Side by Side
The scent of blood lingered, faint but sharp, woven into the damp forest air like a warning.
Rowan crouched beside the tree line, every sense alert. The moon hung low and full in the sky, bathing the clearing ahead in silver. He could feel Caleb at his back, close but not overbearing, a constant, grounding presence. Their shoulders brushed—intentional, reassuring.
They had come a long way to this moment.
Not just across territory or battlefields, but through wounds—some visible, others buried deep in the heart. There had been silence between them for so long. Silence, and space. But not anymore.
Not tonight.
Tonight, they were side by side.
“I count four,” Caleb whispered, low and calm.
Rowan nodded. “Five. One behind the boulder.”
“Always the showoff.” Caleb's voice
