{Elira}
~**^**~
I laughed — breathless, shaky — but it was real. The kind of laugh that comes when the weight you've carried for years suddenly lifts.
For the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about shame or failure.
I was thinking about her.
My wolf.
And I couldn't wait to be alone, to speak to her, to ask her everything I'd been holding inside.
---
We drifted back toward the arena stands, my legs still tingling from the run.
My chest rose and fell in slow, deliberate breaths, the phantom sensation of paws against earth still imprinted somewhere inside me.
The others fanned out beside me, and without a word, we all made for the refreshment table.
Cold bottles of water were piled in tubs of ice, condensation running down the sides like tiny rivers. I grabbed one, the chill biting into my fingers, and twisted the cap open.
The first gulp was bliss — sharp and clean, the kind of drink that seemed to wash every ache away.
