Keepsakes and Farewells

The heavy door clicked shut, but the sharp, electric charge of the stranger remained suspended in the room.

*He is a puzzle with missing pieces,* Aethra murmured across their mental link.

Valera inhaled deeply, relying on the familiar scent of pine and damp earth to settle her nerves, though her thoughts kept snapping back to the intruder.

*He lied,* the wolf insisted. *Not completely, but en