The forest didn't wait long. It never does. The moment the wind shifted, I felt it again.
Stronger this time. Closer.
The bond.
It wasn't a memory anymore. It wasn't a distant echo buried beneath anger and pride. It pulled at something deep inside me, sharp and insistent, like a thread tightening around my chest.
My breath slowed. Then steadied.
"He's here," I said quietly.
Rowan didn't move.
"I know."
The calm in his voice didn't match the tension in the air. Because everything else had changed. The forest was no longer silent. It was watching. Waiting.
Then the first shadow appeared between the trees.
A wolf stepped forward, followed by another, then another, until the forest edge filled with dark shapes moving in perfect formation.
Blackthorn.
Again.
But this time they didn't stop at the distance. They came closer. Not crossing yet. But close enough to challenge the boundary.
Rowan stepped forward.
Not rushed. Not hesitant but deliberate.
