The wind picked up, sharp and biting, carrying the scent of more snow.
They'd left the wolf's body behind, following the narrow trail deeper into the forest. Liora's shoulder ached where the claws had torn through her coat, but she kept her pace steady. She wouldn't give Aric the satisfaction of thinking she was slowing him down.
"We need shelter," he said, scanning the dark trees.
"I can manage the cold."
His silver eyes cut to her. "You can't manage blood loss."
She bit back a retort, because he wasn't wrong. The cut was shallow, but the chill was sinking into her bones. Still, she hated that he noticed. Hated even more that part of her was… grateful.
They found it a few minutes later — a hunter's cabin, half-buried in snow, abandoned but intact. Aric shouldered the door open and stepped inside first, his hand on his sword.
"Clear," he said.
The room was dim, the air stale with old wood and dust. A stone hearth crouched against one wall, the ashes long cold. Aric moved to start a fire while she shed her coat, wincing at the pull on her shoulder.
"Let me see it," he said.
"I'm fine."
"You're stubborn," he countered. "Sit."
Something in his tone — not commanding, not pleading, but certain — made her obey before she could think better of it. She sat on the edge of a low bench, watching as he crossed the room with a strip of cloth in his hands.
He knelt in front of her, fingers brushing her sleeve. "May I?"
Her throat went dry. She nodded.
He worked in silence, cutting away the fabric and cleaning the wound with water from his canteen. His touch was careful, precise, but every time his skin grazed hers, the curse's pull burned hotter in her veins. She wondered if he felt it too — the hum between them, steady as a second heartbeat.
"You shouldn't have taken that hit," he murmured.
"I saved your life."
His mouth curved, just slightly. "Maybe we're even now."
The fire cracked softly behind him, shadows dancing on the cabin walls. She caught herself studying his face — the line of his jaw, the faint scar at his temple, the way his eyes seemed to hold both danger and something she couldn't name.
He tied the bandage and sat back. "There. Try not to get attacked for the rest of the night."
She smirked faintly. "I'll do my best."
For a moment, neither moved. The wind howled outside, but here, the world had narrowed to the space between them — and the curse, tightening like a chain neither of them could break.