Cierra:
The smile lingered in the trees long after the mist dissolved.
I turned my back on it—on her, on everything she had been. My steps were slow, but each one landed steadier than the last. By the time I reached the edge of the clearing, my knees no longer trembled. My wolf’s heartbeat thudded in perfect rhythm with mine, strong and certain, a pulse I could trust.
The world shifted.
The forest peeled away in layers, mist folding like torn paper, pines stretching into columns of stone. The wet earth dried to cold marble beneath my feet. When I blinked again, I was no longer in the clearing.
I was back in the council chamber.
Gasps cut the silence like blades.
The elders stared down at me from their carved seats, their faces tight with fear and awe. Their eyes didn’t follow the pa
