The woods wrapped around us, a cocoon of quiet and distant birdsong, but my thoughts were anything but peaceful. I couldn’t escape the whirl of emotions tugging at my heart. The weight of it all pressed down on me until I felt like I might shatter. That was when I saw her—Jenna.
She stood in the clearing, her head snapping up as I stumbled forward. Relief and disbelief washed over her face in an instant. “Lyra!” she shouted, her voice breaking slightly as she rushed toward me.
Before I could utter a single word, Jenna threw her arms around me, pulling me into a hug so tight it felt like she’d never let go. “Oh my god,” she gasped, her voice trembling. “You’re okay. I can’t believe you’re okay. Do you know how worried I was? We all were?”
I blinked, frozen in her embrace. Her familiar sc
