We didn’t linger long after. The moment we shifted back into Polaris, the house welcomed us with its familiar warmth. Home… Still, something in me already felt like I was standing with one foot beyond its borders.
Back at the house, everything moved quickly, as if the world itself had decided there was no time to waste. I packed my last things with restless hands, folding clothes I wasn’t even sure would be enough for a pack that lived beneath eternal snow. Furs were added—Kael’s doing—thick cloaks and lined boots that smelled faintly of him, like pine and night air.
“You’ll be warm,” he promised, tucking an extra scarf into my bag.
“And if you’re not…”
His mouth brushed my temple.
“I’ll gladly fix it myself.”
I smiled despite the tightness in my chest.
Outside, Orion waited for u
