Seraphine's POV
After the fight, the room felt too small to breathe. I walked out without looking back. The stairs creaked under my feet, the bandage dragged at my shoulder, but I didn’t care. His words kept repeating in my skull—“No wonder that—”—and every heartbeat cut me open again.
The wolf inside me growled.
Let’s go. Outside. Now.
In the stable, the grey mare snorted at me as if she sensed the storm. I tossed a blanket on her, grabbed only what I needed, and led her to the service gate. No stablehand in sight. I slid the bolt, squeezed through, and we slipped out the narrow back path. Her neck was warm beneath my hand, her steps steady. I let the anger carry me forward.
When the forest swallowed the light, I heard it: steps. Not hooves, not deer. Light, quick, then a sprint thro
