Ruby’s POV
The Wildlands didn’t welcome me.
They swallowed me.
By the time the Shadowridge border was nothing but a ghost behind me, my legs ached, my throat burned, and every inch of my body begged me to stop. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
The trees here weren’t the same as the ones I used to run through in Bloodmoon. These were older, colder. The branches arched high overhead, casting long shadows even though the sun still clung to the sky. The underbrush was thick, tangled like it didn’t want me there.
I stepped wrong and twisted my ankle in a dip beneath the moss. A sharp cry slipped from my lips before I could bite it back. I caught myself against the trunk of a gnarled old tree, heart pounding.
Careful, Riley whispered. Her voice was faint, like she was speaking thro
