Once upon a time...in a wild, wild world...there were two wolf brothers, living happy together in their mother's lair after a long journey on the road. You see, their papa wolf had been slain by hunters, so they had to stay on the run for a long time because the hunters wanted their pelts, too. As they tried to make their way south to their father's beloved homeland, the hunters finally caught up with them. Desperate to survive, the older wolf brother tried to make a blood pact with his sibling. He said it was too late to turn back. But the younger brother, who was a Super Wolf, was too afraid to cross the border. Still, he knew at least one of them deserved their freedom. So he helped his brother escape, and willingly gave himself up to the hunters, who promised to be kind to the pup in exchange for his cooperation. The young Super Wolf suddenly felt all alone in the world. He didn't know if he could control his powers without the help of his big brother. Even worse...he feared that in a strange new land, the older wolf might find a new pack, and forget all about him...

Daniel slumped down with his back against the bathroom door after a long, hot shower. The agents out in the hotel room were still arguing about the action movie blaring on the television, but he barely noticed. The young wolf was far too consumed in a waterfall of thoughts. As he had feared, it seemed that the further north they traveled, the more forgotten memories of his time together with Sean came rushing back. They replayed themselves over and over on an endless uncomfortable loop, like a film that would never stop until there was no more to be gleaned. Then the next frame would play, and another, and another.

"So you're just going to leave me all alone with Mushroom? W-what if something happens to us? Or the cops come?"

"Daniel...we have to get food if we're going to survive out here, and neither of us know how to hunt or set traps yet. I'm sorry I have to leave you, but it won't be for long. I just need to explore so we know where we are. Just...stay hidden here until I get back, okay?"

"When's that gonna be?"

"I don't know," Sean said sadly. "Maybe a couple hours."

"You promise? You better not lie to me again, like you did about Dad!"

"Daniel...I'll get back as fast as I can."

"Whatever. I don't know why we can't go with you. I hate when you do this, and I hate being stuck out here in the cold!"

"I'm not risking you getting caught!"

"No. Just me and Shroom freezing to death! Guess you're fine with that."

"Ugh, can you just stop being a fucking brat for once? I'm doing my best here."

"Just fucking go, Sean! I don't care if you don't come back."

"Enano...I know you don't mean that."

"Just leave," Daniel whimpered.

"I'm sorry...I promise I'll be back. I love you..."

Those first nights in Willamette National Park, he remembered, were terrible. There was no edible food left in the house, and they had exhausted their previous week's supplies by the time they discovered it. Minutes passed, then hours. Daniel had counted every single one on his watch. Still not back. Two hours turned into five. Five hours turned into seven. Sean, where are you? By the tenth hour, the batteries in his watch died. He had holed himself up in the bedroom with Mushroom, covering them in their father's old blanket for warmth. It was so cold and quiet, he could see the heat of his breath in the sliver of moonlight that shone through the window. Mushroom wouldn't stop whining.

"I'm so sorry, Shroom. You don't deserve this. But maybe I do, for being a bad little brother. What if something happened to Sean?" But soon enough, after nearly fifteen long hours, he heard the door slide open in the living room, and in walked his brother.

"Hey, enano...you okay?" Daniel had run out to him in tears with renewed strength. Tears of overwhelming relief, but also anger. Sean dropped the bag of groceries to the floor. Mushroom joined them, wagging her tail in excitement, sniffing around for food. Her sweet bark was one he'd never forget.

"Don't you dare ever leave me again Sean, you ASSHOLE!" the boy cried. Sean cried too, one of the few times he ever dared in front of him.

"I'm sorry! God, I'm so sorry! I promise I'll never leave you like that again!"

"But you did," Daniel sniffed. His bare knees were soaked in tears now, his back burning and crooked against the frail wooden door as he cradled himself. The towel around him was turning damp. What remained of the heat in the bathroom quickly dissipated, leaving the tile floor as cold as that abandoned bedroom in which his brother had left him so many months ago. Daniel glanced at the clock on the wall. Shit...it's been an hour. He listened for the agents outside, but heard nothing. They must have finally turned off the television. Did they go somewhere? A knock came at the door.

"Hey!" the man called. Agent Michaels. "Everything all right in there?"

"Yeah, sorry!" Daniel answered, standing up from floor. Muffled voices came from outside as they spoke with each other.

"You think he's been doing what...you know, young boys do?"

"Doubt it."

"Why?"

"You're new at this, aren't you? They were on the road a long time, always together. Hiding from cops, working odd jobs, getting the shit kicked out of them from all directions. Having guns pointed in their faces. Getting rained on, snowed on, pissed on, digging through garbage in back alleys. His brother was the only friend he had. The kid's only ten and has eight months worth of mental shit to work through, which at that age, is a good chunk of your life. Plus separation anxiety. An hour in the bathroom? That's nothing. Most victims I've picked up spend a good night or two in there. He'll come out when he's ready."

Daniel ran a hand through the condensation on the mirror to look at his face. He felt shaky and anxious, disconnected from everything that had happened, yet inexplicably chained to it. If I'd made a different choice...to go with Sean instead of leaving him, where would I be? And if he surrendered...would I have agreed with it? These were questions he felt would plague him for the rest of his life. But now, there was no turning back. He would be with his grandparents soon. He only hoped he would be as happy there as Sean probably was in Mexico. Plus, he already had a friend right next door. Things would be good...wouldn't they? "I need more room," he sighed. "And rest." The tiny motel bathroom was beginning to feel like a cage.

The young wolf removed the towel and grabbed the set of fresh clothes they'd bought him earlier off the sink. He had begged the agents to stop at a mall on the way. LOGOS was Sean's favorite skate store, and he'd noticed the sign on the street. They offered an array of skateboard decks, backpacks, skate shoes, and several lines of designer clothing, one of which was the xSquad line to which his brother's hoodie belonged. Everything by xSquad was wolf-themed. In a way, it comforted him to have that piece of Sean still around. One of the agents, Parker, was nice enough to look up the store catalogue so he could pick out the specific clothes he wanted. Daniel opted for a black hoodie that had the logo of a small gray wolf on the top left corner of the front—the same design as Sean's. Another large gray wolf was emblazoned across the entire back, with white eyes and snarling teeth. It looked threatened and angry. That's how I feel right now, he thought.

The other items he'd chosen were a gray T-shirt with a golden yellow tribal-designed wolf on the front, along with some black jeans, fuzzy checkerboard socks, Vans shoes, and lastly, a pair of pajama pants with cartoon skulls all over them. Not exactly the bright-colored options he used to love as a kid; then again, he no longer saw the world that way, and didn't feel like much of a kid anymore. Everything he'd been through with Sean had changed him, and he wasn't sure it was for the better. He felt bad, too, for making the agents spend so much money on him, but why not milk it a little? Flores even said he deserved it.

Once dressed in his new pajamas, Daniel finally opened the door.

"About time," said Agent Michaels, who had clearly been pacing around awaiting his exit.

"Yeah, that's not stalkery at all," Parker yawned on the bed.

"Sorry," Daniel sighed. "Just...I miss Sean...I had to do some thinking."

"I know," Parker acknowledged, standing to face him as the boy walked over. The kind middle-aged man placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders. "Look, kid. I'm just a federal agent here, I'm not a shrink. But I've seen some shit, so I can only guess what you're going through. Fact is, there's going to be a lot of nights like this. Nights where...all the crap from the past just slams you in the head, and you can't stop thinking about it. Then maybe you'll have a day where you're smiling, free, feeling on top of the world. Then another few nights of shit. But eventually, the more time that goes on? You get more days where you're happy again, and less of the bad stuff."

"I hope so. I'm just so...angry. I hate myself for leaving him, but...I still care about him. I want to see him again someday. But he probably hates me too. I would."

"So right now," the man shrugged, "let's say he does. But bonds between brothers don't just disappear, no matter how far apart you are. He'll get over it, and you'll both get through this. Okay?"

"I guess..."

"Just promise me one thing, all right?"

"What?

"That no matter how many nights of mental crap you go through, you'll talk to someone if it gets really bad. That you remember that no matter what anyone else says, you're still the same kid, and you have a family who loves you. Never forget that. All right?"

"I won't," Daniel nodded, wiping a stray tear from his face. "I promise. Thanks, Agent Parker."

"No problem."

"And thanks for the clothes, too. They fit just right."

"I'm glad," the man smiled. "Well hey, I'm gonna hit the sack in the next room over," he said, patting the boy's shoulder. "Agent Michaels here will be guarding the door all night in case you need anything."

"Cool," Daniel grinned. "I get my own Secret Service!"

"Don't let it go to your head, kid," Michaels said, turning to Parker. "You know you owe me a Starbucks in the morning!"

"Sorry, no can do."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Too expensive. Besides, you know the Bureau doesn't pick up the tab to keep us awake."

"But you just bought him clothes!"

"Exactly. Bureau doesn't cover that either. How 'bout Dunkin instead?"

"Cheapskate!"

"Goodnight, Agent Michaels," Parker said sarcastically, closing the door behind him.

Daniel chuckled at their interaction. It reminded him a lot of his friendship with Finn back in California, and the way they'd joke around about Big Joe. He missed all the others, too. Hannah, with her blunt honesty, never afraid to speak her mind. Penny, with his cryptic words and riddles that always meant something deeper. Ingrid and Anders, the two Swedish tourists who seemed so much more understanding of the world than most Americans.

Aside from Finn, the one Daniel missed most was Jacob. The young man had taken care of him after the incident at the farm, and even though he'd ended up in a worse place, there were still some happy moments at the commune. He especially missed Jacob's little sister, Sarah Lee. He hoped she was still doing well. Maybe when I get to Beaver Creek, I could check up on the Hackermans. It'd be so cool if Claire and Stephen let them visit sometime.

The young boy yawned as Agent Michaels moved for the door.

"You gonna be all right in here by yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah...I think so. Don't worry, I'm not gonna try to run away or anything."

"That's actually not our first concern. Trashing the room or blowing holes in the wall? That's a little higher on the list."

"Relax, I'm not gonna do that either! I have control over my powers."

"For now," the agent said. "Maybe we should get you a shock collar, just in case."

Daniel frowned. Not a good thing to say to wolf. Especially a Super Wolf.

"Kidding," the man smirked. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well it's not funny! I'll be fine."

"Call me if you need anything. I'll be watching from the car."

"Good!"

Daniel scowled as the man made a quick exit. He used his telekinesis to slam the door shut and lock it behind him in case he didn't get the message. Stupid ass hunters. Still tired from the trip, the boy plodded over to turn on the A/C beneath the window. Once it was cool enough, he pulled on his fresh new hoodie, lay down on the bed, and turned off the light. It was strange to feel so uncomfortable in such a room. Before long, he had gotten back up and opened the windows a crack. That's a little better. For months, Daniel had been so used to listening to all the night sounds that now, it was hard to fall asleep without them. The distant hum of traffic out here was a welcome change from the heat of living in the Nevada commune, his mother's trailer back in Away, or being cooped up in prison cells. Part of him wished Sean was there to experience it with him.

"Guess I have to be the one to tell myself the story now," he sighed. "How's it go? Once upon a time, in a wild, wild world, there were two wolf brothers living in their home lair with their papa wolf. They lived in peace. One day, hunters came and took their dad away...forever..." Daniel sniffed, feeling emotional at the words. "So they had to go on the run. That's when the big brother discovered that the little one was not an ordinary wolf, but a Super Wolf..."

By the time he got around to the part about Humboldt, he had already drifted away.

Daniel lay facing the windows, somewhere between wake and sleep. A cool breeze began to envelop the dark motel room, rustling locks of dark brown hair over his forehead. Out in the distance, a truck horn sounded, buried in the flow of traffic somewhere up on the freeway. Stars hooked in their places shone down through the open curtains, illuminating the face of the sleeping angel in an array of tiny, white, wish-making dots mixed with blue. Soon enough, the din of cars in the night air began to fade. The child descended deeper.

Wake up, little cub, an ancient voice called. The room grew colder the more he tried to identify it. Wake. Then came the whoosh of a gentle stream, echoing outside the window, carrying with it a chorus of disembodied voices trapped in the current. These ones seemed vaguely familiar to him, though the young wolf could not pinpoint how. Enano. Daniel opened his heavy eyes to the sight before him. Across the street stood a dilapidated old church, and up on the rooftop sat a hunched, shadowy figure that immediately commanded his attention. A pair of eerie red eyes glared in his direction with a stark gaze, as if keeping watch. Daniel rubbed the sleep from his face and squinted to see it better. A black timber wolf.

"Can you hear them?" the ancient voice spoke in his mind.

"Hear what?"

"The river...it calls."

Daniel sat up on the bed now, looking onward through the vacant windows. The parking lot had since disappeared, replaced by a large desert valley. Patches of wild grass grew here and there, leading up to a rushing river where the street used to be. All the while, the chorus of voices grew louder, beckoning him forth. He squinted again, extending a hand to will the breeze away from his face. The old wolf was now perched atop a cliff. As it reared back and let out a howl, the door to the hotel room unlocked and flew open, bringing in hurricane winds and rain. The clouds in the sky above opened up to reveal a full moon. Daniel rose from the bed and made his way through the open doorway, struggling against the force of the storm.

"Remember your ancestors, young wolf," the voices whispered from the river. "Why have you betrayed us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Daniel shouted, stumbling barefoot out into the wet sand and grass, his hand held in front of him to dispel the rain. A sharp pain suddenly caught the top of his right foot, bringing him to his knees. "Ouch! What the hell?" His eyes darted to the ground, where a lone scorpion crawled over the back of his calf. The boy shook it off, watching it scurry off around a large cactus. Lightning flashed in the distance. Daniel directed his gaze to the top of the plant and noticed something odd growing out of it. A painted wooden face appeared to look down on him, scarred and angry, with layers of golden straw positioned around it like hair. A totem? Then he noticed something else draped over a set of what appeared to be eagle wings beneath the face—a red bandana.

"What...who is that?"

"You must honor your blood."

A bright white light shot out from behind him and engulfed Daniel from afar, generating an intense burning sensation across the length of his entire body. His clothes caught fire. He screamed and ran for the river in his pajamas, splashing across the narrows until he sunk like a stone. Sunk, though kept burning, even as the flames ate away at his golden skin. A putrid stench stung his nostrils and reached down to his lungs. The river...it wasn't water. Gasoline. Daniel struggled and thrashed with all his might to reach back to the surface, to reach sand, to roll and put out the fire, anything. No use. He continued his descent to the very bottom of the river, his bare, fiery feet illuminating the sea floor, where a road of skulls extended as far as the eye could see.

"Many have tried to cross, but few retain their blood," the voice whispered. Daniel listened closely as it morphed into a comforting voice he knew, but had long since forgotten the sound of. His father. The fire that consumed him suddenly subsided. His vision went black and his body fell numb, until all that remained in the absence of every other sense was that soft, sweet sound.

"Your blood ties are the most important thing, mijo. In this land, it's easy to burn them in offering. It's easy to give up your voice, even your skin, to forget who you are. To try to blend in with the light. But even as Liberty's torch promises to guide your way...it can also destroy you. Take care not to burn the river, my son. Respect where you came from."

"I will!" the boy cried out. "I promise, I-"

Daniel suddenly found himself in a seated position somewhere else. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings, frantic. It was the front passenger seat of an SUV. He leaned over to check the back, then the front. No one else was in the car. Then he noticed the stained gray dashboard. The gear shift. The steering wheel, the odometer. The police scanner. I know this car. Up ahead through the windshield lay the sight that had forever changed everything. The sky was pitch black. A large, gated fence stood between him and the winding desert road ahead. And there, emblazoned atop it in bright red, was the most haunting sign in the world:

BIENVENIDO A MÉXICO

His heart sunk. His palms began sweating. His pulse quickened until he heard its deep pounding in his ears. No... He couldn't do it again. No way. He didn't even want to think about it anymore, much less commit to memory the hardest decision he'd ever had to make. Even if Sean wasn't there, he couldn't stand another second of sitting in that car. Daniel reached for the door handle and tore out as fast he could onto the burning pavement. The breeze outside was humid, suffocating. His throat felt dryer than the sands that surrounded him. A slight tickle of something loose ran up his side, and he looked down to survey his clothing. It was the same tattered red shirt he'd been wearing that day.

Daniel made his way through the dark across the path of scorched concrete, twisted metal, and crushed glass. Police cars and the bodies of officers lay strewn about the wreckage, broken and bleeding. Crows and vultures were picking apart their remains, while the sound of static on distant radios startled some of them. The boy paused to catch his breath. This experience felt far too vivid to be a dream, and yet somehow, he knew he had to press on and confront the decision he'd made. Just keep walking, he thought. Just get to Mexico and this will all be over. A series of yips, growls, and snarling noises greeted him as he neared the gate. Wild coyotes.

"What the hell?" he breathed. The flashing headlights of several overturned squad cars illuminated the vicious, bloodthirsty pack before him. Some began to chew their way through the border fence, while others leapt over concrete barriers or ducked beneath steel beams. They growled as they approached him, their coats and teeth dripping with crimson. "Stay calm, just stay calm," Daniel told himself as he arrived at the gate. Another pack eyed him hungrily from the other side, while the rest advanced behind. "Fuck it."

The young wolf child extended his hand toward the gate, allowing the sum of all the rage and hate infecting his bones to take control of the beast inside him. In one swift motion, he released the pent up power from his veins. "RAAHHH!" The gate blasted outward with locomotive force to the other side, catching the second pack of coyotes in its bars and sending them flying back like rats in a trap against either side of the fence. They were instantly crushed. Blood splattered everywhere on both sides of the border, leaving several survivors howling and whining in the throes of a slow, painful death.

"That's what you get!" the boy snapped. He turned and continued on down the long desert road ahead into the unfamiliar land of his ancestors. The breeze on this side of the wall was cold and unforgiving, a sharp contrast to the prior heat of America. It felt almost as dead as the coyotes he'd left behind. In truth, he had always suspected he might feel that way here, which was one of many reasons he hadn't wanted to go to Puerto Lobos. He didn't feel free with Sean no matter where they went, because it was always temporary. And though no one would be hunting them south of the border, the notion of living in Mexico had never made him feel particularly comfortable, alive, or connected. No wonder everyone wants to leave, he thought. A sudden swell of heat shot through his chest as a memory overtook him.

"You're getting warm!" he heard his own voice echo eerily through the darkened wasteland. "Just a little bit closer!" A pair of yellow four-way flashers appeared in the distance. Daniel felt the air grow thin around him with every weighted step, but he willed himself to continue on. "Ah! It burns!" Another voice came, this one from the direction of the car up ahead.

"Daniel...come on."

"So we came all this way? All that SHIT...for nothing?! You told me we were going to Mexico! You promised! You said-"

"We're done! The end. It's not who we are!"

His foot brushed past a ring of keys.

"Then I guess it's my turn to take care of us, Sean...nothing stops the Wolf Brothers. Nothing."

"Daniel, what are you doing?! No, STOP!"

The young wolf held his breath now. He had to reach that car. Railing against the intense, suffocating heat that enveloped him, Daniel ran as fast as he could toward the SUV. It felt like running on a treadmill, running to nowhere. The seconds felt like minutes and those minutes like hours, until finally he stopped at an open passenger door. The car was still on with the ignition sensor was dinging—the same vehicle he'd left behind at the border. But this time, the interior looked quite different. Several bullets had penetrated the windshield and lodged themselves into the driver's side seat, where a skeleton sat clutching its neck. Blood was splattered all over the dashboard, seats, and driver's side window. Daniel's mouth dropped open in horror when he noticed the gray jeans the figure seemed to be wearing, which were adorned with various patches. Sean.

"Oh no...oh no, no, no!" the boy cried. "What did I do? What the fuck did I do?!" He looked around the rest of the car for any possible clues. His brother's old backpack that he'd given him was left behind in the vehicle, but there was no sign of Sean's belongings. Daniel checked his own bag. Everything in it was gone, aside from a couple toys and, strangely enough, Chris's Captain Spirit cape. "How could I ever leave this behind..."

Daniel climbed back out of the car in a panic. But the moment he did, the door slammed shut behind him, and the boy found himself pinned to the exterior by some invisible force, unable to move. He tried stepping forward, but all he could do was kick sand until his feet no longer touched the ground. His body slid upward against the window. He choked in agony as the force restricted all his airways. He tried freeing himself in desperation, but his own powers, he realized, were now gone.

Daniel's gaze moved from the ground up to his assailant, a dark figure clad in black shorts and what looked like Sean's blood-stained hoodie. The child was his own size and build, but the top half of the boy's face was covered in thick black grease paint.

"Who the hell are you?!" the young wolf rasped.

With his left hand, the boy pulled back the hood covering his head and face to reveal a mop of long, dirty, dark brown hair.

"El Lobo," the boy smiled. "Super Wolf was weak. Turns out Mexico wasn't so bad after all." Daniel looked back to the open door of the car. "Yeah...I lost a lot because of my choice that day...but now? I take whatever I WANT!" The child tightened his grip, proceeding to choke the life out of him.

"No! Stop! Honor your blood! HONOR YOUR BLOOD!"

"Honor your blood!" Daniel woke up screaming in a cold sweat. A sudden surge of energy shot through his veins, awakening all his senses at once. The second he realized what was about to happen, he cradled himself into a fetal position and clenched every muscle in his body to stop it. "No, no, no, SHIT!" he grit his teeth. He felt himself careening toward the edge. There was no more holding back. All that emotion had to go somewhere. He would lose control either way, he knew. But the less damage he caused to that room, the better. The young wolf huffed and panted. If he blew out the windows or caused any manner of structural damage, there would be no going home to his grandparents.

"Focus!" he told himself. "Come on, Super Wolf...GAHHH!" The entire room shook around him as his bed lifted a few inches off the floor. The lights flickered. The drawer of the nightstand fell out and broke, shredding Gideon Bible pages everywhere. A phone went flying into the opposite wall, where an audible crack sounded, followed by a loud crash and a bang. Daniel's muscles felt as if they might burst through his skin at any moment, but he kept concentrating, harder than he ever had, harder than he even dared. Breath, his mother had told him, was the most important thing to keep anxiety under control. So the young wolf kept breathing. And breathing. And breathing. Until at last, the feeling subsided, and the fire went out. When it was all over, Daniel let go and opened his eyes.

"Whew, that was close," he breathed. But no sooner had he gotten things under some semblance of control, than Agent Michaels barged in through the door to assess the situation.

"Hey! Holy shit..." The man surveyed the room, and Daniel sat up in his bed to do the same. The nightstand was destroyed for sure. So was the phone, and the mirror that had been hanging above the dresser. Aside from that, everything else seemed to be intact. "Agent Flores," the man spoke into his jacket mic, "you still awake?"

"I am now, Michaels," the woman answered groggily. "What is it?"

"Code Super Wolf."

"Copy," Flores answered. "I'll be right down."

Daniel hung his head in shame, drawing his knees up to his chest on the bed. Parker entered moments later, clad in boxers and an undershirt. He had the same expression on his face as his partner. Everything I touch turns to poison, the boy thought. How was he going to survive on his own without Sean? I can't. They're probably going to send me away, lock me up and throw away the keys, never let me see my family again. Or worse, they'd turn him into a human guinea pig to be poked and prodded with needles and endless blood samples in some kind of military experiment. He remembered almost a year ago when the first season of Stranger Things hit Netflix, and Noah had invited him over to watch it together. Pretty insane how things turned out just three months later. Now I know how Eleven must feel.

"Dios mio, what happened?!" Flores exclaimed, rushing into the room in a dark blue silk bathrobe and slippers.

"I had a bad dream and freaked out when I woke up," Daniel explained. "I tried my best to stop it, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey...hey," Flores said, joining him on the bed. "It's okay, Danny-"

"It's not! Why does everyone keep saying that?!" he snapped. "It's my fault! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm innocent. You should just take me to jail right now before I hurt someone." Daniel cried, burying his face in his knees again.

"Aye, hijo, just listen," Flores sighed. "I told you what I think is best for you, based on all you've been through and the choice that you made to jump out of that car. You can't blame yourself, especially at these early stages, for one little slip. It's going to happen, but you still have control."

"Little slip?!" Daniel spat.

"YES!" Flores shot back. "Because look." She placed a firm hand under his chin to direct his gaze around the room. "Look at all this. Yes, the mirror is broken. The nightstand is on the floor. The phone is wrecked. But these are all easily replaceable items. You didn't blow out the windows, you didn't break the light bulbs, you didn't crack the walls or even break the bed frame. So," she shrugged, "big fucking deal. I don't know what kind of dream you had, but even with as scared and upset as you've been, you still managed not to wipe out the entire room. And you, Daniel Diaz, did that all on your own! So enough of this shit about needing your brother to help you. He's not the only one who can, and you're certainly stronger than you think you are without him. So I'm going to ask you this question once, and only once. Do you honestly think you deserve to be in prison? Really?"

Daniel shook his head. "No...I guess not."

"Good. Neither do I. Because you've been through enough, and you're doing a fantastic job right now," she said, still grasping his chin firmly. "Okay? You need to give yourself credit for that. I certainly do."

"Thank you," Daniel nodded tearfully.

"Now, try and get some sleep. We've got another two day's drive ahead of us before we get to Beaver Creek."

As the agents left the room, Daniel plopped back down on the bed, more exhausted than ever before. He prayed he wouldn't have to go through anything like that again, and yet what Flores told him gave him a small amount of comfort. Deep down, he had known she was right. Before long, the young wolf drifted off to sleep, content that he'd done his best for the day.

This time, there were no dreams.