ck – Lil

es was strongest

inging to her ankles like tiny ghosts. The hedges were overgrown and heavy with th

r said that me

r hair from her temple with a trembling hand. "Jus

scared or angry. Lights flickered. Plants bloomed out of season. And once, when the school bus driv

r for these things. She only gre

he path behind the tool shed-a pa

," her grandmother always said. "That

er. A pull behind her rib

t pounding as she crossed the inv

oss coated every branch like a second skin. Light barely

stone altar-half-swallowed by vines, m

The stone hummed, low and deep, like something sleep

uched the surface, a

ierce. Not like an old woman

e hissed. Her eyes burned

ly whispered. "

so quickly she nearly tripped. "That place reme

ack tears. "Wh

stone. For a moment, her face softe

," she said quietly. "To those who carrie

d. "Like...

you hear in stories. They were guardians. C

wh

" Her voice cracked. "By

skipped. "We'

nothing. But the sile

ent

d dried herbs. She hadn't come up here in years. Not since the funeral. The house

still echoe

al... and I think

, her fingers brushing symbols she vaguely remembered seeing in dreams. Som

ound journal, its cover etched with

ned it

one who

ng this, you car

come for you b

other's ha

wolves who walked as men and women who could call to them without sh

nter of all o

tions. Not love, though love often followed. Something d

heart t

circled in ink ov

den - he

d the p

ever the bond before it fully awakened, but the pack found her. They

hroat ti

died in a car cr

as hu

was happe

ging in her chest-not fear this t

n't her

ouldn

the edge of the forest. Not

came from, whatever legacy slep