Seven years is a long time in the life of a wolf, but in the life of the earth, it is barely a breath.
I stand on the wide, timber-framed balcony of the newly constructed Administration Wing, looking out over the Blackthorn Integration Academy. The morning sun is just beginning to burn off the mist clinging to the valley, casting a golden hue over the sprawling campus.
It is unrecognizable from the fortress-like pack house of my youth.
Where there were once high stone walls and guarded gates, there are now open courtyards, glass-walled meditation pavilions, and sprawling training fields that blend seamlessly into the ancient forest. The Academy is not a military installation; it is a sanctuary. It is a place of learning, of healing, and of profound, quiet discipline.
Down in the centra
