The night had settled thick and heavy around the clearing. The moon was bright enough to cast pale silver across the grass, but everything beyond the training field was swallowed in darkness. It was the kind of quiet that made every small sound stand out. The creak of wood, the rustle of leaves, the slow, steady breathing of the wolf in the pen.
We rotated the shifts like I planned. Arlo and Gage had first watch, Emily sitting quietly near the fence with them. Asher and I stayed just inside the packhouse, the doors open so we could still hear. Guards ringed the area, their tranquilizer rifles hidden but ready, wolfsbane darts loaded in case anything went wrong.
It wasn’t the first time we’d stood guard over a creature we didn’t understand, but this was different. This wolf wasn’t just st
