Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 40

**Charlotte**

I wake up with a cold still in my bones and moonlight still behind my eyes. For a second, I’m back at the lake. With my skates on, breath fogging, Lex’s fur pressed against my back like a wall against the wind, the world quiet enough that my thoughts stopped sprinting and just… sat. My body feels lighter in that strange way it does after you cry without anyone seeing you, like something unclenched even if nothing has changed. Then the house reminds me it’s a house. The ceiling stain is there. The air is too cold. The silence isn’t peaceful; it’s waiting. Shanti stirs before I even sit up. *Morning,* she says, soft as breath. I blink into the dark and keep my voice inside my head because saying it out loud still feels like I’m admitting something. *Morning*. Then there’s a faint warmth in my chest that feels like approval. *You’re listening,* Shanti murmurs. I swallow and swing my legs out of bed. The floor bites my feet through my socks. I pull on my school uniform, tie my hair back, and move through the room slowly so the boards don’t creak too loudly. Down the hall, Charlie’s door is half open. I push it gently and peek in. He’s awake, sitting on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, hair messy, eyes fixed on nothing like he’s running yesterday through his head again and again. He looks up the moment he senses me. “Hey,” he says quietly. “Hey,” I reply. I step closer and lower my voice. “How’s Dad?” Charlie exhales. “Quiet. Still asleep, I think.” I nod once, because that’s the best news we ever get. Charlie watches me for a beat, then his eyes narrow slightly. “Where did you go last night?” he asks. I shrug like it’s nothing. “Just… down the road.” Charlie’s mouth tightens. He doesn’t like secrets between us. We share everything. I open my mouth to explain, but Shanti murmurs. Tell him enough. “The lake,” I say. Charlie’s eyes widen a fraction, then soften. “Did you skate?” I nod, and he swallows, shoulders loosening like he understands that kind of escape. “Okay.” He pauses, then adds, quieter, “Were you alone?” My chest pulls faintly at the question, as the bond heard it too. I look away, not wanting to see any disapproval in him. “No.” Charlie’s jaw clenches. “Blake?” I don’t confirm it with words. I don’t need to. My silence does it for me.

Charlie lets out a breath, slow and controlled, like he’s trying not to snap. Then his eyes flick to mine. “Did he… do anything?” he asks carefully, like he hates that he has to ask. “No,” I say immediately. “He just… stayed there, well, his wolf did. He didn’t come near me until I went near him.”Charlie’s gaze holds mine for a moment, reading my face. “Did that help?” he asks. I nod once and play with my fingers. “Yeah.” Charlie looks down at his hands. His fingers flex once like he’s working out what to do with that answer. Then he sighs again and says, “Okay.” It surprises me more than anything else. I step closer and touch his shoulder lightly. “I wasn’t doing anything stupid,” I whisper. “I just needed… air.” Charlie nods, still looking at his hands. “I get it.” We stay quiet for a second. Then my stomach reminds me it exists, tight and empty, and I pull my bag strap over my shoulder. “I’ve got work,” I tell him. Charlie stands fast. “I’ll walk with you.”

We move downstairs together, quieter than we need to be. Dad is sprawled on the couch, blanket half on, arm hanging off the side. The TV is still on low, some morning show playing to no one. Charlie’s eyes flick to him and away. The street is pale under a thin layer of snow when we step outside. We walk fast, shoulders hunched, hands tucked into sleeves. After a minute, Charlie speaks again, voice low. “Do you think we should tell Dad?” I almost choke on my own breath. “About… us?” I ask. Charlie nods, and I stare ahead at the road and shake my head slowly. “Not yet.” Charlie huffs a laugh with no humour. “Yeah. That sounds about right.” Shanti stirs in the back of my mind. *Not safe,* she whispers. *What’s not safe?* I ask, but she doesn’t answer. She goes quiet in my mind and lets me circle on that thought throughout the walk.

We reach the main road and keep going, and then, like it’s happened to me too many times to count now, the pull in my chest tightens. I glance toward the treeline without thinking, but I can’t see Lex. Then I smell cedar and smoke, faint on the wind, and my gaze flicks across the street. Blake is there. In his uniform, backpack on one shoulder, hands in his pockets like he’s just another student heading to school early. The second my eyes catch him, he straightens slightly, then stops himself, like he doesn’t want to spook me. Charlie slows, then stops properly, feet planted in the snow. He lifts his hand and waves across the road. “Hey mate,” he calls out. “What are you doing out so early?” Charlie glances at me, then back at Blake, and then he finally connects the dots properly. His brows lift and his mouth parts slightly. “Oh,” he says, quieter. Then he scratches the back of his neck like he’s suddenly aware of his own awkwardness. “Yeah. Right.” I feel heat creep into my cheeks even though the air is freezing. The mate bond tugs once, soft but insistent, like it’s pleased he’s been acknowledged. Charlie clears his throat and tries again, forcing casual into his voice. “You wanna walk with us?” he asks, like it’s no big deal, like he hasn’t spent the last day bristling at the idea of Blake being too close. “I was just gonna make sure Lotty gets to work safe.” Blake looks at Charlie for a second, then his gaze flicks to me. He checks my face like he’s asking permission without words. Then he steps off the curb and crosses the road, boots crunching over snow, keeping his hands in his pockets like he’s trying to look normal even though there’s nothing normal about him walking toward me with that scent wrapping around the air. He stops a polite distance away and lifts his chin slightly at Charlie. “You don’t mind?” he asks, voice careful. Charlie lets out a short laugh, the kind that tries to turn tension into something easier. “Would you stop following us if I did?” Blake’s smirks. “Probably not.” Charlie snorts. “At least you’re honest.”

I stare down at the snow for a second, suddenly too aware of my own breathing, my own heartbeat. Charlie starts walking again, and Blake falls into step on my other side. As we keep moving toward town, I realise this is the first time Charlie and I have ever let someone else help keep us safe.