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But this man's grip is nothing like Silas's. It's firm and careful, like I'm something that might break if he's rough.

And he's warm.

Gods, he's so warm. The heat of him soaks through my wet clothes, and it hurts, it actually hurts, like holding frozen hands too close to a fire. But I don't want him to stop.

The other two fall in on either side of him, and he starts walking. Into the storm. I don't know where.

I look up at him. My eyelids are so heavy. I'm fighting to keep them open, staring up at his severe, handsome face, trying to make sense of him. Of any of them. Who are these men? What are they doing up here? How did three men with no weapons drive off a whole pack of dire wolves?

What are they?

I gather up every bit of strength I have left.

"Where..." It comes out a whisper. "Where are you taking me?"

He glances down at me. His gray eyes are steel colored and serious.

"To safety," he says.

That's it. Two words.

I want to ask what that means. Where they live. Who they are. Why their eyes glowed. Whether I should be grateful or terrified.

The words won't come.

At the end, there's only the sound of the wind, far away now, and his arms holding me against his chest, and the strangest feeling.

I'm warm.

Then everything goes dark.

3

Zarek

I kick the cabin door open, and the storm follows us inside.

Snow swirls across the floorboards. Wind howls through the doorway. Behind me, Rhydian stamps in, then Kaelen, and Kaelen slams the door so hard the whole cabin shudders under the giant man’s strength.

I barely notice.

My heart is still hammering, and the wolves have nothing to do with it. I've fought worse than dire wolves. I've fought armies. I've had assassins climb through my bedroom window in the middle of the night.

None of it ever shook me like this.

It's her. The woman in my arms.

We caught her scent on the wind an hour ago, out on the ridge. One breath of it, and all three of our dragons went silent. Then they went wild. Centuries of searching, of hoping, of wondering whether the gods had simply forgotten us, and there it was. Sweet and warm and impossible, threading through the storm.

Our mate.

And we found her stumbling through a blizzard with a pack of dire wolves closing in.

I can still see it. That gray beast slamming into her. Her body going down into the snow. For one horrible heartbeat, I was certain we were going to lose her before we'd even learned her name.

Her face is pale, almost as white as the snow caught in her lashes. Her lips have gone faintly blue. She's so small against me. So light. Far, far too cold.

Something fierce and painful twists in my gut. Protect. Keep. Mine.