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She smirked despite herself, rose from the chair, and headed to the picnic hamper.

Inside, she found hand-crafted ceramic tableware and sleek cutlery in leather rolls.

And, bless him, a dark glass bottle of bourbon, aged and sealed, nestled beside two heavy crystal tumblers.

She laid it all out on the table, then turned to find him striding over with the skillet.

The scent of crisped fish hit her hard, smoky, buttery, and fragrant.

He set the pan down with care, then walked to the cookout setup.

She followed him with her eyes, unable to look away.

Inside the barbecue, ears of roasted corn rested in husks beside caramelized vegetables, thick wedges of root, and dark greens licked with char.

He plated with competent skill, not bothering to show off or ask for praise.

They sat and ate.

The buttery fish melted in her mouth, and the smokiness of the vegetables had her salivating for more.

Twilight spilled lilac and honey across the sky, and the lake shimmered in deep blue sighs, its glassy surface disturbed only by the occasional breeze.

The fire crackled beside them, sending embers into the starlit sky above.

Above, artificial constellations twinkled to life, programmed to mimic the celestial canopy from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, complete with a moon.

It was so impossibly beautiful it hurt.

Her eyes sliced to him, and once again, her heart lurched.

He was so undeniably hot,ruin your whole bloodline levels, lycan-chemhot.

She broke the hush when she set her plate aside. ‘Sante, that was delicious.’

‘My pleasure.’

Their eyes locked, and her face scorched. She tore her eyes away, yet remained intrigued.

So much so, she gave in to curiosity. ‘I’ve got a question about your nature, your spectral wolf form.’

‘Mmmm.’

His burred grunt sent shivers down her skin.

‘How is it,’ she hesitated, eyes on the stars beyond the viewport, ‘that your shifter form allows you to breathe and walk in among the stars, without oxygen or suits?’

Xander’s gaze flicked to the sky, where the lunar orb hung like an ancient sentinel.

Then he glanced back at her, a quiet ferocity in his voice. ‘I’m not au fait with the physiology, but I believe that for the same reason wolves on Earth howl at the stars, Savvine, because it’s our origin. We came from the astral heavens. Long before any pack claimed land, we belonged to the black between the constellations. That’s why we’re here. Why we exist within it because the void isn’t foreign to us; it’s home.’

‘You know this to be true?’

He shot her a lazy, sensual grin. ‘To the core of my freakin’ aetheric bones.’

In time, he asked, ‘And you? Tell me about your world. Your family.’

She hesitated, then opened up about her siblings and her mother’s clinic.