Juliette’s POV
The lair felt distant now, a fading nightmare I could not fully shake. Even in the safety of the pack’s territory, the intruder’s words clung to me like a shadow. “This is only the beginning.” My chest tightened at the memory, my hands trembling as if the darkness had left a residue on my skin. I paced the stone floor of my room, the energy from the previous battle still pulsing faintly beneath my skin, a constant reminder that he had marked me in some way I did not yet understand.
Dorian leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, jaw tight. “You need rest,” he said, his voice low but insistent. “Your powers—what you did back there—it was more than exhausting. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.”
I shook my head. “Rest won’t help me forget him. Or what he said. Or t
