His voice came out wrecked, barely a rasp. He reached up to brush the tears from her cheek, thumb stroking along her jaw.
"How did you get so thin? Your wolf... I can barely sense her."
Raven only cried harder, pressing her face into his palm.
"These five years... I've thought about you every single day. Your scent haunts my dreams..."
Kael pulled out a territory credit seal and pressed it into her palm.
"Stop being stubborn. If you need anything—anything at all—come to me. The pack will provide."
"Kael, you're all I care about." Her voice trembled with practiced vulnerability. "I tried to forget your scent. I really did. But I couldn't..."
She tilted her face up to his, eyes glistening in the moonlight.
"What about you? Don't you think about me at all? Don't you remember how we used to be?"
The wind whipped her dark hair across her face.
Kael stared at her for three long heartbeats. I could see his chest rising and falling, could imagine the war happening behind those storm-gray eyes.
Then his head dipped down, and he kissed her.
His fingers tangled in her hair. Her arms wound around his neck. A soft whimper escaped her throat—or maybe it was a sound of triumph.