The valley stretched before me like a living maze, jagged cliffs on one side and dense forest on the other, rivers cutting silver threads across the rocky terrain. The air was crisp, carrying the scent of pine and wet stone, and somewhere far off, a distant waterfall roared like a beast. I stepped lightly over the loose stones, aware that even a single misstep could send me tumbling into the depths below. My muscles ached, my legs burned, but the relentless months of training had given me a confidence I had never felt before. I was no longer the frightened girl who had fled Nightfang Pack. I was no longer the girl whose confidence depended on Kael’s recognition. I was becoming someone new, a predator in her own right, a hunter capable of surviving any trial.
Despite the quiet of the valle
