Lucian’s POV
I stormed through the forest like the ground itself owed me answers.
My boots crushed leaves and snapped twigs, but I barely heard them. My mind kept replaying the empty room, the missing scent, the way my chest had tightened when Dana reported Elara gone. I had knocked on her door until my knuckles ached. Nothing. No heartbeat. No trace of moonflowers and wild honey that always clung to her. She was not sulking. She was missing.
The same feeling from that night with the rogues slammed into me again. The night I had heard her scream from miles away. The night the beast had torn free without me asking.
Only this time the beast stayed quiet.
No full moon. No chains snapping. Just me. All me. My legs moving faster, my hands clenching into fists, my lungs burning as I pushed
