Three days passed after Damon's challenge.
Three days of careful observation, of slow healing, of watching. Damon moved through the camp like a ghost, present but not present, among them but not of them. He ate with the hybrids, sitting at the edge of their circle, accepting the food they offered but never asking for more. He trained with the wolves, his movements precise and efficient, but he never spoke unless spoken to. He sat silently through council meetings, his eyes fixed on some middle distance, his face revealing nothing. But his eyes always held a distance, a wariness, a waiting, as if he expected the ground to open beneath him at any moment.
"He is not fully with us," Mira observed. They stood at the edge of the training grounds, watching Damon practice with a group of young h
