LOGINPOV: AriaIt began with stillness.Not calm. Not peace.Stillness like the world was holding its breath, waiting to see who would blink first.I stood at the border again. Not across it. Not close enough to be pulled. Just close enough to feel how the ground changed beneath my feet, how the air carried a different weight.My wolf stood up inside me.Not pushing. Not restless.Ready.“Kai.”He was already there. I hadn’t heard his steps, but I felt him the way you feel an anchor lock into place.“I know,” he said.That was all.No questions. No warnings.He didn’t step in front of me. He didn’t take my arm. He stood beside me, shoulder to shoulder, like the choice was mine and his role was simply to stay, no matter which way it fell.The forest shifted.Not wind. Not animals.Attention.I took a slow breath. “It’s waiting.”“Yes.”“Not for me to answer,” I continued. “For me to choose.”Kai nodded once. “There’s a difference.”My wolf pressed forward, low but clear. Not go. Not run.St
POV: KaiThe forest didn’t retreat.It redirected.That was the problem.I felt it before anyone spoke—pressure shifting sideways instead of back, like water finding a crack. The wards tightened. The land responded. Too late.“Positions,” I said.The word hadn’t finished echoing before the scream hit the north line.Not fear.Pain.Pack pain.I moved without thinking, the world narrowing to vectors and distance. Wolves broke from the lodge in clean arcs, no hesitation, no questions.Darius didn’t strike where we were watching.Of course he didn’t.POV: MayaChaos has a sound.It’s not yelling.It’s boots hitting wood. It’s doors opening too fast. It’s people moving like they already agreed on a plan I was not invited to.Rowan grabbed my wrist.Not rough.Definite.“Inside,” he said.I didn’t argue.That was new.Through the window, I saw shapes move—too fast, too coordinated. Wolves didn’t shout orders. They didn’t need to.Someone staggered into the light, bleeding.Not Rowan.My st
POV: MayaFor the record, I didn’t mean to walk in on anything.The lodge at night was confusing—too many corridors, not enough signs, and the kind of shadows that looked like they were waiting for gossip. I was trying to find water. That’s it.And then there they were.Aria and Kai.Not close. Not far.Just standing by the open door that led to the treeline, the cold slipping in around them like it had permission.They weren’t talking.They were… listening.The forest was louder tonight, and not in the normal way. It wasn’t wind, and it wasn’t wolves. It was pressure—the kind that pressed against your ribs from the inside.Aria whispered, “It knows I’m awake.”Kai’s reply came low. “Then it’s watching you, not the pack.”“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”“No,” he said simply. “It’s supposed to make it honest.”I should’ve backed away.Normal people would’ve backed away.But something in the air changed—like an invisible cord stretched between them, humming with awareness.Ari
POV: KaiThe warning didn’t come as a breach.That was the problem.No alarms. No snapping wards. No rush of pressure across the line.Just absence.The forest… loosened.Not retreating. Not yielding.Listening stopped.I felt it the way you feel silence after a sound you didn’t realize you were tracking.Wrong.I turned sharply toward the west perimeter.“Lock it down,” I said, already moving. “Quiet rotations. No show.”No one questioned it.They felt it too.Whatever Darius had done, he hadn’t pushed.He’d stepped back.Which meant he wanted us to move first.POV: AriaIt felt like being dropped.Not physically.Like something that had been holding tension inside my ribs simply… let go.My wolf went still.Not calm.Alert in a new way.“Kai,” I said, touching his arm without thinking. “It’s gone.”His eyes flicked to me immediately. “The pull?”“Yes. Not quiet. Just… not there.”That scared me more than when it was loud.Because silence could be chosen.The forest ahead of us looke
POV: MayaI didn’t mean to say it.That’s the annoying part.We were in the kitchen. Midday. People drifting in and out like this was normal life and not a supernatural pressure cooker with coffee.Rowan was leaning against the counter, one arm clearly not pulling its full weight even though he’d pretend otherwise if asked. Two wolves were talking near the doorway, voices low.I was stirring my tea.Watching.Always watching, apparently.“You know,” I said lightly, without looking up, “it’s kind of weird how everyone adjusts around me without realizing they’re doing it.”Silence.Not dramatic silence.The kind where something clicks.I glanced up.One of the wolves by the door had gone still. Not tense. Just… aware.Rowan’s posture changed. Not defensive. Focused.“What do you mean,” he asked.I shrugged. “Traffic patterns. Seating. Who stands where. It’s not conscious.”I tilted my head, thinking it through as I spoke.“It’s like the pack already decided something and no one bothered
POV: AriaThe forest didn’t press today.It watched.That was worse.I felt it the moment I stepped outside the lodge, the way the air settled around me like it was adjusting to my shape. Not resisting. Not yielding.Accounting.Kai stood a few steps away, speaking quietly with two wolves I didn’t recognize. They listened. Not deferential. Not casual.Intent.When they dispersed, he turned toward me immediately.“You feel it,” he said.“Yes.”He didn’t ask what.He never did.“That means it’s stabilizing,” he added. “For now.”“For now,” I echoed.The pull had changed. Not weaker. Just… narrower. Like something had stopped calling blindly and started aiming.I hugged my arms around myself. “I don’t like that it’s learning.”Neither did he.“You’re not alone in it,” Kai said. “That matters.”I looked at him then. Really looked.He hadn’t slept much. I could see it in the way he held himself taut, like rest was a luxury he didn’t trust.“Do you ever stop listening?” I asked quietly.He







