The run didn’t end so much as it softened.
At some point, Jason stopped thinking in terms of distance or direction. The forest stopped being something he moved through and became something he moved with. Every turn of his body felt guided by something older than decision.
Dakota stayed with him the entire time.
Not steering.
Not forcing.
Just present, like breath behind instinct.
You are learning, the wolf said at one point.
Jason didn’t respond in words. He couldn’t. Not in this form.
But the acknowledgment was there anyway—steady, quiet, understood.
—
Time lost meaning.
Not in a disorienting way, but in a freeing one.
The forest opened itself in layers Jason had never perceived before. Night animals moved like glowing threads of awareness in his mind. The wind carried message
