ollow thump that echoed too

er weight. The interior smelled faintly of pine, old leather, and som

in his seat, gri

imed, clapping his hands once.

s smile was wide and easy, the kind meant to disarm. But his eyes-sharp, dark, restless-missed

est. "I drive everyone important.

the station. The road narrowed almost immediately, winding upward between thic

ingers interlaced to keep them from

htly, as if the words were a joke rather than a fact. "

en the name of her former life aloud. The distanc

o conversation with the enthusiasm of s

of the Wolf.' Very old name. But do not worry-the wolves here, they are... how do you say... community

at wolf who guided her home beneath the moon. His voice rose and

trees blurring into dark streaks. "D

lklore enthusiasts. People who like myster

o her

er h

sture, the tension in her shoulders, the stillness she hadn't realized she was h

ffi

sent a small chi

" Mircea said casually, as if comm

in the mirror. "Y

ile remained, but something tightene

rply, and the valle

s huddled together, smoke curling from chimneys, narrow streets threading between stone and ti

erched high on the north ridge,

loo

e-a dark silhouette against the fading sky, bro

ollowed

said. "North ridge. It

some of its p

," he continued. "Str

th a carved wooden si

– PROTEJA

PROTECTED B

s smile

econd-but it

uietly, eyes fixed on the road now. "Her

ed deeper in

" he added. "And the

etween them, heav

pulse quickening as the truth beneath

ding to be for outsiders, sh