The bond hummed softly in the back of my mind as Caius and I walked through the forest. The tension between us had shifted, no longer an unbearable weight, but something different—something I was starting to accept. There was still fear and uncertainty, but for the first time, I wasn’t running from it. I was trying to make sense of it.
Caius walked beside me in silence, his presence steady, grounding me in ways I hadn’t expected. He didn’t push, didn’t force me to talk. He just walked, his eyes scanning the trees, his body relaxed but alert. He was always aware of his surroundings, like he was waiting for something. It was an instinct I had come to recognize in myself as well—the awareness that came from being a predator.
We walked for a long time, neither of us speaking, just letting th
