Page 9 of Those That Defy the Realm

CHAPTER 4

HENRY

The winter solstice normally passes uneventfully. On the mainland it’s celebrated with some revelry and time spent with families, but rarely is the effort put in that matches the level of the wolf shifters. I would normally note the longest night with a chill evening in my apartment, maybe indulge in a few drinks and one of my favourite films or novels.

The fancy get up I’m wearing as I get ready for a night of celebrations is a far cry from the sweats I’d usually be wearing by now. The thermal lined leather trousers and traditional Northern Isles coat with intricate wool stitched details threatens to boil me as I check my hair in the mirror hanging on the wall in the entryway to the building we’ve been staying in.

“Come on, let’s get out there,” Ash interrupts me trying to sweep my fringe up and to the side. It’s getting a little long and keeps flopping onto my brow.

The wolf shifter is nearly vibrating with excitement as he throws my boots at me and digs around for his own. He doesn’t look nearly as layered up as I am.

No, his trousers look painted on rather than padded and he’s only wearing a ruffled shirt—also the traditional wear—and has his woollen overcoat undone. Benefits of being a wolf shifter and not feeling the cold. I might be nearing passing out right now in the warm building but it’s well below zero outside and I will need every layer to spend the evening under the stars.

Ash lists off all the food he’s prepared as we strap our snow boots on, and I can’t help my gaze sliding over his frame, his exuberant face delighting in finally getting to eat the treats he’s been baking and cooking for the last three days to prepare for the feast we’re having.

He’s strong but not overly muscular, and he’s shorter than me, practically looks tiny all folded up to tie his laces. My tongue curls inside my mouth, brushing against the backs of my teeth as I linger on his long fingers. I’ve never lingered on a male before, not in that way, but after both scenting and tasting the lust on him several weeks ago, on the first night we were here, I can’t help considering the path that he’s opened up for me. It was entirely flattering to be wanted so fiercely. Not that I’d told him what I’d tasted in his blood.

He springs up, laces done, and nearly knocks me flying on my ass in his eagerness to get outside.

“Sorry.” He chuckles. “I just love the solstice, and tonight we should get a strong aurora show as well. The last few years it has been pelting with snow, so we’ve not been able to have a fire or decorate the square. I’m so happy you get to experience the full celebrations.”

Chuckling to myself as he rattles all that off in one breath, I straighten, going from him standing over me to him needing to look up at me once more.

“I can’t wait to experience it,” I tell him earnestly. Despite the many layers I’m wearing, I feel an electricity crackle in the air. One that seems to happen with worryingly increasing frequency when I’m around Ash.

Our time with the wolf shifters has been eye-opening, to say the least. I had never really interacted with any prior to the war. Since the end, the only survivors have been isolated up here, far away from the more populated regions of the continent. I’ve enjoyed learning their dynamics and the intricacies of their species first hand.

Not to sound like one of those wildlife observers, but as a scholar of the war, and the impact it had on the species of our realm, this is a chance of a lifetime to learn about the wolf shifters first hand, rather than relying on other’s accounts or old textbooks.

It’s part of their treaty to be fully isolated. Even though we have the technology that could allow them to integrate with the rest of the continent, at least virtually, they are bound by law to never operate businesses on, or sell products to, the mainland. Their young can obtain licences to study some online courses but that’s it.

Ash, in particular, seems to have a reciprocal interest in learning as much about me as I do him. We’ve spent several nights chatting until the small hours, and I’ve helped him on more than a handful of days now to prepare the food he cooks for his family—despite not being able to eat any myself.

He’s fun to be around and easy to get along with. You’d think a life lived completely cut off from society and being forced to live with your family forever in one of the harshest environments in the world would maybe take a toll on you, but Ash is pure sunshine.

To be honest, I’ve not laughed so much in decades, except for my recent interactions with a certain human. Forgetting my phone as we’d left was a regret I thought about almost daily. Although, maybe the space was for the best with how close we were becoming.

My new thoughts about Ash, however, feel like a similar path. If I explored anything with him it would be short lived, especially as we’d now set a leaving date, for the day after tomorrow.

“Come on, let me show you how the solstice should really be celebrated.” He holds out his hand and I take it without question, letting him pull me out into the snow.

“Well, you weren’t wrong. The wolves really do know how to celebrate the longest night.” I stumble through the snow, warmed by the amount of alcohol in my bloodstream. As a vampire, I have quite a naturally high tolerance, so I’m far from drunk, but I’ve definitely got a buzz going.

The ground underneath my feet crunches, the snow nearly a foot deep as Ash and I stumble our way through the woods. He called it a short cut to his cabin but I’m calling bullshit. Maybe by distance this route is quicker but the trodden and snow cleared paths would surely have been easier. Safer too, as I lose my footing again on my prosthetic leg. Alcohol and false limbs really don’t mix that well when you add hidden tree roots and the darkest night of the year together.

Not that Ash knows about my leg. Very few do. It’s a weakness I can’t afford to be public knowledge.

“This year was tame compared to some,” Ash chuckles as his hand lands on my bicep to steady me.

He’s done that several times tonight. Touched me. Nothing inappropriate or unwanted. In fact, my booze heated blood rushes to the skin where his fingers have brushed against. He’s not even touched bare skin, seeing as I’m still wearing a tonne of layers.

I find my footing and trudge on but Ash’s hand finds my lower back and stays there, I try not to think too deeply about how it feels.

“Tame? We’re absolutely on the wrong side of tipsy, that snowball fight turned into some weird kink fulfilment for your brother and we finally manipulated Ty and Rory into admitting their feelings. At least, I fucking hope they’re sorting their shit out. If not, I don’t know what else to try.”

It’s the reason I’m taking this hike through the woods to stay with Ash for the night. I really didn’t want to go back to my much closer and toasty warm bed that shares a wall with my best friend and the female he clearly is meant to be mated to.

If our plan works out the way we’d hoped, they were probably going to be banging for the rest of tonight, and probably into the morning as well. As soon as Ty and I had found Rory in that small town on one of the more southern Northern Isles, I’d seen the inevitability of their mating. They may have needed some time to trust one another again but a few minutes in their presence and it’s obvious that they are soulmates.