Zack stood frozen in the middle of the street.
Mason stared at him, still trying to understand everything he'd just heard.
Mason: "You left because they were after you?"
Zack nodded slowly.
Zack: "I thought if I disappeared, they'd stop looking for you."
Mason's jaw tightened.
Mason: "You could've told me."
Zack: "I was a kid, Mason. I was scared."
Mason looked away.
For ten years, he'd imagined hundreds of reasons Zack had abandoned him.
None of them had been this.
Mason: "I waited."
Zack's eyes filled with tears.
Zack: "I know."
Mason: "How?"
Zack gave a small, sad smile.
Zack: "Because I came back every year."
Mason looked at him.
Before he could respond, a low growl came from the end of the street.
The group of shifters was getting closer.
The leader stepped forward.
Leader: "Enough reminiscing."
Mason immediately stepped in front of Zack.
Mason: "Who are you?"
Leader: "Someone who knows exactly what you two are."
Zack grabbed Mason's arm.
Zack: "Don't."
Mason: "Don't what?"
Zack: "Fight them."
Mason: "I'm not letting them take you."
Zack stared at him.
For a moment, the noise of the city disappeared.
Mason could hear Zack's heartbeat.
Then his own wolf spoke inside his mind.
Protect him.
Mason whispered:
Mason: "So it's true..."
Zack: "What?"
Mason: "You're my bond."
Zack's eyes widened.
His wolf answered from within him.
And he is ours.
Zack looked down, struggling to control his breathing.
Zack: "Mason..."
The leader suddenly lunged.
Mason shoved Zack aside.
His eyes flashed silver.
A shockwave of energy burst from him, throwing the attacker backward.
Everyone stopped.
Mason stared at his own hands.
Mason: "...What did I just do?"
Zack looked terrified.
Zack: "Your bond isn't just a bond."
Mason: "Then what is it?"
Zack slowly shook his head.
Zack: "I don't know."
The leader climbed back to his feet.
Instead of attacking again, he smiled.
Leader: "Now you understand why we were looking for you."
Mason: "Looking for me?"
Leader: "Your bloodline disappeared eighteen years ago."
He pointed toward Mason.
Leader: "We thought it was gone forever."
Mason felt a chill run through him.
Zack whispered:
Zack: "Mason... run."
Mason looked at him.
Mason: "Together."
Zack hesitated.
Then he smiled.
Zack: "Together."
They turned and ran into the city.
Behind them, the leader shouted:
Leader: "You can run!"
He smiled as the other shifters followed.
Leader: "But the bond will always lead us to you."
Mason and Zack disappeared into the crowded streets.
Neither of them knew where they were going.
Neither knew what Mason's strange power meant.
But for the first time in ten years...
Zack wasn't running alone.