Page 90 of The Moonborn's Curse
"These are incredible," he said quietly.
Seren shrugged, but there was a flush on her cheeks. "Talis built me a website."
He looked up, startled. "You have a website?"
She nodded. "He kept nagging me to showcase the shots. Said it wasn't fair to keep them in files and drawers. It's picking up attention. A couple of small wildlife journals have already reached out. One wants to feature the Fox series."
Hagan stared at her. "Why didn't you tell anyone? No one knows this."
She hesitated, suddenly shy. "I don't know. It didn't feel... real. Or maybe I didn't want it to feel like I was showing off."
He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "You should show off. Seren, this is - this is talent."
She blinked, caught off-guard. Her silver eyes seemed to stare into his soul.
And in the silence that followed, he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time - not just the girl with the sharp tongue and soft eyes - but as someone luminous. Capable. Strange and rare.
Just as she was enjoying the warmth of that look.
"Oh, and who is this Talis person?"
----------------------------------
At first, Seren was stiff in his presence-hyper-aware of every brush of his arm, every glance he sent her way. But over time, his persistence wore her down. He never pushed, never asked for more than she could give. His patience wore down her defences like water smoothing stone.
In wolf form, he padded after her silently, a brown silhouette who tried - often unsuccessfully-not to startle the small critters she worked so hard to photograph.
"You're too big for stealth," she told him once, laughing.
He wagged his tail in protest, tongue lolling. The wolf half of him liked cuddles and belly rubs. He was like a giant puppy.
Sometimes, she would feel his thoughts brushing hers-just fragments, wordless impressions of emotion. She never let on she could hear more than most. She hadn't told him, not yet, about how the voices of animals and wolfkind alike sometimes filled her head like wind through leaves. How she healed the forest animals. Some things still felt too raw to name.
But she almost told him once.
They were sitting near the grove, the sun slanting low, and Hagan had shifted back from wolf to boy, stretching out beside her in the grass. He slowly munched on the banana fritters she had packed for herself.
"You will be the size of a small mountain if you eat at this rate." Seren teased.
Hagan said, licking his fingers" Well, it would be your fault then. These are ...wow"
A comfortable silence ensued.
"Do you ever feel like you're... two people?" she asked.
He glanced at her, thoughtful. "No. The wolf isn't separate. He's another side of me."
She frowned. "But how do you know?"
Hagan sat up. "It's like this. When everything gets too much - the prophecy, the expectations, my parents, the tribe-I want to throw off my skin and just run. Not away. Just... free. And the wolf? He doesn't overthink. He just is."
He paused, a rueful smile on his face. "When I was four, I shifted into a pup and refused to turn back for days. My mother thought I'd become one of the Forgotten."
Seren blinked, startled. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Veyr found me chewing on tree bark and howling at squirrels. I was fast, even then. The Oracle had to come bribe me with smoked meat."
Seren laughed until her sides hurt. "I wish I'd seen that."
