The silence stretched, thick and heavy.

I was at a complete loss for words.

My eyes didn't know where to look.

"You… the file said you were female?"

Sensing my hesitation, Asher's voice tinged with disappointment.

"Do you regret it… wants to send me back?"

"I didn't mean to lie… my last trainer thought I was too weak, said I wasn't like a male beastkin, so they changed my gender in the file."

He bowed his head, his white ears pressing flat against his hair.

"They said I'd have a better chance of being adopted if trainers thought I was female. Rabbit beastkin are already considered the weakest class. A male rabbit who can't even fight..."

His voice got smaller and smaller until it faded into nothing.

I watched him sitting there, knees drawn to his chest, making himself as small as possible. Like if he could just shrink enough, maybe the rejection wouldn't hurt as much.

I knew that feeling. I'd been doing the same thing around Caleb for months.

"Asher."

He flinched.

"Look at me."

Slowly, hesitantly, those crimson eyes rose to meet mine.

"I don't care that you're male. I don't care that you're a rabbit. And I don't care that you can't fight."

I sat up on the couch, wincing as the fever pulsed behind my eyes.

"I spent two years trying to earn the love of a wolf who thought my feelings were trash. I'm done chasing beasts who don't want me. If you want to stay, you stay. Simple as that."

Asher blinked. Once. Twice.

Then his lower lip trembled, and two fat tears rolled down his porcelain cheeks.

"Oh no, don't cry—"

Too late. He was crying in earnest now, big silent tears that dripped off his chin and landed on the floor.

"No one... no one's ever said that to me before," he hiccupped.

I fumbled for tissues. There were none. I ended up pulling my sleeve over my hand and clumsily wiping his face.

He froze at the contact, eyes going wide, as if physical gentleness was something he'd forgotten existed.

"Here's the deal," I said, still dabbing at his cheeks. "I'm going to be your trainer. We're going to work toward Partnership. I won't hurt you, and you won't lie to me. Okay?"

He nodded frantically, catching my hand between both of his.

His palms were cool and soft — the opposite of Caleb's rough, scorching grip.

"I'll be good," he whispered. "I promise, Luna. I'll be so good."

Something in the way he said it broke my heart a little. Not "I'll be strong" or "I'll be useful."

Just "I'll be good."

As if being good was the only currency he had left.

"You don't have to be good, Asher. You just have to be you."

His ears slowly, slowly rose from their flattened position. Not all the way — like he was afraid to hope too much — but enough.

I sneezed. The fever was definitely winning.

"Okay, first order of business as your trainer: I need sleep. Are you okay sleeping in the guest room? I know it's not as nice as the living room corner—"

"Can I... stay nearby?" He bit his lip. "Rabbits don't do well alone at night. If it's not too much trouble, I could just sit by your door—"

"You can sleep on the couch in my room. It's more comfortable than the floor."

His face lit up like sunrise over Northwood.

And despite the fever, despite the heartbreak, despite everything — for the first time in days, going to sleep didn't feel like surrendering to loneliness.

It felt like coming home.