Elijah’s POV
The forest was unusually quiet tonight. No wind. No owls. Just the soft crunch of leaves beneath my boots and the echo of my thoughts.
Liam had left the compound hours ago. He thought he was being stealthy, but I’ve always known him better than he thinks. His anger leaves a trail, hot, raw, and reckless. I didn’t stop him. Not right away. Maybe part of me wanted to see where his rage would take him, hoping it might lead us to something, someone.
But as I tracked his scent into the thicker parts of the woods, another scent hit me.
Familiar. Sweet. Faintly metallic.
Flora.
I stopped walking. My breath caught. My heart did something strange, tightened, then twisted like it didn’t know how to feel.
I hadn’t smelled her this close since the day everything changed.
And I had
