He’s done this before, right?
A black speck pops out of the water and relief settles over me. The wolf floats downstream for few moments before paddling over to the left bank. He looks up, marking my position, and then starts to ascend, toppling snowy rocks and broken trees, reaching the ledge in two minutes flat.
The animal slowly approaches. While normally lightning dances in his cobalt eyes, this time there’s a flicker of mischief. Water droplets swish out of his tail.
“Oh, no. Don’t even think about it.”
I start to back away, but Axe shakes his entire body, flinging icy droplets all over me. The attack has me shrieking like a furious house cat. Of course, my left foot finds a slick spot and I’m brought down to the ground with no chance to get out of range as he lets me have it for a second time.
I hiss at him to stop, fighting back a laugh. Instead of wringing out his black coat for a third time, he drops his head down to my level, and with a deep, hot breath, yanks off my scarf with his teeth. I’m perfectly caged in now, exactly how he wants me.
“Easy,” I whisper.
With a playful yip, the wolf licks a long, slobbery stripe from my chin all the way up to my forehead, removing my cap. Myhands grip behind his ears, desperately trying to push him off me.
“No, no,no!” I beg, bordering on a squeal.
The wolf huffs what must be a laugh and continues to mercilessly lick my face. Realizing that nothing I do will make him budge, I surrender, squirming beneath hot panting and drool. My abdomen starts to ache from the fit of laughter. And that’s when I feel a sudden heavy weight pressing against me.
My eyelids shoot open. Axe has returned to his basic form, naked as the day he was born. His wavy hair is jostled, hanging over his forehead. Parted lips force out thin, labored breaths. Like every muscle in his body is fighting the primal inclination to kiss me.
Quite the opposite from the last time a man had me in this position.
The flashback to the burgundy wolf I encountered the day we met in Shanoah makes me flinch. Looking over my shoulder, I try again to wiggle out from underneath him. But I can’t. He’s far too heavy.
In a frantic maneuver, he hoists himself off and I stumble to my feet. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to?—"
Fearing just how red my cheeks are, I show him my back, granting him a moment to collect himself as he reaches for the fallen hat to cover his groin. Gods, I will never be able to look at that hat the same way ever again.
Axe sighs. “I ruined that, didn’t I?”
With a snort, I pull the fleece cap back over my head. I hear the muffled jingle of his pants, deciding to shift back in his direction. Just in time to lock eyes with the chiseled indents along his hips. “You definitely made it weird.”
He curses, scratching the back of his neck.
I shrug, watching him slip his shirt back on. “But then again, you’re a werewolf. So, it’s always going to be weird.”
Axe’s eyes flick back to me, a corner of his mouth tugging upwards. “You know, we prefer the termlycan. Using the term werewolf is rude.”
I roll my eyes, leading the way back to the truck. “Not as rude as telling one he smells like wet dog. Which thankfully, you don’t.”
“Oof,” Axe mutters. “Wish I could say the same about you.”
I gasp at the remark, swatting his chest. Axe chuckles deeply and the two corners of his mouth lift, smiling for the very first time, unabashedly. I lose myself in its wonder.
Swallowed by the moment, I’m standing on the edge again. This time, it isn’t overlooking the waterfall, but instead a far more perilous plunge. Once I hit that water, all logic will be swept away by the current. The mere thought is slippery and more than a little nauseating. And yet, I can’t ignore the tender nudge that whispers,Do not fear what was always meant for you. Axe’s smile feels like a safe place to land. It would be so easy, so wonderful to lean into him. To rest my wings for a while. To finally have something real to hold onto. For so long, I’ve been held back by lamenting what could have been, overlooking all the beauty laid before me. The freedom at my fingertips. The love that flourishes here.
Despite pouring all of it into a childhood dream, my heart has never been empty. Despite depleting myself over and over again for the sake of pretending onstage, I never truly lost myself. I merely forgot how to come home to her. Fear has gripped me so tenaciously, I didn’t realize I had any other choice but to obey it. But if I am to love, then I must cast it out. Even though an elusive curse dangles over me, I still have a choice.
I’m staring so intently at his mouth that I don’t realize my back is against the hood of the truck. At the sudden contact, I come to my senses.
Axe captures my fists with his own two hands. “May I?” he asks, huffing a cloud of hot air.
Carefully, he peels each glove off and stuffs them into his pocket. Without breaking eye contact, he then brings them up to his mouth and blows on them once, then again, more forcefully. The effort to warm my skin only sends a sharp chill throughout my body.
“Mmm,” I hum, letting my eyelids shut.
“Your hands are like ice cubes.”
