Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 81

**Charlotte**

The trees close around me as I slow, the snow softer here where the branches break the wind. My paws press into it, leaving clean marks behind me as I stop and turn, watching the yard through the gaps in the trunks. I turn just as Blake pushes through the trees, breath clouding in front of him, a bundle of clothes clutched in one hand. He slows when he sees me. “Hey,” he says quietly. His eyes flick over me before he turns his body slightly away, giving me space. “I’ve got clothes for you.” I step closer, the snow barely making a sound under my paws, and nudge his arm lightly. He huffs out a small breath, one hand coming up automatically to run through the fur at my neck. “Yeah, yeah. I know,” he murmurs. “Just… give me a second.” He moves a few steps to the side, placing the clothes down on a clear patch of snow before straightening and turning his back fully to me this time. “I won’t look,” he says. I step away from him, just enough, and let the shift take over. The cold rushes back in immediately, biting into my skin and stealing the warmth that had been sitting there seconds before. The cold burns, and my breath stutters out of me in a short, shaky exhale as I brace one hand against the ground. My other hand pulls instinctively toward my chest as I try to steady myself through the last of it. For a second, I just stay there, breathing and feeling. “You good?” Blake’s voice comes from in front of me now. I lift my head to see he’s already crouching, one hand reaching for the clothes he dropped, the other hovering just in front of me. His eyes stand on my face, respectfully, and I can see the worry in them. “I’m good,” I manage, though it comes out a little rougher than I mean it to.

He nods once and hands me the shirt first, then the rest, turning his head just enough to give me what little privacy he can while still staying close. “Here.” I take them quickly, pulling the shirt over my head quickly. It settles over my skin, trapping what little heat I have left, and I don’t realise how much I needed it until the cold stops biting quite so sharply. By the time I’ve pulled everything on and pushed myself up to my feet, he’s right there again, close enough that I can feel the heat coming off him. “You alright?” he asks, quieter this time. I nod, even though my limbs feel like jelly. “Yeah.” My fingers are still cold, and my breath is uneven. Everything in me feels a little… too much and not enough all at once. He watches me for a second longer, like he’s deciding something. Then he steps closer. The space between us disappears, and the warmth of him wraps around me. His hand comes to my arm first, then slides up slightly, rubbing once like he’s trying to bring feeling back into it. “You’re freezing,” he mutters. “I’m fine,” I say, but it doesn’t come out convincing. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I can tell.” He moves closer again, and without thinking about it, I lean just slightly into it. My hands come up to his shirt, fingers curling into the fabric as I try to pull some of that warmth closer. When I look up, he’s already looking at me, and the world narrows in a way I don’t understand, everything else falling back behind the space between us. His hand tightens slightly where it rests on my arm, the other hovering near my waist like he’s holding himself back. I can feel it. That pull. Low and steady and impossible to ignore. My breath catches as his dark brown eyes drop to my lips for half a second. Then they move back to mine. He leans in, and I can feel the warmth of his breath now, the faint brush of it against my lips— “Charlotte!” Charlie’s voice cuts through the trees, and I jerk back instinctively, the moment snapping clean in half as the world rushes back in all at once. My hands drop from Blake’s shirt, my breath catching hard as I turn toward the sound.

Charlie pushes through the trees a second later, already halfway to us, his eyes flicking between the two of us. “You good?” he asks, his voice tight. “Yep. I’m fine,” I say quickly. Blake steps back, clearing the space between us, dragging a hand through his hair. “Yeah,” he adds. “She’s good.” Charlie watches us for another second, and I pray to whoever is watching that he will just leave it alone. Then he nods, narrowing his eyes and jerking his head back toward the yard. “Alpha wants us out there again.” I glance at Blake. He’s already looking at me, but whatever was on his face a second ago is gone now. “Okay,” I say, focusing on the snow at my feet. Charlie turns, pushing back through the trees, and I let out a long breath. Blake waits for me to move before he falls into step beside me. “I’m sorry,” I say quietly before I can stop myself, and I see Blake’s head turn slightly. “For what?” I shrug. “For being weird.” That gets the smallest huff of laughter out of him. “You weren’t being weird.” I look down at the snow again as I mumble. “Felt a little weird.” He’s quiet for a second, then his fingers slide into mine, stopping me in my tracks. He turns, so I’m forced to look at him, or continue to be the awkward one. “It didn’t feel weird to me,” he says. Heat rushes straight into my face. I don’t know what to do with that, so I take my blush and keep walking. When we break through the trees, Mara glances at me, then at Blake, then down where our hands are joined and smiles into her mug. I look away immediately. What even is my life?