Liam’s Pov
The night was colder than I remembered any other, the air thin and sharp against my skin as I made my way through the dense forest. My breath came in short, visible puffs that dissolved almost immediately into the darkness. Moonlight filtered through the skeletal branches above, painting pale patches on the forest floor, lighting a path that seemed both inviting and foreboding. I tightened my cloak around me and pressed forward, heart pounding in my chest. I had never felt so nervous.
I followed the narrow path through the forest under the pale light of a new moon. The trees loomed like silent sentinels, their branches whispering in the night breeze. My heart thudded in my chest, not only from the sprint through thorny underbrush but from the fear and hope that roiled inside m
