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Wrong. The kind of wrong you feel before you understand why.

The sensor near the old maple tree is flashing. Rhett approaches slowly.

I stay behind him. For once. Mostly.

"What is it?"

"Can’t say yet."

That answer from him is rare. Which makes it worse.

The space near the tree shimmers. Like heat above pavement. Except there is frost spreading across the grass.

The distortion grows. Not forming. Unforming. Like something trying to force itself into existence.

Rhett's entire body changes. Not completely. But enough. His eyes shift. His posture lowers. The man disappears beneath instinct.

Not gone. Just sharing space with something older.

The entity pushes forward. The pressure hits me. A wave of cold moves through my chest. My knees almost buckle.

Rhett moves instantly.

"Carys, back."

I force myself upright.

"I need to see it."

"No."

"Understanding matters."

"So does surviving."

The distortion twists. I see something. Not a body. Not a face. A memory.

A child standing in fog. A house behind him. A woman screaming.

I stumble backward. Rhett catches me.

"What did you see?"

I can't answer. Was what I saw real? Or just what this thing wanted me to see?

The entity reacts. It moves toward me.

Not Rhett. Me.

A tendril of darkness stretches across the yard. Rhett steps forward.

The ground cracks beneath his feet. The shift comes faster this time. More complete. Enough that I see him. Not just the man. The wolf. Powerful. Terrifying. Beautiful.

The thought is immediately followed by:

What is wrong with me?

The entity reaches. Rhett intercepts.