The forest warned Kaida again.
It wasn't a snap of twig or careless footstep. It was absence—the sudden thinning of birdsong, the way the wind seemed to pull back on itself, as if the world were holding its breath. Her wolf lifted its head, ears angling east, body going taut beneath her skin.
Kaida straightened slowly.
Benny froze mid-step, one boot still lifted above the ground. He lowered it carefully and sniffed the air, once, then again. His gray hair caught the light as he frowned. "Pack scent," he said. "Clean. Disciplined. No panic in it."
"Patrol," muttered Rhea. The scarred brown-furred female leaned back against a tree, arms crossed, eyes already tracking the shadows. "Four. Maybe five. They know where they're going."
Jax rolled his shoulders, jaw tightening as if already preparing for a fight. "Of course they do. Because nothing ever just happens quietly."
"Easy," Mara said softly from near the fire pit. She hadn't stood yet, but her gaze was sharp, assessing. "No one's rushing in,"
Tomas shifted closer to Kaida, broad shoulders blocking part of her flank without thinking, a natural instinct he didn't understand himself. "You want positions?" he asked, voice low, controlled, eyes still glue to the east pointing woods searching for movement. Years of pack training showed in the way he spoke.
"No," Kaida said immediately, voice confident and unwavering.
Six heads turned toward her, brow lifted in question.
"No formations," she clarified. "No flanking. No posturing."
Jax frowned openly. "That makes us look weak."
Kaida met his gaze, unblinking. "It makes us look uninterested."
Rhea snorted, a sharp sound of amusement. "That'll confuse the hell out of them." Deep smirk gracing her lips as she moved closer.
"Good," Kaida said.
Lune, barefoot at the edge of the trees, tilted her head slightly. Her pale hair stirred even though there was no wind. "They'll smell it anyway," she murmured. "Not fear. Not dominance. Just… quiet."
Benny swallowed. "I hate quiet."
She rolled her eyes unashamed, "and yet you stay".
The patrol emerged moments later.
Four wolves stepped from the trees with practiced ease, spacing deliberate, movements smooth enough to be almost casual. Their leader—a tall male with iron-gray hair and a dark redscar slicing through one eyebrow—paused just inside the clearing. His eyes swept the group once, cataloging without staring. He was skilled, no questions about it.
"Well," he said calmly, "this is new."
Kaida stepped forward alone, boots pressing into damp soil. She felt the others behind her—present but not looming. They did not step with her but their bodies seemed to lean towards her.
"This is pack land," the patrol leader said, looking down at where her feet stopped.
"It isn't," Kaida replied.
"The border stone is less than a mile south."
"And untouched," Kaida said evenly. "No markers crossed. No claims made."
The leader's gaze flicked briefly over the six of them, lingering just long enough to count. "Then who are you?"
"Someone passing through."
"With quite the entourage." His eyes landing accusingly on Benny and Lune.
"They came with me," Kaida said. "They aren't owned."
"That's not how wolves work," said the patrol wolf to the leader's left, a narrow-faced female with sharp eyes.
Kaida tilted her head slightly, slowly raking her eyes over the females. "Then maybe we're trying something new."
A murmur rippled through the patrol. Not outrage—curiosity. Unease.
"You Alpha?" the leader asked.
"No."
"Luna?"
"No."
"Then who speaks for you?" He asked in frustration.
Kaida met his eyes without flinching. "I speak for myself."
Behind her, Benny leaned toward Rhea and whispered, "She's going to get us killed."
Rhea didn't look away from the patrol. "No," she murmured back. "She's going to make them think."
"That's worse," Jax muttered under his breath unsure of how to feel or what to do.
The patrol leader studied Kaida for a long moment. "You've had pack training," he said finally.
"I have."
"And you're choosing not to use it."
"I'm choosing not to impose it."
That gave him pause.
"We'll report this," he said at last.
Kaida nodded. "That's fair."
"And if you're still here tomorrow?"
Kaida didn't hesitate. "Then we'll still be talking."
One of the patrol wolves frowned. "That's it? No protest?"
"No hostility," Kaida replied. "No kneeling either." She added giving them a smooth calming smile .
The patrol withdrew carefully, never turning their backs, melting into the trees as smoothly as they had arrived.
For several heartbeats after they were gone, no one moved. Kaida listened and waited . Then Benny exhaled loudly. "Well. That went… better than expected?", he looked around with bright eyes.
"Or worse," Jax snapped. "Now they know exactly where we are."
"They always would have," Tomas said calmly. "You don't hide six wolves forever."
Rhea turned to Kaida. "They'll come back with orders."
"Yes," Kaida said.
"And if those orders say move?" Mara asked, rising now to her feet.
Kaida looked at each of them in turn. "Then you decide."
Jax stared at her. "You're serious."
"I always am." She said, this time flashing the same smile she gave the patrol as they left.
"You could tell us to leave," he said. "Tell us it's safer."
"I could," Kaida agreed. "I won't."
Lune finally spoke, voice quiet but carrying. "You already decided."
Kaida didn't deny it. "I decided not to run, you will make that choice for yourself also"
Benny laughed weakly. "I left my last pack because I didn't want to be told when to breathe. Now I'm standing in the open waiting for an Alpha to notice me."
Rhea glanced at him. "And?"
Benny considered but smile spreading across his face, "Still better."
That earned a few quiet huffs of agreement.
____________________
As dusk crept in, the forest felt different—not hostile, not calm. Attentive. The six of them stayed where they were, not arranged, not bound, but undeniably present.
Somewhere beyond the border stones, wolves were already talking and, tomorrow, words would matter more than claws.