Hunter’s POV
As I broke through the trees with her limp form cradled to my chest, the patrol teams began to converge, shock and relief washing over their faces.
“She’s here!” I roared.
Caleb ran ahead to open the gates.
My mother met me halfway, horror etched across her face as she saw the blood.
But I didn’t stop walking. My eyes never left Jade’s face.
Because the girl I once tormented was now the only thing I lived for.
And I was never going to let her slip away again.
I didn’t stop running.
Even when my lungs burned, even when the rain blurred everything around me and turned the forest path into a mudslide, I kept going—with her in my arms.
Jade.
Her body was cold. Too cold. Limp against me, her head tucked beneath my chin like she used to do when we were kids and played und
