The forest didn’t just move this time.
It answered.
A ripple passed through the treeline—slow, deliberate—like something massive had shifted its weight and decided the waiting was over.
Denise felt it before she saw it.
A pressure in her chest tightened, then released, like a hand opening inside her ribcage.
She gasped slightly.
Liam noticed instantly.
His hand came up, steadying her without fully touching her.
“Look at me,” he said quietly.
Denise tried—but her eyes kept flicking past him, toward the forest, toward that pull she didn’t understand.
“It’s stronger,” she whispered.
Liam’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Below, the forest creature took a step forward again.
Not hurried.
Not cautious anymore.
Certain.
Its voice came again, smoother now.
“She’s almost fully aligned,” it
