CHAPTER 6
Rosie moved first. She always did.
A brush of fur against Alex’s leg. A quiet weight beside her. Not a command, not even a nudge, just the steady presence of a creature who had never once left her.
Alex felt the message in her body more than her mind:
You’re safe.
I’m here.
You’re not walking this alone.
For a moment, it was enough.
Hawk’s feathers settled with a soft rustle. His eyes followed Rosie first, not Alex, as if recognizing the true source of steadiness in the clearing.
When he finally looked at Alex, there was no pressure in his gaze.
Only understanding.
The Wood seemed to lean closer.
Not with a threat.
With recognition.
Branches shifted in a slow ripple. Leaves trembled without wind. Something ancient stirred beneath the roots.
And Alex understood, without being told, that the Wood was revealing something it did not show to everyone.
Every creature who entered carried a wound.
Most tried to hide it.
Only the wounded could feel the Wood’s breath.
The secret was simple and devastating:
The Wood did not heal wounds.
It revealed them.
Not to shame.
Not to expose.
But because nothing abandoned, nothing betrayed, nothing broken could begin to mend until it was seen, truly seen, by something that would not leave.
The clearing fell quiet.
Rosie pressed against Alex’s leg.
Hawk stood watch.
And for the first time, Alex wondered if being seen might be different from being exposed.