For a moment, neither of us speaks.
The night air slips in through the open doorway, cool against my skin. With it, it carries the faint scent of pine and damp earth from the trees beyond the yard. It should feel grounding after everything that’s happened, but it doesn’t. Not entirely. My pulse is still too aware, my thoughts moving too quickly beneath the surface, circling back to the same word over and over again.
Mate.
Asher stands just outside the porch light, the glow catching along the sharp lines of his face and the edge of his shoulders, leaving the rest of him shadowed in a way that makes him look larger than he already is. He doesn’t step closer right away, and for once, he doesn’t speak first either. His gaze holds mine, steady and searching, like he’s waiting to see what I’l
