Up too early to have gotten much beauty sleep, Einar and I made a breakfast from handfuls of trail mix and a pair of apples. The resort buffet didn't open until seven and I wasn't about to put anyone out by demanding they make an exception for me, even though the staff had made it abundantly clear that this was acceptable behavior for a queen.

I took a quick shower, threw my hair into a loose braid, and we were off. A little before five we hustled into the suv, not that Uli was a concern. The Engen ranch was nearly impossible to reach in the winter months and closed to the public year round. Between the skiing and cozy chat, I suspected she'd gotten enough to spin any story she wanted. My dates with Nik were public knowledge. With Marcus tucked away in his corner of the world all winter, the rumor mill hadn't exactly been churning out stories concerning the two of us.

As my mileage ticked higher and a layer of fresh powder forced my pace slower, I wondered what price Uli'd pay to learn that my northerly friend was the only reason I couldn't look Nik in the eyes last night.

Absently I adjusted the length of cord around my neck; even in my prettiest gowns I'd kept the bear claw close, be it wrapped into a little anklet or tucked away in a dazzling clutch. Wearing it around Nik when he knew quite well that Marcus had given it to me wasn't exactly considerate, not when he was waiting patiently for our relationship to resume, but it carried too much meaning to cast aside.  

Despite the pride I felt at remembering my survival of Kasper and Queen Joronn, the necklace bore a lot of guilt, too. When would I be ready to press play and pick up where Nik and I'd left off?

In the pit of my stomach I knew I couldn't make that determination without seeing Marc again.

*

At the closest town to the ranch, more of a one-lane village if you asked me, a general goods store shared a winter business of snowmobile and ATV rentals with an adjacent auto body shop. Marcus waited outside the brick buildings,  browsing vehicles in the half-interested way I walked through candle stores while waiting for Becky to find a scent she liked.

The first time I'd been to the ranch, we'd bypassed this quaint place in favor of trails better-suited to the horses. Folks around here were charming and close-knit, I was sure, but from the lack of foot traffic and inns I hadn't missed out on much more than a clean cot in someone's attic.

I pulled into a deserted parking lot a few stores down.

Einar headed into a store to find an owner to talk about leaving the car overnight a few days, when in reality I was confident that he was trying to avoid being an awkward third wheel. Uninterested in my woes though he was, I'd held several one-sided discussions over the past months in an effort to break ground between us.  Cramming the keys into my jeans, I snatched my duffel bag from the trunk and tried to keep the bounce out of my step.

We were cool. We were friends. I'd just left a date with Nik.

Marcus had bent to read a price tag on a windshield when I ducked underneath his arm and squeezed my arms around his chest. "Hey, you."

He straightened at my touch, but his sharp turn-of-head softened into a tiny nod when he recognized the messy blonde who'd invaded his personal space. The arm I'd scooted under pulled my shoulders against his dark leather jacket, where the faint scent of cedar and straw clung. 

"Allison!" His low voice held more warmth than the sunshine melting icicles off nearby awnings. "It has been a long time."

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," I said, backing off to get a good long look at him. He was a little scruffier than I remembered -hadn't shaved in a few days, not that that was a sin- but winter looked good on him. From weathered boots to slick jeans to the fitted gray henley exposed by his unzipped jacket, he was the sort of man you'd want carrying the wood to your fireplace.

"I might know," he said, and there was a twinkle in his brown eyes.

 I lifted my braid off my neck to aleviate the sudden temperature shift. My mind dashed off to the races faster than I'd imagined. "Shopping for a new toy?" I asked, gently nudging a runner of the snowmobile I'd caught him examining.

"Not currently." He glanced behind me expectantly. "I thought there was one more coming?"

"He's just making sure we can park here; he'll be out any second now. So, how've you been?"

Folding his arms, he leaned against the door of a neighboring ATV. "Busy. There are many requests for foals and demands for Gull to stand at the ranch for breeding. I have told them she is all yours."

"Can't blame 'em for asking. She's a gorgeous mare and patient enough to tolerate me." Not wanting to sour the mood, I left out the part where I was going to ask him to take her back to the ranch. There wasn't a place for her in Boston, and none of my queenly wealth carried over to my pitiful bank account back home. "Actually, she's taken to a cat that's been hanging around the stables since Oslo's first snowstorm. Great big silver beast with a mane. Sleeps in her stall and hisses at everyone. One of the stablehands called it a Forest cat, but I'm pretty sure it's a lion. When he's not skewering my palms, I've been trying to clean him up into a respectable baron."

With the slightest smile Marcus reached out for my nearest mitten and tugged it off with a quick flick of his wrist. The exposed fingers he drew into his own. I leaned in as far as balance allowed without our bodies touching. "These hands of yours take much abuse."

"Long as they heal I'm happy."

"Someone did a fine job stitching up Amy's bite." He traced a line in my palm lightly enough that I almost shivered.

Instead, I swatted a firm shoulder with my free hand and collected the other. "So fine I might pretend it never happened if he keeps bragging." 

He nodded, raising his voice and himself in the direction of a fast-approaching Einar. "Ah, hello there. You must be her guardian."

"I'm twenty-one in two weeks. That's a little old for guardianship," I insisted, ushering them within range of a proper greeting. "Marcus, Einar." The men shook hands and the silence between them made it clear there existed equal amounts of caution and respect. 

"We're good with parking?" 

Einar nodded and patted his own bag, half the size of mine and better-packed.

"What do you say we get going then?" I asked.

Marcus directed us towards an onyx off-roading truck at the curb. Tires that large were probably the only things that could get us out to the ranch when there wasn't quite enough snow for smaller vehicles, but too much for regular cars.

A rope secured our bags in the wide bed and then I squished myself into the backseat, leaving Einar the roomier front. The driver's door shut and I leaned into the gap between the men as the engine roared to life.

"You know, Marc, I never picture you driving anything. It's kind of, I don't know. Tame." Horseback riding had terrified me until his family had set me up on Gull, and now I rather missed the winding pace through the countryside. I'd developed a keen appreciation for the activity, and seeing Marcus without his beloved horses just felt wrong.

He glanced over his shoulder as the truck rolled through frost heaves. "I do live in this century."

"I wish your mattresses did," I teased, ducking out of range from a playful shove. "Please tell me you guys upgraded from straw."

"Bears would love such cozy beds to rest their heads on, but there is always the couch for a stubborn one." 

"Where you boarding us up anyway? Eirik's not sleeping in the stable loft again, is he?"

"Nils and his wife moved to Stavanger, so you may have his room."

"And Einar?" He'd never ask, so I had to.

"We bought a cot."

After about an hour of peppered questions and answers -about Nils' wedding and my time in Oslo- the truck ground to a halt. Through snow-covered pines I spotted the beginnings of a bridge and, more distantly, patches of open grass and horse trails. Marcus swung his door open and gestured for Einar to slide across, which he did after a moment's reluctance.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked when Marc came around to my side and popped the door. "Home is literally right down the road."

He glanced at Einar's stoic expression then flattened the seat.  He held his hand palm-up to make my hop into the soft snow easier. There wasn't much of it, a good six inches or so and less out from under the shadows of the forest. Below the melting snow the earth was softening and that got me hopeful for spotting bear tracks. "Walk with me?"

"Of course. We'll meet you there, Einar. Go inside and get warm." Closing the door, I waved poor Einar on towards the house. He wouldn't completely obey, but when he'd rolled across wooden bridge planks, I felt secure enough to let out a relieved sigh.

"You know how long it's been since I've been alone?" I asked, twirling in the fresh air and dappled sunshine. "I'm a goldfish in a first grade classroom."

"You aren't alone now," he observed, catching my arm when my boot slid on mushy tire tracks. With a quick thanks I strolled on ahead of him a few paces, trying to be more careful while absorbing the steady tranquility surrounding us.

Arms out for balance, I walked backwards in slow steps to keep Marc in my sight. "I'm as alone as I want to be. That never happens. When I wanted a gift for Becky's daughter, they cleared out the store and the next thing I knew the manager was waving outfits in my face. When I want to go for a run people come with me. When I go into the library there's a man outside the door. I thought the life of a queen was filled with freedom."

"When we change shoes sometimes we find that definitions of words do not stay the same." He strolled at a leisurely pace, hands behind his back. "You need to find the meaning that suits you."

"I'm a grown woman. You'd think I'd have figured out my definitions by now. I think about my future and it's blank." I gestured at the well put-together man before me, completely at home with himself and his world. I craved that self-assurance and confidence for myself. "Look at you. You've always known what you wanted."

"Life takes time to sort out. The pieces do not all come together because we turn another year older." He spoke with the faintest wistfulness, and I remembered our conversation about marriage when we'd met, the pressure his parents had put on him for a younger brother getting hitched before he had. If there was anything he'd have wanted resolved by now, it was that.

"Well, I'm hoping to sort mine out before I'm an old maid."

The nearer we got to the bridge, his long strides picked up speed. A moment later he'd tugged me off the road. "I have something that belongs to you. The house is not very private and I...here." He passed over a small, white box tied with a simple red string.

"What's this?"

"A gift."

I snared a finger in one bow loop. "Not a bear-shaped one I hope?"

 "You are probably tired of that."

"Yeah." I waved towards the bridge. "I actually have something for you, too. It's in my bag though. We can wait and open together-"

"It is personal," he began, almost nervous. "I was not sure if you wanted to open this in front of others." Curious, I glanced at the box in my hand and untied the string. Inside, embedded in soft, cotton-like material, lay a necklace. My heart jumped into my throat as the pack's foreboding howl stormed my mind.

On a soft leather chord hung a fang, adorned at the root by a silver wolf with the deep, stately lines and curves of a viking's Fenrir totem. His mouth hung open, surrounding the tooth as if he were swallowing a crescent moon.

The gift trembled in my palm. Marcus steadied it with a firm grip. "One of your wolves, the fellow with a charred muzzle. Their bodies I buried. The pelts were beyond saving."

"When I couldn't make it back out there because of my shoulder, I thought for sure they were scattered bones." I traced the curved edge, reverent, honored. My voice caught in the depths of my throat, but I managed to croak "How?"

"In the belongings you left behind there was the adjusted map. The herder pointed me in the right direction. It was a long trip. You are a terrible map reader."

My smile faltered as emotions plucked at my nerves. That night strength emerged through terror and agony. "With Einar on the job you won't have to worry about that for a while." At least until I followed Nik's lead and left the position he'd appointed me to.  It wasn't the idea of leaving, however, that moistened my eyes. "I can't believe you found them, or that you even bothered to try."

"Respect is important."

"It is." To this day I still felt awful for what I had to do to survive, but now I could honor them properly. Marcus had given them a dignified rest. I didn't have words to express how I felt. Instead, I threw myself against him. Unprepared, he took a surprised step backward and bumped a young pine. The tree shivered, branches pouring wet droplets and fine powder. "Thank you," I mumbled in the shower of snow, trying to keep tears off his jacket.

"You are very welcome." He seemed almost hesitant as he ran a hand along the braided sections of my hair, knocking off the cold debris. Probably didn't quite expect that reaction. I certainly hadn't; thank God I hadn't received this in front of his family. I didn't want to have to explain that night again. It was so much more than woman vs wild. I stepped backward to gather my thoughts and slip the necklace on. I touched on the first he'd given me, the bear claw that'd helped to save my life against Kasper, and smiled.

"You're amazing."

He shook flakes from his short, sandy hair, bashful and proud then abruptly somber.  "How have your dates with the Prince gone?"

I shoved the empty box into my coat pocket. "He's not a prince."

His attention fixed on my mitten-covered fingers, likely searching for the telltale bump of a diamond through the thin fabric. "A king then?"

"No."

"And why is that?"

Because I have a crush on you. But I didn't know how to say it or if I could. There was no looking over my shoulder if I did, no going back to Nik this time. Was it a good idea, taking a chance on a relationship distance was bound to kill when I had a happy marriage in my pocket?

Realizing I hadn't answered, I rocked on my heels and rubbed my palms together.  "Gosh, I'm freezing. We should get moving before Einar comes looking for us."

A frown appeared at the suggestion, but he flourished a hand and bowed. "Lead the way, Your Majesty."

We walked in silence until our feet hit the bridge. At the first post I paused, filled with the same cheer I'd felt the first time I'd laid eyes on the place. "Not flinging me over your shoulder today?"

He winked, coming just close enough to catch my shoulders. "Not unless you want me to."

I tilted my chin to look up at him. "I think there are better positions for carrying a lady."

 "I will keep that in mind for next time." His fingers relaxed and I skipped out of his grip with a smile tucked away on my sleeve, feeling more playful than I had in a long time.