Julian Stone had loved no one in a hundred years, and tonight he wanted to break that habit. He stood at his manor window, watching lamplight glow beyond his gate. His curse kept him pale and cold, and it kept him alone. No mortal ever climbed his hill. No mortal ever knocked. He had wealth, a grand house, and endless nights, but the empty rooms behind him said the truth. To win a heart, he first needed to stand near one. So he did the thing he dreaded most. He left. He walked down the hill and into the town square. People filled the benches under the cherry trees. Pink blossoms drifted onto their shoulders and hair. Julian kept to the shadows, sure someone would scream when they saw his face. A child pointed. A woman pulled her coat tight. He stopped, ready to turn back to his cold, safe rooms. Then a woman near the trees dropped her basket. Apples rolled across the stones toward his feet. She hurried after them, laughing at herself. Julian knelt and gathered them without thinking. When he looked up, he braced for her fear. Rose Waters did not flinch. She smiled at him, warm and easy, like they were old friends. "You saved my dinner," she said. She took the apples from his cold hands and did not pull away. "You're freezing. Have you eaten?" Julian could not speak. No mortal had touched him in decades. Her fingers were warm against his. Petals fell between them and settled on the basket. "I come here most nights," Rose said. "The trees are pretty after dark. Nobody bothers me." She tilted her head. "You look like you needed somewhere to sit." She pointed to the bench beside her. Julian hesitated, then sat. The wood held her warmth. She talked about small things, the fruit stall, the wind, a song she liked. She did not ask why his skin was so pale. She did not ask why he only came at night. She just talked, and she listened when he answered. For the first time in a hundred years, Julian was not alone. His plan had worked better than he hoped. He had left his manor, and he had found her. But as the square emptied, Rose stood and brushed petals from her dress. "Same time tomorrow?" she asked. Julian nodded before he could stop himself. Then he saw the fear he had been dreading, though not on her face. Across the square, a lean gray wolf watched him from the dark. Its eyes were too knowing, too human, and they were fixed on Rose. Julian knew that stare. He had worn it himself. He had finally found someone. Now something else had found her too.

Julian returned to the square the next night, early. He had spent the day pacing his cold rooms, hunting for words. He knew what the wolf was. He knew its eyes because he carried the same curse. But he could not say that to Rose. If he warned her, she would ask how he knew. And when he answered, she would run, the way others had run before. So he came with no plan, only fear. Rose waited under the cherry trees. Petals drifted down and caught in her hair. She smiled when she saw him and patted the bench. "You came back," she said. "I wasn't sure you would." Julian sat. His hands felt like stone. "Rose, I have to tell you something. It will sound strange." "Say it anyway," she said. He opened his mouth. Nothing came. How could he explain the wolf without explaining himself? He looked at her warm brown eyes and lost his nerve. "There is an animal near here," he managed. "A wolf. It watches you. Please be careful walking home." Rose tilted her head. "A wolf? In town?" "I saw it last night. It stared at you the whole time." She studied his face. Her smile faded, not into fear, but into something softer. "You're afraid for me," she said. "But you're not telling me everything. Your hands are shaking." Julian pulled his hands back. "I've said too much already." "No." She reached out and took his cold fingers again, the way she had the first night. "I saw it too, Julian. Last week. A gray wolf by the fountain. It looked at me like it knew me." She swallowed. "I told myself I imagined it. But I didn't, did I?" Julian stared at her. She was not running. She was leaning closer. "No," he said. "You didn't imagine it. It's real. And it isn't only a wolf." "Then what is it?" He stopped at the edge of the truth. He could not cross it, not yet. "Something like me," he said. "That's all I can give you tonight." Rose held his gaze for a long moment. Then she nodded slowly, as if she had decided to trust the gap he left. "Something like you," she repeated. "Alright. I won't push. But I'm not scared off, if that's what you thought." A branch cracked in the dark beyond the trees. Both of them turned. The lean gray shape stood at the edge of the lamplight, ears flat, human eyes fixed on Rose. It had heard him. It knew he had warned her now. Rose's hand tightened on his. "Julian," she whispered. The wolf did not run. It stepped forward into the light, no longer content to only watch.