The trees blur past me, the forest parting as if it senses my mood—storming and unsettled. Each step burns faintly beneath my skin, the fire inside me never truly dormant. I could shift, let the dragon take full control, stretch my wings and unleash the fury clawing behind my ribs. But I don't. Not yet.
I needed to leave.
To think.
To breathe.
But the truth is, distance doesn't offer clarity. Not when my thoughts are already tangled, dragged back to her.
Rose.
She moved through the feast like wildfire—unaware of the spark she carried, of the kindling she left in her wake. And still, she faced down tension with a steady spine. Not just brave. Not just reckless.
But something more.
Something ancient.
Something that calls to me on a level deeper than blood and bone.
She doesn't know
