*Lyra*
Before I shift, I go back in to check on Bram one more time. “I’ll be right back,” I whisper, tightening the cloak around my shoulders.
Bram sits up in the bed, his breath still raspy. “Lyra, don’t go. It's not safe out there, and I’m sure Jorin will be back soon enough.”
I hesitate in the doorway, my hand on the frame, staring at the black smoke curling above the trees beyond the clearing. “I can’t,” I say softly, without turning. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“He would want you safe.”
“I owe him,” I snap, sharper than I mean to. “He saved my life,” I say more gently. “He took me in when the pack cast me out. I can’t forget something like that.”
Bram groans as he tries to get up and fails. “You’ll be walking straight into any surviving enemy wolves. Lyra, he’s not stupid
