—Natasha's POV—
The apartment was still, steeped in the kind of silence that felt like a held breath. I moved through it like a ghost, the memory of the river’s icy claws and the panthers’ glowing eyes a fresh scar on my mind. Daniel made me breakfast—toast that tasted like ash, coffee that did nothing to warm the cold knot in my stomach.
Every creak of the floorboards, every hum of the refrigerator made me jump. He hadn’t come back. Zane’s absence should have been a relief, but it only amplified the tension, a silent storm waiting to break.
I left for uni early, desperate to escape the oppressive quiet. The morning air was crisp, but the normalcy of students clutching textbooks and laughing over coffee felt like a play I was no longer part of. I was an imposter in my own life, dressed
