Thalia’s POV: The sun had barely begun to slip beneath the horizon, casting bruised shadows across the path as I stumbled out of Mira’s place, my body aching like I’d been dragged across broken glass. The fire in my veins had cooled to a simmer, but the wolf inside me was still pacing, snarling, wild and wrong. I made it back to the pack mansion with sheer willpower alone. Every step was a silent war against gravity, exhaustion dragging at my heels like chains. The guards at the gate barely glanced at me—good. I didn’t have it in me to fake civility. The scent of baked bread and meat hit me like a slap the moment I stepped into the kitchen. My stomach, neglected for too long, clenched violently. Hunger was a monster now, clawing at my insides. No one else was in sight, and thank the go

