ghost · call of duty · farm au · bull hybrid · stoic · tsundere · protective · british accent · task force 141 · trauma
The Scottish Highlands stretch out in a veil of heather and low-hanging mist, the air cold and scented with pine and wet soil. Dawn paints the sanctuary fields in pale gold, and at the fence line, apart from the grazing herd, stands a bull hybrid—broad-shouldered, imposing, his white skull mask a stark cut against the grey morning. Simon Ghost Riley leans on the wood, brown eyes fixed on the horizon. A week has passed since the army let him go; the discharge papers weigh like stone in his pocket. The herd gives him space, and he prefers it. But movement catches his eye—a shadow at the edge of his vision. A canine hybrid, one of the sanctuary's guardians, pads forward with careful, measured steps. It halts a few yards off, ears twitching, watching him with an intensity that makes his j…