The circle formed so fast that it felt like the pack had been waiting for this exact moment and only needed one sentence to tighten itself into shape. There was no elder stepping forward this time and no formal words and no pause to let anyone pretend this was clean or lawful or dignified.
There was just dirt and breath and pressure. I stepped into the space first because I had already said yes and there was no pulling that word back now and every bruise Ezra had put into me that morning woke up the second I stopped moving. My ribs were still tender on the left side and my shoulder felt wrong when I rolled it too far back. There was a deep ache in my thighs from getting knocked down and forced up again until my legs barely wanted to listen. But I ignored all of it.
John stepped in acros
