"When you went back for it, was anyone else at the burial grounds?"
His eyes darted away, finding sudden interest in the carriage window.
"It was freezing. The place was empty. Not even the groundskeeper wolves were about."
We rode back to the den in silence.
I closed my eyes, pretending to rest, but caught the slight curve at the corner of his lips through my lashes.
I hadn't seen that expression in five years.
Alive. Animated. Brimming with barely contained joy. His whole body hummed with an energy that had been absent since the night of our mating feast, when everything shattered.
Ever since my sire died—throwing himself between me and Raven's rushing vehicle—Kael had always been so careful around me. Muted. Walking on eggshells. Treating me like something fragile that might break if he spoke too loudly or moved too fast.
Everyone in the territory thought we had the perfect ending. The tragic young Alpha and his devoted Omega mate, bound together by sacrifice and loss. In reality, we'd turned our mating bond into something politely frozen. Two wolves sharing a den but never truly touching.