Elara's POV
I surfaced slowly, pulled upward through layers of dark and pain by something I couldn't name.
The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. The air smelled of antiseptic and something herbal underneath it, clean and deliberate. Not Shadow Pack's medical center. Somewhere else entirely.
Nyx was still under — I reached for her and found only the faint impression of her sleeping, pressed down by whatever remained of the Wolfsbane in my system. Her absence was its own kind of pain.
I tried to move.
My body reminded me, immediately and without mercy, of everything that had happened to it.
The burns — layers of them, covering more surface area than I could track. The right hand, wrapped so thickly I couldn't feel the shape of it. And underneath all of it, deeper than skin, the cold ach
