Denise froze.
Not because she heard it with her ears—
but because her mind reacted as if it had always known the sound.
A name tried to form inside her thoughts.
Not Denise.
Something older than that.
Something that made her stomach tighten in a way she couldn’t explain.
She pressed a hand to her chest immediately.
“No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not doing this.”
Liam’s eyes sharpened instantly.
He saw it.
Even before she fully understood it.
“Don’t follow it,” he said firmly.
Denise shook her head quickly. “I’m not trying to— I didn’t even think anything, it just—”
She stopped.
Because it was thinking.
Not words.
Recognition.
A rhythm inside her consciousness that felt like it had always been there, waiting for pressure to wake it up.
Below, the forest creature raised its
