They reached Arthur’s territory just before dusk and she knew the moment they crossed the boundary.
It was not something she saw or something she heard. It was something that pressed softly against her skin, like walking into air that held memory. The scent shifted first, the pine deepened into something older, earth richer, warmer and marked.
Arthur’s pack.
Her stomach tightened instantly, her body remembered before her mind allowed the memories to surface. Her shoulders drew inward and her breath shortened. Her wolf, faint and distant as always, did not stretch outward this time.
It recoiled and Arthur noticed.
He did not speak or ask if she was all right, he simply slowed his horse slightly so their pace matched even more precisely.
The quiet understanding made her chest ache wors
