Marcus found him in the east gallery.
Not deliberately — Marcus moved through the compound the way Betas moved through compounds, with the ambient awareness of someone whose job required knowing where people were and what they needed. He registered Soran's presence through the pack bond's peripheral warmth, the specific signature of someone new who had not yet found their rhythm with the space, and followed it to the gallery without fully deciding to.
Soran was standing at the window that faced the southern grounds.
The east gallery window — not the best river view, not the ridge view. The southern one. The direction of the boundary where the Vethara had stood, where the trees held their specific memory, where Kira had waited for longer than anyone knew.
He was not looking at any of th
