Darius squeezed my hand again. Whatever waited in the mountains, Eden, new beginnings, or old scars, we would face it together.
The open road stretched bright before us, carrying two broken souls toward sanctuary and a future we would build one day at a time.
“Baby…”
I forced a brighter smile and slowed my racing heart, hoping Darius wouldn’t notice how hard I was trying to push away the rising panic. The Kansas fields still rolled past the windows, but my mind was already miles ahead in Upstate New York, facing an unfamiliar pack.
“It’ll be good,” Darius continued, his deep voice warm with reassurance. “All of it. Our pack runs are nothing like what you experienced in Stone Ridge. They’re fun. We run together, hunt under the moon, and afterward everyone gathers”
I stopped listening.
