Kael's POV
The storm stopped sometime during the night.
I noticed the silence before I noticed anything else—the absence of wind against the cabin walls, the stillness where there had been constant movement for hours. I stood on the porch in the early grey light and looked at what it had left behind.
The valley was buried. Every surface was covered, every angle softened; the world was reduced to white and shadow and the dark lines of trees disappearing into the distance.
Fenrir watched the tree line through my eyes, his attention methodical. "It's quiet today."
"Too quiet?" I asked.
He considered it properly before answering. "No. Just winter."
For once, I almost believed that.
Inside, Ryker was still asleep on the sofa beneath a blanket he had clearly stolen from Soren at some poi
