Mason didn’t think.
He just swerved.

One second he was riding through the fog, engines humming past. The next, he was cutting his Harley sideways across the lane, forcing traffic to slow, horns exploding behind him.

Because in the median—

something moved.

Small. Still. Wrong.

He killed the engine and ran.

A tiny dog lay wedged against the concrete divider, paw twisted in bent metal and road debris. Blood matted the fur. The poor thing didn’t bark. Didn’t cry.

Just stared.

Frozen.

Like the world had already given up on him.

“Hey… hey, I see you,” Mason muttered, dropping to his knees on the cold asphalt.

Cars rushed by feet away. Fog swallowed the headlights. His hands shook as he grabbed the metal and pulled.

It wouldn’t budge.

He yanked harder.

Skin tore across his knuckles.

Didn’t matter.

“Stay with me, buddy. I got you.”

One more pull—

The metal snapped loose.

The dog sagged instantly, too tired to stand.

So Mason scooped him up.

Light. Too light.

The little body trembled once… then pressed its muzzle against Mason’s jaw like it had known him forever.

A weak kiss.

Thank you.

Mason swallowed hard. “Good… breathe now. You’re safe. You’re with me.”

He held the dog against his chest, leather jacket warm, fog curling around them while traffic slowed to a hush.

For a moment, the whole highway disappeared.

Just one heartbeat.

Then another.

Syncing.

And somehow, in the middle of chaos—

everything felt quiet.