That explains the extra snark she didn’t try to hold back earlier.
“Want help getting to the bath?” I offer my hand.
Her palm presses to mine, cool now instead of ice-cold, but she doesn’t rise yet. Her eyes soften. “I’m sorry I yelled earlier. Normally, I’m more controlled than that. The pain… I think it made me a little more Iris-like.”
I laugh. “I already assumed as much, and you had every right. Honestly, I think we all have a reason to be a little Iris-like after the last couple of weeks.”
She gives me a once-over. “You’re really okay? Like as okay as you can be?” I nod with a smile, and she adds, “What about with Marius being here? How did that even happen?”
“He found me after I escaped The Keep,” I tell her. “He thought he was tracking my mom, but he found me instead.”
“Oh, Ro.” Her eyes shimmer. “I’m sorry for both of you. I wish Jocelyn had been there, too.”
She pushes herself to her feet—wobbly but determined. “I’m going to find that bath now.Youshould go find your mate. He wasn’t okay without you. The house mostly repaired itself, but that first day…” She shakes her head. “If he’s extra asshole-like, maybe be a little gentle with him. Just not for too long.”
The words land like a soft blow, warm and painful all at once. “Thanks, Liz. Really.”
“Always,” she says before disappearing into the bathroom.
When I step back into the hallway, exhaustion drags at every muscle, but it evaporates the second I enter my room.
Cade stands at the window, shoulders tense, watching the last streaks of sun sink behind the tree line. He turns slowly—almost cautiously—like he’s afraid of spooking me.
But I don’t hesitate.
Everything between us is different now—sharper, deeper, and rawer. The tether between us hums with a certainty I didn’t understand before.
No more resisting. No more second-guessing. No more fear.
No more human emotions.
This man is mine, and I’m his.
I need his warmth like I need air.
He opens his arms without a word—as if he’s been waiting to breathe until I stepped into the room—and I go to him, fitting myself against his chest like I was built for this space. His chin rests on my hair, his arms wrapping fully around me, steadying the tremor I didn’t realize had taken hold of my bones. The world outside NightShade—the cold, the fear, the castle, the choices I made to survive—fades beneath the steady beat of his heart.
For the first time since I left this house, I feel the ground under me again. Solid. Certain. Safe… But not because I’m fragile. Because I’m home. Because I’m not facing any of this alone anymore.
Chapter 17
CADE
I’ve never been good at waiting, and tonight, after the last couple of weeks, I feel like my bones are pacing even when I’m standing still.
Rowan’s room is quiet and yet, somehow charged, like even the walls know she’s finally home. The bed is neatly made, and her closet is freshly stocked, even the floors are warm. And her scent lingers faintly in the air—subtle, familiar, almost breakable. A thread of comfort woven through the air that I don’t dare breathe too deeply, afraid it might vanish.
It’s the only room I entered when she was gone that I didn’t destroy. I couldn’t.
With a heavy sigh, I turn toward the window as snippets of Elias’s previous words loop through my head for the hundredth time.
We’re running out of time with the council, Cade.
Taren’s already warning that the packs are restless.
Now that we know Rowan’s alive and even morepowerful, we need to show them who she is before they come for her again.
They’re going to be watching our pack closer than ever before.
