Page 5 of A Sunwoven Ascent

For a heartbeat, it looked as though he might press her, but then he exhaled and shut his eyes, surrendering the answer for now. She loved him for that—for knowing when to push and when to yield. For all his arrogance, his respect for her never wavered.

Tomorrow, she told herself. She would bring it up tomorrow. But tonight, she needed this moment. Her fingers traced the rough edge of his jaw as she pulled him into a kiss. He responded instantly, his hands gripping her hips before traveling up her sides toward her breasts.

Now this is all I want, my love, Kaldrek’s deep voice purred into her mind, wrapping around her like silk.

And she melted, utterly undone in his hands.

***

“Uuuuup,” Heidara drawled, tugging at Evelyne’s blanket. “Up, up, up—come look!”

Evelyne groaned into the scratchy wool. But when she realized Kaldrek wasn’t beside her, panic shot through her. She bolted upright.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Just get up, I want to show you something.” Heidara’s grin was radiant, her green eyes sparkling with mischief.

Evelyne narrowed her eyes. “How are you always this chipper in the morning?” she muttered.

Ignoring her complaint, Heidara seized her arm and pointed toward the horizon. “See that low peak there?”

Blinking against the early light, Evelyne followed her gaze. A small mountain rose about a mile away, and with the sun just cresting the horizon, she caught the glint of melted snow along its slopes. Slowly, she turned back to the towering jagged peaks behind them, still heavy with ice, stabbing at the heavens. She understood now why Heidara was practically bouncing with excitement. They were almost free of the mountains.

“I am so ready to get off this cursed mountain,” Heidara groaned. “A bath. A real meal. A fire beneath the stars… I’ll take anything that isn’t snow and rock.”

Evelyne couldn’t fault her. Though she was a wolf, the cold snow and stone day after day became tiresome, especially since they didn’t shift much during the travel back. And this had been the hardest trek of her own life. More than once, she had longed for the sanctuary of her bed back home—its sprawling mattress, heaped with feathered blankets and pillows soft enough to drown in. Yet even the thought of home unsettled her. Could she really go back to a world of ballrooms and gowns after months spent among wolves? After becoming one herself?

And then there was Kaldrek. How would her mother ever accept him?

Evelyne pushed the thought aside with a sharp breath. None of that mattered anymore. She was no longer the girl bound to noble expectation. She was what she was always meant to be. She relished the freedom of shifting into her golden-brown form and racing the night wind, of sharing an unbreakable bond with the male she loved, of belonging not just to friends but to a pack, a tie far more sacred than any courtly alliance.

Still, doubt lingered. Which pack was hers? She was Kaldrek’s mate, but was he her alpha? She wasn’t sure she felt it—not yet. And that was a whole other conversation Evelyne was putting off.

“Evelyne?” Heidara’s voice cut through her wandering thoughts. She tilted her head, concern softening her features. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m fine. I’m just so relieved we’re nearly through this stretch of the journey. A bath does sound quite wonderful.”

The tension in Heidara’s shoulders seemed to ease, as though Evelyne’s words alone steadied her.

“It truly does,” she murmured. Then her smile faltered as she turned to meet Evelyne’s eyes. “Have you spoken with Alaric?” she asked quietly. Before Evelyne could answer, Heidara pressed on, almost as if she feared losing her nerve. “I can’t shake the feeling I’ve done something wrong, or said something to wound him. I’ve tried to think of what it could be, but… nothing comes. He hardly looks at me anymore.”

Heidara twisted her fingers, her vulnerability plain, as if his silence had been gnawing at her. Evelyne opened her mouth to reassure her, but no words came, because she had no answers. Alaric’s distance had unsettled her just as deeply. Finally, Evelyne shook her head.

“I haven’t spoken much with him either. I’m sure it’s nothing more than the cold wearing him down.”

“Maybe.” Heidara frowned. “He does seem quite brief with everyone, not only me. Perhaps I’ll try speaking with him again later.”

Evelyne reached across and clasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t think he could ever stay upset with a face as beautiful as yours.”

A fleeting smile curved Heidara’s lips, but it never reached her eyes.

Evelyne resolved to find Alaric and pry an honest answer from him. If the journey truly was wearing him down, then he needed someone to lean on—and perhaps then he’d finally speak of the nightmares he’d waved away before. That thought, however, tugged another neglected duty to the forefront of her mind: she still had to speak with Kaldrek.

Chapter 4

“For you, my lady.” Kaldrek handed Evelyne a strip of dried meat, dipping to press a quick kiss to her forehead before settling beside her. His arm slid around her shoulders, half warmth, half quiet warning to the rest of the pack that she was his. Not that anyone would dare try anything now.

“Thank you,” Evelyne said politely, her fingers trembling in the mountain wind as she shut the book resting in her lap. She took a bite. Then another. Chewed. And chewed.