Jezebel Leaving the pack behind never gets easier. "Oh, spare the tragedy monologue," Jade sighs in my mind, her voice like wind dragging over old stone. "If leaving were easy, you'd be a shepherd with anxiety, not a sovereign. The land tests what it loves." "Every instinct I have says that leaders aren’t supposed to walk away from their people, no matter how temporary the separation is supposed to be," I huff silently at her. "Instincts are just panic wearing ceremonial robes," Jade says lazily. "Very dramatic. Very human of you." "You are literally half of me," I retort. "The evolved half," she chuckles. I stand at the edge of pack lands, watching the others move back toward the packhouse. Their backs are straight, their strides purposeful, but I can feel the tension threading through them even from here. Not fear or panic. The kind of strain that comes when you realize the world you thought you understood is built on bones you never agreed to stand on. Jon. J
Last Updated : 2026-01-26 Read more