an earthquake for her limited vocabulary. “Where the earth shakes, destroys. Earthquake.”
“Earthquake.” She repeated the word. “Know what mean. Must have been…” She searched for the word, and I guessed it.
“Terrifying. Yes, it was. It caused our cave to collapse, and my clan were killed. I was the only survivor. Hilar dug me out of the rubble and brought me back here, and Nane, the alpha, Rivik’s father, he agreed I could stay.” I paused, swallowing hard against the tightness in my throat. Even after all these years, talking about it made my chest feel like it was being crushed.
"Nane was kind to me. He treated me like his own sons, even though I wasn't wolf. Even though I was..." I trailed off, searching for the right words. "Different. But Nane said everyspirit has purpose. He said the Great Mother doesn't make mistakes."
Ellie's hand stilled on my chest, her fingers spreading flat over my heart. "He sounds like a good man. How old were you?"
"Four winters. Maybe five. I don't remember exactly. The memories from before are... broken. Like looking through water."
"So young," she whispered, and I heard the ache in her voice. Her arms tightened around me, and I felt her press a kiss against my chest, right over my heart.
"I was. I didn't speak for almost a full moon cycle after Hilar brought me back. Just stayed in bear form and hid in corners." I paused, remembering the overwhelming confusion of those early days, the way everything had felt too loud, too bright, too much. "Rivik was the one who finally coaxed me out. He was only seven winters himself, but he would sit outside whatever dark space I'd wedged myself into and just... talk. Tell me stories about the pack, about his father's hunts, about the summer gathering. He'd leave food where I could reach it without coming out. Never pushed. Never forced. Just waited."
"He's a good man," Ellie said quietly.
Something twisted in my chest at that. Yes. Rivik was a good man. The best man I knew. And I had just mated the woman he loved, the woman the Great Mother had chosen for him, because pack law and Karik's hunger had forced our hand.
"He is," I agreed, my voice rougher than I intended. "He's my brother in every way that matters. He and Ryke both, though it was Hilar who taught me the healing magic. I wasn’t fast enough to hunt with the wolves, and I wanted to be useful.”
"Useful," she repeated softly, and there was something in her tone that made me look down at her.
"Yes. I learned quickly that being useful meant being kept. That if I could heal wounds, set bones, ease pain... then I hadvalue. Then I had a place." I paused, running my fingers through her hair, feeling the beads under my fingers.
CHAPTER 25
ELLIE
The rabbit hung limp in my hands, its neck cleanly broken, and I felt an absurd surge of pride.
"I did it," I breathed, looking up at Daska with wide eyes. "I actually caught something."
He was grinning—that rare, unguarded expression that made my heart skip—and crossed the small clearing to examine my snare. "Good placement," he said approvingly, running his fingers over the knots I'd tied. "Clean kill. Quick."
"You're a good teacher."
"You're a good student." His hand came up to cup my cheek, thumb brushing across my cheekbone. "Most people take weeks to catch their first rabbit. You did it in five days."
The praise warmed me from the inside out, and I leaned into his touch without thinking. We'd been at the cave for almost a week now, and the casual intimacy between us had become as natural as breathing. His hands on my skin, my body curved against his, the easy way we moved around each other in thesmall space—it all felt right in a way nothing else in my life ever had.
"Come," he said, taking the rabbit from me. "I'll show you how to prepare it. All of it—not just the meat. Everything has a use."
We spent the next hour by the hot spring while he taught me to skin and butcher the animal with swift, efficient movements. Nothing was wasted. The hide would be cured for leather. The sinew saved for bowstrings and thread. Even the bones could be carved into tools or boiled for broth.We developed routines. Small rituals that became the framework of our days.
Every morning, he went hunting while I tended the fire and organized our supplies. Sometimes he brought back fish from the river, grilled on hot stones until the skin crisped. Once, he found honeycomb dripping with golden sweetness, and laughed when I got it all over my fingers and had to lick them clean.
"You're messy," he teased, his eyes warm.
"You're the one who brought me something sticky."
"I like watching you eat sweet things. You make this face—" He demonstrated, his expression blissful and slightly ridiculous.
