The words travel through the pack quickly, and with them spreads a subtle undercurrent of something that is not fear and not awe but recognition that the structure beneath their territory has shifted in a way that strengthens rather than destabilizes.
The bond between us pulses again, and this time I feel a flicker of discomfort beneath Axel’s steady composure.
There are side effects.
He does not voice it immediately, but I sense it in the tightening of his jaw and the way his fingers curl slightly as if containing excess energy beneath his skin.
Atticus feels it too, because he rubs the back of his neck briefly and exhales.
“It is louder,” he admits quietly once we are far enough from listening ears.
“What is,” I ask.
“The land,” Axel answers.
They feel it constantly now.
The bou
