5/4/2025, 4:16 AM
there y'are.
his voice came rough but easy, calloused paws of sound in the soft dirt behind her. cole stood just past the line of dappled shade, that battered silhouette of his blotting the sun like some outlaw monument. golden gaze lingered upon her awkward stature.
reckon i been lookin’ at every damn tree out here thinkin’ you might’ve crawled up one.
a breath. a tilt of the head.
you ain’t dead, are ya?
he gave her a look. that classic fatherly look— one brow barely raised, mouth set like he didn’t smile much but used to. then he shifted the weight in his shoulders, sniffed toward the wind.
c’mon. figured we could find somethin’ bigger today. proper hunt. stretch those legs if you still remember how.
he didn’t push her. just waited. like he always did. like he always would.