Morning light seeped weakly through the edges of the tent, filtering across the rough canvas and catching on the dust motes floating lazily in the air. I lay curled beneath the thick blankets of fur, muscles tight from a night spent tossing and turning and hardly sleeping. Sleep had been nearly impossible—not just because of the sudden cold, but because my mind refused to rest. Lyra… Varion… Jax… Orvyn… Were they still alive? Or had they all fallen into the hands of monsters who could do even worse than kill them? My chest ached at the thought, each heartbeat a painful reminder that I had no control over any of it.
And Kael… I didn’t dare trust him, not when I hated him so badly. Every movement, every shadow of his figure in the corner of the tent made me flinch. Yet, through the night, h
