Chapter 23 - Dani
Morning dawned slowly.
Not because of clouds, there were none, but because everybody in Skymist moved like it had been hollowed out and stitched back together overnight.
The air smelled of smoke and melting frost, and beneath that, the metallic ghost of blood.
Snow on the tree line had been trampled into dirty slush by shifter paws and boots.
The witches’ wards flickered faintly, drained as their casters slept scattered on cots, couches, and any flat surface that hadn’t already been taken.
Dani sat on the steps of a shifter’s house, nobly donated to the witches to set up their healing stations, with a mug of tea she couldn’t feel her hands around.
Her arms, legs, ribs, everything ached. A bone-deep weariness clung to her bones like wet cloth.
When she tried to reach for her magic, it sputtered like a dying ember.
Across the street, Chase and Theodore argued about patrol routes. Julian leaned against the inn’s exterior, eyes half-closed, looking maddeningly elegant for someone who’d spent the night tearing hybrids apart. Witches moved in and out of the makeshift clinics, tending to bruises and bites.
Someone had set up a space heater near Dani’s feet. She wasn’t sure who. She hadn’t asked.
Her gaze kept drifting toward the house across the street.
Arthur hadn’t come out yet.
He’d collapsed last night from exhaustion, half-shifted, covered in frost and sweat.
She and Chase had half-carried, half-dragged him back to his room before he finally stopped fighting the inevitable and slept.
The Ice Bear’s power hadn’t fully receded; she could still feel its echo in the bond, crackling, too bright, like embers under snow.
Her tea sloshed as she lifted it again. Her fingers trembled. She stared at the town, willing calm into her lungs.
But the quiet was dangerous.
Too quiet.
Too soon.
A soft thud of footsteps approached. Dani didn’t look up until a small, cold hand slid into hers.
Aurelia.
Her daughter leaned into her side, curls a tangled halo, eyes puffy from sleep but steady, assessing. She’d insisted on staying in the clinic until every witch had been accounted for. She hadn’t left Dani’s sight since.
“You okay?” Aurelia asked, voice small beneath her usual bravado.
Dani squeezed her fingers. “Are you?”
Aurelia shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard screaming.”
Dani pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair. “We’re safe now.”
Aurelia didn’t answer. She didn’t believe it yet, either.
A shadow shifted across the snow. Aurelia stiffened first, then Dani looked up.
Arthur.
He walked slowly, as if his limbs were heavier than they had any right to be.
His ribs were wrapped in fresh bandages.
His shirt hung open halfway down his chest because Chase had apparently decided buttons were optional for convalescence.
A fading bruised frost pattern shimmered faintly across his skin, the last mark of the Ice Bear.
But his eyes…
His eyes found them immediately.
Something warm and tight unfurled low in Dani’s chest. Relief, sharp enough to hurt.
Aurelia hopped up before Dani could stand and marched straight to him.
“You scared me,” she announced, jabbing a finger at his bruised stomach like she was scolding a misbehaving puppy.
Arthur blinked, startled. “I—”
“Don’t do that again.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “I’ll…try not to.”
Aurelia crossed her arms, then, apparently deciding that wasn’t sufficient punishment, wrapped them tightly around his waist. Arthur froze, then slowly, gently, folded his arms around her shoulders.
Dani looked away, swallowing down something messy. Too many feelings.
Arthur released Aurelia only when she declared, “Okay. You may sit now,” and returned to Dani’s side.
He obeyed, lowering himself onto the step with a faint wince.
For a moment, they didn’t speak.
Not because there wasn’t anything to say, but because the words hanging between them were too large.
Dani broke the silence first, “How do you feel?”
“I’ve been better,” he murmured, wincing as he adjusted.
She huffed something like a laugh. “Understatement.”
“Shifting’s never been that violent,” he added more quietly. “I guess my new form takes more from the body. More than I realized.”
She studied him.
His hands trembled faintly where they rested between his knees. He was paler than usual. His scent carried a faint metallic edge beneath it.
Power still settling.
“You saved us,” she said softly. “All of us.”
Arthur didn’t reply. He stared at the snow.
“You fought beside me.”
“Of course I did.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Not of course. You could have run. You could have hidden. You didn’t. You stood with me.”
Her throat tightened. She tried to swallow it back. Failed.
Aurelia nudged her elbow. Dani blinked down at her daughter’s expectant look.
“Are you going to hug him, too?” Aurelia demanded.
“Auri,” Dani hissed.
Arthur’s lips twitched.
“I’m—” Dani exhaled sharply. “I’m not hugging him on the clinic steps.”
“Then do it somewhere else,” Aurelia said, already hopping off the step. “I’m going to help Layla.”
She jogged across the street, leaving Dani staring after her, mortified.
A silence settled.
“She gets that from you,” Arthur said lightly.
“She gets her bluntness from Chase,” Dani muttered.
“No,” Arthur said. “That’s all you.”
Despite everything, her mouth betrayed her with a tiny curve.
He watched it.
He watched her far too closely.
“Dani,” he said finally, voice low. “About our argument…”
Her heart stuttered painfully, “I’m sorry,” she said, “I should never have sprung that on you and expected you to be all…okay with it. I was just scared that you were all words.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Aye, because I’m famous for my pretty speeches and lack of action.”
She elbowed him gently, mindful of his bruises, “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” he said, gaze fixed across the road, at the remnants of my pack, “and I’m sorry. For everything.”
He pulled her close, tucking her against his side, and she snuggled into him for warmth.
“You cold?” he asked, huffing a laugh as she nodded. “Maybe…maybe you could warm us both up, then.”
She glanced up at him, mouth slightly open, “You mean…”
“Unless you’re too tired,” he said in a rush, “I know you…you used a lot of energy.”
“No! No, in fact…”
Dani reached inside herself, fumbling around for her magic. It gave a groan of protest as she pulled at it, but it was just enough that a pleasant warmth radiated from her skin, settling over them both.
Arthur sighed, closing his eyes and pressing his lips to her hair. “That’s more like it.”
They say a while, on the edge of awareness, just enjoying each other’s embrace. Dani took his acceptance and hugged it tight, smiling stupidly at the lumbering male wrapped around her.
Eventually, he nudged her, his head tilting towards the house. “Come on. You can sleep. Properly. Not sitting on a freezing step.”
“What about everything else?” she asked quietly. “Fenred. The hybrids. Whatever happens next?”
“Dominic and Rory are coordinating patrols,” Arthur said. “Leonid is helping. But the border’s held for now. And I’m not letting you fall over from stubbornness before I even get a chance to use my full alpha voice on you.”
She shot him a look. “Don’t even try.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, deadpan.
She followed him, past the clinic, snow cracking beneath their boots as they crossed the compound.
Witches nodded to her as they passed. Shifters dipped their heads to Arthur.
The air still thrummed with aftershocks of magic and fear, but beneath it all, life had resumed its slow crawl toward normal.
Inside the alpha house, warmth enveloped her immediately. The fire Chase had stoked was still going. Someone had left soup on the stove. Aurelia’s shoes lay abandoned by the couch.
Home.
The word brushed her mind before she could stop it.
Arthur paused at the stairwell. “You sure you can manage?”
“I’m not an invalid,” she said.
He looked unconvinced but held his tongue.
They climbed slowly. At the landing, she hesitated, her room to the right, his to the left.
Arthur stopped too.
Neither moved.
Then, after a long, fraught beat, he stepped closer, not touching, just near enough that the bond warmed faintly between them.
“Rest,” he said softly. “I’ll be right down the hall.”
Her pulse fluttered. “Arthur—”
He stopped, the weight of his gaze conveying a whole host of emotions. Of longings. She knew because she felt it, too.
She raised her hand. “Come with me.”
There was no resistance as he let her lead him into his bedroom, lighting the fire with a flicker of power. He didn’t flinch. His eyes were warm as he watched her, letting her guide him.
Slowly, mindful of his injuries, she undressed him, folding his clothes neatly and placing them on the table. Then, from her pockets, she drew out a few herbal poultices and clasped them in one hand to her chest. The other, she traced over his skin, muttering low under her breath.
She’d expected at least some measure of pushback from him. But he was pliant under her fingers, leaning forward into her touch, his eyes drifting shut as she traced the cuts and bruises.
The injuries ran deep. Whatever power had awoken in him had taken its toll, and no amount of magic would be able to cure what a decent night’s rest could manage.
But she eased his aches where she could, his shifter biology taking her magic and unfurling it throughout him, speeding his healing even further.
Her fingers skated upwards from the broad muscles of his chest to his jaw, to the scar that bisected his face. His eyes flickered open, and he leaned into her touch, resting his cheek in her palm.
“What happened?” she asked, her thumb brushing the white line.
He chuckled, hands coming to rest on her hips, pulling her closer towards him. “Guess.”
“I’ve heard three different stories since being here,” she said, “one, you fought an actual bear. Another, it was a fight with a packmate. And the third…”
“Aye?” he asked, voice dropping low.
She swallowed, a blush rising in her cheeks. “The third was that an angry lover threw a vase at your face when she caught you with another woman.”
He threw his head back and guffawed, one large hand moving up to gently cup the base of her head, fingers weaving through her hair.
“Nothing so interesting, I’m afraid,” he said, tilting her head up and pressing a light kiss to her lips. She hummed and leaned into him. “None of those are true. I’ll tell you the real story, for a price.”
“A price?” she asked, brow quirking.
“Aye,” he said, his voice lowering, hand on her hip tightening with unmistakable intent.
She smirked. “Joke’s on you then. I would have given you that for free.”
“Is that so?” he said, picking her up with swift ease. She squeaked, her legs wrapping around his naked waist, his growing hardness pressing into the seam of her jeans.
She didn’t bother replying. Just bent her head down to capture his lips once more, groaning as his tongue swiped against hers, powerful and demanding.
Roughly, he walked them to the bed, bumping into more things than he avoided. Eventually, her back made contact with the soft blankets atop the mattress, and she let her legs fall apart so that he could easily slot between them.
With a hunter’s efficiency, he removed every scrap of her clothes, eyes gleaming with each piece of revealed flesh. She didn’t feel shy at all as his eyes roved her naked body. In fact, she reveled in it, hands moving to cup her breasts and pinch her nipples, showing him exactly what he did to her.
He fell forward, just catching his weight on his forearms before he crushed her, and she clung to his shoulders as he ravaged her mouth. Her trembling thighs strained further apart as the thick head of his cock nudged at her entrance.
He paused, forehead against hers, their breaths mingling. He did not look away as he pushed forward into her, every inch of him barely restrained power, even in his weakened state.
She wanted him. She wanted all of him. She wanted him to let go.
With a whimper, she let her head fall back, revealing the bite on her neck to his gaze. He growled, the sound vibrating through her, his teeth scraping over the sensitive skin of her throat as if seeking to claim her all over again.
She would let him. And she would claim him right back. Every time. Always.
He thrusted harder, hips snapping against hers, every movement setting her nerves alight with blinding pleasure. His teeth moved lower, catching a nipple and biting hard enough that pain mingled with ecstasy and transformed it into something greater.
Moans and yelps fell from her lips; she was helpless to stop them as he increased his pace. Delicious pleasure built up deep in her core, and she felt herself falling further and further.
He was everything. The salt scent of his skin. The deep growls of his pleasure. The thrum of his body moving against hers with electric sparks. She wanted to lose herself in him, to stay wrapped in such delicious agony for eternity.
His teeth found her neck again, and she came hard, shouting his name as she convulsed around him, her orgasm ricocheting through her in wave after wave.
He soon followed, roaring his release into the soft skin of her shoulder, muscles bunching and hands fisting into the sheets.
They lay in the delicious afterglow, their heartbeats melted into one, and Dani nestled into him. He held her close, eyes fluttering shut.
She, too, allowed herself to close her eyes and slip away into sleep, safe in her mate’s arms.