Jeremiah didn’t respond to the wolf’s final remark. His voice came gently, but firmly: “D’Angelo. Move, slowly, around them. Come to me.”

  D’Angelo, heart pounding, nodded and took careful steps around the circle of wolves, never turning his back on them. As soon as he was clear, Jeremiah and Shadow stepped out of the darkness beside him, as if they’d always been there. The familiar presence hit D’Angelo like a wave of calm.

  Jeremiah gave him a warm, proud smile. Shadow trotted up and licked D’Angelo’s face, his big tail wagging like crazy.

  Without thinking, D’Angelo dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Shadow’s thick neck, then stood and hugged Jeremiah tight. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered, tears finally spilling down his cheeks.

  Jeremiah didn’t say anything—he just patted the boy’s back.

  The moment was short but sweet.

  Then the lead wolf stepped forward again. “Hello, human champion,” he said. “We wish your pack well. We must go now.”

  Jeremiah nodded. “Hello, Ferris. How is the pack? How is your father?”

  Ferris’s golden eyes glinted in the dark. “Alpha and pack are strong. We travel to seek council with Alpha.”

  “Then lead the way,” Jeremiah said with a calm nod. “We’ll follow.”

  And with that, the wolves turned and began to trot deeper into the strange forest, the grass whispering around their paws. Jeremiah motioned for D’Angelo and Shadow to follow.

  D’Angelo didn’t know how to feel about this turn of events. He was still shaken, but Jeremiah’s presence grounded him. Silently, he grabbed hold of Jeremiah’s pant leg, clutching it like an anchor in the dark. He followed, step by step, his eyes flicking warily between the wolves ahead and the shadows around them.

  “How do you know these wolves?” he asked in a small voice.

  Jeremiah glanced down, his expression calm and reassuring. “The city has a relationship with any intelligent animals that are willing to communicate,” he explained. “Some of them stay wild, but others help us. We even have a biology division in the military just to document the creatures affected by the rifts.”

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  He paused, then added, “Ferris and I go back a ways. His father’s the alpha of the pack. We’ve worked together for years.”

  As they continued deeper into the woods, the forest began to change. The silence gave way to life—rustling leaves, the snapping of twigs, and whispers of motion from all directions. Golden eyes blinked at them from the bushes. Dozens. Then more.

  Suddenly, a sound tore through the stillness.

  A howl. Long, deep, and powerful. Singular, yet commanding.

  Ferris raised his head and howled in answer. The wolves around him followed—one by one, then all together. The noise rose like a tidal wave. The entire forest joined in, a deafening chorus of howls that echoed through the night and rattled D’Angelo’s chest.

  He clamped his hands over his ears, eyes wide. It took time for the sound to fade and his hearing to return.

  Once he could hear again, he looked up at Jeremiah. “How many wolves… are there?”

  Jeremiah looked ahead, his eyes sharp. “A little over two hundred and seventy.”

  D’Angelo gulped and tightened his grip on Jeremiah’s leg.

  Ferris paused and glanced back at them, his golden eyes steady. “The Alpha summons a gathering,” he rumbled. “Follow close behind.”

  Jeremiah and D’Angelo fell in step as the wolves led them through the underbrush. Soon, the trees thinned, revealing a wide glade bathed in moonlight. Dozens of wolves stood waiting—majestic elders with silvered muzzles, hulking adults, sleek adolescents, and playful pups tumbling over one another.

  D’Angelo’s breath caught. He’d imagined a den full of snarling teeth and savage hunger, but instead he found something almost magical: a community alive with gentle nudges, soft whimpers, and the occasional playful pounce. His fear melted into wonder.

  Jeremiah watched him with a small smile. Not even the threat of dinner can keep him down, he thought.

  A curious pup, no larger than D’Angelo’s forearm, trotted up to the boy, its ears perked. The pup stopped a few feet away and did two little hops, head cocked expectantly.

  D’Angelo grinned. He mirrored the hops—one, two—and the pup barked in delight. Then the little wolf darted in a tight circle, and D’Angelo laughed as he chased it, their footsteps pounding softly on the grass.

  The pup glanced back, eyes gleaming with mischief, and took off toward the rest of the pack. Without hesitation, D’Angelo sprinted after it, chasing through the moonlit clearing, his laughter echoing among the howls and rustling leaves.

  A ripple of excitement ran through the pack as D’Angelo and the little pup tumbled and chased each other across the moonlit clearing. One by one, other wolves—mothers and fathers—nudged forward their own pups. Soon a dozen, then two dozen young wolves bounded into the game, yipping and leaping in joyous abandon.

  D’Angelo’s laughter rang out as he dashed ahead, the parade of pups trailing behind him like a furry banner. He chased them between moonlit patches of grass, stumbling in his sandals but never falling, heart soaring with pure delight.

  Only when he skidded to a stop at the far edge of the glade did he realize he’d run straight into the very center of the pack. Dozens of adult wolves stood in a great circle around him and his merry band of pups. Their eyes glowed softly in the silver light—and at the very center, towering above them all, stood a massive wolf whose shoulders rose like great hills and whose fur shimmered like starlight on water.

  D’Angelo froze, awe and a flicker of fear in his chest. The elephant-sized wolf’s golden eyes fixed on Jeremiah, who stepped forward calmly.

  The great wolf’s voice rolled across the clearing like distant thunder:

  “Jeremiah, my friend—well met.”

  At the sound of that greeting, the smaller wolves fell silent, tails lowered in respect. Even the playful pups halted their prancing and looked on with wide, eager eyes.

  D’Angelo swallowed hard, feeling the weight of that powerful presence—and the warmth of Jeremiah’s unwavering stance beside him. The night held its breath as two old allies reunited beneath the silent stars.