Porcupine Ridge all you have is your fire

He was close to her—the musky scent of the male almost overwhelming as the night sky camouflaged him mysteriously. If she were to stretch out on her own accord, it was likely they could become a tangle of forelimbs—an easy test to her intrigue of him.

Instead, she remained still, feeling the winter wind kiss at her cheeks as it drifted briskly past them. Her bright eyes were fixated on him, and she found the more he spoke, the more she wavered on her belief that he was jesting with her. It unsettled her, though she preened at her shoulder idly, hoping to maintain her nonchalance. There was a wide world before her—the casual conversation with Ford of the sea had been positive, while the sweet chatter of the morose Govinda had also been welcoming.

Just because she spent the night with the wraith before her did not mean she offered her loyalty to him. It simply meant she was keeping her options open, and she would not deny the appeal he had—clearly a leader of a pack, and one she could perhaps place more trust in. She wanted a home. A family. And she would not make the same mistake of settling for something quickly.

“My interest might pique if you told me more of yourself,” she continued, only now daring to follow suit and stretch her slender frame across the snowy ground, ever so closer to him.