Connell

Chapter Twenty Five

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Winter was easy for us.

It came and went faster than it ever had before.

The snow started to melt only mere months after it began, and the darkness finally started to break. My guess was that it was only the beginning of February, an odd and early month for the season to come to an end, but I knew the snow could return again.

The river carried it all away on its own time, every melted snowflake and mountain glacier; we watched it all flood the small valley of the river and drift away in a raging current. And before we knew it, everything in the world finally fell into place, and spring was just around the corner.

Our time spent cooped up in the cabin together seemed to be a dream. We kept each other warm, all in a dormant state that sometimes lasted for days, and the cold from the outside was just a second thought to us.

I've realized for the first time in forever, I wish winter would have stayed.

Every carcass that had been killed and kept in the ground for the winter was dug up and feasted on. We never once felt hunger. That was something Kota and I weren't used to feeling. We savoured it.

The lazy pull of being fully fed and warm in the thickness of furs took a nice toll on us all. I even noticed that the weight we each put on in our idle state seems to stay. It filled in every bony curve and hollowed rib around its edges, and I even happily noticed the meat on my hips and stomach keep their rightful place, my ribs no longer showing.

As for right now, I lay back against Connell's chest as the sun beams down on us, heating both our bodies together. It's been a while since we've had such nice weather, so we all bathed in the river earlier as the sun kept the water bearable for us to wash. It was our day of grooming, I think to myself, as Connell finishes braiding my hair.

I let out a content sigh while staring off into the river, and I feel Connell move his fingers away from the strands of hair and wrap his arms around me. We watch Kota off in the distance, and I feel his cheek gently lay on top of my head.

Kota's wolf has been practicing catching fish in the river ever since the ice had melted. He was eager to finally go back to chasing them all down the current, a sort of revenge for when they all used to tease him underneath the winter's ice.

He's caught quite a few, but rarely ever shares, and I laugh at the thought.

Connell's arms tighten around me and I feel his lips come near my ear.

"What's so funny?" He whispers.

I softly shake my head, a smile still playing on my face.

"Nothing," I say, still gazing over at Kota.

It's calming, listening to the silence around us. The trees and the river so familiar that I have to really listen to hear anything at all. For years it's been like this, a piece of home.

But despite the intimacy of it all, the sound that calms me the most in this moment is the heartbeat faint against my back. Listening to his breathing, letting my eyes close shut from the feeling of his arms holding me. It's all I could've asked for.

When I don't say anything after a minute, I feel his lips press against my ear, barely grazing skin, and I lean my head back further against him.

It's a slow kiss to my skin, gentle and lasting. He slightly pulls away for a moment, his nose going to rest on my cheek, breathing me in. I smell of him completely, something his wolf makes sure of nearly every day.