The night air was bitterly cold.
Mist curled through the stone pathways outside the pack house while silver moonlight filtered weakly through heavy clouds above Black Hollow territory.
Lyra walked without direction.
Without purpose.
She barely remembered leaving the council chamber.
Her chest hurt too much to think clearly.
I think you stopped seeing me a long time ago.
The words still echoed painfully inside her mind.
She had not planned to say them aloud.
But once spoken, they felt devastatingly true.
Kael hadn’t chased after her.
Of course he hadn’t.
The child was sick.
Selene needed him.
The pack needed him.
And Lyra—
Lyra no longer knew where she belonged in his priorities.
A sharp wind swept through the forest path, making her pull her cloak tighter around herself.
