Bring Him to His Knees
He takes one step closer, close enough that Kieran shifts his weight like he’s ready to close the last of the distance himself.
“Right now? Only for you to know I exist.” His voice drops with the words, quieter, rougher. “Next time, I might actually help you.”
“There won’t be a next time. Not unless I decide there is.”
That earns me the first real smile he’s given all night, quick, and sharp, gone almost before it fully forms.
“We’ll see.”
Then he folds back down into the wolf and vanishes into the tree line, faster than something his size should move, gone before I can get another word in.