The garden stretched before me, impossibly beautiful in the golden afternoon light. Wildflowers carpeted the ground in swirls of purple, yellow, and blue, their sweet scent filling the air with each gentle breeze. Ancient trees circled the clearing, their branches forming a protective canopy that dappled the sunlight into shifting patterns across the soft grass.
I felt lighter here. Free in a way I couldn't remember feeling before. No pain. No fear. No memories pressing down like weights. Just peace and the strange certainty that I was exactly where I needed to be.
A high-pitched yip drew my attention to the center of the clearing where two wolf pups tumbled over each other in exuberant play. Tiny silver bodies with comically oversized paws, their movements still clumsy with youth. One h
