Morning arrived softly.
Not with chaos.
Not with disaster.
Not with the familiar sting of something going wrong.
Arielle woke to warmth.
Real warmth—not just from the blanket tucked around her shoulders, but from the steady rise and fall of Noah’s chest beneath her cheek. Sunlight spilled through the cabin window, catching in the fine snow drifting outside, turning it into glitter.
For a moment, she didn’t move.
She waited.
She always did—bracing for the wrongness, the sudden slip, the crack in the quiet.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, peace settled deeper into her bones.
No bad luck.
No dread.
Just… calm.
Her breath caught.
“This is new,” she whispered.
Noah stirred, eyes blinking open. He smiled lazily when he saw her watching him.
“Good morning,” he murmured. “You look li
