EMBER
The ivy smells like a crisp spring morning in my hands. My fingers nimbly sew it in and out along the seam. As I finish, knot it, and rip the excess off with my teeth.
I twist a tendril around my fingers, then let it fall back into the growing pile at my feet. The room is quiet except for the soft scrape of Roman’s feet bracing against stone as he moves behind me.
My thoughts, however, refuse to stay silent.
Last night lingers like heat beneath my skin, Thorn’s voice, low and unguarded, the way his eyes didn’t look away when I told him the truth.
All of it. My fears. No secrets left between us.
That should feel like freedom. Instead, it feels like standing on the edge of something vast, knowing one step forward changes everything.
I glance at the wall, not really seeing. Thorn, white hair in moonlight, the way his jaw tightened when he listened, not interrupting, not demanding. He didn’t try to convince me. He just…waited.
That terrifies me more than anything. My breath is stolen from my lungs.
Roman clears his throat behind me. “Are you going to help me here?”
“Oh, sorry.” He hands me another bundle of ivy. Our fingers brush, the contact grounding me more than I expect.
“I don’t understand why you are wearing so much,” he starts threading the reeds through the bodice, pulling tighter with each rung. “Can’t you just place two leaves strategically and call it a day?” Roman mutters through clenched teeth.
“It’s not about the dress.” I sigh. “It’s about the effort.”
“Effort?” he snorts. “I thought you didn’t want a mate…”
I straighten. “I…” My throat tightens. “Where did you hear that?”
He exhales like he’s been holding it in for years, “I don’t need to hear it come from your mouth to know that’s how you’re feeling.”
I turn slowly, meeting his gaze. Gods, he looks older lately. Like the boy I protected is slipping quietly into someone who doesn’t need saving. “It’s not that I don’t want a mate…”
“Then what is it?” he groans, pulling the reeds tighter.
“I don’t want the wrong mate.”
“And you think Alpha hunky pants is the wrong mate?”
I snort despite myself. “Alpha hunky pants?”
He laughs behind me, then groans again. The reeds steal my breath as he tugs them tighter again; there are a few minutes before I can respond. “It’s just, one week is not enough time to decide these things.”
“A full moon only lasts a night, Ember. A lot can happen in one night.”
There it is. This nagging sensation that he’s right. Wolves can live lifetimes in one full moon. We’ve had four fairly intimate nights together. Is that enough? Do I really know him? But the true question is, am I ready to leave Roman?
I reach back and ruffle his hair. “Stop being so smart, you’re making me feel ancient.”
He swats my hand away and stands. “Sometimes I feel like both our lives stopped that day. I just don’t want you to regret anything.
” His green eyes slightly glisten in the candlelight of our cold, windowless room.
Here I’ve been so concerned with him and his future well-being, and now he’s concerned for mine.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Me neither.”
Roman takes a step back to look at his work and states softly, “I think it’s done.”
I glance down, and with a raspy voice, I whisper, “It’s even better than I imagined.”