The moon stripped it all away.
I stayed on the floor for a long time.
A sound rose from deep in my chest. It wasn't quite a growl, and it wasn't quite a sob, but it carried something of both.
It was the sound of a wolf who'd spent too long watching something irreplaceable slip away—and had finally run out of reasons to pretend it didn't hurt.
In the darkness of that bathroom, with silver moonlight spilling through the window and the sound still trembling through my bones, I finally admitted the truth I'd been avoiding for far too long.
I was going to find her, no matter what it took or where she'd gone.
And I would do it within three days.
******
I dried off and went back to the bedroom.
The sheets still smelled like her.
White roses.
The scent was faint now, barely more than an
