VALERIA’S POV
By the time I reached the pack, the sky was shifting from deep indigo to the soft hues of dawn. The journey had been long, my muscles ached from running, and exhaustion clung to me like a second skin. But despite the weariness weighing me down, there was something else—something lighter, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Relief.
Not just because I had managed to sneak out undetected. Not just because I had made it back safely.
It was because of him.
Elijah.
I collapsed onto the makeshift bed in the small cabin I had been given, exhaling a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My body begged for sleep, but my mind was still tangled in the conversation we’d had hours ago. His words echoed in my head, his warning laced with the unshakable protectivene
