The last thing I felt before unconsciousness took me was his hand in my hair, gentle and sure, and the steady pulse of the bond between us.
I woke to afternoon light and the smell of coffee.
James was gone from the bed, but I could feel him through the bond — close, calm, not worried. I sat up slowly, wincing at muscles that ached in unfamiliar ways, and found him sitting at my desk with two cups from the campus café.
"Hey," he said, smiling. "Sleeping beauty awakens."
"What time is it?"
"Almost two." He crossed to the bed, handed me one of the cups. "You needed it."
I had. I felt more human than I had in weeks — still tired, still carrying the weight of everything, but no longer on the verge of collapse.
"Thank you," I said, and meant it for more than just the coffee.
James sat on the edge of the bed. Reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Always," he said.
We drank our coffee in comfortable silence. The afternoon sun was warm through the window, golden and soft. For a few minutes, I let myself pretend that this was all there was — just the two of us, just this room, just the quiet aftermath of something good.
Then reality crept back in.
"We need to tell Rae," I said. "About Cal. About his pack."
"I know."
"She's going to want to do this by the book. Go through channels. Get approval."
"Probably."
"That's going to take too long." I set my coffee aside, met his eyes. "They're out there right now, James. Alone. Feral. They've been waiting for a long—"
The vision hit without warning.
One moment I was in my dorm room, James's hand warm in mine. The next I was somewhere else entirely — somewhere cold and white and screaming with wind.
Snow. Endless snow. And wolves.
Wolves running through a blizzard that turned the world to static. A large one in front — massive, dark-furred, moving with the desperate speed of something being hunted. Behind him,four smaller shapes struggled to keep pace. One was limping. One kept looking back.
They were terrified. I could feel it, even from wherever I was watching — the bone-deep fear, the exhaustion, the knowledge that something was coming and they couldn't run fast enough.
Then I saw what they were running from.
A bear. Huge. It crashed through the snow like an avalanche, gaining ground with every stride.
The large wolf — the alpha — turned to face it.
He planted himself between the bear and his pack. Hackles raised. Teeth bared. A wall of fur and desperation.
Run,something said. His voice, maybe, or just the shape of his intention.Don't look back. I'll hold it off.
The smaller wolves hesitated.
GO.
They went.
