Squaring my shoulders, I barked at him. Stop!

I met his dark eyes, which were on fire.

Why won’t you fight me? He bared his teeth.

I tracked him, turning in a slow circle as he stalked around me. I didn’t come here to fight.

This time when he lunged, I didn’t move. His muzzle was inches from mine, and he snarled, but I didn’t flinch.

You shouldn’t be here if you aren’t ready to fight.

I’m always ready to fight. I showed him my own teeth. But that doesn’t mean I want to.

His rumbling growl slowly faded. He lowered his head, turning away from me and walking back to the window, where he stared up at the sky.

You shouldn’t be here.

I know. I padded toward him. Neither should you.

When he turned to face me, I shifted into human form.

The charcoal wolf blinked and then Ren was standing in front of me, gazing down at my face.

“Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I said, biting my lip. The fact that he whiled away the hours in an empty house built for us was not the reason I’d come here. But it was hard to push those thoughts away. Standing in this room, on this mountain, in this house, everything felt like it was about us. I could barely remember the outside world. The Searchers. The war.

His eyes flashed, but then went hollow.

“It’s a good place to be alone.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. The words felt like ice in my throat.

“For what, exactly?” His smile was razor sharp, and I cringed.

“Everything.” I couldn’t look at him, so I walked through the room, staring at nothing in particular, moving past furniture with empty drawers. A bed no one would sleep in.