Olivia’s POV
Aria woke at dawn.
The infirmary was quiet except for the low hum of the temperature wards built into the stone walls. Outside, early morning mist clung to the pine trees that bordered the pack grounds. I could hear distant patrol wolves changing shifts, their paws crunching over frost-hardened soil.
I stood beside her bed.
Weightless. Unseen.
My soul had not left this territory. Not yet.
Her lashes trembled before she slowly opened her eyes. For a moment they were unfocused, dazed from healing herbs and wolf-blood infusions. Then she saw them.
My parents were seated on either side of her bed.
My mother’s hair was loose and unkempt, her ceremonial shawl thrown carelessly over her shoulders. My father—once so imposing as a Beta wolf—looked ten years older overnight. His
