The chambers were still lit when Elaria rose.

Beside her, Draven slept, his wide chest rising and falling in a steady beat, as if his body had been aching for a break after too many days of stress. In the firelight, a tiny shine appeared on the scar across his ribcage. His hand still groped for her where she had been, even in sleep.

She stayed for a while, seeing the wolf that had turned into her fulcrum. Curling into the warmth and losing herself in the delusion that the world outside ...