Chapter 10
MAGNUS
Neve's still asleep when I wake. She's curled against my chest like she belongs there. Like she'll always be there. I killed three men yesterday and she's peaceful. She's trusting and completely at ease in my arms.
The storm broke sometime during the night. Dawn brings clear skies and brutal cold. I have no second thoughts about pulling those triggers yesterday. They came to kill us. I killed them first. It was basic survival.
Neve stirs. Her muscles stretch languid and slow. Her eyes blink open. When she sees me watching her, she smiles. She's soft and unguarded. She's completely open in a way that still catches me off guard.
"Morning," she murmurs, her voice rough from sleep and other activities.
"Morning." I brush the hair back from her face. I trace the line of her jaw. I can't stop touching her. I need the constant confirmation that she's real. That she's here with me.
"How do you feel?"
"Sore." She's direct as always. She shifts and winces slightly. "Worth it though."
Heat coils low in my gut. There are marks on her hips from my hands. Bruises are forming where I gripped too hard. She wanted every second of it. She asked for it. She begged for it.
"We should talk to Zeb." I'm forcing myself to focus when all I want is to keep her in this bed. "Make a plan for getting your evidence out."
"I know." She sits up, the sheet pooling around her waist. Her bare skin is marked with yesterday. "But first, coffee. I can't make decisions without caffeine."
We dress in borrowed clothes from Caryn and Zeb. We head to the main cabin where coffee and bacon already scent the air. Zeb stands at the stove. Caryn sets the table. It's a domestic routine that feels surreal after yesterday's firefight.
Caryn hugs Neve immediately. She checks her over with careful attention. She's someone who knows what it's like to be thrown into this world. Zeb nods at me. There's a silent understanding between men who've walked this path. Who've found women brave enough or reckless enough to walk it with them.
We eat. Nobody mentions the bodies or the hunters who won't be reporting back. Eventually Zeb pushes his plate away and looks at me.
"You've got evidence that needs to reach the right people." It's not a question. "I know people who can make that happen without blowback."
The tension I didn't realize I was carrying eases slightly. I was prepared to handle this myself, but Zeb's contacts are better. They're more reliable. There's less chance of Neve getting exposed. I pull the SD card from my pocket. It's a backup copy of everything she photographed.
"Everything's on here." I slide it across the table. "Names. Faces. Locations. Enough to shut them down."
"We appreciate it." Neve's voice stays steady. She sounds certain. "More than you know."
"Caryn told me what you do." Zeb's eyes meet hers. "Research. Conservation. Important work."
"Was." The correction comes automatically. "That life is over now."
"Doesn't have to be." Zeb leans back. "You can do research from anywhere. Plenty of wolves in these mountains. Could use someone who knows what they're doing. Someone who actually gives a damn."
Neve blinks. She's processing. The idea clearly hadn't crossed her mind. Doing research without institutions or grants or peer review. It would be just her and the wilderness and the work itself. That would be absolute freedom.
"I'll think about it." But I can already see the possibility taking root. The seeds of a new life are starting to grow.
Back in the bedroom, Neve sits on the edge of the bed. Her fingers twist together. Nervous energy radiates from her in waves.
"We need to talk." She still won't look at me. "About what comes next."
Dread twists in my gut like a knife. Here comes the reality check. The moment she realizes what staying actually means. What she'd be giving up. What she'd be becoming.
"I can't go back to my old life." The words come fast. They're urgent. "Not after this. Not after you. I don't want to go back."
"Neve." I sit beside her. I take her hands in mine. "You don't have to decide anything right now. You're traumatized. You've watched me kill people. You need time to process."
"I've had time." She pulls her hands free and cups my face instead. She forces me to meet her eyes. "I processed while we were running. While you were protecting me. While we were in that shootout. I know exactly what you are. What you do. And I'm staying. I want you."
"You don't understand what you're saying.
" My voice comes out harsher than I intend.
"My world is violent. Dangerous. Isolated.
I smuggle contraband across international borders.
I kill people who get in my way. I'll never be normal.
Never be safe. You deserve tenure and research grants and a life where you don't have to look over your shoulder. "
"I don't want normal." There's fire in her eyes now.
Her determination burns bright. "I want you.
I want this wild, dangerous life. With you.
I can do my research from anywhere. Zeb's right.
These mountains need someone who understands conservation.
Someone who cares. I can be that person.
I want to be that person. Here. With you. "
"Neve." Her name comes out broken. It's a warning and a plea combined. "You need to think about this. Really think."
She straddles my lap. Her hands are fisted in my shirt. "I'm telling you. This is my decision. I'm staying. With you. In your world. Our world."
The careful control I've been maintaining since we woke up starts cracking. The protective barrier I put between us and the future fractures. It splits. All the things I've been holding back come rushing forward.
"You don't know what you're agreeing to.
" My voice is rough. "Once you're mine completely, I won't let you go.
Ever. I'll be possessive about your safety.
About keeping you with me. That's who I am.
That's what I do. I don't share. I don't compromise.
You'll be mine in every way that matters and I won't apologize for it. "
"Good." She kisses me hard. She's giving it right back. "Because I'm not going anywhere. Make me yours. Completely. No holding back. No protection. No safety nets. Just us. Just this."
Something inside me finally breaks loose. It's the last resistance. The final wall between what I want and what I thought I could have. I flip her onto her back. I pin her wrists above her head. I loom over her with all the darkness I've been trying to hide.
"You're mine." I growl it against her mouth. "Forever. No escape. No changing your mind. You belong to me now."
"Yes." She's breathless. She's certain. "And you belong to me. Forever."
When we finally emerge from the bedroom, Zeb takes one look at us and smirks. Caryn just smiles. They know. They've been here. They made the same impossible decision. They built the same dangerous life.
Over dinner, we make actual plans. We work out logistics. Zeb will get the evidence to his contacts. The federal investigation will take time but it will happen. This will go a long way toward dismantling the trafficking ring. People will go to prison. Justice will be served.
As for us, we'll stay here until it's safe.
Then we'll go to my cabin. We'll make it ours.
Neve will set up her research. She'll study the local wolf population.
She'll do conservation work that actually matters.
I'll keep flying. I'll keep smuggling. More carefully now.
More selectively. I can't take unnecessary risks when I have someone to come home to.
After dinner, Zeb pulls me aside. We go outside on the porch where cold air bites and stars shine overhead. We stand in comfortable silence for a while. It's an easy quiet between men who understand each other.
"Your woman's brave," Zeb finally says. "Not many could handle what she's been through."
"She's stronger than I gave her credit for."
"Caryn was the same way." He looks out at the dark mountains. "Thought I was protecting her by keeping her at a distance. Turned out she didn't need protecting. She needed the truth."
"Neve got the truth." I lean against the railing. "All of it. She's staying anyway."
"Then you're a lucky bastard." Zeb's tone is matter-of-fact. "Don't fuck it up."
"I don't plan to."
Zeb's contacts deliver exactly as promised.
Within days, the SD card reaches the right people.
The federal task force mobilizes. Predawn raids hit locations across the state.
Dozens are arrested. The operation is shut down completely.
Neve's name never appears in any reports.
The official record shows Dr. Neve Dalton died in a tragic wilderness accident.
She fell through ice during a research expedition. Her body was never recovered.
A memorial service was held. Her colleagues mourned. Her parents grieved. I watch Neve struggle with that part. The guilt of letting them think she's dead. But it's necessary. It's the only way to keep her safe. The only way to build this new life.
She writes letters she'll never send. She tells them things she can't say. Eventually, the writing helps. The grief becomes something she can carry.
Three months later, I wake to find Neve already up. She's standing at the window of our cabin. Morning light catches in her hair. She's watching the valley below. She's taking notes on something she sees through her binoculars.
"They're getting bolder." She doesn't turn around. She knows I'm awake. "The pack. Coming closer to the cabin."
"That a problem?"
"No. It's perfect." She sets down her binoculars and turns to me. Her smile is bright with excitement. "I'm getting incredible behavioral data. Things I never could have observed in a traditional research setting."
I watch her work. She sets up her equipment. She takes her photographs. She records her observations. She's building something here. Real science. Important conservation work. Exactly what Zeb predicted. She’ll funnel her work to where it’ll do the most good without taking credit for it.
Yesterday I tried to teach her to fly again.
It was a disaster from start to finish. She overcorrected every turn.
She forgot to check her instruments. She got airsick during turbulence.
We landed early and laughed until our sides hurt.
She'll keep trying though. Because it's my world and she wants to understand it.
She wants to be part of it. She wants to share it with me.
We've become a team in every way that matters. She helps with logistics for my runs. She uses her scientific mind to optimize routes and timing. She calculates weather patterns and fuel efficiency. She makes me better at what I do. Safer. Smarter. More successful.
Every morning, I wake with her in my arms. She's a warm weight against my chest. Her soft breathing fills the quiet. I still can't quite believe she stayed. That she's here. That she's mine.
Tonight, a storm rages outside. There are always storms in these mountains. Wind howls and snow falls and the world beyond our walls disappears. But inside, it's warm. It's safe. It's perfect.
Neve curls against me in bed. Her naked skin is pressed to my naked skin. Her fingers trace idle patterns on my chest. These are touches that ground us both. That connect us.
"You ever think about what you gave up?" My voice is quiet in the darkness. "Your colleagues. Your research position. Your parents thinking you're alive."
"Every day." She's honest. Always honest. "But I think about what I gained more. This. You. A life that's actually mine instead of one I was supposed to want."
"Your parents..."
"I know." She shifts against me. "That part hurts. But they'd never understand this. They'd try to save me from it. From you. And I don't need saving."
"You sure about that?" I tighten my arms around her. "Because this life isn't getting any easier. I'm still smuggling. Still breaking laws. Still living outside the system."
"I'm sure." She lifts her head to meet my eyes. "I watched you kill three men and my first thought was gratitude that you're good at it. That tells you everything you need to know about who I am now."
"Who you always were." I brush hair back from her face. "You just needed a reason to stop pretending."
"Maybe." Her smile is small. Real. "You have any regrets?"
"About you? No." The answer comes easy. Certain. "About dragging you into this mess? Sometimes."
"Don't." Her hand flattens against my chest. "I dragged myself into it the moment those images showed up on my trail cam."
"You would have survived without me."
"Maybe." She kisses me soft and slow. "This is living. Everything else was just going through the motions."
The storm howls outside. Snow batters the windows. But inside, we're warm. We're safe. We're exactly where we're supposed to be.