Page 35

We’d tracked them as far as the lower pass, but in theseconditions, we’d lose more than time if we kept going—we’d lose men.

So we made camp.

The fire took time. Wind stole every spark we tried to strike, but we knew the tricks. Dry bark tucked inside cloaks. A hollow carved into the drift. Garrick got it burning while the others pitched the canvas shelter. It wasn’t comfort—it was survival. And we knew the difference.

The six of us huddled around the flames, steam rising from our breath, the silence heavy but not unpleasant. We were tired. Hungry. But close. The blood trail wouldn’t hold through another snowfall, but the scent lingered. Faint. Stale. But there.

We’d find them come dawn.

As the others dozed, weapons close, I sat beside Garrick, nursing the heat with gloved hands, jaw tight against the cold. He passed me a flask. I took a swig and didn’t ask what it was. It burned like hell going down.

After a long silence, I finally spoke.

“You ever… think I’m handling this all wrong?” I didn’t look at him, just watched the fire curl around a blackened log. “Lexa, I mean.”

Garrick didn’t answer right away. I could feel him watching me.

“She’s not like the others,” he said at last.

That made me snort. “No shit.”

“No,” he said, firmer now. “I mean really not. She’s not playacting. She’s not simpering for your attention or grooming herself to become Luna. She’s not afraid of you. She’s not even trying to survive. She’s just... existing. Fierce as she is wounded.”

I turned toward him, narrowing my eyes.

“You almost sound like youadmireher.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I do.”

I watched him for a beat. The flames crackled between us.

“You’ve never liked any of them,” I said. “Not the Omegas. Not the Betas. Not even the ones the Elders picked. After all the partners I’ve had, all the women that came and went… you’ve hated them all.” I leaned back. “So whyher?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just stared into the fire, jaw tense.

“Because she doesn’t want you.”

That caught me off guard.

“She’s not playing the game. She’s not angling for a title. She’s not climbing some invisible ladder to the Alpha’s bed. She doesn’t care what you are.” He glanced over, expression unreadable. “And for once, I get to see you off balance.”

“That what this is about? You enjoying watching me crawl?”

“No,” he said, and this time his voice was quiet. Honest. “It’s about seeing someone call you out. No fear. No seduction. Just truth.”

I didn’t respond. Because he was right. And that truth was the one thing I didn’t know what the fuck to do with.

Sleep took me like a fist to the chest—sudden, heavy, unwanted. I didn’t remember closing my eyes. One moment I was staring at the flames, the next I was deep in the dark.

But it wasn’t the storm I dreamt of. It was her. Lexa. That first moment, burned into me like a brand. Her standing in that windswept, salt-stained village. Snow tangled in her hair. Her eyes green fire in a world of frost.

She didn’t cower. Not when my wolves circled her. Not when I touched her. Not even when I pressed her against her own wall and demanded to know what pack she served. She lied to my face with her teeth bared like a blade.

And I’d wanted her.Even then.

I woke just before dawn, heart pounding, hands clenched, the scent of smoke and steel heavy around me. The fire had died down, but the storm had passed. The snow had eased intosilence, and above us, the sky was a deep bruised grey, clear enough for tracking.

We broke camp fast. None of us were in the mood to speak. The trail was cold, but the air was crisp—still enough wind to carry scent if you knew how to catch it. We picked it up again just past the ridge: blood, smoke, piss.