The forest did not return to normal after the stranger left.
It remained still in a way that felt unnatural, as if even the wind had been told to wait. Luna stood where the encounter had ended, her thoughts tangled in the weight of what she had just heard. The words refused to settle. They kept circling back inside her mind, each time feeling heavier than before.
Return sequence.
Bond activation.
Not supposed to exist.
None of it made sense on the surface, yet something inside her reacted to it in a way she could not ignore. It was not fear exactly. It was recognition without context, like remembering something she had never been taught.
Ethan stood beside her without speaking. His silence was different now. It was not the calm presence she was used to. It was controlled tension, as
