Page 178 of The Heart of Winter

"Your son is waiting for your help too," Blue said suddenly, his voice sharp again. "He should be more important than your business."

Jacob shot him a hard look. Blue really wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. But to be honest, I started to like him.

"We’ll see how much truth there is to all this," Jacob growled. "Get the permits, Blue."

SARIEL

The first few days after discovering the wetlands felt almost euphoric.

Once the stomach cramps, bloating, and nausea from overeating had passed, and our bodies adjusted to the increased food intake, we could finally enjoy the feeling of being full.

We did as Winter suggested, brought supplies back to the cave, and spent the next two days recovering, regaining our strength. We boiled young fern shoots and cattail roots for fiber and ate clam and mussel meat, also fried eggs, cooking them on a hot stone.

It felt almost surreal, as if we were in a trance, barely able to believe that our luck had finally changed.

Sometimes we were just sitting next to the fire pit, staring at the shrimps frying and just… yeah. Staring! Waiting, salivating.

Two days later, we had eaten through our supplies. But now, we were much stronger. We returned to the wetlands to restock.

This time, we collected eggs again but were far more cautious. Winter even managed to catch a few small fish that had carelessly wandered into a shallow branch of the stream. I found two freshwater snails—another small way to diversify our diet.

With our regained strength, we could finally stomp out a proper ‘HELP’ sign in the snow-covered grass on the volcano’s slope. What was interesting was that Winter didn’t ask how it was possible I was suddenly walking without an issue, my leg healthy again.

It was just one of those things we didn’t talk about, both of us quietly avoidingthe conversation. I already knew the answer, but for some reason, I wasn’t in any rush to get there. It had taken on a strange kind of charm, like a secret I wasn’t quite ready to uncover.

We walked everywhere together, which was beneficial because we could collect more branches and logs to build bigger fires. All day long, we grilled mussels, clams, snails and fish, then stared at the food—then ate it—and then went right back into prep mode, almost like in a trance.

Crazy, crazy, euphoric days.

One might think we were overdoing it with the joy, but we allowed ourselves some leniency after everything we’d been through.

It seemed almost miraculous that just in a few days our situation had changed so drastically.

Fortunately, those ten days of starvation hadn’t done permanent damage to our bodies, and after about four days of eating again, we felt significantly better. Our normal energy returned.

Since our food was mostly lean protein, with only small amounts of fish fat, we didn’t gain much weight. We were both wiry and sharp-edged, but no longer starving.

Those days were unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Sometimes, we’d just lay out our supplies in front of us, double-checking, triple-checking, that we had enough to last the day. Counting mussels, clams, shrimp, even cattail roots! Almost obsessively.

Then we’d sit by the fire, savoring every bite, boiled seafood, eggs cooked in repurposed peanut cans, young fern stems, and seaweed salads made from the plants we found in the warm pools.

We didn’t have salt, but we didn’t care. We just sat there, chewing, appreciating every mouthful, basking in the simple joy of eating.

Offullness.

Of knowing that tomorrow would bring the same.

***

It was our fourth night after discovering the wetlands. Winter and I lay down to sleep on our makeshift mattresses, our bodies warm and relaxed from a bath.

As I settled beside him and caught his sweet scent, something in me shifted, a subtle but distinct change.

HisAllure… it wasn't like that of a beta anymore. It was intense and seductive, easy to catch now that I was without my suppressants. It whispered to me on every level, saying, "It's HIM, you found HIM!", but I kept my mouth shut, basking in the mysterious atmosphere, knowing and feeling excited about it, but leaving it as a secret.

As I lay there, something new happened. My mind finally moved on from its obsession with food, and another, almost forgotten need began to surface.

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