Brennan moved silently through the trees.
The forest had grown tense, every leaf and branch alert to his senses.
He could feel it now — a presence unlike any he had known.
Alive. Humans. Powerful.
Something — someone — was watching.
The pack stayed behind him, wary but obedient. They did not speak. They trusted his instincts.
A rustle came from the underbrush.
Brennan froze.
Eyes narrowing, he stepped closer.
The scent was stronger now — faint blood, wildness, fear… and something else.
Curiosity.
A soft gasp echoed through the trees, almost like the wind, almost like a whisper.
He caught a glimpse of movement.
A shadow. Slender. Graceful.
She was there.
The forest seemed to part around her, as if it, too, recognized her.
Brennan's wolf growled softly under his skin.
He could not see her face clearly, but he felt her presence in every nerve of his body.
She stepped lightly, careful, yet unafraid.
The scent of her blood — something ancient, something unfamiliar — teased at his senses.
Brennan's heart, long buried under grief and anger, skipped a beat.
The pack shifted uneasily.
"She is not like other humans," one elder whispered behind him.
Brennan did not speak. He had no words.
She paused, just for a moment, and looked toward him.
He felt the gaze cut through the shadows and reach into him.
The forest shivered again.
And Brennan knew, before he even saw her properly…
She had come for a reason.
A reason that would change everything.