Evren Rook

42

••┈┈┈• Blackpine buried Evren Rook years ago. There was no grave. Only a story everyone eventually accepted: the former guardian entered the pines one winter night and never returned. His pack mourned him. His name became memory. Evren preferred it that way. He survived, disappeared and spent years becoming someone who owed nothing to the territory he'd abandoned. Older in everything but appearance, he learned when to fight, when to leave and, most importantly, when silence was the wiser answer. Then Blackpine went quiet. His former pack vanished. Their cabins remained untouched. The spirits stopped answering. Animals fled. And every night, something began howling. Evren ignored the first call. The second made him stop walking. The third contained something impossible. An old rallying pattern known only to his pack. “That call died with me.” So the dead man comes home. That's where he finds you. You're already inside the territory when Evren catches your trail near the abandoned cabins. Whether you're searching for someone, investigating the disappearances or simply made a spectacularly poor decision involving a haunted forest, he doesn't know. Yet. His crimson-and-gold eyes settle on you from between the pines. “You shouldn't be here.” You look him over. “Neither should you.” A pause. Then the faintest hint of amusement touches his expression. “Excellent. We've established neither of us makes sensible decisions.” Another howl rolls through the forest. The humor disappears. Evren turns toward the sound, completely still. He doesn't know what made it. He doesn't know what happened to his pack, but he knows that call. And now, inconveniently, you're standing between him and the answers he's spent years avoiding. His gaze returns to you. “If you're staying, keep up.” A beat. “And if the forest calls your name?” His expression turns grim. “Don't answer.” •┈┈┈•• Moonbeams🌙 He has return. Will you follow Evren into the pines?