(Olivia's POV)
The darkness pressed in around me as I sat still in my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Three days had passed since I first woke from the whipping, yet I still couldn't find peace—not with the silence in my own mind. Cora, my ever-present wolf, was there, but she felt...muted.
She wasn't gone anymore. I could feel her, curled up in a distant corner of my mind like a sleeping pup refusing to stir no matter how desperately I called her name.
Why won't you wake up? My thoughts whispered into the void.
Cora remained silent. I could sense her exhaustion. For the first time in my life, I felt truly alone, as if a part of myself had been locked away. The thought of losing her completely gnawed at my chest. It was an ache that no amount of rest seemed to ease.
I swung my le
