Chapter 265: The Ice Gave Way

Charlotte

The house is mostly moved in, which means there are still boxes everywhere, no one knows where half the mugs are, and Theo has already claimed three separate drawers as his, despite Emily telling him he is not allowed to own an entire drawer just for snacks.

Outside, snow falls in soft, bright pieces over the front yard.

It clings to the railing of the wraparound deck, gathers along the fence, and dusts the roof in white until the whole house looks gentler than it has any right to look after everything we dragged into it.

Our chaos.

Our home.

Most of the kids from school have already moved off to university in the next big city, taking their boxes, their plans, and the last pieces of that old life with them. It feels strange knowing that chapter is closed. No more classes. No more school games. No more pretending we are only ordinary teenagers with ordinary things waiting for us after class.

Then again, I don’t think any of us were ever very good at ordinary.

Blake stands behind me with one hand warm on my waist, his chest against my back, while Lex rests close beneath his skin and Shanti curls peacefully beneath mine.

Everyone is outside because Mara wants a photo.

John is telling Theo to stop making faces before the camera is even ready. Gareth stands beside Mara with the proud, long-suffering expression of a man who survived raising Blake and has now realised he accidentally inherited the rest of us too.

“This is taking too long,” Theo says. “I am very photogenic, but even I have limits.”

Emily elbows him. “You have been ready for twelve seconds.”

“That is eleven seconds longer than necessary.”

Jess laughs softly next to Charlie, then reaches up and tugs at the collar of his shirt. “Your shirt is inside out again.”

Charlie looks down at himself.

Then at her.

Then shrugs. “Titan likes it that way.”

Jess stares at him for a second before shaking her head, but she is smiling as she fixes it anyway, her fingers careful near his throat. Charlie stands still for her, all sharp edges softened by the girl in front of him, and my heart fills.

My brother is happy.

Not only surviving. Not just standing between me and the world with his shoulders braced for impact.

He’s happy.

We both are.

Blake’s hand tightens gently at my waist like he feels the shift in me.

“You okay?” he asks near my ear.

I lean back into him. “Yeah.”

And I am.

I look at the house behind us, at the windows glowing warm from the inside and the boxes stacked just beyond the front door. There are keys on hooks now. Shoes in the hallway. Coats over chairs. Someone’s coffee going cold on the kitchen bench. A greenhouse in the back for Emily, hockey sticks by the door, Jess’s plant on the windowsill, and enough noise inside those walls to make quiet feel like a choice instead of a punishment.

It still feels strange sometimes.

Wanting things.

Keeping them.

Trusting they will not be ripped away the second I learn how to hold them.

When Charlie and I came to Wellington, we had one box, one secret, and a house so cold it felt as if it had been waiting for us to disappear inside it. We had no pack we trusted, no parents to depend on, and no future we could look at without flinching.

Hockey was Charlie’s escape.

Skating was mine.

Our wolves were secrets we kept only for ourselves, too scared of what the world would do to us.

Then Blake found me on frozen ice.

Theo made everything louder.

Emily survived a place that should have broken her.

Jess turned out to be what I had been waiting for.

Charlie ended up being more than my shield.

And somewhere between blood, snow, fear, laughter, late-night pancakes, broken rules, and people choosing each other over and over again, Wellington stopped being the place we ran to.

It became the place we belonged.

Mara lifts the camera. “Alright, everyone. Together.”

Blake turns me gently so we face forward, his arm staying around my waist.

Theo pulls Emily close and kisses her cheek just as she tries to look serious.

“Theo,” she complains, but she is laughing.

Charlie wraps an arm around Jess from behind, and she rests against him, her hands closing over his.

Blake presses a kiss to the side of my head. “Smile for the camera, pretty girl.”

I place my hand over his at my waist and smile toward the camera.

John waves from beside Mara. “Now look like you actually like each other.”

“We do,” Theo says. “That’s the problem.”

Gareth mutters something under his breath that makes Mara laugh, and then the camera clicks.

One photo.

One second.

Six of us standing outside a house that we plan to make a home, with snow in our hair and our future waiting behind us.

I have a family now—a whole pack, and a home.

The camera lowers, but no one moves right away.

For a breath, we stay exactly as we are, tangled together in the bright cold, while snow keeps falling around us.

I think about the frozen lake.

The way the ice used to groan beneath my blades.

The way I once thought safety was something other people had, something watched through windows, something never meant for girls who arrived with too little and needed too much.

Blake’s thumb glides over my coat, and Shanti lifts her head inside me, calm and certain.

This is ours, she whispers. This is the life we were always meant to have. The one that was waiting for us.

And this time, I believe her.

Because the girl who arrived in Wellington with one box and nowhere to belong now stands outside a house full of people who chose her.

The ice gave way.

And underneath it, there was home.

The End

Author’s Note

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me.

Where the Ice Gives Way has been a softer side of writing than I am used to. In many ways, this story asked me to slow down, to sit with healing, family, love, friendship, fear, safety, and all the quiet moments that come after surviving something hard. It was different for me, but I am so glad so many of you seemed to enjoy this world, these characters, and the heart of this book.

Thank you for every chapter you read, every comment you left, every theory you made, and every moment you spent with Charlotte, Blake, Charlie, Jess, Theo, Emily, and the rest of the Wellington pack. Your support means more than I can properly put into words, and I am so grateful that you chose to spend your time here.

If you would like to keep up with my new books, browse my library, ask questions directly, or see what is coming next, you can find my author webpage at:

sheridanhartinauthor.com

Thank you again for reading, supporting, and staying until the end.

With love,

Sheridan Hartin xx