TRACKER PAUSED AS he and Doom crested the stairs on the mountainside, sniffing the air, cocking his head to the side as he listened. “She is there,” the wolflen growled. As if to prove him right, Ky-Lar moved from behind the large boulder they walked towards, gazing at them with calm expectation.

“Ti?” Doom knelt by the woman who sat with her knees drawn up and face hidden in her arms. “Ti, what’s the matter?”

She looked up, her face wet with tears. “I don’t want to stay here! This is not our home. Bralden is our home. Where they accept us. They do not think either of us are monsters or toys or tools or pets or anything but one of them. We have a place there.” She pulled away from his comforting touch, surging to her feet and punching a tree. It squealed as a split raced away from the point of impact. The display of raw power startled both Doom and Tracker.

Seething, she paced, shaking with emotion. “Will the dragon gods steal me and my memories of Bralden away to get what they want? Am I just some tool or trinket to be passed from one powerful thing to another?” She punched the tree again, the crack widening. “Why must I keep losing the ones I love to sate some powerful, selfish entity?” she raged.

“They are not taking anything from you. They want to take care of you.” Doom clasped the medallion around his neck, an unconscious gesture to reassure himself and hide a symbol of her ire from her. “They want to take care of both of us. The temple is their home. They want to share it with us so they can protect us.” He looked at the giant panther. “They brought Ky-Lar to you.”

“So I am supposed to trade away our home with Kerk, those I care about in Bralden, the first place I have been able to know peace and freedom for this empty, soulless hole in the ground?” Golden eyes flashed in the light. “I am grateful to have known all that, and to have Ky-Lar, but I rather I had died killing that demon than lose everything again!”

“You are losing nothing, Cat-Sister.” Tracker dared to put his hand on her shoulder. “Things are changing, but you and I both have known change would be coming.”

“I’m not ready,” she all but wailed. “I’m not ready for our paths to diverge.”

“Our paths may part, but our friendship never will. You will never lose me, Cat-Sister, no matter if we run in the same pack or different ones.” He cupped her jaw, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. “And you will never lose Bralden. You and Doom-Not-Demon touched all who live there. You will forever be a part of us, whether you dwell there or not.”

Ky-Lar paced closer, his head held low, tail lashing. Awkwardly, he growled in the wolflen tongue, “Must learn what should have learned.” He looked at Doom. “Both have much to learn about selves.”

Doom blinked at the panther. “You can speak wolflen?”

Holding his head proudly, the panther stated, his diction improving slowly as he spoke, “Ky knows what bondmate knows. She knows wolflen, I know wolflen. She would know what I know, but time apart damaged the learning.” He padded to Tiwaz, bumping her gently. “We must leave. Better if learning is without distraction for you both.”

Tiwaz looked stricken. “You, too? You want me to leave everyone behind, Ky-Lar?”

He bobbed his head in assent. “Leave, yes. Forever, no. Too many years stolen from us and from him.” He looked at Doom with a similar sad affection that he had for Tiwaz. “Too much time lost in learning what you are. Much to make up for in small time.”

Doom managed a reassuring smile. “He is right. My wings are growing back, but it doesn’t mean I know how to fly. I will need to train as hard as you ever did to become strong.” He pulled Tiwaz into a tight embrace. “I have faith Ky-Lar will keep you safe.” He looked at the panther. “How long until you return?”

“Learning will be many, many years. Time alone, no longer than two cycles of the seasons,” he replied simply. He turned his feline eyes to Tiwaz. “Sooner go, sooner return.”

“I know,” she whispered. Turning to Tracker, she pulled him close in a tight embrace. “Pack-brother, I will miss you terribly. Find a good pack to run with. I could not bear knowing you were alone.”

Tracker rested his chin atop her head. “I plan to return to Aurora, if she will have me. The Dragonway temple should be part of Bralden, not a stranger. They have much the tribe can learn. And there is much they can learn from the tribe.” He grinned toothily. “I expect there will be a naming ceremony one day. I would be honored if you stood for us. If she is willing to share cubs with me, at least.”

She could only nod, a lump in her throat at the intimate request. She turned to Doom, reaching up to put her hand along his jaw. “I cannot wait to see you soar in the skies,” she whispered. “Where you have always belonged.”

Doom smiled, though his eyes reflected more emotions than mere amusement. “Ti, at your side, I have always been where I belonged. Promise me one thing.” He held her gaze for a heartbeat. “Don’t go after Alimar without me. We will see our journey to the end together.” When she didn’t reply immediately, he frowned. “Promise me!”

“I promise,” she finally stated. She stepped back, looking between her pack-brothers. Tears glistened in her eyes, and her voice was tight with emotion. “I love you both,” she said before turning and, shape-shifting into her panther shape, ran before either could see her cry again. Ky-Lar ran by her side, both melting into the forest.

Tracker looked at Doom, quizzical about the gromek’s odd expression. It took a few minutes before the gromek could speak. “I always knew she loved me. As much as I love her.” He closed his eyes, turning away. “This is the first time she ever said it aloud.”

“She is beginning to heal. It is good,” Tracker stated firmly. “Come. We must tell the others so they need not worry. Or try finding them before it is time for them to return.” Doom nodded mutely, the pair returning to the temple. They both cast one last look in the direction she had vanished.