(Kieran POV)
Consciousness returned like sunrise—gradual, gentle, unmarked by the usual pressure that had governed my mornings for twenty-seven years. No restless pacing beneath my skin, no wolf demanding acknowledgment of lunar cycles or territorial boundaries. Just... peace. The kind of stillness I'd forgotten was possible, silence where there had always been noise.
I lay motionless for several minutes, cataloguing the absence of sensations that had defined my existence since Lydia's betrayal. No ache in my bones that spoke of transformation held in check. No constant awareness of moon phases pulling at consciousness like tide against shore. No hypervigilant tracking of scents and sounds that might indicate threats requiring immediate response.
For the first time in decades, I woke fe
