AURORA
I stayed in the cave longer than I meant to. At first, it was only supposed to be a temporary sanctuary, a place to let the echoes of fire, screams, and falling stone drain out of my marrow. But the days bled into a hazy cycle of quiet companionship with Onyx. My wolf was my only anchor, a steady balm against the jagged edges of my mind. When the nightmares clawed at me, she was there with a warm mental nudge; during the long, silent hours, she offered the phantom comfort of fur-against-spirit when human words felt too heavy to carry.
We hunted together in the wild, when we craved meat. no language needed, just shared breath and the rhythm of the chase. In the stillness of the nights, she told me stories of things I should have remembered but couldn't. She spoke of my father, the
