The snowstorm swallowed every sound except my own ragged breathing. I could barely feel my fingers anymore—just the sting of cold and the dull throb of fear. The world had become white, endless, and cruel.

Then a shadow cut through the storm.

“Hey!” A voice—low, urgent. “Stay with me.”

I blinked up, disoriented, and James’s face came into focus. Snow clung to his dark hair, melting against the heat of his skin. I didn’t know how he’d found me, but the moment his arms slid beneath me, lifting me from the ice, the tension in my chest cracked.

“You…?” My voice trembled worse than my body.

“Of course I.” His jaw flexed as he shifted me closer, shielding me from the wind. “You’re freezing.”

He carried me toward the small medical outpost of our village—more a cabin than a clinic, but right now it felt like salvation. The door slammed shut behind us, cutting off the roar of the storm. Warmth hit me immediately, but my bones still shook.

He set me down on the exam cot, his hands already tugging off my soaked gloves, checking my pulse, brushing frost from my lashes with a gentleness that made my chest ache.

“James…” I whispered, breath fogging between us.

He looked at me then—really looked—and something fierce flashed in his eyes. Something possessive, frustrated, relieved all at once.

“You could’ve died out there,” he muttered. “What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t expect the storm to—”

He cupped the back of my neck, steadying me when I swayed.

“You need me, bunny,” he said, voice rough, almost a growl. “So let me help you. Let me keep you warm.”

The way he said it shouldn’t have heated me more than the blankets he pulled over my body.

But it did.