The forest is alive with the sounds of the night, whispering leaves, distant howls, the rustling of unseen creatures.
But Ace hears none of it.
All he hears is the steady rhythm of Kieran's paws ahead of him, the way they move with purpose. He is not sure where Kieran is heading to, but he still follows him.
Kieran slows as they reach a certain spot that feels all too familiar.
That's when it hits Ace.
This place.
His chest tightens as he recognizes the spot where everything began, where Kieran had first claimed him, marked him, and left him before he had even woken up.
The place that had once held nothing but pain for him.
Ace's throat tightens.
He thought Kieran didn't even remember a place like this. That this place had faded into nothing in his mind, just another patch of forest lost to time.
But no.
The thought shakes him.
Kieran shifts back into his human form first, his dark fur fading into tanned skin, standing tall, completely bare under the moonlight.
