(Thomas POV)
The forest was dark by the time I got home. The rain hadn't returned yet, but the air felt like it wanted to, heavy with the kind of quiet that makes sound travel farther. The headlights swept across the house as I pulled in, catching on the edges of the porch before vanishing into the trees.
Inside, everything was still. Edythe had left a note on the counter in that perfect looping writing of hers:
Out hunting with Alice. Back before dawn.
I smiled despite myself, setting the note down beside the small velvet box in my hand. The contrast made me pause, her elegant handwriting beside the little square that could change everything.
The box looked absurdly small for what it held. Just a ring. Metal and stone. But it felt alive in a way no object should, heavy with what it meant rather than what it was.
I sat at the table, turning it in my hand. The light from the lamp above caught the diamond, throwing small fragments of silver across the wood.
Carlisle's words echoed back to me: Don't make it about the past or the future. Make it about the moment.
I wasn't sure what that moment looked like yet, but I knew it had to be hers. It had to fit Edythe, the way she existed between grace and danger, between stillness and motion. The way she made forever seem not terrifying, but possible.
I thought about the meadow, the one she and Bella had both told me about, their "hidden place." But it didn't feel right. That was their story, not mine.
For Edythe, it needed to be something simpler. Closer. Something real.
My gaze drifted toward the window, toward the faint glow that shimmered through the trees where the Cullen house stood miles away. The same forest that had once nearly witnessed my death, was now the thread that tied every piece of my life together.
I walked upstairs to our room looking for a place to hide the box until I was ready for it. My eyes fell on one of Elaraim's old journals, the one she'd written near the end of her life. Its pages were fragile, the ink faded, but the last line always stood out to me, I picked it up and read it again.
Love is not the bond that holds power — it is the power itself.
I closed the book and set it beside the ring. "Guess you'd approve, Grandma," I muttered softly.
I looked at the bed and then the clock beside it. It's not that late and I feel restless after the heaviness of the day. Let's burn off some energy.
I removed my clothes and left them on the bed before walking downstairs and out the front door. Once again happy that my house was in the woods, I took a deep breath and before letting it out, I shifted all the way to my final form, the dire tiger. Then with no hesitation, I ran into the woods.
I had run the forest for about a half an hour, not bothering to pay attention to where I was so long as I was in the deep woods. Lots of new scents in the forest, almost all were wolf scent. Guess the tribe got a few more wolf warriors.
I reached out with my mind to see if I could feel Sam like I was able to before my trip to Nepal but didn't feel anything. Either he wasn't out tonight, or my gift had changed, and that connection wasn't part of me anymore.
I had gone maybe another 10 minutes before I felt a push on my mind.
{"Thomas?"}
{"Hello Sam. I just reached out to see if you were around a few minutes ago. How are things?"}
There was a pause before Sam answered. I started moving in the direction of the Quileute boarder without consciously deciding to.
{"It's different lately. Louder, busier… more of us now."}
The words felt measured, like he was trying to keep things generalized.
I slowed my pace, weaving between the trees until I came to a rise overlooking the river. The moonlight that made it through the clouds painted the surface silver. {"I noticed. The forest smells like your pack stretched its legs."}
I felt an agreement from Sam, as if he nodded his head. {"When the Cullen's left we didn't bother so much with boarders. Now that they are back thought, we are training the new members to run and protect our lands."}
{"If it would help any, I would love to meet up with the new pack members. It would give them my scent and help avoid any confusion later on."}
Another long pause followed before Sam replied.
{"Let's hold off on that, Thomas. The Elders want us to remain cautious and you returning the same time as the Cullen's have them wondering."}
{"I get it,"} I sent back. {"They're protecting their people."}
{"Exactly,"} Sam replied. His mental tone softened, like the low rumble that used to come before a smile. {"Let me smooth things over first. Once they're settled, we'll bring you in to meet the pack. You'll like most of them. Jared's solid. Paul—well, you'll smell him before you see him."}
That earned a mental snort from me. {"That bad, huh?"}
{"New. Angry. Loud,"} Sam said, amusement edging into his voice. {"He's still learning how to be more than his temper."}
{"Sounds like a few shifters I met in Nepal,"} I replied. {"He'll either grow out of it or burn himself out."}
{"I'm hoping for the first one,"} Sam sent back, and this time, I could almost hear the smile.
We let the silence stretch between us — easy, companionable, threaded through with the sound of the wind moving through the trees. That's what I always liked about talking to Sam. He didn't fill the air with words he didn't mean.
{"You really are different,"} he said finally. {"Your presence feels steadier now. More... centered."}
I didn't know how to respond to that. {"I had a few trials while I was gone. Learned more about myself and accepting the shift. That must be what you're sensing."}
{"Maybe,"} he agreed quietly. Then, after a beat: {"Either way, it's good to have you home."}
I felt that, not as sound or thought, but something older. The pulse of the forest between us, the subtle acknowledgment of one Alpha-born to another.
{"It's good to be back,"} I sent, before breaking the link and letting the world flood in again.
The forest felt alive in that way only the Pacific Northwest could — moss and mist and distance humming together. I turned away from the boarder stream and started back toward home, my paws silent against the damp ground.
Suddenly a figure burst through the woods beside me, a deep growl escaped from a maw of white teeth.
The impact came hard and fast enough to stagger me as I was caught off balance. I rolled with it, claws digging into the earth as a gray blur hit my flank and tried to drive me down. The snarl that tore out of me split the silence like thunder.
Wolf. Young. Strong. Reckless.
One of the new ones, probably Paul.
He snapped at my throat, wild, unrestrained, but his timing was sloppy. I met him head-on, my paw catching him square in the shoulder. The force sent him crashing through a sapling, the crack of wood echoing through the trees.
He was back on his feet in seconds, hackles high, lips peeled back over his teeth. His thoughts weren't words, but I could feel the pulse of them, rage, instinct, confusion.
I crouched low, tail lashing. I roared at him with intent knowing we couldn't talk. Back off, kid.
He lunged again.
This time I didn't move aside. I met him mid-leap, twisting my weight just enough to catch him across the ribs. The sound he made was half a bark, half a shout. He hit the ground hard and rolled, snarling, but I didn't give him time to recover. In two strides, I was over him, paw pressed against his chest, claws half-unsheathed, just deep enough to make the message clear.
His eyes locked on mine, and for the first time, I saw fear cut through the fury.
My growl came out low and resonant, a sound that wasn't entirely human or beast.
He froze. The fight drained out of him like water from a broken dam. He lost control of his shift and reverted to human.
Sam pushed at my mind, I allowed him in. {"What's happening Thomas? I felt Paul fighting and when I focused on him, I saw you standing over him before he faded from the pack mind."} Jared appeared a heartbeat later, in wolf form, circling wide with his ears flat.
Paul shouted at Jared. "He is in our territory, attack him! Don't worry about me!"
Sam charged in and stopped before shifting to human form. "No," Sam said, "He was near it. And you know better than to attack without confirmation."
Paul glared up at me, defiant even through the pain. "He doesn't smell like you or Jared or any of us. He smells wrong."
Sam gave him a look that could've frozen fire. "He is Thomas, I have told you about him and so has Jared. I owe him my life. You'd do well to remember that."
Jared huffed in quiet agreement. Before shifting to human shape as well, "What have I told you about rushing in, Paul?"
I stepped back, letting Paul breathe again, then I shifted to human as well. "You're fast," I said evenly, "but you don't think. A bad combination for anyone who wants to live long."
Paul's jaw tightened, but he didn't respond. The challenge had bled out of him.
Sam turned to me, his expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, Thomas. He's still new. His instincts get ahead of his sense."
I shook my head. "It's fine. He'll learn."
Sam gave a short nod, but his tone carried quiet gratitude. "Thank you for not killing him."
I gave a chuckle. "Would've been a waste of fur."
That earned a faint smile from Jared, even as he helped Paul to his feet. "We'll handle the clean-up," he said, and Sam nodded.
As they left, Sam and I resumed our shifted forms. Sam's thoughts brushed mine once more through the link.
{"You handled that better than I could have expected. The Elders will hear about it, and that you didn't spill blood."}
{"Didn't seem necessary"}, I sent back. He's young. {"He'll figure out which fights matter and how to survive them."}
{"Maybe,"} Sam replied. {"Still, I owe you one."}
{"No, you don't. But if you feel that strongly about it, keep it in mind when you deal with the Cullen's. They truly are not the enemy."} I answered, pulling the link closed, then I turned and slipped back into the forest.
I ran until the air was clean of the scent of wolf, until the only heartbeat I could hear was my own.
Home wasn't far. If Edythe wasn't there yet, she would be when I woke, and that was enough.