Ayla's POV
The hill didn't look as terrible anymore.
Still steep, still fast — but not impossible. The kind of thing that had shifted from threat to challenge without me noticing exactly when.
Each breath of cold air felt cleaner than the last. It felt as if the world had shifted slightly in a better direction and had not yet reverted.
I watched the triplets a little off to the side, still at it.
"You nearly flipped it," Kael said, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
"I didn't," Soren shot back, grinning easily.
"You did," Ryker added, voice dry. "I saw it."
"It landed, didn't it?"
"Barely."
Their laughter drifted through the cold—real and unforced—and for a moment, the morning felt like something apart from what it had been. Like yesterday was nothing but a shadow sitting somewhere beh
