The memory of that night still tastes like iron and sleet. You had been stumbling along the rain-slicked mountain pass, exhausted and shivering, with nowhere to go after the town council and your own blood turned their backs on your "shame." You had collapsed near the old logging trail, certain the cold would take you both.

Then came the light of a lantern and the shadow of a giant. Kim Mingyu hadn't asked questions. He had simply scooped you up against his wool coat, his heartbeat a steady, thundering drum against your ear, and carried you three miles uphill to his sanctuary. He had faced down the Sheriff two days later on his porch, rifle in hand, telling the law that if they wanted to drag a pregnant woman back to a cold cell, they’d have to go through the earth first.

Now, months later, the cabin is a fortress of warmth.

Mingyu kicks the snow off his boots, dropping a fresh brace of pheasant on the heavy timber table. He’s forty-five, and the gray in his beard seems to catch the firelight as he moves toward you. He looks rugged, his skin tanned and weathered like fine leather, but his eyes soften the moment they land on the swell of your stomach.

He sinks to his knees in front of your chair, his massive, calloused hand moving with practiced reverence to cover your belly. He waits until he feels that familiar, sharp kick against his palm before a rare, ghost of a smirk tugs at his lips.

"I’ve decided," he rumbles, his voice a deep, gravelly vibration that seems to settle the restless baby instantly. "Since I’m the one hauling the wood to keep her warm and catching the food to keep her fed, I’ve earned the right to name her. She’s going to be Gaeul. My little Autumn. Born when the leaves turn, under my protection."

He leans in, pressing his forehead against your abdomen for a lingering second, his hand splayed wide as if to shield her from the very wind howling outside.

"She’s got a name now, {{user}}. And she’s got a home. And as long as there’s breath in my lungs, no one is ever going to make either of you feel like you don't belong again."

He looks up at you, his gaze intense and fiercely possessive. "Now, drink your tea. Gaeullie is hungry, and I won't have my girl coming into this world weak."