I shake my head. “No. I’m tired of sitting around and doing nothing. Let’s go.”
He grins. “That’s my girl.”
“We should’ve thought about this more,” I groan. The wind whips around us, snow falling slowly but steadily as we descend into the capital of House Canis. Bouldercrest is situated in the valley of the Wolven Peaks, known for its packs of wolves that roam the slopes. Unfortunately, Bouldercrest is also the coldest town I’ve ever been to.
“I didn’t know it got this cold,” I complain as we stomp through a blanket of snow that’s at least a foot deep. Stubborn goosebumps pepper my skin, still lingering even after I rub my arms through my thin coat.
“My fault. I forgot you’ve never been here,” Asmo says. “Would you like me to carry you, Your Highness?”
I shoot him a look. “How would that help?”
“You’d be against my chest. Nice and toasty,” he says with a dazzling grin. Even in hisaveragedisguise, he still manages to have the same disarming smile.
I roll my eyes. “How close are we?”
He grabs my arm and stops walking. He looks around slowly,pointed ears perked. Panic and magic flares in my veins. I know better than to ask what’s wrong. But even with my sharp senses, I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary. Only the silence of the forest cloaked in snow.
“Probably just a wolf,” I say, but even I’m not so sure.
“Just be careful with what you say,” Asmo mutters, lacing his fingers into mine and resuming down the path.
I refrain from asking why. My brain doesn’t work anymore, anyway, with his hand in mine. Something so normal, like holding hands, isn’t for us. His grip tightens, like he’s thinking about the way our fingers are intertwined, too.
Silence falls between us for the rest of the walk, both of us on high alert. A pack of midnight-black wolves passes, watching us carefully before continuing up the mountain. The only sound is the crunch of our boots as they stomp through the thin layer of ice covering the snow.
The town comes into view, stone buildings built into the steep mountainside and descending into the valley. The roofs are capped with snow, smoke billowing from the chimneys. The scent of burning wood drifts toward me, reminding me of freezing nights beside the fire. And Willa—no, Cora.
A sharp wind cuts between the trees, and I lean closer to Asmo. We are miserably under-dressed and woefully out of place. We step into the first clothing store we find, my fingers and toes tingling as they start to defrost.
“‘lo there!” a slim wolf hybrid calls from the counter at the back of the store. “Help you with anything?” The icy blue of his eyes reminds me of August.
Asmo clears his throat. “My wife and I are from out of town. Can you believe that we forgot our coats?” He chuckles as if the thought is just absurd. “Poor thing was shivering all the way from the portal!” He grabs my shoulders and rubs them.
I play along and throw a sheepish smile at the store clerk, butwifeclangs around my head, making me buzz.
The wolf hybrid eyes us. For a moment, I think he’s going to whip my shirt up and expose my mark. “Forgive me forsaying this, but that wasn’t very smart of you. You’re lucky it’s a warm day here. If you had portaled in during one of our snowstorms, you would have needed to portal right back. The weather conditions can be brutal up here. Where did you say you’re from?”
A warmday? I was practically frozen solid the moment we stepped from the portal. I make a mental note to never come back during the peak of winter.
“My wife is from the Deer Court,” Asmo says with a smile, as if that explains it.
“Ah,” the male says.
I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something. Thankfully, Asmo breaks the silence before it can drag on too long. “Can you point us in the direction of the coats?”
“Right back there,” he says, gesturing toward the righthand side of the store. “Let me know if I can help.”
Asmo throws his arm around me and tugs me toward the wall of coats. I grab a black one that goes to my ankles. Asmo chooses a plain black wool coat and a charcoal scarf from a stand near the register. We place our items on the counter and wait for the clerk to give us our total.
“Deer Court, huh?” he asks as he surveys our selections.
“Uh-huh,” I confirm, unwilling to give any more information than that.
“What brings you two here?”
“We thought we’d do some traveling for our honeymoon,” Asmo says, a warm smile on his face.
“Bad time to travel,” the shop owner mutters.
