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Was Elias nearby? Had he not run off at all, but was just lurking in the pass, keeping an eye on me?

The thought made my lips twitch up in a small smile. I could only hope Kodan was right, that he would come back around and return to himself.

We didn’t do much that day. I went back into the pass, looking for Elias, while Kodan stayed at the campsite and sharpened our weapons, mostly for something to do. We hunted—in human form—and caught enough rabbit for a stew.

That night I slept fitfully again. At least until sometime in the depth of night, when I’d finally fallen into something resembling a deeper sleep, a familiar warmth settled next to me and drew me in deeper. But the feeling was gone once more before morning could break.

Again, nothing in the pass. Again, a day spent poring over Gulde’s map, just for something to do. Again, rabbit stew.

We ate sitting across from each other at the campfire. The mountains stood high and imposing, with the balds wide and seemingly endless all around us. The sun sat low in the sky, and the wind whistled, making me pull my cloak tight around my shoulders as I held my bowl of soup in shivering hands.

“We’ll give it two more days,” Kodan said. “Then we’ll head back and regroup.”

“He’ll show up,” I said. “I know he will.”

Kodan looked less convinced, but she didn’t argue.

We ate in silence.

Then, something caught my attention. What it could be I wasn’t sure. A breath? A cracked twig?

Or just the mere feeling of Elias, close by?

I looked up. At the top of the mountain pass, the same hill I’d scrambled up in my boots, Elias stood in his immense wolf form. The low light of the sunset touched his fur, bringing out the rich browns in his dark coat.

Kodan followed my gaze. “Shit,” she murmured. “Guess you were right.”

Elias padded down the hill and approached the camp slowly, ears back and tail low. His hackles were up, but he was moving defensively, like he expected us to lash out at him. It was all I could do not to leap to my feet and rush toward him with my arms open.

His nostrils flared as his eyes flickered to the pot on the fire. I pressed my lips together, hiding a smile. I should’ve known the stew would be the thing to lure him out of the mountains.

At the edge of our campsite, he glanced between us, and then shifted back into his human form.

“Ugh,” Kodan said. She reached into her pack and grabbed a cloak, then tossed it at him. “It’s cold. Make yourself decent.”

Elias said nothing, but did wrap the heavy cloak around his body.

“There’s stew,” I said, gesturing toward the pot. “Plenty of it.” My voice was quiet. I felt like I was talking to a spooked animal, like if I said the wrong thing, he’d run off again.

Still silent, he took a seat by our campfire, and accepted the heaping bowl I handed to him.

I tried to touch his knee. He pulled away.

Each rejection made pain and guilt flare in my chest. But I knew what I felt was nothing compared to the pain he’d felt when I’d left with Draunar. I tried to tamp down my emotions. My guilt wasn’t what was important here. I had to fix what was between us—so we could keep our kingdom safe.

Ours. Together.

“I had help escaping from the dragon’s hoard,” I said.

Elias’ gaze flickered to me, then returned to his food.

“I wasn’t the only queen the dragon was interested in. He had another locked away. The Fae queen.”

Elias didn’t look up, but his fingers flexed around the bowl.

“She’s taken control of Shianga, now,” I continued. “She overpowered Draunar after he had been weakened by the wolves. She’ll come for Frasia next.”

A low growl sounded from his throat, an uncontrolled noise. At least I was getting through to him.

“If I had known what Draunar meant, Elias, I never would’ve—”

“Stop,” he growled, low. “I don’t want to hear it. Not now.”

I wanted to keep pressing, to force him to listen to me, but we were equal in our stubbornness and I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere. But he’d said not now. Which meant maybe he’d be willing to listen to me soon. I clung to that shred of hope as we ate our stew in silence.

Once he was finished, he shifted back into his wolf form and settled down by the fire. His golden gaze lingered on me as I settled onto my own bedroll onto the freezing ground. I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, that much I knew—not with Elias so close, yet so far away. Under the starlit sky, I pulled my blanket up around my chin and tried to keep my teeth from chattering.

It wasn’t long before I heard Elias stand up. He padded around the fire to me, and settled down at my side, his immense furry back pressed to mine through the blanket. The heat from his huge, muscular body flooded through me as I wiggled closer, pressing on him as much as I could. It staved off the worst of the cold.

He’d been doing this every night. Keeping me warm. Watching over me.

I wanted to roll over and bury my face in his fur, slide my hands over his familiar body and breathe in the soothing animal scent—but I also knew I couldn’t press my luck. I didn’t want to ask for too much. Right now, this was enough. Proof that he still cared about me, despite his fury. I matched my breathing to his and eventually fell into sleep.