Ella's POV
The air was heavy that night — thick with the scent of iron and ash. Every breath I took burned, every step felt like treading through the remnants of someone else’s nightmare. The campfires of the pack flickered like dying stars behind me as I stood on the ridge overlooking the dark valley below. That was where the witches had vanished after the last skirmish. That was where he was waiting — the Hollow King’s presence, whispering beneath the soil like something ancient and endless.
Remo stood beside me, silent, unyielding. His jaw was set, his eyes fixed on the horizon — cold silver meeting the storm. Christian and Maddox were behind us, both armed and tense. None of us spoke for a long time. Silence was the only thing that kept us sane now.
“I can still feel them,” I murmu
