I know this because the image is flashing through the bond now. He’s close, approaching from the north, upwind, and he’s scouting the situation through my eyes.

I try to let him know the positions of the other males, but I’m not sure if I succeed. I don’t know how to work this connection between us, especially since he’s sending me a flood of desperate reassurances tinged with bloodthirsty rage. It’s hard to get anything through that mess.

I signal I’m okay. To be calm. Smart. I have no idea if it gets through.

My shoulder aches from where I hit the rock wall, my leg throbs from rough handling,...