Her father found her where she least expected him to, Silver was seated on the low stone wall near the eastern gardens, fingers trailing idly through the tall grass that grew there. It was a quiet place, tucked away from the training grounds and patrol routes, where the scent of pine softened the sharpness of stone and steel. She came here when her thoughts felt too loud to stay contained inside her skull.
She didn’t hear his footsteps at first.
She felt him, not through the pack bond or magic, but the familiarity, the way some presences announced themselves simply because they always had.
“Your mother used to sit here,” her father said gently.
Silver’s fingers stilled.
He didn’t sit beside her right away. He leaned against the wall first, arms folded, gaze fixed on the treeline beyon
