The one nearest to me let out a sound—a rumble so low and happy it sounded like a purr. Wolves don’t purr. But this one? This one was vibrating like a phone on silent mode.
And I felt... warm.
Not coat-warm. Not body-heat-warm.
Soul-warm. Like I’d stepped into a sunbeam and someone whispered home in my ear.
I scratched them both for another minute, fingers sinking into impossibly soft fur, and something in my chest twisted—an ache I didn’t know how to name. The moment felt too good to be real. Like a fever dream I didn’t want to wake up from.
Eventually, I stood up, brushing snow off my knees.
“Well, boys,” I sighed, “this was fun. But I gotta go.”
I turned, opened the car door—
One of them barked.
Not aggressive.
Not warning.
Just... desperate. Like I’d forgotten something impo
