The wind howled through the trees, its bite sharp against my skin as I stood on the cliff’s edge. My heart raced, the urgency of the moment pressing down on me like a heavyweight. Ryker’s voice, deep and unwavering, echoed in my mind.
“Nina.”
I glanced back toward the forest, half-expecting to see him, but the shadows only seemed to stretch longer, darker. But then, footsteps.
He emerged from the mist, his figure cutting through the fog like a blade. The moment our eyes met, the world around us seemed to pause, every heartbeat painfully loud in my chest.
He was here.
He stepped closer, his gaze locking onto mine. “You can run. You can fight. But you’re mine, Nina. And I’ll never let you go.”
I shook my head, confusion and fear twisting inside me. “You don’t get it, Ryker. This—” I mo
