Chapter 34
Rowan leaves before dawn.
No dramatics. No lingering. Just a steady look that says I trust you more than be careful ever could.
“I’ll be reachable,” he says.
“I know,” Zainab replies.
And she means more than the call line.
When the door closes, the space doesn’t feel empty.
It feels… ready.
She doesn’t gather wolves first.
That would be obvious.
Instead, she starts where the suppression hurts most — the in-between ones. Wolves living human lives. Humans brushing against pack edges. People who don’t know what’s being taken from them, only that something feels off.
They come to her quietly.
A coworker who can’t sleep.
A delivery driver who feels disconnected from his own body.
A woman who says, I feel like I’m watching myself live.
Zainab doesn’t mention packs.
Doe
