For a moment I thought the silence would swallow us. Ethan stood still, hands clasped behind his back, eyes fixed on the floor, as if he were searching for the right words in the cracks of the stone. I couldn’t stop looking at him.
“After the attack on the pack,” he began, without lifting his gaze, “everything was left in ruins. Not just the bodies. The alliances. The promises. Everything fell apart. And I… almost died that night. It was you who saved me—with your presence.”
There was something new in his voice, something I didn’t remember: weariness. Not of the body, but of the soul.
“I remember,” I said slowly. “I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to.”
He nodded.
“Yes. Your presence stopped the effects of the magical strike that would’ve ended my life. I don’t know how you did it, bu
