CHAPTER 7
Jakob
The blizzard trapped them with ruthless efficiency and sealed the small cabin beneath howling wind and snow so thick Jakob couldn’t see his own tracks ten feet from the door.
By nightfall, the world beyond the walls ceased to exist. There was only the groan of the old timber being weighed down under ice, the rattle of wind against the boards, and Mallory.
She was too close, too warm, and too alive in a space never meant for two people.
The cabin held a single narrow bunk, a wooden table scarred from years of use, and a stove that burned just hot enough to keep them from freezing.
Jakob had given her the bed without hesitation and sat on the floor with his back to the wall and his coat folded beneath his head.
It should have been enough. He had survived worse nights in harsher conditions without a second thought.
But he had never shared a shelter with someone who smelled like apple soap and pure female, who looked at him with quiet trust instead of fear.
The storm worsened after midnight. The temperature dropped, and the stove burned low despite his careful tending.
Jakob woke to the sound of Mallory’s teeth chattering.
Before he could stop himself, instinct took over.
He added wood and left the door to the stove partially open to allow more heat into the room.
But then she whispered his name, hesitant and embarrassed. “Will you sit by me so we can share our body heat? I’m so cold.”
It took every shred of discipline he had not to refuse. Not because he didn’t want to be near her, but because he wanted it way too much.
They sat side by side at first, a careful inch of space between them that vanished when she dozed off and leaned into him.
The contact startled her and she looked up at him, her breath warm against the skin on his neck.
She shivered again, and Jakob closed his eyes.
He reached over and wrapped his coat around her without comment.
She thanked him and snuggled into the added warmth.
Mallory never pushed. Never flirted. Never made it easy.
That somehow made it worse.
At some point exhaustion claimed her. She fidgeted sideways as if seeking his heat before she curled against his chest with a quiet sigh.
Even asleep, her complete trust in him made him uneasy.
Jakob froze and every muscle locked as the dragon surged beneath his skin with heat flaring in answer to her softness.
He did not move or touch her beyond what was necessary to keep her warm even though the urge to wrap himself around her was strong.
He stayed awake the rest of the night and stared into the dark as he guarded her from the storm, and from himself.
By morning, the blizzard had eased, but the tension he felt hadn’t.
Mallory stirred and stretched, warm and cocooned up against him. She yawned and freed her arms to stretch again. Her hand came in contact with his face and she froze. Her fingers grazed lightly over his eyes and nose before she jerked upright and turned to look at him.
“Oh…” she muttered as realization of how she had slept became apparent.
Jakob watched her with thinly veiled humor. “Sleep well?”
“I…did I…I am so sorry.” She rubbed her reddened cheeks. “I am so embarrassed.”
He had woken up with many different women. But never had he felt the rush of warmth in his chest as he did at that moment. He gave her a slight smile.
“No harm. Come on. We need to get moving before the next band of snow heads this way.”
She scrambled to get ready to leave, and Jakob tried to convince himself it was to get away from him.
“Are we heading back to the resort?” she asked.
“Do you want to? We’ll be safe to keep going to the place I wanted to show you.”
She stared at him as if pondering the decision. “You’re the guide. I’m here for the adventure, so I say we carry on.”
He nodded and opened the door.
The world looked scrubbed raw by the night. Snow was piled high and untouched along the trail, pine boughs bowed beneath fresh white weight, and the air was sharp enough to sting Jakob’s lungs. He welcomed the cold. It helped him keep his distance from her. Helped him keep control.
Jakob walked beside Mallory in silence, boots crunching softly through the snow. She hummed under her breath, a tune he couldn’t quite identify, as though she tried to reassure herself that everything was normal again.
Nothing was normal.
He was too aware of her presence and too aware of how close he’d come to losing himself the night before. The memory clung to him like a bad dream. How she’d trusted him without question was the nightmare part.
If she knew what he really was, she would have run screaming into the storm.
He adjusted his pack. “The trail gets steeper up ahead. Are you still good?”
Mallory looked up at him, her smile quick and bright despite the fatigue in her eyes. “I didn’t come all this way to turn back now.”
That smile hit him harder than any blow. Brave. Open. And completely unaware of the danger that stared straight at her.
“Just… stay close,” he said gruffly.
She laughed softly. “You’ve said that about five times.”
“And I’ll say it five more.”
She studied him for a moment as they walked. “You’re different today.”
His spine tightened. “Different how?”
“Quieter.” She hesitated. “Did I do something? Are you angry at me for invading your private sleeping space? I really had no idea that I did that.”
“No.” Too fast. He slowed his tone. “No. Just thinking.”
About how the dragon stirred beneath his skin with every step uphill. About how the higher they climbed, the closer he came to sacred ground and the territory bound to his kind long before humans ever learned to name mountains.
The trail narrowed as they ascended the ridge.
Trees thinned and gave way to jagged stone decorated with spears of ice.
Wind swept across the open slope and carried the clean scent of snow and sky.
Jakob’s senses sharpened automatically and he could hear Mallory’s heartbeat when she stumbled and smell the faint sweetness of her shampoo when the wind shifted.
Control, he reminded himself. Always control.
“This place is unreal,” Mallory said as she stopped to catch her breath. She turned slowly and took in the sweeping valley below. “It feels…I don’t know. Pure.”
Jakob swallowed. “It is.”
She gave him a curious look. “You say that like you know for sure.”
He forced a shrug. “When you spend enough time in the wild, you start to feel it.”
That wasn’t a lie. Just not the whole truth.
They climbed the final stretch in silence. Jakob led her carefully as he guided her steps away from unstable snowdrifts and positioned himself between her and sheer drop-offs. Instinct demanded it.
Guard her. Protect what is precious, but you know you’re not supposed to bring her here, the dragon warned, low and insistent.
But something inside Jakob, something selfish and reckless, needed her to see it. Needed to give her wonder instead of fear. Beauty instead of the truth he could never share.
They crested the ridge. The winter sky above them was darker than normal, as if it were closer to night than morning.
Mallory gasped with a soft, breathless sound that struck him square in the chest.
The sky above them shimmered in ribbons of green and violet, luminous waves rippling across the darkened sky. Light spilled over the snow, turning it to silk and glass. The ancient auroras unfurled overhead, alive and breathing.
His people believed the lights were the breaths of ancient dragons that lingered in the heavens.
Mallory stepped up beside him. “Jakob…” Her voice trembled. “Oh my God. It’s incredible.”
He barely heard her. He watched her face instead to see her wide eyes, her mouth parted in wonder, and her breath fogging in little bursts. The way the colors reflected in her eyes made something ache deep in his chest.
His dragon stirred, pleased. Bring her closer.
The wind cut harder at the ridge. Mallory shivered and hugged her arms around herself. Jakob didn’t think. He stepped behind her and draped his coat around her shoulders and pulled it snug before she could protest.
Her breath caught as her back pulled up tight against his chest.
She turned just enough to look up at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her lashes were tipped with frost. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
He nodded, unable to trust his voice. He shouldn’t have wrapped her against him, but he had.
Her warmth seeped into him with a slow, intoxicating burn. The dragon purred and heat coiled through his veins.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered again, as though afraid the lights might vanish if she spoke too loudly.
“Yes,” Jakob murmured, his voice rough and dangerous. “It is.”
She shifted like she sensed something and realized he wasn’t looking at the sky.
Her breath stuttered. “Jakob…”
He lifted a hand before he could stop himself and cupped her cheek. Her skin was warm despite the cold, impossibly soft beneath his callused palm.
Too soft. Too human.
Mallory leaned into the touch like she trusted him with something fragile and unspoken.
Heat roared through Jakob’s blood.
She tilted her face toward his. Her lips parted before she rose onto her toes.
The dragon surged. Claim her. Take her. Mine.
Fear sliced through him, sharp and sudden. If he kissed her, he would lose the careful walls he’d built. She would feel the secret beneath his skin. The strength he couldn’t fully hide. The truth would claw its way out, and she would never look at him the same again.
Jakob jerked away as though burned. “I can’t.”
Mallory froze. Confusion flickered across her face, quickly followed by something far worse.
Hurt.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, stepping back. “I shouldn’t have…it was stupid…”
“No.” His voice cracked, betraying him. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Then what?” Her eyes searched his, desperate for something that made sense.
He dragged a hand down his face before his nails bit into his palm as he fought the instinct tearing him apart. “Because if I kiss you,” he rasped, “I won’t stop.”
For one suspended heartbeat, she looked like she might step toward him anyway. He couldn’t let that happen.
Jakob turned sharply and strode away. His boots crunched hard through the snow as he fled down the ridge. He didn’t look back. If he did, he would go to her. He would take her into his arms and damn the consequences.
Luckily he could hear her footsteps chase after him.
And Jakob hated himself with every step. For wanting her, for protecting her, and for knowing that the truth inside him would always keep her just out of reach.