Chapter 16. The Wolf Within

Warmth returned in waves—not sudden, but creeping. Mira stirred beneath a heavy cocoon of cloth, the damp haze of sleep lifting by degrees. Her hand, sluggish and uncertain, brushed the edge of the blanket that covered her. The fabric was coarse, too broad in cut.

A man’s shirt.

His.

Kaelen’s.

She sat up slowly, blinking through the dim glow that filtered through the tent canvas. Her heart began to race before she could name why. Every breath she drew was laced with his scent. She shifted slightly, scanning the interior.

‘You’ve been out for half a day,’ said a voice—not from outside the tent, nor from her memory, but from somewhere deep within, threaded through her bones.

Mira froze.

The voice wasn’t her own.

‘Who… are you?’ she whispered inwardly, though she already knew. Some part of her had always known.

‘I’m your wolf, Ismeria,’ came the reply, warm and wry and inexplicably familiar.

The nam