Then they'd circle back. Check on me. Make sure I was still there.
Stone never strayed far. He ran, yes—I could feel how much he needed it, how the movement helped quiet the chaos in his mind. But he always came back within minutes. Always positioned himself between me and the other ferals.
Cal was more relaxed. He ranged wider, exploring, occasionally returning to bump his shoulder against my hip before taking off again. Through the bond, I felt something I hadn't felt from him in weeks.
Peace.
Gray stayed glued to my side. Like a shadow with fur.
The staff watched all of it.
Cole tracked us from a distance, his rifle ready, his expression unreadable. Martinez and King maintained the perimeter, checking in via radio every fifteen minutes. Neal walked beside me for most of the run, taking notes on his phone, asking quiet questions about what I was feeling through the bonds.
Rae and Ash hung back, observing. I caught them whispering to each other more than once, their eyes on me.
I didn't know what they were saying. Wasn't sure I wanted to know.
By the time we circled back to the clearing, the sun was high overhead. The wolves were tired—good tired, the kind of exhaustion that came from exertion rather than anxiety. Even the restless sandy wolf had settled, his earlier frantic energy burned away by the run.
They shifted back one by one.
Stone was first. He emerged from the change breathing hard, sweat glistening on his skin, his eyes finally clear. He walked straight to me, cupped my face in his hands, pressed his forehead to mine.
"Thank you," he murmured.
"For what?"
"For stopping me. Earlier." His jaw tightened. "I almost—"
"You didn't."
He exhaled shakily.
Cal shifted next. He stretched, cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders. When he looked at me, there was something new in his eyes. Something I couldn't quite name.
The handlers collected the other ferals, guiding them back toward the transport van. Gray went reluctantly, looking over his shoulder at me with every step. The sandy wolf—actually whined when his handler pulled him away.
I watched them go. Felt the strange, aching pull in my chest.
"Lumi."
I turned.
Cal was standing a few feet away, arms crossed, expression serious.
"What?"
He glanced around. Made sure no one else was close enough to hear.
"Did you notice how they responded to you today?" he asked quietly. "Not just Stone and me. All of them."
"I noticed."
"Gray wouldn't leave your side. That other wolf—the restless one—he calmed down the second he got close to you, almost like you were pack."
I didn't know what to say. Didn't know what it meant. But the question burrowed into me and stayed there, unanswered, for the rest of the day.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
