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I swung the pack from my shoulders and sat, gesturing for Roan to do the same.

“Don’t make me regret this,” I whispered.

He looked at me like he was nervous and more than a little confused.

Good.

We waited in the quiet of the early forest. When the scene around us had lightened into true day, I heard them. Roan perked up beside me, reached for his knife, then stiffened when he came up empty.

“You wanted the truth,” I said.

The first wolf broke through the underbrush. It was the mother, and she headed straight for her pups. The father appeared behind her, followed by the watcher.

“This is the truth.”

The watcher looked for me and found me. Immediately, his eyes shifted to Roan, and he stilled, tail alert.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

Roan’s fingers found my forearm and wrapped tightly around it. He didn’t take his gaze off the wolves. The two others emerged from the trees, saw the watcher’s tight posture, and found us as well. The father was next. Four pairs of eyes watched us, wary.

“What the hell, Fenli,” he whispered.

“Relax.”

“You want me to relax right now? Give me the sword.” He reached for it, but I smacked his hand away.

“No! Just do what—”

The father had seen enough. He growled and his hackles rose.

That stopped our squabble. I grabbed Roan’s hand and squeezed, warning him and pleading with him in the same gesture. He stilled, thank Toke, and the father watched us for many long moments before his ear finally flicked, his tail lowered, he looked away.

“What the hell is this, Fen.”

The father turned away from us completely and moved closer to the den.

“It’s what I’ve been hiding. Where I’ve been going during the days. Now it’s where I’m staying.”

“You told me you were staying with people. You’re such a liar.”

“No, I said I’d found another group. It’s not my fault you assumed they were people.”

He swore.

I shrugged.

“I’ve taken to them. We’re comfortable with each other, and I like it here.”

“That big one could have killed us!”

I scowled and waved him off. “That. That was your fault. It was only a warning.”

He rubbed a hand up and down his face before swearing once more.

The watcher cocked his head at that, and I smiled, leaning back into the tree. Gods, I was tired. We’d barely slept last night, and all the nervous energy I’d been running on was coming up empty now. Sunlight was filtering through the treetops, and I was in a delicious spot of it. It warmed my clothes and my skin.

“Just watch the watcher,” I told him, “while he watches you. When the pups come out, your patience will be rewarded. Shouldn’t be long now.”