Arthur had sensed her before he saw her.
Not by sound. The pack moved constantly around him, boots on stone, low voices, distant howls threading through dusk like living breath. None of that was unusual. None of it mattered.
It was the shift beneath his ribs that made him turn.
Silver stood at the edge of the clearing, still as if she had walked there and forgotten how to move again.
For a moment he did nothing. He simply watched her.
Her posture was upright, but something inside it had collapsed. Her shoulders held tension that did not belong to physical exhaustion. Her gaze found him, but it carried distance, like she had traveled through something unseen and arrived with pieces of herself still trailing behind.
Arthur dismissed the sentry without taking his eyes off her.
He cross
