Page 173 of Wolf Dad Energy

"Because I spent years helping other people tell their stories."

"It's time I tell ours."

Rhett reaches for my hand. Sayer joins us. And now there is no shadow between us. No missing pieces. No unanswered questions. Just three people standing together in a house that survived a monster.

A house that will need repairs. A family that will too But both are still here. And that's enough.

For now.

RHETT

OCTOBER 27 ~ 4 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN

The strange thing about surviving the impossible is how quickly the ordinary becomes overwhelming. The sound of a refrigerator humming. The weight of a blanket. The smell of coffee. A person breathing beside you. Things nobody notices until they almost lose them.

It’s taken a day and a half to feel like the adrenaline has started wearing off. That is when the pain arrives. Not the dramatic kind. Not the kind that comes with monsters and battles and impossible choices. The quieter kind. The kind that reminds you you're still human.

My wolf retreats entirely, in a kind of hibernation, leaving behind bruises, exhaustion, and the unpleasant awareness that I am going to feel every single injury starting this morning.

Carys notices immediately.

"You need to lie back down."

"I'm fine."

She turns. I recognize that expression. The one that says I have made a terrible tactical error.

"What?"

"You just fought an ancient entity in a supernatural forest, nearly got thrown through a tree, and then walked home like you forgot to pick up milk."

"I didn't get thrown through a tree."

She raises an eyebrow.

"Slightly thrown?"