“Agreed.”
Ember turned from the window, her eyes moving between them. Something soft flickered in her expression—gratitude, perhaps.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “Both of you. For today. For everything.”
“You needed it.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ve been burning yourself out for two weeks. It’s not sustainable.”
“I know. But there’s so much to do?—”
“There will always be so much to do. That doesn’t mean you stop living.” His thumb traced the curve of her cheek. “Promise me you’ll take breaks. Real breaks, not board inspections disguised as outings.”
Her smile was small but genuine. “I promise.”
Baylin cleared his throat. “I should go find those guest quarters. Leave you two to do…” He made a vague gesture. “Whatever it is mates do.”
“Dinner in an hour,” Ember called after him as he retreated towards the hall. “Tomas will be disappointed if you don’t eat.”
“I wouldn’t dream of disappointing him.” Baylin’s voice echoed back. “The old male looks like he could give me a fight if he wanted.”
And then they were alone.
She leaned into his chest, her head fitting perfectly beneath his chin. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent—sweeter now, relaxed, content.
“That went well,” she murmured. “Better than I expected.”
“Baylin is…” He paused, searching for the right words. “He was closer to me than my actual brother. I didn’t expect to find him here, after all these years.”
“Are you glad?”
“Yes.” The admission surprised him with its certainty. “I thought I’d put that part of my life behind me. But seeing him, talking to him… it reminded me that not everything from before was poisoned. Some things were worth keeping.”
Her arms tightened around him. “And now he’s here. With us. Building something new.”
“For as long as he can stay.”
“You think he’ll leave?”
He considered the question. Baylin had always been restless, even in the pack—the enforcer who volunteered for the longest patrols, the warrior who grew irritable when confined to the den for too long. Years of rootless wandering had probably made it worse.
“I think he’ll try to stay. Whether he can…” He shook his head. “Some wolves aren’t meant for settled lives.”
“And you? Are you meant for a settled life?”
He pulled back enough to look at her—at the female who’d asked him to follow her into a world he didn’t understand, who’d trusted him with her safety and her heart, who’d become essential to his existence in every way.
“I’m meant for you,” he said simply. “Everything else is details.”
Her smile bloomed slowly, warming her face like sunrise over the mountains. She rose on her toes and pressed her lips to his—a soft kiss, gentle and full of promise.
“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth.
“And I love you.”
They stood together as the last light faded from the sky, wrapped in each other’s arms, and for a moment the weight of empires and legacies and lurking dangers seemed very far away.
The quarterly review was still coming. The board members were still circling like predators. The endless work of building something worth fighting for continued.
But tonight, there was this. The two of them, together. And a former packmate sleeping down the hall, perhaps finding peace for the first time in years.
