Warm. Solid. Real.
Fuck. She’s real.
My wolf bolts to a stand, his fur rising as he begins to circle, pacing up and down, his tail slowly wagging from one side to the other.
“You’re real,” I whisper, grazing my finger over the pad of hers. “You’re actually real.”
“I told you.”
I can’t stop tracing her fingertip with my own, the simple human contact nearly overwhelming after years of isolation. I can feel calluses, and a small scar—she has the hand of a fighter.
“What’s your name?” I demand. “Tell me.”
Her finger retreats, and I make a sound—something between desperation and despair. Just as quickly she’s back, the heat of her touch reassuring and welcome.
“Lithia.”
“Lithia,” I repeat, her name tasting sweet now I know she’s truly real. “Lithia.”
My wolf tips back his head, letting out a howl.
We’ve found another like us. We’re no longer alone.
“I’m Kier,” I murmur, desperately memorizing her feel.
I feel her finger twitch against mine, then press more firmly, as if sealing an introduction.
“Well, Kier,” she says, and I can hear a smile in her voice for the first time, “looks like we’re neighbors.”
I laugh softly, the sound rusty but genuine. “Looks like it.”
She withdraws slowly, and I feel her absence like a physical pain.
“We should rest,” she says. “Conserve our strength.”
“You’re right.” I sit back, leaning against the wall closest to her cell. Even if we can’t touch, I need to be close to her. I run my thumb over the pad of my finger, touching where she touched. “They’ll come for one of us tomorrow.” It was the way of things in here.
“I can handle it.”
“I know you can.” I lift my hand to my nose and inhale deeply, imagining I can smell her scent against my skin. “I’m sorry I thought you were a hallucination.”
“Apology accepted. I’m sorry you’ve been alone long enough to have hallucinations.”
“Could be worse.”
“How?”
“The voices could have been boring.”
I hear what might have been a laugh, quickly stifled. “Were they good conversationalists?”
“Terrible. Until you.”
She snorts. “Now we’re bosom buddies, are you going to tell me what you know that could be important enough to land you in a place like this?”
I lean back against the stone. “Let’s just say I have a habit of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“And someone didn’t appreciate it?”
