Reporters whispered frantically into cameras, unsure how to frame what they had seen. A predator reunited with its kin? A city frozen between fear and awe? The footage replayed worldwide within minutes, but the truth escaped easy headlines. Something sacred had unfolded in the floodlights—something beyond spectacle.
Tom knelt by the gate, tears streaming. “She came home,” he whispered, voice shaking. Around him, officers shifted awkwardly, rifles slack. The crowd, once brimming with terror, now hummed with reverence. Sahara pressed her face gently against Nyla’s through the bars, breathing in the only comfort she had ever known.