The journey felt like an eternity suspended in the dark. The sedan ate up the miles, the landscape outside the window shifting from the jagged, pine-covered peaks of the Blackwood territory to the rolling, mist-covered hills of the Stormfang domain.
Bella drifted in and out of a feverish sleep, her dreams haunted by the sound of Damien’s roar at the riverbank. Every time she woke, she felt Ethan’s steady presence beside her. He didn't speak; he didn't push. He simply watched the road, his hand resting near his sidearm, a silent guardian against the past.
They arrived at a secluded estate tucked deep within a valley, shielded by high, ivy-covered stone walls. It was a place of quiet beauty, a stark contrast to the cold, oppressive grandeur of Blackwood Manor.
"This was my grandmother’s h
