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Kael, sitting up with a thoughtful look, broke the comfortable silence. "We really need to start a fire," he mused, looking around the room.

I laughed. The idea of someone lugging firewood up to us seemed absurd. "I'm not going to ask anyone to carry firewood up those steps."

He smirked, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Oh, I have just the person, actually." After sending a mental message, he turned back to me with a confident smile. "Okay, it'll be here in a little while."

The ease with which he used his telepathic abilities sparked a question in my mind. "Kael, why did you lie to me?"

He looked puzzled. "About what?"

I sat back down beside him, my voice firm. "You told me it was dangerous to talk mentally between a wolf and a human. I've since figured out that's not true. So why did you lie?"

I saw him start to deflect, and I cut in sharply, "Kael."

He stopped, sighing deeply. "You're not going to let me get away with anything, are you?"

I just raised an eyebrow, waiting.

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