Carter's POV
Ruby was gone.
Not just mated.
Not just claimed.
She was physically gone.
Jake had taken her to Shadowridge, ripping her away from Moonshadow, from everything she had ever known—from me.
And I had let him.
I had watched her say the words.
I had stood there like a damn fool, waiting for a miracle that never came.
And now, the place where she had always been,just within reach, always close enough to touch, even when I kept my distance,was empty.
I couldn’t feel her anymore.
Couldn’t sense her in the packhouse.
Couldn’t hear her voice in the distance, soft and hesitant.
Couldn’t pick up her scent in the halls, that familiar mix of wildflowers and something uniquely her.
It was like she had never been here at all.
Like she had been erased.
Like she had become noth
