They walked the short distance to a flatter shelf of rock where the wind cut less sharply. The beast-kin woman kept a measured space between them—close enough for clear speech, far enough that neither could close the gap without deliberate intent. Late light caught the reflective ring in her eyes and the fine pattern of fur along her forearms and the backs of her hands.
"You removed a problem that had been testing my boundaries for days," she said. "I owe you clean thanks for that. The pack would have forced a fight I preferred to avoid."
"You're welcome."
Aiden's A-rank senses mapped her without effort. Strong, steady, distinctly other. No immediate hostility. The same senses also registered the low, involuntary pull her presence exerted on the incubus side of his nature.
She was rare, physically striking, and alone with him on an empty ridge under failing light. The hunger was there. He felt it clearly—sharp, specific, and already catalogued.
He did not act on it.
