Dawn broke slowly over the cabin, the storm finally easing into a heavy, exhausted silence. Snow hung thick on the branches, bending pine boughs toward the earth. The world outside was washed in pale blue light, breath-stealing and fragile.
Inside, the faint warmth of the dying fire lingered in the air. Holly stirred first.
She opened her eyes to the soft crackle of wood settling in the stove and the steady, grounding presence at the door. Rowan. Blanket still draped across his shoulders, boots planted apart, arms crossed as he watched the snow-laden forest through the frost-glazed window.
He hadn’t slept.
Not a single minute.
Holly raised herself slowly, careful not to disturb Lila, who had curled against her side sometime during the night. The girl’s breath puffed warm against Holly
