Chapter 16.2

“I get that,” Nuri murmured, guilt twisting in her chest. “But if she needed more, wouldn’t she have forced her way out?”

‘I’m not mad, Nuri. You didn’t do it to hurt me. But yeah… I needed more. Let’s just admit we both got it wrong and fix it.’

“You talk about boundaries, and I know she crossed one recently,” Kalmin said, his voice quieter now. “But I believe you when you say it was the first time. If she’d ever taken control for anything less than saving your life, you would’ve felt the same.”

‘Tempest would’ve stayed silent until Nuri died of old age before she ever did that,’ Rian added.

“Rian says she would’ve let you die before forcing control,” Kalmin translated, rolling his eyes when Rian protested the paraphrasing.

“I can admit when I’m wrong,” Nuri said softly. “I’m sorry, Tempest. Maybe tonight, we try your way?”

She grinned when she felt the delighted yip inside her.

“Be careful. It takes getting used to,” Kalmin said, rising to his feet. He washed his hands, tossed the trash, and waited by the door.

∞∞∞

‘Do you want to take over?’ Tempest asked, pawing at a shallow puddle and flicking water up her legs to wash the clinging beach sand away. She and Rian had walked the shoreline for hours. Her muscles hummed, her heart light. Still, she offered. Fairness mattered—especially with Nuri.
‘No. Kalmin was right. This is your time.’ Nuri’s voice was soft, almost dreamy, watching through Tempest’s eyes as Rian dipped his paws into the waves nearby. ‘It’s kind of funny…they share hair color but not eye color, while we share both.’
‘You’re right. I hadn’t noticed.’ Tempest glanced at Rian’s towering frame and eased back onto her haunches, watching him finish his little ritual. ‘I wonder what our pups would look like,’ she mused—meaning to keep the thought to herself.
‘Oh my god, Tempest!’ Nuri wheezed, embarrassment flaring as the image hit her—then spiraled, because naturally, her brain went straight to the part where they’d make those pups. ‘Seriously? You’re thinking about that now?’
‘What else am I supposed to think about?’ Tempest asked, distracted, watching as Rian gripped a stick in his teeth and began tracing it through the dirt. At first, she assumed it was mindless drawing, but the lines had purpose. Letters. Words. She padded closer and settled beside him, curious.
‘I don’t know—maybe the giant life decision we still haven’t made?’ Nuri almost said it, then stopped herself. Tempest deserved to enjoy this moment, not spiral into doubt again. ‘What’s he writing?’
‘Eat? I’m starving.’ Tempest read, then barked in mock outrage and yanked the stick from his mouth. She scrawled back her reply with a dramatic flourish: ‘Already?’
‘What does she mean already? It’s been hours!’ Kalmin muttered from Rian’s side. ‘How is Nuri the one with the bigger appetite?’
Rian read her message, then took the stick back and replied: ‘Home? We run.’
Tempest’s ears perked. She practically vibrated with excitement, circling him in agreement before bolting eastward—until Rian darted behind her, swiping at her hind legs to catch her attention and tilt his head south instead. She huffed at the correction, then grinned and fell into step beside him.
They ran in tandem, paws thudding in rhythm over the earth for nearly four miles until Kalmin’s farmhouse came into view. The moment it did, a new problem bloomed.
‘We left our clothes in Kalmin’s car. What now? Shift and stroll in naked?’ Tempest stopped halfway up the gravel drive, watching Rian veer toward the side of the house. ‘Where’s he going?’ she muttered, following reluctantly.
Rian reached a particular spot along the brick wall and pushed in with his muzzle. A click, then a smooth thunk—a hidden panel opened, revealing a tunnel entrance.
‘Of course he has a secret passage. Why wouldn’t he?’ Tempest muttered, a flicker of something sharp and unspoken rising in her chest.
‘Wow… he put so much into this,’ Nuri whispered, awe threading through her voice as they stepped inside. She’d expected dirt and utility—a crude way in for Rian when he couldn’t shift. But this? Brick walls lined with motion-triggered LED strips lit their path with every step, and the floor was covered in a pristine red-and-black mat that muffled their footfalls. No detail had been missed. Her heart ached.
Kalmin hadn’t built this with words. He’d built it with devotion. Quiet, unwavering, and full of meaning. She couldn’t help but wonder if he could ever love her that way—so fully that it left no room for doubt.
‘This is so cool,’ Tempest breathed, her voice hushed with wonder as the tunnel opened into a small, cozy bedroom, lit by a large fireplace. A floor bed dominated the space, layered with thick deer pelts and fur throws. It smelled like safety, like pine, cedar, and him.
She padded in slowly, her eyes lingering on everything—the water dispenser with a foot pedal, the wall-mounted hunting trophies, the scuffs in the wood where claws had scratched during restless pacing. Everything about this place pulsed with Rian’s presence.
‘You never even got your own passageway. Or a bed,’ Nuri whispered, her voice breaking with quiet emotion. ‘I’ve been failing you on levels I didn’t know existed.’ While she understood to some extent why Kalmin changed after Rian threatened to revolt, seeing the care Kalmin took for his soul firsthand, put it into a whole new perspective.
‘No one’s ever done anything like this for their soul. Not like Kalmin has,’ Tempest murmured. She stepped forward and curled into the bed, dragging part of the pelt over her back with her teeth. Her body sank into the softness, every muscle loosening, but her mind didn’t quiet—not with Rian watching her like that.
His eyes tracked her every move. Amused. Warm. Wanting.
He stepped forward, silent and sure, then climbed onto the bed with a grace that made her breath catch. His body brushed hers, fur against fur, heat radiating between them like a live wire.
Tempest’s heartbeat thudded louder as he lowered his head—slowly, deliberately—and rested it atop hers. Not just a gesture of comfort. A claim. A promise.
She didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Her breath came shallow, aware of every inch where they touched and every place where they didn’t. His scent wrapped around her like smoke, woodsmoke and hunger, filling every corner of her senses.
‘Are we sleeping here?’ Nuri asked, her voice small, caught between awe and nerves.
‘I want to,’ Tempest answered, her voice low, thick with something deeper than exhaustion.
They lay there, hearts aligned, and for the first time in days, she felt whole. But not still. Never still—not when he was this close.
Not when the space between them buzzed with everything unspoken.