Alyssa’s heart was still racing as she and Kade made their way deeper into the Shadow Woods. The air was thick with tension, the echoes of the battle still ringing in her ears. She had just unleashed a power she didn’t understand, and the way Kade was looking at her—like she was something dangerous, something unpredictable—only made her feel more uncertain.
Kade walked beside her, his golden eyes flickering with unspoken thoughts. “Alyssa, that power… you didn’t just push that beast away. You commanded the wind itself.”
She swallowed hard, hugging her arms around herself. “I didn’t mean to. It just… happened.”
“That’s what scares me,” he admitted, his voice laced with frustration. “You don’t even know what you’re capable of, and yet you’re throwing yourself into this trial like it’s jus
