The silver-eyed wolf didn't repeat himself.
He didn't need to.
The air had already shifted.
Fenris stood in front of me, immovable, his body angled just enough to shield me without making it obvious.
His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist.
The stranger's gaze lingered on that contact.
Then slowly lifted to Fenris's eyes.
"You feel it," he said quietly.
Fenris didn't answer.
But the silence between them sharpened, stretched thin like a wire about to snap.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
The silver-eyed wolf looked at me again.
This time, something almost like recognition flickered in his expression.
"I wanted to confirm."
"Confirm what?"
"That you are no longer dormant."
The word slid under my skin.
Dormant.
Fenris's grip tightened slightly.
"You've confirmed it," he said evenly. "Now leave."
The stranger studied him for a long moment.
"You don't know what you're standing in front of."
"And you don't know what I'm willing to stand against."
That earned the faintest hint of approval.
But he didn't push further.
"Be careful who you trust," he said to me.
His gaze flicked—briefly—toward the forest.
Toward Silverhide territory.
Then he stepped back.
And the shadows swallowed him whole.
He was gone leaving behind no scent trail or any broken branches.
Just gone as if he had never been there.
Silence pressed into the clearing.
The rogues shifted uneasily.
"What was that?" someone muttered.
Fenris didn't answer.
His attention stayed on me.
"You're steady?" he asked quietly.
I nodded.
But the pull beneath my ribs had changed.
It wasn't violent anymore.
It was… aware.
Then—
A sharp howl split the distance.
I froze.
Fenris didn't need scent to know.
"Rowan."
The rogues stiffened instantly. Weapons were unnecessary. Claws would be enough.
"Positions," Fenris ordered calmly.
They moved without hesitation.
Even the female rogue obeyed.
I turned toward the tree line just as Rowan stepped into view.
He wasn't furious.
He was controlled.
Three Silverhide wolves flanked him, spaced deliberately in defensive formation.
Rowan's eyes found me immediately.
Relief flashed there.
Then it shifted in calculation as if realizing something.
"You felt it," he said.
My jaw tightened.
"You knew."
The air shifted again.
Fenris stepped half a pace forward.
Rowan's gaze flicked to the space between us.
To how close we stood.
His expression hardened.
"You shouldn't be near him," Rowan said coldly.
"That's not your decision," Fenris replied.
Rowan ignored him.
"You need to come back," he said to me.
A ripple of disbelief moved through the rogues.
"Back?" I asked.
"Yes."
"I was exiled."
"That can be reversed."
Silence slammed down around us.
Fenris's voice turned dangerously calm.
"On what grounds?"
"Pack matters do not concern rogues."
"She's not standing in your pack."
The temperature dropped.
Rowan stepped forward.
Claiming ground.
"You don't understand what's happening."
"Then explain it," Fenris said.
Rowan didn't.
Instead, he looked at me.
"This isn't the place."
And I understood.
He wouldn't speak in front of the rogues.
Good.
Because neither would I.
"You should have told me," I said quietly.
"I told you what you needed."
"No," I said. "You controlled what I knew."
Fenris's hand brushed lightly against my lower back supportively.
Rowan saw it.
Concern flickered in his eyes.
Which was strange.
"How long?" Rowan asked Fenris.
"Long enough."
"Have you—"
He stopped himself as if recalculateding.
Fenris noticed.
"So that's what this is," Fenris said softly.
"You think this is about pride?" Rowan
snapped.
"I think you're afraid."
The word settled heavy in the clearing.
Rowan didn't deny it.
"This isn't about territory," he said, lowering his voice.
"Then what is it?" I demanded.
He looked at me.
And for the first time—
There was something almost human there.
"Your mother spoke to me the night you were born."
The world narrowed.
"She told me what you carry."
"You said I carried nothing," I whispered.
"I said you hadn't shifted."
"That's not the same thing."
"No," he agreed quietly.
Silence pulsed.
"If certain lines are crossed," Rowan continued carefully, "you will not remain hidden."
My heartbeat spiked.
"What lines?" Fenris asked.
"Don't pretend you don't feel it."
The pull between us tightened.
Subtle.
But real.
"You think this is coincidence?" Rowan demanded. "You think your proximity is harmless?"
"I don't believe in coincidence," Fenris replied.
"Good. Then you understand risk."
"Stop talking around it," I said.
Rowan's gaze softened—barely.
"If you bind yourself to the wrong path," he said quietly, "you will not get to choose what follows."
Fenris stepped closer.
"And if she walks that path willingly?"
Rowan's control slipped.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to prevent."
"Prevent?" I repeated.
"Yes."
"You exiled me."
"I delayed you."
Fenris's hand slid back to my wrist.
"You're coming with me," Rowan said suddenly.
"No."
"This isn't a request."
Fenris moved instantly.
"You don't get to claim authority here."
Wolves shifted on both sides.
Tension snapped tight.
"This doesn't need blood," Rowan said calmly.
"It will if you try to force her."
Rowan's gaze locked with Fenris's.
"You think I can't take her?"
Fenris didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
I stepped forward.
"Silverhide is under threat," Rowan said abruptly.
"What?"
"There were movements near the northern ridge."
Northbound.
"They're expanding," Rowan continued. "If they scent instability, they won't hesitate."
"This isn't about Northbound," Fenris said.
"It is if she stays with you."
A sharp crack split the ground near my heel.
Everyone froze.
I hadn't moved.
The vibration pulsed again.
Rowan went pale.
"It's accelerating," he muttered.
He looked at me.
"Come back. Just until this stabilizes."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I will make it difficult for him to stay near you."
"You won't touch her," Fenris said softly.
"I won't need to," Rowan replied.
"Stop deciding for me," I snapped.
Both of them fell silent.
"You don't get to exile me and then recall me when it's convenient."
"It was never convenience."
"And you," I said to Fenris, "don't fight my battles without asking."
His grip loosened.
Good.
"If you knew something," I said to Rowan, "you should have told me."
"I promised your mother I would protect you."
"By lying?"
"By preventing."
"I'm not a child."
"No," he said quietly. "You're not."
A distant howl echoed from the north.
Closer.
Time was running thin.
Rowan stepped back.
"If you stay with him, Silverhide will not shield you from what comes."
"I don't need your shield," Fenris said.
Rowan ignored him.
"Think carefully."
He turned.
His wolves followed.
But before disappearing into the trees, he stopped.
Without looking back, he said:
"If you cross that line, there is no undoing it."
Then he was gone.
Silence flooded the clearing.
The rogues exhaled.
But I couldn't.
The pull beneath my ribs throbbed faintly.
Fenris stepped closer.
Not touching.
Waiting.
"You don't have to go," he said quietly.
"I know."
"You don't have to stay either."
I looked at him.
"Are you pushing me away?"
"I'm giving you a choice."
The wind shifted again.
Northern scent.
I looked toward where Rowan had vanished.
Then back at Fenris.
The space between us felt charged.
And somewhere deep beneath my ribs—
Something was waking.
Like a heartbeat that wasn't entirely my own.
The forest felt different now.
Thinner.
As if something had peeled back a layer of reality and left everything exposed.
Fenris didn't touch me.
But he was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from him.
"You don't have to let him scare you into going back," he said quietly.
"I'm not scared," I replied.
That was half true.
I wasn't scared for myself.
I was thinking about the northern
settlements.
The children.
The elders.
The hunters who had nothing to do with me.
"If Northbound really is testing borders—" I began.
"They've been testing borders for months," Fenris cut in. "This isn't new."
"Then why bring it up now?"
His jaw tightened.
"Because it works."
Silence.
It did work.
Rowan hadn't threatened me.
He'd threatened what I cared about.
Which was worse.
The rogues remained tense but silent, giving us distance.
They were pretending not to listen.
And they were failing.
"What if he's right?" I asked quietly.
Fenris's gaze sharpened.
"About what?"
"What if my presence here does make things unstable?"
"You didn't crack the ground," he said flatly.
"Your body reacted."
"That doesn't make it harmless."
His voice lowered.
"It doesn't make it your fault either."
The pull inside me pulsed again.
Stronger this time.
And I hated that Rowan had seen it.
"Why didn't he tell me?" I whispered.
"Control," Fenris answered without hesitation.
I swallowed.
"He said he promised my mother.
Fenris didn't respond immediately.
"That may be true," he said finally. "But promises can turn into cages."
The wind shifted again.
Carrying northern scent.
They are closer.
A distant howl echoed.
Fenris heard it too.
The rogues stiffened.
"They're pushing south," one muttered.
"Or they want us to think they are," Fenris replied.
I closed my eyes briefly.
If Northbound attacked and I had stayed here—
Would that blood be on my hands?
That was the trap.
Rowan hadn't forced me.
He had placed the weight in my palms and stepped back.
"You're thinking about them," Fenris said.
"Yes."
He exhaled slowly.
"You've always done that."
"Done what?"
"Carried everyone else first."
I didn't know if that was a compliment.
Or a weakness.
"If I go back," I said slowly, "it's temporary."
His eyes darkened.
"I know."
"You don't."
"I do."
Silence stretched.
The rogues shifted uneasily behind us.
"Say it," I said quietly.
Fenris stilled.
"Say what?"
"If you don't want me to go."
His gaze locked onto mine.
"I don't want you to go."