DAVE
Growing Season
Morning breaks over Howling Pines like a benediction, painting our expanded compound in shades of gold and possibility. I stand on the rise overlooking the eastern fields where Cumberland pack members work alongside our people, their movements synchronized in the ancient rhythm of planting season. Two hundred and fifty-three souls now call this place home, and the land itself seems to pulse with their combined purpose.
"Captain." Alvarez materializes at my shoulder with the silence that marks all of Daniel's wereleopards. "Perimeter's clear. Johnson's team finished installing the new cameras along the southern border."
Something about my old title said out loud still unsettles me—but leading supernatural special ops creates bonds that transcend discharge papers. "An
