Wind rushes through my fur as I leap over fallen logs and weave between ancient trunks. The forest is alive around me, breathing with secrets and shadows. I run to outpace the images that still haunt me: the bloodied wedding dress, the arrow, the child I’ve never carried.
A ripple of movement catches the edge of my vision. I don’t slow, don’t turn, but I’m aware of them—wild wolves, emerging from the deeper woods to run alongside me. Three, then five, their silver and gray coats ghostly in the moonlight. They match my pace, their eyes occasionally flashing my way, acknowledging but not challenging.
This has happened since I was a child. Wild wolves find me, run with me, accepting me in a way that wouldn’t make any sense to my pack. I’ve never told anyone. Not my parents, not Astra, not e
