The den had gone quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the pack had drifted off to bed, full of sugar and warmth, tucked into their familiar corners of the house. Gabriel had fallen asleep on the couch wrapped in a fleece blanket with snowflakes on it, hugging a mug of eggnog like it was a life raft. Emily had curled up in the oversized armchair near the tree, her sketchbook resting on her chest, open to a drawing of the decorated house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only the tree lights remained on now\u2014gold and red, soft and flickering, casting the room in the kind of glow that didn\u2019t need to be spoken into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark was still on the rug, one paw resting on a small wrapped box he hadn\u2019t opened yet. His shoulders were hunched, breath uneven, ears drawn low. His eyes\u2014usually so steady, so locked down\u2014were wet and rimmed red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wasn\u2019t hiding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane watched from the doorway, quiet as a shadow, leaning against the frame. He didn\u2019t speak. Didn\u2019t move. Just waited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then, Mark\u2019s voice\u2014low, raw, full of something that had been buried too long\u2014cut through the stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never thought anyone would do something like this. Not for me. Not for us.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane stepped forward slowly and sat beside him on the rug. His claws curled into the carpet. His heart felt too big in his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark\u2019s breath hitched. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved Christmas. Always. Even when I had nothing. Even when I didn\u2019t believe in anything else anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sniffed hard, then wiped his muzzle with the back of one hand. \u201cWhen my parents died\u2026 I didn\u2019t cry. Not once. I just\u2026 kept going. Like I thought if I stayed moving, it wouldn\u2019t catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane didn\u2019t interrupt. He just sat there, close enough to touch, if Mark needed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark blinked fast, a tear falling. Then another. And suddenly, his whole frame shook, and the dam broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wept\u2014quiet and messy, the kind of cry that had no shame in it. Like he\u2019d finally let his guard down after twenty-six years of holding the line. Like something had cracked open and made room for joy where grief had long been stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane reached out and laid a strong, steady paw on Mark\u2019s back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know,\u201d he said softly. \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They sat there like that for a long time, the tree flickering beside them, the snow whispering against the windows outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, Mark leaned into him, heavy and warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is the nicest thing anyone\u2019s ever done for me,\u201d he said, voice hoarse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane\u2019s eyes were damp too, though his own tears didn\u2019t fall. Not yet. Maybe later. Maybe when it was safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSame here,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They didn\u2019t need to say more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019d seen each other at their worst. They\u2019d patched up wounds no one else knew about, lived through silence, betrayal, and days where the only thing that kept them standing was the person next to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was good.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For once, something good had found them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark let out a shaky breath that turned into a laugh. \u201cI\u2019m a damn wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re allowed,\u201d Thane said. \u201cYou\u2019ve earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the two old wolves sat beside the tree, closer than brothers, surrounded by the soft glow of lights, the quiet hum of peace, and the kind of love that doesn\u2019t need to be loud to be everything.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The den had gone quiet. Most of the pack had drifted off to bed, full of sugar and warmth, tucked into their familiar corners of the house. Gabriel had fallen asleep on the couch wrapped in a fleece blanket with snowflakes on it, hugging a mug of eggnog like it was a life raft. Emily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2951,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010\/revisions\/2951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}