15

CALIFF

I was dreaming. In my dream, I was running through the woods, feeling the dirt under my feet and the cold breeze against my skin.

I caught the scents of the forest, and decaying leaves wafted around. As the adrenaline rushed, I felt free, and I felt my heart pumping as I ran faster, ignoring the burning in my lungs.

It was a peaceful night. I was aware I was alone in a way that made it more dangerous, but there was no eerily smell of threats in the air.

One moment, I was in my bare feet. The next blink, I was in a four-legged wolf.

A jam of adrenaline and pain surged through me. The trembling took over faster. My whole body was caught in a flashback of fear of traps in those deaths and the pungent smell of blood, and I’d never felt an existential, physical, or emotional weakness watching the people I cared about in such agony.

“Hey.” A familiar trusty voice and a hand on my face that was warm and soft. I purred to its touch. “Baby?”

I jolted up and met the familiar, most