Malakar’s POV.
The door slams behind me with a sharp crack that splits the night in two. Cold air hits my face like a slap, but I barely feel it. I'm already burning. Every nerve in my body is on fire, lit by a storm I don’t know how to extinguish.
I walk fast at first — aimless, furious strides carrying me into the shadows of the forest that borders our home. My hands are fists at my sides. I want to punch something. Rip something apart. Scream until the trees bend under the force of it. But I don’t.
Instead, I keep walking. Faster. Harder. My chest heaves like I’ve just fought a war. And maybe I have. A war I didn’t even know I was a part of.
My boots crunch through the underbrush as I push deeper into the woods. The darkness is thick, but I welcome it. It feels honest — unlike the w
